His ship was sinking. The British demanded his surrender. John Paul Jones was too determined and audacious.

September 1779. Off the coast of England, the tired American warship, Bonhomme Richard, is on fire. Her guns shattered, water pouring into her hull. Alongside her is HMS Serapis, a newer, better-armed British warship. Any ordinary captain would have struck his colors long ago.

In Episode 10 of Stories of American Legends, I tell the story of John Paul Jones, the Scottish-born sailor who became a Father of the American Navy. From his rough start at sea to his command in the Continental Navy, this is the man who took the Revolutionary War to Britain’s coast.

This is the beginning of American naval history.

August 1776. The Continental Army was trapped on Long Island, and a stone farmhouse stood between them and survival.

At the Battle of Brooklyn, the British seized the Old Stone House and cut off the American escape. The only way left was through the deadly Gowanus marsh. So Lord Stirling turned to a few hundred young soldiers from Maryland and gave them an order that sounded like madness.

What they did next is why George Washington never forgot them, and why Maryland is still called the Old Line State.

This is the story of the Maryland 400.

Stories of American Legends brings forgotten heroes of American history to life, one story at a time.

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When the Abenaki Warriors kidnap her and kill her one-week-old baby against a tree, this frontier mother is hell-bent on revenge. And she gets her hands on one of her captor's tomahawks.

And if you enjoy this historical narrative from American History, listen to my other episodes to discover more forgotten American heroes.