Important--even thrilling as was the occasion, there is no known record by which the date on which this ceremony was performed may be definitely located. But it is unquestioned that the naval committee of the Congress had, on this December 22d, secured the crews as well as the ships for a fleet, and that the crews were then on board awaiting the coming of properly authorized officers. There is, therefore, no reason to doubt that as soon as the Congress had passed the resolutions above quoted, and the commissions therein mentioned had been signed, the commodore and his officers immediately went on board to take formal possession. [Illustration: Captain Nicholas Biddle. _From an engraving by Edwin._] But whatever the date, it is recorded that it was on a beautiful winter day when the commodore and his officers made their way to the foot of Walnut Street, Philadelphia, where a ship’s long-boat awaited them. A great throng of patriots gathered along shore on the arrival of the officers, and the shipping along the whole river front was not only decorated with bunting, but decks and rails and rigging were occupied by enthusiastic spectators. Pushing off and rowing away through the floating ice, Commodore Hopkins reached the ladder at the side of the _Alfred_, and, followed by all his officers, mounted to the deck. The shrill whistle of the boatswain called the crew well aft in the waist of the ship. The officers gathered in a group on the quarterdeck. A quartermaster made fast to the mizzen signal halliards a great yellow silk flag bearing the picture of a pine tree with a coiled rattlesnake at its roots, and the impressive motto “Don’t Tread on Me.” This accomplished, he turned toward the master of the ship, Capt. Dudley Saltonstall, and saluted. And then, at a gesture from the captain, the executive officer of the ship, the immortal John Paul Jones, eagerly grasped the flag halliards, and while officers and seamen uncovered their heads, and the spectators cheered and cannon roared, he spread to the breeze the first American naval ensign. The grand union flag of the colonies, a flag of thirteen stripes, alternate red and white, with the British jack in the field, and the pennant of the commander-in-chief, were then set, and the resolutions of the Congress read. The first American naval fleet was in commission. [Illustration: A Frigate Chasing a Small Boat. _From an old French engraving._] CHAPTER II FIRST CRUISE OF THE YANKEE SQUADRON A FAIRLY SUCCESSFUL RAID ON NEW PROVIDENCE, BUT THEY LET A BRITISH SLOOP-OF-WAR ESCAPE--CHARACTER OF THE FIRST NAVAL COMMANDER-IN-CHIEF AND OF THE MATERIAL WITH WHICH HE HAD TO WORK--ESEK HOPKINS, A LANDSMAN, SET TO DO A SAILOR’S WORK--CREWS UNTRAINED AND DEVOID OF “ESPRIT DE CORPS”--GOOD COURAGE, BUT A WOEFUL LACK OF OTHER NEEDED QUALITIES--HOPKINS DISMISSED FOR DISOBEDIENCE OF ORDERS.