54 Naval War of 1812 



COMPARATIVE FORCE. 



Broadside Weight No 



Tons. Cans. Metal. Men. LOSJ 



Wasp, 509 II 315 173 26 



Reindeer, 477 10 210 118 67 



It is thus seen that the Reindeer fought at a great 

 er disadvantage than any other of the various Brit 

 ish sloops that were captured in single action during 

 the war; and yet she made a better fight than any 

 of them (though the Frolic, and the Frolic only, 

 was defended with the same desperate courage) ; a 

 pretty sure proof that heavy metal is not the only 

 factor to be considered in accounting for the Amer 

 ican victories. "It is difficult to say which vessel 

 behaved the best in this short but gallant com 

 bat." 40 I doubt if the war produced two better 

 single-ship commanders than Captain Blakely and 

 Captain Manners; and an equal meed of praise at 

 taches to both crews. The British could rightly say 

 that they yielded purely to heavy odds in men and 

 metal; and the Americans, that the difference in 

 execution was fully proportioned to the difference 

 in force. It is difficult to know which to admire 

 most, the wary skill with which each captain ma 

 noeuvred before the fight, the perfect training and 

 discipline that their crews showed, the decision and 

 promptitude with which Captain Manners tried to 

 retrieve the day by boarding, and the desperate 



40 Cooper, ii, 287. 



