On the Lakes 107 



the worth of the writer's favorable criticisms. Our 

 average commander was, I firmly believe, at that 

 time superior to the average commander of any 

 other nation ; but to get at this average we must in 

 clude Chauncy, Rodgers, and Angus, as well as Hull, 

 Macdonough, Perry, Porter, Bainbridge, Biddle, 

 Lawrence, and Warrington. 



Sir James Yeo did to the full as well as his op 

 ponent, and like him was a good organizer; but he 

 did little enough. His campaigns must be consid 

 ered as being conducted well or ill according as he 

 is believed to have commanded better men than his 

 opponent,- or not. If, as many British writers con 

 tend, his crews were an overmatch for the Ameri 

 cans, man for man, even to a slight degree, then 

 Yeo's conduct was very cowardly; if, on the con 

 trary, the officers and men of the two fleets were on 

 a par, then he acted properly and outgeneraled his 

 opponent. It is to be regretted that most of the 

 histories written on the subject, on either side of 

 the Atlantic, should be of the "hurrah" order of 

 literature, with no attempt whatever to get at the 

 truth, but merely to explain away the defeats or im 

 mensely exaggerate the victories suffered or gained 

 by their own side. 



