Don’t Tread on Me!
In 1775, when our War for Independence broke out, Paul Jones commenced his brilliant career.
Some men regard him as a sort of freebooter turned Patriot—an adventurer to whom the American War was a God-send, in that it kept him from being a pirate. But nothing could be farther from the truth.
When the War broke out, he offered to serve in the Navy. Congress accepted his offer, and appointed him first lieutenant in the Alfred.
As the commander-in-chief of the squadron came on board the Alfred, Paul Jones unfurled our National Flag—the first time its folds were ever given to the breeze.
What that Flag was, strange as it may seem, no record tells us. It was not the Stars and Stripes, for they were not adopted till two years after.
The generally received opinion is, that it was a Pine Tree with a rattlesnake coiled at the roots as if about to spring, and underneath the motto:
Don’t Tread on Me!
If the Flag bore such a symbol, it was most appropriate to Paul Jones, for no serpent was ever more ready to strike than he.
At all events, it unrolled to the breeze, and waved over as gallant a young officer as ever trod a quarterdeck.
Fairly afloat—twenty-nine years of age—healthy, well-knit, though of light and slender frame—a commissioned officer in the American Navy the young gardener saw with joy, the shores receding as the fleet steered for the Bahama Isles.
The result of this expedition was the capture of New Providence with a hundred cannon and abundance of military stores.
And the capture was brought about by the perseverance and daring of young Paul Jones.
J. T. Headley (Arranged)