200 Naval War of 1812 



feat was owing solely, it may be said, to inferiority 

 of force, courage and skill being equal. The Wasp 

 was far heavier than the Reindeer, and, there being 

 nothing to choose between them in anything else, 

 the damage done was about proportionate to this 

 difference. It follows, as a matter of course, that the 

 very much greater disproportion in loss in the cases 

 of the Avon, Epervier, etc., where the disproportion 

 in force was much less (they mounting 32*5 instead 

 of 24' 's, and the victors being all of the same class), 

 is only to be explained by the inferiority in skill on 

 the part of the vanquished. These remarks apply just 

 as much to the Argus. The Reindeer, with her 24/8, 

 would have been almost exactly on a par with her, 

 and yet would have taken her with even greater 

 ease than the Peacock did with her 32*8. In other 

 words, the only effect of our superiority in metal, 

 men, and tonnage was to increase somewhat the dis 

 parity in loss. Had the Congress and Constellation, 

 instead of the United States and Constitution, en 

 countered the Macedonian and Java, the difference 

 in execution would have been less than it was, but 

 the result would have been unchanged, and would 

 have been precisely such as ensued when the Wasp 

 met the Frolic, or the Hornet the Penguin. On the 

 other hand, had the Shannon met the Constitution 

 there would have been a repetition of the fight be 

 tween the Wasp and Reindeer; for it is but fair to 



