The commander of the squadron then planned to land on the opposite side of the island and take the forts from the rear, but Paul Jones told him he could not do this. There was no place to anchor the squadron, and no road to the forts. However, he had learned from the pilots of a good landing not far from the harbor. When he told the commander of this, he was only rebuked for confiding in pilots. So Paul Jones undertook, alone, to conduct the _Alfred_ to the landing he had found. He succeeded in doing this and the whole squadron afterwards followed. The English soldiers abandoned the forts, and the squadron sailed away the same day, carrying a hundred cannon and other military stores. VI.--CAPTAIN PAUL JONES. A short time after this, the American squadron tried to capture a British ship called the _Glasgow_, but the attempt was not successful. Because of this failure, one of the captains was dismissed from the navy, and the command of his vessel was given to Lieutenant Jones. This vessel was named the _Providence_. With it and the _Alfred_, which he also commanded, Captain Jones captured sixteen prizes in six weeks. Among them were cargoes of coal and dry goods. Best of all, he captured an English vessel bound for Canada, full of warm clothing for the British soldiers. This was a prize that proved of great value to General Washington's poorly clothed army. In those days there were selfish people just as now. In January, 1777, a jealous commodore succeeded in depriving Paul Jones of his position as captain. He was now without ship or rank. When he appealed to Congress he was put off with promises from time to time. It was not until May that his petitions were heard. There were three new ships being built for the navy at Boston. Congress gave him permission to choose one of these and have it fitted out as he wished. While waiting in Boston for these ships to be finished, Paul Jones wrote many wise suggestions about the management of the navy. Congress at first paid but little attention to these suggestions, but was afterwards glad to act upon them. These were some of the things he said: "1. Every officer should be examined before he receives his commission. "2. The ranks in a navy should correspond to those in an army. "3. As England has the best navy in the world, we should copy hers." [Illustration: BENJAMIN FRANKLIN.] Before the ship he had chosen was completed, he was ordered to wait no longer in Boston, but to take the _Ranger_, an old vessel, and sail at once for France. Through the efforts of Benjamin Franklin, the American Minister to France, the French king had acknowledged the independence of the colonies, and was ready to aid the Americans in the war. Paul Jones was to carry a letter from Congress to the American commissioners in Paris.