US Presidency
1807

The remarkable action between the Russian flotilla of gun-boats and galleys, and a Turkish fleet of ships of the-line and frigates, in the Liman sea, 1788, will be readily recollected. The latter, commanded by their most celebrated admiral, were completely defeated, and several of their ships of the-line destroyed. From the opinions given as to the number of gun-boats necessary for some of the principal seaports, and from a view of all the towns and ports from Orleans to Maine inclusive, entitled to protection, in proportion to their situation and circumstances, it is concluded, that to give them a due measure of protection in time of war, about two hundred gun-boats will be requisite. According to first ideas, the following would be their general distribution, liable to be varied on more mature examination, and as circumstances shall vary, that is to say: To the Mississippi and its neighboring waters, forty gun-boats. To Savannah and Charleston, and the harbors on each side, from St. Mary's to Currituck, twenty-five. To the Chesapeake and its waters, twenty. To Delaware bay and river, fifteen.