American waters, and insulted our flag whenever they pleased.
They became legalized plunderers, and no American merchant vessel
leaving port was safe from their depredations.

In 1807 a British squadron lay in a bay on the coast of Virginia. The
American frigate _Chesapeake_ put to sea from Hampton Roads, when the
_Leopard_, one of the English ships, stopped her, and demanded the
delivery of three or four alleged deserters on board of her. When the
demand was refused, the _Leopard_ sent no less than twenty round-shot
through the surprised and unprepared _Chesapeake_, and British officers
boarded her, and carried away the men. This outrage excited a hot war
spirit among the Americans. The government ordered all armed British
vessels to leave American waters immediately. Did they do it? No. There
was no power back of the order to enforce it. The ridiculous gun-boat
fleet was laughed at, and the government was placed in the position of a
weak blusterer. British cruisers continued to patrol American waters.
The people demanded more war ships. The government heeded the demand.
The gun-boats retired, and in 1810 the Americans had four frigates and
eight smaller armed vessels afloat.

In the spring of 1811 a British frigate was seen prowling along our
coasts. Commodore Rodgers went in search of her in the frigate
_President_, and on a pleasant May evening he gave chase to a vessel
which he supposed to be the one he was searching for. As he drew near he
asked, through his trumpet, "What sail is that?" The stranger repeated
the question. Rodgers again asked, "What sail is that?" and was answered
by a cannon-ball, which lodged in the main-mast of the _President_.
Rodgers opened a broadside upon the surly stranger, and after a short
combat silenced her guns. At daylight she was seen several miles away.
She was the British sloop-of-war _Little Belt_.

This affair created great excitement, and from that time until the
summer of 1812 the American war vessels were kept actively cruising
along our coasts. Meanwhile, navy-yards had been built, the moral tone
of the navy had been greatly improved, and its discipline was efficient.
It was almost unconsciously preparing for a great conflict, in which it
was to gain imperishable renown.

Insult after insult caused the Americans to declare war against England
in the summer of 1812. Measures were taken to create an efficient army,
but, strange as it may seem, when war was to be waged agai