24 Naval War of 1812 



tacking Porter as soon as he was disabled, in neutral 

 waters, while they had been very careful to abstain 

 from breaking the neutrality while he was in good 

 condition, does not look well; at the best it shows 

 that Hilyar had only been withheld hitherto from 

 the attack by timidity, and it looks all the worse 

 when it is remembered that Hilyar owed his ship's 

 previous escape entirely to Porter's forbearance on 

 a former occasion when the British frigate was 

 entirely at his mercy, and that the British captain 

 had afterward expressly said that he would not 

 break the neutrality. Still, the British in this war 

 did not act very differently from the way we our 

 selves did on one or two occasions in the Civil War, 

 witness the capture of the Florida. And after 

 the battle was once begun the sneers which most 

 of our historians, as well as the participators in the 

 fight, have showered upon the British captains for 

 not foregoing the advantages which their entire 

 masts and better artillery gave them by coming to 

 close quarters, are decidedly foolish. Hilyar's con 

 duct during the battle, as well as his treatment 

 of the prisoners afterward, was perfect, and as a 

 minor matter it may be mentioned that his official 

 letter is singularly just and fair-minded. Says Lord 

 Howard Douglas: "The action displayed all that 

 can reflect honor on the science and admirable con 

 duct of Captain Hilyar and his crew, which, without 



