The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1859-09-12

-, ~ tina American frigates--owtng TO q
sTrat sAuit m sos1e qxAStsl. ~ k&SW NOT
~hich-Afeil short In weight, The az. were
profe.sedly armed with long tWenty.t l0r'aend
short thirty-tw The thirty4two pound shot
weighed but twenty -eight poonds, he twen-
ty.four pound shot weighed but twsntylons
pounds. When each sade is credited with its ac-
tnal, noti reputed, weight ofmetal. II will Dc
found that there was very little difference GER
tainly not enough to account for the differences
tetween the destinies Of NE opposing snsps.
Take the example of the Guerrier, 70. .n-
stance British historians tell rs that tne "ka"
m this case LASTED two hours. TO &C. ".n
extent this is true The Guerrier uaa wig
,... th.r- carn--she bore down on the Soneesu-
,,ou--an,a abe began 10 fire on hfr oeiore her
sh,, could reach her, In another sense " -
No, ,rp. Itfakes ;wo tomake battle, as wei
"a . harrain. Thu Constitution did hot reply
~, !. angle gun, unssf her adversary was In
ha,f.ntstol shot distance, and in twenty-nine
,nin,tes after she opened that adversary
struck. having not a mast or spar standing,
with a fourth part of her crew killed or
wounded, and totally unmanageable. In
half an hour HULL had killed and wounded,
in proportions to the number engaged, more
men than NELSON lost at Trafalgar in a five
hours fight, or in the battle of the Nile which
lasted from nine O'Clock at night, of an August
night, till long after the sun was up next NOR
ing. The Guerrisr, moreover, was so CON-
pletely ridled in that short fight that she could
not be carried into port. Now, we hold that
such result would have been extraordinary
had the Cons titution been a seventy-four in
stead Of forty -four gun frigate. The mere
fact of beating the Guerrier is not the Won
deriul part of the business. The marvel con-
sisted in the ease and rapidity with which it
was done. The Constitution did not lose
dozen men, and she was ready for another
battle in half an hour. Let not JOHN BELLS
complacency deceive him. 1t was something
more than superior weight of metal that did
that Job 1t was the superiority of the Ameri-
can sailor over the English, his greater ac-
curacy of aim. his superior seamanship, his
greater efficiency in every respect.
The same thing may be said with regard to
DEcATuR's capture of the Macedonian. Eng
lish writers have attempted 10 disparage DE-
cATUR's achievement by saying that he knew
he had the advantage in long guns, and there
fore lay out OF reach OF the guns of the Mace
DOMAIN, and peppered her at his leisure This
statement, repeated by ALISON, is downright
| falsehood The Macedonian had the weather
| gage, and therefore chose her own distance II
| she did not come near enough to board, 1t was
| her own fault. The reason of her keeping SO
/ far off was ascprtained after the battle. She
thought the United States-which sets very
| low in the water-was the Essex, and she
| knew the Essex was armed with nothing but
| carronades BY keeping at long shot, she
| hoped to serve what she supposed to be the
| Essex, as DECATUR is charged by English wri.
| tiers with serving her. The Macedonian chose
| her own distance, and fired several broadside'
! before DECATUR returned the fire. This he die
| not do until he found that her shot passed
| over him. and struck a considerable distance
| on the other side. The United States hardly
| received a scratch. The Macedonian had up.
| wards Of one hundred shot through her hull
and the slaughter on board of her compre
| hended nearly one-third of her crew. Surely
there was nothing in the difference of anna
ment suficiert to account for such a result
| 1t might be fair to infer, that in nine cases out
of ten the United States would take such 8
ship rs the Macedonian. The wonder is tina
she did it with so much ease.
II the British Admiralty are wise, they will
learn to attribute our naval victories to some
thing else besides superior weight of metal
There was no superiority sufficient to account
for the rapidity, ease and completeness of theii
defeats.