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John Paul Jones card art from Lost Chapters (Quartz, Character)
Card art: John Paul Jones

John Paul Jones: Quartz Character

John Paul Jones was a Scottish-born sea captain who became the most celebrated naval hero of the American Revolution. In September 1779, commanding the Bonhomme Richard, he captured the British warship HMS Serapis off the coast of England, even though his own ship sank after the battle.

Cost
7 crystals
Type
Character · Soldier
Power / Health
6 / 6
Color
Quartz (Founders & Revolution)
Rarity
Uncommon
Set
Liberty & Lightning (Set 1)
Keywords
Tenacious, Resolve

Tenacious, Resolve

Naval commander who refused to surrender with the immortal words 'I have not yet begun to fight' (or possibly 'yell dramatically').

Real history

The real history

John Paul Jones was born John Paul in Kirkbean, Scotland, in 1747. He went to sea at 13 as an apprentice in the British merchant service. As a young man he served as a mate on ships in the slave trade before quitting that work. In 1773, while captain of a merchant ship, he killed the ringleader of a mutiny over pay. He fled to Virginia to avoid trial and took the name John Paul Jones.

When the Continental Navy was formed in 1775, Jones became a first lieutenant on the Alfred. Later he commanded the sloop Ranger, raided the coast of Britain and captured the British sloop Drake, which made him famous on both sides of the Atlantic.

In 1779 France gave the Americans an old merchant ship, the Duc de Duras. Jones renamed it Bonhomme Richard in honor of Benjamin Franklin's Poor Richard. On September 23, 1779, off Flamborough Head in England, he attacked HMS Serapis, a newer and better-armed warship. The two ships were lashed together and fought for nearly four hours into the night. When the British thought he had given up, Jones is said to have answered, "I have not yet begun to fight!" The Navy's own historians word it that cautiously, so the exact phrasing is uncertain. Serapis surrendered, and the battered Bonhomme Richard sank the next day.

After the war Jones served as a rear admiral in the Russian navy. He died in Paris in 1792, at 45, and was buried in an unmarked grave. His remains were found in 1905, and in 1913 they were placed in a crypt in the chapel of the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.

Sources

  1. John Paul Jones: Naval Hero, Pirate, Legend, or Myth?, Naval History and Heritage Command
  2. John Paul Jones, American Battlefield Trust
  3. The Battle of Flamborough Head, American Battlefield Trust

Checked against these sources on October 2, 2026. Spot a mistake? Report an error. How we check facts.

How the card plays

John Paul Jones costs 7 crystals and is a 6/6 Quartz Soldier with two keywords and nothing else. Tenacious means the first time each turn he would be destroyed, he survives with 1 health instead. Resolve means that when he survives damage, he gets +1/+0 for the rest of the game, once per turn.

Together they make him very hard to trade with, and he grows when he fights and lives. Give him Speak Softly, Carry Big Stick for +3/+3 and Guard, so he can block without resting and keep earning Resolve on your rival's turn. Winter Encampment, a George Washington Signature card, gives a character of yours +1/+1 at the end of each of your turns, and Fort Sumter gives your characters +0/+2 so he survives even more hits.

  • Playable in decks led by George Washington, and by any Traveler Leader whose colors include Quartz.
  • In the Washington starter deck (1 copy). Deck code: LC2-BhoCgAKBAYIBgwGEAYUBhgKHAYgBiQGKAYsBjAKNAY4BjwGQAZEBkgGTAZQBlQGWAZcBmAGZAZoCmwGcAZ0BngGfAaABoQFBjA
  • A deck holds up to 3 copies of this card.

Questions about John Paul Jones

Did John Paul Jones really say "I have not yet begun to fight"?

Maybe, but it is not certain. It is the line most linked to his 1779 battle with HMS Serapis, but the Naval History and Heritage Command says only that he is said to have uttered it.

Where is John Paul Jones buried?

In the chapel crypt at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland. He died in Paris in 1792, his remains were found in 1905, and they were laid to rest at the Academy in 1913.

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