4 Preface 



As my only object is to give an accurate narrative 

 of events, I shall esteem it a particular favor if any 

 one will furnish me with the means of rectifying 

 such mistakes; and if I have done injustice to any 

 commander, or officer of any grade, whether Ameri 

 can or British, I shall consider myself under great 

 obligations to those who will set me right. 



I have been unable to get access to the original 

 reports of the British commanders, the logs of the 

 British ships, or their muster-rolls, and so have been 

 obliged to take them at second hand from the "Ga 

 zette," or "Naval Chronicle," or some standard his 

 tory. The American official letters, log-books, orig 

 inal contracts, muster-rolls, etc., however, being pre 

 served in the Archives at Washington, I have been 

 able, thanks to the courtesy of the Hon. Wm. H. 

 Hunt, Secretary of the Navy, to look them over. 

 The set of letters from the officers is very complete, 

 in three series, "Captains' Letters," "Masters' 

 Commandant Letters," and "Officers' Letters," there 

 being several volumes for each year. The books of 

 contracts contain valuable information as to the 

 size and build of some of the vessels. The log 

 books are rather exasperating, often being very in 

 complete. Thus when I turned from Decatur's 

 extremely vague official letter describing the cap 

 ture of the Macedonian to the log-book of the frigate 



