the
"Chesapeake" was designated was to cripple the organized force of the
British, either the army in Canada, or the navy on the lakes. The
chance of a disabling blow by unexpected action in the St. Lawrence
much exceeded any gain to be anticipated, even by a victorious ship
duel, which would not improbably entail return to port to refit; while
officers new to their duties, and unknown to their men, detracted
greatly from the chances of success, should momentary disaster or
confusion occur.

The blockade of Boston Harbor at this moment was conducted by Captain
Philip Vere Broke of the "Shannon", a 38-gun frigate, which he had
then commanded for seven years. His was one of those cases where
singular merit as an officer, and an attention to duty altogether
exceptional, had not yet obtained opportunity for distinction. It
would probably be safe to say that no more thoroughly efficient ship
of her class had been seen in the British navy during the twenty
years' war with France, then drawing towards its close; but after
Trafalgar Napoleon's policy, while steadily directed towards
increasing the number of his ships, had more and more tended to
husbanding them against a future occasion, which in the end never
came. The result was a great diminution in naval combats. Hence, the
outbreak of the American war, followed by three frigate actions in
rapid succession, opened out a new prospect, which was none the less
stimulative because of the British reverses suffered. Captain Broke
was justly confident in his own leadership and in the efficiency of a
ship's company, which, whatever individual changes it may have
undergone, had retained its identity of organization through so many
years of his personal and energetic supervision. He now reasonably
hoped to demonstrate what could be done by officers and men so
carefully trained. Captain Pechell of the "Santo Domingo," the
flagship on the American station, wrote: "The 'Shannon's' men were
better trained, and understood gunnery better, than any men I ever
saw;" nevertheless, he added, "In the action with the 'Chesapeake' the
guns were all laid by Captain Broke's directions, consequently the
fire was all thrown in one horizontal line, not a shot going over the
'Chesapeake.'"[134]

The escape of the "President" and "Congress" early in May, while the
"Shannon" and her consort, the "Tenedos," were temporarily off shore
in consequence of easterly weather, put Broke still more upon his
m