(AMERICAN REVOLUTION 1779) Local British coverage of John P

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(AMERICAN REVOLUTION--1779.) Local British coverage of John Paul Jones and the Battle of Flamborough Head, in the Edinburgh Advertiser. Pages [209]-216, 12 x 9 inches, on 2 folding sheets; stitch holes, several early manuscript notes, revenue stamp on final page. Edinburgh, Scotland, 28 September to 1 October 1779

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Most battle accounts from the American Revolution were already a month or two old by the time they reached the British press. The naval Battle of Flamborough Head, off the eastern coast of Yorkshire, was an exception. John Paul Jones's star turn took place on 23 September, and the early reports are here printed just five days later in a biweekly Edinburgh newspaper just up the coast.

The main article here is an "Extract of a letter from a gentleman at Hull" dated 26 September describing the battle: "The Serapis engaged Paul Jones in the 50 gun ship, and they had a dreadful conflict for about an hour and a half. . . . Before the frigate came to Jones's assistance his people had been calling out for quarter for half an hour, and he could not keep them to their guns though he shot several of them dead with his pistols. . . . Jones's ship is terribly mauled, and they say he had 150 men killed on board her." Another letter adds a description of Jones's foiled plan to loot the English town of Scarborough.