Guadeloupe station, being instructed to allow Truxtun to cruise independently with the President and one other vessel. February 1, 1801, Barry had with him at St. Christopher, besides his own ship, the Philadelphia, New York, Warren, Eagle, and Enterprise. The Merrimack had recently gone back to Boston with a convoy from St. Thomas. In the summer of 1800, the George Washington, Captain Bainbridge, had been sent to Algiers on a special mission. The Connecticut and the Ganges had been ordered to the East Indies, but, with peace in prospect, they did not go. The Delaware was in Cuban waters. Most of the other vessels, not on the San Domingo station, were in home ports. Barry was soon notified that a convention between the United States and France had been concluded, and he was directed to "treat the armed vessels of France, public or private, exactly as you find they treat our trading vessels." The treaty was ratified February 3, 1801, and was sent to France by a bearer of dispatches, who set out from Baltimore on the Maryland, Captain Rodgers, March 22. The next day the Herald, Captain Russell, was ordered to the West Indies to recall the various cruisers from their stations; she sailed from Boston on this duty April 11. The United States returned home just after this.1

1 Nav. Chron. pp. 171, 174-176; Barry, pp. 405-407; Pickering, vol. xiii, 378, 380, 386; Gazette of U. S. May 28, 1800; Mass. Mercury, April 22, 25, August 1, 1800, January 2, February

About eighty-five prizes were taken by the navy from the French during the war, not counting recaptured vessels and small boats. Two of these, being national vessels, were afterwards given up under the treaty, and about a dozen had already been surrendered on account of being illegal captures or for other reasons. The only national vessel taken from the Americans by the French was the Retaliation, which had previously been captured from the French and was again taken from them. The value of the prizes condemned, about seventy in number, was probably not less than seven hundred thousand dollars.1

The whole cost of the American navy from 1794 to the return of the ships to port in the spring of 1801 was about ten million dollars, of which six millions may be taken as a fair estimate of the actual expense of protecting American commerce against French depredation. During the years 1798 to 1800 inclusive, the value of the exports from the United States thus protected was over two hundred million dollars, and the revenue derived from imports was more than twenty-two million dollars. Unquestionably a very large pro

3, 6, 17, March 13, April 3, 7, 14, May 1, 1801; Conn. Courant, August 4, 1800; Columbian Centinel, September 17, December 6, 1800.

1 Nav. Chron. pp. 182-185; Emmons, pp. 48-53. The prize lists of Goldsborough and Emmons differ slightly; probably neither is complete or accurate.

2 Nav. Chron. pp. 185-187.

portion of this profitable trade would have been discouraged through fear or lost by spoliation, had it not been for naval protection.

In estimating the degree of credit due the navy for its exploits in this contest, it should not be forgotten that the French navy at this period was in a demoralized condition. In the old navy of France, nearly all the officers were members of the nobility. When the service was reorganized under the republic, most of these officers withdrew or were driven out, and some perished by the guillotine. Their places were filled by inexperienced men from the merchant marine and privateersmen. The extreme republican ideas of the Revolution, moreover, were not conducive to discipline, and insubordination was prevalent. Unwise legislation seriously impaired the efficiency of the service, and mismanagement brought about deterioration of ships and equipment. Nevertheless, the national French ships with which the Americans contended appear to have been well and bravely fought. And the American navy also was organized under difficulties, notably the opposition of a large proportion of the people, the inexperience of the civil administrators, and the unmilitary character of large numbers of the officers and men.

1

In his speech to Congress, November 22, 1800, President Adams said: "The present Navy of the United States, called suddenly into existence by a 1 Mahan, ch. ii.

great national exigency, has raised us in our own esteem; and by the protection afforded to our commerce has effected to the extent of our expectations the objects for which it was created." 1

1 Nav. Chron. p. 175.

CHAPTER VIII

PRIVATE ARMED VESSELS

THERE were probably no American privateers, strictly speaking, at this time; that is to say, vessels devoted solely to purposes of war; but most merchantmen were armed for defense, and a large number of them were commissioned under the act of July 9, 1798, which permitted them to capture French armed vessels. As a rule they carried a light battery and a small crew; fighting was a consideration secondary to trade. A few vessels were more formidable. The China of Philadelphia was a ship of more than a thousand tons, and carried thirty-six guns and a hundred and fifty-one men; but Captain Preble says she was "too top-heavy to be safe in carrying sail." There were many spirited actions between American and French private armed vessels. The French, often true privateers, were generally much the more powerful, and sometimes succeeded in capturing the Americans; but in most cases the vessels separated after disabling each other more or less seriously.

Perhaps the earliest conflict between vessels of this class was that of the ship Eliza of Charleston with a French privateer of greatly superior force, 1 See above, pp. 58, 59. 2 Essex, pp. 75, 78.