274 Naval War of 1812 



the four square-rigged British vessels, and the two 

 British schooners would not have counted very 

 much in such a conflict. In calm weather he was 

 certainly the superior. This only solves one of the 

 points in which the official letters of the two com- 

 manders differ : after every meeting each one in- 

 sists that he was inferior in force, that the weather 

 suited his antagonist, and that the latter ran away, 

 and got the worst of it; all of which will be con- 

 sidered further on. 



In order to settle toward which side the balance 

 of success inclined, we must remember that there 

 were two things the combatants were trying to 

 do, viz. : 



(1) To damage the enemy directly by capturing 

 or destroying his vessels. This was the only object 

 we had in view in sending out ocean cruisers, but 

 on the lakes it was subordinated to : 



(2) Getting the control of the lake, by which 

 invaluable assistance could be rendered to the army. 

 The most thorough way of accomplishing this of 

 course was by destroying the enemy's squadron; 

 but it could also be done by building ships too pow- 

 erful for him to face or by beating him in some 

 engagement which, although not destroying hi.t 

 fleet, would force him to go into port. If one side 

 was stronger, then the weaker party by skilful 

 manoeuvring might baffle the foe, and rest satisfied 

 by keeping the sovereignty of the lake disputed ; for, 

 as long as one squadron was not undisputed master 

 it could not be of much assistance in transporting 



