21. On the 23d of September, Paul Jones, cruising off the coast of Scotland with a fleet of French and American vessels, fell in with a British squadron, and a bloody battle ensued. The _Serapis_, a British frigate of forty-four guns, engaged the _Poor Richard_ within musket-shot. At last the vessels were lashed together, and the _Serapis_ struck her colors. Jones transferred his men to the conquered ship, and the _Poor Richard_ went down. Of the three hundred and seventy-five men on board the fleet of Jones, three hundred were either killed or wounded. [Illustration: Paul Jones.] 22. So closed the year 1779. The national treasury was bankrupt. The patriots of the army were poorly fed, and paid only with unkept promises. The disposition of Great Britain was still for war. The levies of sailors and soldiers made by Parliament amounted to one hundred and twenty thousand, while the expenses of the War Office were set at twenty million pounds sterling. CHAPTER XXVI. REVERSES AND TREASON. EVENTS OF 1780. [Sidenote: =French Allies in Rhode Island.=] During the year 1780 military operations at the North were suspended. Early in July Admiral De Ternay arrived at Newport with a French squadron, and six thousand land-troops under Count Rochambeau. In September the commander-in-chief held a conference with Rochambeau, and the plans of future campaigns were determined. 2. In the South the patriots suffered many reverses. South Carolina was completely overrun by the enemy. On the 11th of February, Admiral Arbuthnot anchored before Charleston. Sir Henry Clinton and five thousand men were on board the fleet. The city was defended by fourteen hundred men under General Lincoln. The British effected a landing, and advanced up the right bank of Ashley River. On the 7th of April Lincoln was reinforced by seven hundred Virginians. Two days afterwards Arbuthnot succeeded in passing Fort Moultrie, and came within cannon-shot of the city. [Sidenote: =The British take Charleston.=] 3. A siege was at once begun, and prosecuted with vigor. From the beginning the defense was hopeless. The fortifications were beaten down, and Lincoln, dreading an assault, agreed to capitulate. On the 12th of May, Charleston was surrendered to the British, and the garrison became prisoners of war. A few days before the surrender Tarleton surprised and dispersed a body of militia on the Santee. Afterwards three successful expeditions were sent into different sections of the State.