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\n \n 26 NAVAL WAR OF 1812.
loss was natural, as, owing to their having
long guns and the choice of position, the
British had been able to fire ten shot to the
Americans one.
The conduct of the two English captains in
attacking Porter as soon as he was disabled,
in neutral waters, while they had been very
careful to abstain from breaking the neutrality
while he was in good condition, does not look
well; at the best it shows that Hilyar had
only been withheld hitherto from the attack
by timidity, and it looks all the w^orse when it
is remembered that Hilyar owed his ship s
previous escape entirely to Porter s forbear-
ance on a former occasion v;hen the British
frioate was entirelv at his mercv, and that the
British captain had afterward expressly said
that he would not break the neutrality. Still,
the British in this war did not act very differ-
ently from the way we ourselves did on one
or two occasions in the Civil War, witness
the capture of the Florida. And after the
battle was once begun the sneers which most
of our historians, as well as the participators
in the fight, have showered upon the British
captains for not foregoing the advantages
which their entire masts and better artillery
gave them by coming to close quarters, are
decidedly foolish. Hilyar s conduct during
the battle, as well as his treatment of the
prisoners afterward, was perfect, and as a
minor matter it mav be mentioned that his
official letter is singularly just and fair-minded.
Savs Lord Howard DouMass The action
Naval Gunnery, p. 149.\n \n
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