sh
captain refused to accept the surrender of the Chesapeake, but took from
her crew the three men who had been demanded as deserters; also a
fourth, John Wilson, a white man, claimed as a runaway from a merchant
ship.

The white sailor, it was admitted by the American government, was a
British subject, and his release was not demanded; he was executed for
deserting the British Navy. Of the negroes, two only were returned by
the British government, the other one having died in England. Says an
American historian:

"An outrage like this, inflicted not by accident or the
brutality of a separate commander, naturally excited the
whole nation to the utmost.

"President Jefferson very soon interdicted American harbors
and waters to all vessels of the English Navy, and forbade
intercourse with them. He sent a vessel of war with a
special minister to demand satisfaction. The English Admiral
hanged the deserter, and dismissed the three black men with
a reprimand, blaming them for _disturbing the peace of two
nations_. That the outrage did not end in immediate war, was
due partly to the fact that the Americans had no Navy to
fight with."

Nearly four years elapsed before the final settlement of the Chesapeake
affair, and then the English government insisted upon its right to, and
issued orders for the search for British sailors to be continued; thus a
cause for quarrel remained.

The principal grounds of war, set forth in a message of the President to
Congress, June 1st, 1812, and further explained by the Committee on
Foreign Relations, in their report on the subject of the message, were
summarily:

"The impressment of American seamen by the British; the
blockade of her enemy's ports, supported by no adequate
force, in consequence of which the American commerce had
been plundered in every sea, and the great staples of the
country cut off from their legitimate markets; and the
British orders in council."

[Illustration: A NAVAL BATTLE.]

On these grounds, the President urged the declaration of war. In unison
with the recommendation of the President, the Committee on Foreign
Relations concluded their reports as follows:

"Your committee, believing that the freeborn sons of America
are worthy to enjoy the liberty which their fathers
purchased at the price of much blood and treasure, and
seeing by the measures