The Sun.
London, England, 1821-10-15 00:00:00

But it was necessary that this fl et should first have possession
of the Channel • ; and flip Captains who commanded it, in con-
sequence of the inexperience of miinv, and the indecision of
others (though there were bOnourabli; eXceptions), were such as
to render avictory impossible. As to success after the-lan:ling, I
leave it to eminent military comm.nt-ders to determine by their
skill ana experience the chances of victory and defeat. I con-
fine myself to a statistical view of zgn2ilitary and naval fOrce
of Great Britain.
Instead of attacking the British ctiipire in its'eentre, it would
. .

have been more advailtageous to la-fill:in Ireland. But it would
have been necessary to have made tliis attempt, with a great ex-
pedition. Had General Bilonapatv, instead of conquering
Egypt, proceeded with his army of Italy to Ireland, that coml.-
' try would certainly have been to England, and British
power would have sustained an irr.ipa-rable blow. By landing
in the Bay of Galway, to proceed a..:eiwards along the banks of
the Shannon, a fine position woulcl -have been occuPied. Ire-
land would have been thrown into ineturrection, the natives arm-
ed and organized in corps, and tht, English driven -out of that
island. We fomented the revolt of -the Irish by sending them
trifling succours. They were the I..etZins of their" confidence,
and frightful massacres followed lie.'4surrection.
At the time when our 'i.fantilia.-ttektny, Jiadeompleted its
glory by the cair.;iaign and Erigl-amt;
0-1,; s it,et. Daval Frince anti Spaiiiite'
Cape. Trafalgar, secured a long duration to her maritime ,pre-
ponderance. Being relieved from all fear of invasion, she aban-
doned the defensive system, and gradually adventured an of-
fensive war. She failed in her first attempt against Spain, 'un-
der General Moore ; and against Belgium, under Chatham.,-
Instructed by these reverses, she,.learned to connect more per-
fectly her military and naval operations ; to employ more abun-
dance and fitness in her means, more prudence in her plans,
and more vigour in the execution. The army which the naval
force at Corunna saved from destruction was soon after brought
back by that same force to the Peninsula, where, supplied and
supported by the navy, it balanced during five years the success
of the French troops Portugal and Spain, -Which countries
became the tomb of the armies of Austerlitz and Jena.
The Republic of the United States has gained a real advan-
tage in the struggle which it has had to support, since it has
procured the ratification, at .the conclusion of the peace, of the
conditions which Great Britain refused to concede before the
commencement of the war. Nevertheless, if we are to believe
the English, the Americans have suffered more than their ene-
mies, to judge by the comparative table of the ships of war cap-
tured, as we find it in Mr. James's book :
By the English, 22 vessels carrying 330 guns, having 2,430
men, measuring 6,714 tons. _

By the Ame'r'icans, 9 vessels carrying 171 gunk, having 919
men, and measuring 3,314 tons.

Merchant vessels taken and made fby the English, 1,699
good prize - by the Americans, 1,200.
Nevertheless, the English were compelled to conclude a peace
because to the public 1,699 captures, divided between the ships
of war and privateers, were fltr from being able to compensate
the losses, the bankruptcies, and the disorders caused to society
by the seizure of 1,200 merchant vessels laden with riches
of national industry.
The late struggle, supported with so much honour by the.
United States against England, is extremely remarkable, con-
sidered with relation to the art of naval warfare. At the mo-
ment when the war between the two powers began, the Eng-
lish were satiated with success over our navy. In vain did some
admirable battles prove to them what French ships well armed
and well directed were capable of performing. They knew that
in all circumstances Napoleon sacrificed his navy to his army—
that he made serve as sappers the workmen engaged for
the construction of vessels, and that he used as infantry the
marine gunners and the crews of his ships. England trusted
that he would lead them to their destruction by land, before they
should be in a condition to be formidable by sea.
Certain of almost never encountering any but ships manned
by recruits and inexperienced'sailors, the English abandoned
themselves to security. They relaxed more and more from that
activity and that frequency of military exercise which hadrendered
them so formidable. They looked upon themselves rather on
a peace than war footing ;in fact, pfl Erkglialzsbips,,,eruiSins
in all seas, scarcely in the course of a whole year engaged in a
dozen of single combats which would merit the title of a naval
action. Thus 98-100ths of the British Navy remained upon a
war footing without having once in a year an opportunity of
measuring their strength with the enemy.
At the same time this vast development of naval force, des-
tined to blockade all coasts, obliged them to mix with the Eng-
lish sailors a great body of foreigners, and to add to expe-
rienced a multitude of inexperienced sailors.
The Americans, on the contrary, having only a small number
of ships of war, could employ in the composition of their crews
the greatest severity—paying their sailors high, they offered a
premium for desertion to the best English seamen, and thus
diminished in a dotible ratio the relative merits of British crews.
Besides, the Americans, English by descent, patient, energetic,
and coldly but deeply passionate, like the citizens of the mother
country, were like them hardened to the sea, and familiarized
to manoeuvres by the longest voyages .and the most dangerous
navigation. In these numerous points of view they could,
without disadvantage, sustain a comparison with the sailors of
the three kingdoms. The Americans, in making preparations
for a struggle against their natural rivals a considerable time
before, acted like men who distrusted their own strength, and
who dreaded the great reputation of their antagonists. They
endeavoured, therefore, to enlist on their side all the chances
which prudence could prepare and produce. They had to
create a navy entirely new. Free from prejudices, and unre-
strained by. the obstacles which are opposed to improvement to
the perfecting of ancient institutions, they set out from the most
advanced point in all parts of the art. If they constructed ves-
sels, it was on the best principles, and according to the most
advantageous dimensions. For every _rank of ships they began
by giving themselves a physical superiority in the magnitude
of their principal dimensions, in the number and calibre of their
guns, in the number and choice of, their sailors. Then they
showed the greatest attention in exercising the sailors embarked.
in those vessels. These men, naturally good seamen, became
excellent gunners, capable of firing from a distance with much
preciSion. With the view of rendering more sanguinary close
action, they embarked the best sharpshooters of the Union,
where the marksmen are all excellent. They put into their
hands carbines to fire downwards from the masts and from the
most elevated points of the vessel.
To all these elements of success must be added the enthu-
siasm of freemen in defending their country's freedom, and the
fury of a mercantile people, who fight for their interest,and the
safety of their commerce. It will :then be seen, that every
cause, both physical and moral, combined to give to the last
war between the United States and great Britain the remarka-
ble issue which it had, to the astonishment of all nations.
The study of the battles between single ships which took
place in this war is of extreme interest. It shows how the