Jones with his own hands hoisted the first flag displayed on an American man-of-war.

It was of yellow silk, with the device of a rattlesnake, and bore the motto, "Don't tread on me." Jones attracted such favorable attention during this enterprise that on his return he was made commander of the twelve-ton brig _Providence_ and was employed for a time in carrying troops from Rhode Island to New York.

Since he was by birth a citizen of Great Britain, which then insisted that "once a British subject always a British subject," the English cruisers made determined efforts to capture him.

Many of the officers declared that if they could lay hands on the audacious freebooter, as they called him, they would hang him at the yard arm.
But, before doing so, they had to catch him, and that proved a harder task than they suspected.

He was chased many times and often fired into, but the _Providence_ was always swift enough to show a clean pair of heels to her pursuers and Jones himself was such a fine sailor that he laughed at their efforts to take him prisoner.
One of the cleverest exploits of Jones was performed in the autumn of 1776.