1 84 Naval War of 1812 



would be tolerably sure to insist that the weather 

 was such as to give a great advantage to the other. 

 In all the battles and skirmishes on Champlain, Erie, 

 and Huron, at least there was no room left for doubt 

 as to who were the victors. But on Lake Ontario 

 there was never any decisive struggle, and when 

 ever an encounter occurred, each commodore al 

 ways claimed that his adversary had "declined the 

 combat," though "much superior in strength." It 

 is, of course, almost impossible to find out which 

 really did decline the combat, for the official letters 

 flatly contradict each other ; and it is often almost as 

 difficult to discover where the superiority in force 

 lay, when the fleets differed so widely in character 

 as was the case in 1813. Then Commodore 

 Chauncy's squadron consisted largely of schooners; 

 their long, heavy guns made his total foot up in 

 a very imposing manner, and similar gun-vessels did 

 very good work on Lake Erie ; so Commodore Yeo, 

 and more especially Commodore Yeo's admirers, 

 exalted these schooners to the skies, and conveyed 

 the impression that they were most formidable craft, 

 by means of which Chauncy ought to have won 

 great victories. Yet when Yeo captured two of 

 them he refused to let them even cruise with his 

 fleet, and they were sent back to act as coast gun 

 boats and transports, which certainly would not have 

 been done had they been fitted to render any effectual 

 assistance. Again, one night a squall came on 

 and the two largest schooners went to the bottom, 

 which did not tend to increase the confidence felt 



