Victory of the “Bonhomme Richard” over the “Serapis”

By Philip Freneau (1752–1832)

One of the greatest naval engagements in history. The American man-of-war Bonhomme Richard, under Paul Jones, engaged the Serapis, under Capt. Pearson, off Flamborough Head and fought, on Sept. 23, 1779, in the presence of thousands of spectators, until the Serapis surrendered.

O’ER the rough main with flowing sheet

The guardian of a numerous fleet,

Serapis from the Baltic came;

A ship of less tremendous force

Sailed by her side the self-same course,

Countess of Scarb’ro, was her name.

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Full forty guns Serapis bore,

And Scarb’ro’s Countess twenty-four,

Manned with old England’s boldest tars—

What flag that rides the Gallic seas

Shall dare attack such piles as these,

Designed for tumults and for wars!

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’Twas Jones, brave Jones, to battle led

As bold a crew as ever bled

Upon the sky-surrounded main;

The standards of the Western World

Were to the willing winds unfurled,

Denying Britain’s tyrant reign.

The Good Man Richard led the line;

The Alliance next; with these combine

The Gallic ship they Pallas call;

The Vengeance, armed with sword and flame,

These to attack the Britons came—

But two accomplished all.

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Go on, great man, to daunt the foe,

And bid the haughty Britons know

They to our Thirteen Stars shall bend;

Those Stars that, veiled in dark attire,

Long glimmered with a feeble fire,

But radiant now ascend.

Bend to the Stars that flaming rise

In western, not in eastern, skies,

Fair Freedom’s reign restored—

So when the Magi, come from far

Beheld the God-attending Star,

They trembled and adored.

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