On the Ocean 259 



rendered when she had suffered still less. French 

 historians asserted that the capture of the two brigs 

 proved that "French valor could conquer British 

 courage"; and a similar opinion was very com- 

 placently expressed by British historians after the 

 defeat of the Argus. All that the three combats 

 really "proved" was, that in eight encounters be- 

 tween British and American sloops the Americans 

 were defeated once; and in a far greater number 

 of encounters between French and British sloops the 

 British were defeated twice. No one pretends that 

 either navy was invincible; the question is, which 

 side averaged best? 



At the opening of the war we possessed several 

 small brigs; these had originally been fast, handy 

 little schooners, each armed with 12 long sixes, and 

 with a crew of 60 men. As such they were effective 

 enough; but when afterward changed into brigs, 

 each armed with a couple of extra guns, and given 

 40 additional men, they became too slow to run, 

 without becoming strong enough to fight. They 

 carried far too many guns and men for their size, 

 and not enough to give them a chance with any 

 respectable opponent; and they were almost all 

 ignominiously captured. The single exception was 

 the brig Enterprise. She managed to escape capture, 

 owing chiefly to good luck, and once fought a vic- 

 torious engagement, thanks to the fact that the 

 British possessed a class of vessels even worse than 

 our own. She was kept near the land and finally 

 took up her station off the eastern coast, where she 



