288 Naval War of 1812 



the proportion may have been very much 

 smaller. 



On p. 117 is a letter of Jan. 14, 1813, from 

 Commodore J. Rodgers, in which he states that he 

 incloses the muster-rolls of H. B. M. ships Moselle 

 and Sappho, taken out of the captured packet Swal- 

 low; and that these muster-rolls show that in Au- 

 gust, 1812, one-eighth of the crews of the Moselle 

 and Sappho was composed of Americans. 



These various letters thus support strongly the 

 conclusions reached on a former page as to the pro- 

 portion of British deserters on American vessels. 



In "A Biographical Memoir of the late Com- 

 modore Joshua Barney, from Autographical Notes 

 and Journals" (Edited by Mary Barney, Boston, 

 1832), on pages 263 and 315, are descriptions of 

 the flotilla destroyed in the Patuxent. It consisted 

 of one gunboat, carrying a long 24; one cutter, 

 carrying a long 18, a columbiad 18, and four 9- 

 pound carronades, and thirteen row barges, each 

 carrying a long 18 or 12 in the bow, with a 32- 

 pound or 1 8-pound carronade in the stern. On p. 

 256, Barney's force in St. Leonard's creek is de- 

 scribed as consisting of one sloop, two gunboats, 

 and thirteen barges, with in all somewhat over 500 

 men ; and it is claimed that the flotilla drove away 

 the blockading frigates, entirely unaided; the in- 

 fantry force on shore rendering no assistance. The 



