The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1858-06-02
The Late war.

ffleud has nut In our hands bonnu voiume
of uewspspers published during the last contest
OF this country with Great Britain, 10 which we
Aud mauy things OF peculiar interest AZ the pre-
sent moment We give some brief extracts RON
articles of London papers, transferred to tue jour
ma, before rs, aud which relate to the wondef'ni
naval successes of the Americans
The London Pilot, Of Jan. Is. 1913, begins an ar
,ie,e thus; "Amongst all the painful reflections
arising from the circumstances aud consequences
of the recent naval Conflicts with the Americans,
nothing Il 80 Affecting as the nnquestionao'e fscs
that the losses and sneriugs of the Americans bore
no proportion TO ours. IL has never before been
known, that in an engagement ia which the
strength Of the parties was 90 nearly proportion
ate as 10 require or admit Of an engagement, the
loss was 80 dispropor.ioaate on the conqneror's
mart; nor does this observation apply merely to
the case of spaniard. The great advantage, aud
th srea, distinguishing characteristics OF Britsh
vsllsntry, have always been, that infinitely more
damage and more loss were inflicted on the enemy
than was sustained on our part But, unbappily,
the case is altogether reversed. we,saffer losses
equal IL not SUPERIOR 70 what onr former enemies
have sustained 10 the most memorable of naval
con,bats Of prior wars; and enemies less than
has been suffered by us In the most brilliant OF
lsmentable circumstance of the late unfortunate
conflicts hetweea British and American frigates;
not merely that the British frgates were conquer
ed aud captured, iuactng so little comparative
injury upon their opponents, and suffering so
much comparatively themselves"
Again, il is to be observed. that in former en-
yagements we had such superior facilities in the
management of our ships and artillery, that we dis
charged three shots for every one discharged on tn
part of our antagonists: hut now the Amer ican-
boast of having discharged three to every one o.
ours in the action between the United States an"
Macedonian, and unfortunately the disparity of th"
less bears testimony of the truth OF the allegation
From the London Times Of March -, 1913:
THE public will learn. with sentiments which We
shall not presume to anticipate that third British
frigate has struck to au American This.is an &C
that calls for serious r hection-this and
the fact stated in our paper OF yesterday, That
Lloyd's List contains notices of upwards OF hve hun
drad British vessels captured in seven months by the
Americans Five hundred merchantme en- and three
friga.esi (Aye, and three sloops of war;
'.Can the statements be true; and can the English
reop.e hear them unmovedy Amy one who had pre-
ticted snch q result of an American war, this tins
last year would have been treated as madman or a
traitor. He wonld have been told, if his opponents
had condescended to argue wi bin. that longe e
seven months had elapsed the American flag would
the United States snnihated, and their maritime
arsenals rendered heap of ruins etdown to this
moment not a single American frigate has struck
her flag They insult and laugh at our want Of eu-
terprise AMI vigor. They leave their ports when
they please and return to them when 1t suits their
convenience they traverse the Atlantic they beset
the West India islands they advance to the very
chops of the Channel; they parade along the
coasts of South America; nothing chsses, nothing
intercepts nothing engages them, butt yield them
triumph"
In the dispatch of the captain of another Bri-
fish ship, the Frolic, announcing TO his govern
meut bis capture by the United States ship Wasp.
he states with natcec that he set Spanish colors to
decoy the Wasp into his neighborhood, but, alas
having decoyed her there, the gallant Briton
couldn't get rid of her. aud the venomous creature
stusg him to death.
Another curious fact is that the British journals
began at last insist that the American captains
who had whipped their frigates were natives ofEug-
land They were, but OF NeW England, not Old
England. They belonged TO the despised race OF
Yankees, and most of them were originally from
the merchant service. These "reminiscences are
not INDUCED in to encourage an idle spirit of yaunt
ing, or to pretend that Americans are any drawer
than EngiIshmen, but certainly the sea fights Of
the late war showed that they are superior In
seamanship, in guunery, in maritime enterprise
and energy; that, ip cool aud indomitable valor
they at least equal to the lion hearted race
from which they sprang; and that to America
whenever she fit to claim it, belongs the title
of Mistress of the Ocean.