On the Lakes 125 



men paroled, and other wounded whose number was 

 unspecified. Supposing this number to have been 

 82, and adding 54 dead, we would get in all 550 

 men for the four ships, the number I have adopted 

 in my list. This would make the British wounded 

 129 instead of 116, as James says; but neither the 

 Americans nor the British seem to have enumerated 

 all their wounded in this fight. Taking into account 

 all these considerations, it will be seen that the fig 

 ures I have given are probably approximately cor 

 rect, and, at any rate, indicate pretty closely the 

 relative strength of the two squadrons. The slight 

 differences in tonnage and crews (158 tons and 55 

 men, in favor of the British) are so trivial that they 

 need not be taken into account, and we will merely 

 consider the broadside force. In absolute weight 

 of metal the two combatants were evenly matched 

 almost exactly ; but whereas from Downie's broad 

 side of 1,192 Ibs. 660 were from long and 532 

 from short guns, of Macdonough's broadside of 

 1,194 Ibs., but 480 were from long and 714 from 

 short pieces. The forces were thus equal, except 

 that Downie opposed 180 Ibs. from long guns to 182 

 from carronades; as if 10 long i8's were opposed 

 to ten 1 8-pound carronades. This would make the 

 odds on their face about 10 to 9 against the Ameri 

 cans ; in reality they were greater, for the possession 

 of the Confiance was a very great advantage. The 



