Naval War of 1812 73 



exclusively by New Englanders. The only remain 

 ing vessel is the United States, respecting whose 

 crew some remarkable statements have been made. 

 Marshall (Vol. II, p. 1019) writes that Commodore 

 Decatur "declared there was not a seaman in his 

 ship who had not served from 5 to 12 years in a 

 British man-of-war," from which he concludes that 

 they were British themselves. It may be questioned 

 whether Decatur ever made such an assertion ; or if 

 he did, it is safe to asume again that his men were 

 long-impressed Americans. 11 



11 At the beginning of the war there were on record in the 

 American State Department 6,257 cases of impressed Ameri 

 can seamen. These could represent but a small part of the 

 whole, which must have amounted to 20,000 men, or more 

 than sufficient to man our entire navy five times over. Ac 

 cording to the British Admiralty Report to the House of 

 Commons, February i, 1815, 2,548 impressed American sea 

 men, who refused to serve against their country, were im 

 prisoned in 1812. According to Lord Castlereagh's speech in 

 the House, February 18, 1813, 3,300 men claiming to be Ameri 

 can subjects were serving in the British navy in January, 

 1811, and he certainly did not give anything like the whole 

 number. In the American service the term of enlistment ex 

 tended for two years, and the frigate United States, referred 

 to, had not had her crew for any very great length of time as 

 yet. If such a crew were selected at random from American 

 sailors, among them there would be, owing to the small num 

 ber serving in our own navy and the enormous number im 

 pressed into the British navy, probably but one of the former 

 to two of the latter. As already mentioned the American al 

 ways left a British man-of-war as soon as he could, by deser 

 tion or discharge; but he had no unwillingness to serve in 

 the home navy, where the pay was larger and the discipline 

 far more humane, not to speak of motives of patriotism. 

 Even if the ex-British man-of-war's-man kept out of service 

 for some time, he would be very apt to enlist when a war 



VOL. IX.-4 



