The Battle of New Orleans 275 



same force, and the latter in turn was a little, but 

 only a little, inferior to the average British ship of 

 equal strength. 



Thus in 1782 the British stood first in nautical 

 prowess, separated but by a very narrow interval 

 from the French, while the Americans made a bad 

 third. In 1789, the British still stood first, while the 

 Americans had made a great stride forward, com- 

 ing close on their heels, and the French had fallen 

 far behind into the third place. In 1812, the rela- 

 tive positions of the British and French were un- 

 changed, but the Americans had taken another very 

 decided step in advance, and stood nearly as far 

 ahead of the British as the latter were ahead of the 

 French. 



The explanation of these changes is not difficult. 

 In 1782, the American war vessels were in reality 

 privateers; the crews were unpracticed, the officers 

 untrained, and they had none of the traditions and 

 discipline of a regular service. At the same time 

 the French marine was at its highest point; it was 

 commanded by officers of ability and experience, 

 promoted largely for merit, and with crews thor- 

 oughly trained, especially in gunnery, by a long 

 course of service. on the sea. In courage and in 

 skill in the management of guns, musketry, etc., 

 they were the full equals of their English antago- 

 nists; their slight average inferiority in seamanship 



