BRILLIANT DEEDS BY THE FIRST HEROES OF THE AMERICAN NAVY--WHY NICHOLAS BIDDLE ENTERED PORT WITH BUT FIVE OF THE ORIGINAL CREW OF THE _ANDREA DORIA_--RICHARD DALE ON THE SLEEK _LEXINGTON_--THE _RACEHORSE_ CAPTURED IN AN EVEN FIGHT--CAPTAIN LAMBERT WICKES IN THE _REPRISAL_ BEATS OFF A LARGER VESSEL--JOHN PAUL JONES IN HIS EARLIER COMMANDS--A SMART RACE WITH THE FRIGATE _SOLEBAY_--SIXTEEN PRIZES IN FORTY-SEVEN DAYS IN CAPE BRETON REGION--POKING FUN AT THE FRIGATE _MILFORD_--THE VALUABLE _MELLISH_--AN ABLE FIGHTER WHO LACKED POLITICAL INFLUENCE. A more cheerful story of the feats of Yankee sailormen is found on turning to the record made by individual vessels during the period when Commodore Hopkins was at the head of the navy list. For instance, there was the brig _Lexington_ (of significant name), under the command of Capt. John Barry, who had brought the _Alfred_, when she was the merchant ship _Black Prince_, into Philadelphia and sold her to the Congress. While Commodore Hopkins was in New London explaining how the British ship _Glasgow_ had escaped, Captain Barry was cruising off the Virginia capes; and on April 17, 1776, fell in with a tender called the _Edward_, armed with six or eight guns and carrying a crew of thirty-five men under command of Lieutenant Boucher. The lack of skill of the Americans at this time and the bravery of the English are both conclusively shown by the fact that the _Edward_ held out for an hour, although the _Lexington_ carried sixteen guns and twice as many men as the tender. May 10, 1776, should be a memorable one in the history of the navy, for on that day John Paul Jones first received an independent command. He was placed in charge of the _Providence_ and sent to carry troops to New York. What he subsequently accomplished with his little twelve-gun brig will be told further on. On May 16th the _Andrea Doria_, Capt. Nicholas Biddle, was ordered to sea. For four months she cruised between the capes of the Delaware and the coast of Maine, and during that time she captured ten prizes, all but one of which reached port safely. Two of these transports had 400 British troops on board. The British frigate _Cerebus_ recaptured one of these transports, and the prisoners managed to retake the other, but they were again captured and taken in. When Captain Biddle at last brought his little brig into port he had but five of his original crew on board. The others had all been sent away in prizes and their places supplied by volunteers from the vessels captured. [Illustration: _John Barry_ _From an engraving of the portrait by Chappel._] As will appear further on, Nicholas Biddle was one of the most heroic men known to the American naval register. He was one who knew his duty, and no odds of force against him deterred him in doing it.