ost immediately--December 17,
1813,--a sweeping embargo law, applicable not only to external commerce
but to coasters. As this ended the long series of commercial
restrictions, so was it also of limited duration as compared with them,
being withdrawn the following April.

By the Act of December 17, as interpreted by the Treasury, foreign
merchant vessels might depart with cargoes already laden, except
provisions and military stores, which must be relanded; but nothing
could be shipped that was not already on board when the Act was
received. Coasters, even for accustomed voyages, could obtain
clearances only by permission from the President; and the rules for
such permission, given through the collectors, were extremely
stringent. In no case were the vessels permitted to leave interior
waters, proceeding from one sound or bay to another, and be "at sea"
for even a short distance; nor were they to be permitted to carry any
provisions, or supplies useful to an enemy, if there was the slightest
chance of their falling into his power. It would appear that the
orders of July 29 had been allowed to lapse after the great body of
the British left the Chesapeake; for Morris, still in the Potomac,
acknowledging the receipt of this Act on December 20, writes: "There
are several vessels below us in the river with flour. I have issued
orders to the gunboats to detain them, and as soon as the wind will
permit, shall proceed with this ship, to give all possible effect to
the Act." Six days afterwards, having gone down as he intended, he
found the British anchored off the mouth of the stream, at a point
where the bay is little more than five miles wide. "Two American brigs
passed down before us, and I have every reason to believe threw
themselves into the enemy's hands last Wednesday."[178]

On September 6 the principal part of the British fleet quitted
Chesapeake Bay for the season; leaving behind a ship of the line with
some smaller vessels, to enforce the blockade. Viewed as a military
campaign, to sustain the character as well as the interests of the
country, its operations cannot be regarded as successful. With
overwhelming numbers, and signally favored by the quiet inland waters
with extensive ramifications which characterized the scene of war, the
results, though on a more extensive scale, differed nothing in kind
from the harassment inflicted all along the coast from Maine to
Georgia, by the squadrons cruising outside. Ample d