302 Naval War of 1812 



Chauncy rendered able and invaluable assistance 

 to the army all the while that he had control of the 

 water; his attacks on York and Fort George were 

 managed with consummate skill and success, and on 

 the 28th of September he practically defeated the 

 opposing force with his own ship alone. Neverthe- 

 less he can by no means be said to have done the best 

 he could with the materials he had. His stronger 

 fleet was kept two months in check by a weaker 

 British fleet. When he first encountered the foe, 

 on August loth, he ought to have inflicted such a 

 check upon him as would at least have confined him 

 to port and given the Americans immediate supe- 

 riority on the lake; instead of which he suffered a 

 mortifying, although not at all disastrous, defeat, 

 which allowed the British to contest the supremacy 

 with him for six weeks longer. On the 28th of Sep- 

 tember, when he only gained a rather barren victory, 

 it was nothing but excessive caution that prevented 

 him from utterly destroying his foe. Had Perry 

 on that day commanded the American fleet there 

 would have been hardly a British ship left on On- 

 tario. Chauncy was an average commander; and 

 the balance of success inclined to the side of the 

 Americans only because they showed greater energy 

 and skill in shipbuilding, the crews and commanders 

 on both sides being very nearly equal. 



