368     LIGHT SQUADRONS AND SINGLE SHIPS     1815

Although Commodore Decatur's first official letter is a very long one, and contains a great many inaccuracies, we shall notice only two paragraphs. One is: " I remained with her (the Endymion) in this position for half an hour, in the hope that she would close with us on our broadside, in which case I had prepared my crew to board; but, from his continuing to yaw his ship to maintain his position, it became evident, that to close was not his intention." The other : " It is with emotions of pride I bear testimony to the gallantry and steadiness of every officer and man I had the honour to command on this occasion ; and I feel satisfied that the fact of their having beaten a force equal to themselves, in the presence, and almost under the guns of so vastly a superior force, when, too, it was almost self-evident that, whatever their exertions might be, they must ultimately be captured, will be taken as evidence of what they would have performed, had the force opposed to them been in any degree equal."

Passing over the illiberal insinuation cast upon a gallant British officer, upon one especially, who, as the commodore acknowledges, paid every attention to himself and his officers, " that delicacy and humanity could dictate," by the words, " it became evident, that to close was not his intention," we come to an inquiry into the fact, of whether or not Commodore Decatur did intend " to board the Endymion." An extract or two from his own letter will, we think, establish the point. He states, that at 8 h. 30 m. the President " completely succeeded in dismantling her," the Endymion, whom he had previously shown to be on his lee quarter; and yet it was not until 11 p.m. that " two fresh ships of the enemy came up." What was to have prevented Commodore Decatur, had such been his intention, from boarding the Endymion during this long interval ? The truth is, such an idea never entered his head, until some one, after the affair was over, pointed out to him what a chance he had missed of distinguishing himself. Admitting that Commodore Decatur had succeeded in capturing the Endymion, of which there is a very strong doubt, by boarding, he would, it is true, have been able to hold possession for only a quarter of an hour or 20 minutes. Still he would have had all the credit of the thing; and the subsequent capture of the President and recapture of the Endymion, by a force so overwhelming as that which was approaching, would not, in the slightest degree, have detracted from his merit.

Although the President did not inflict upon the Endymion above one-fourth of the numerical loss which she herself sustained ; although, while the latter did not have a single warrant officer touched, the former had three lieutenants killed, and her master and two midshipmen wounded ; although the hull of the British ship was very little struck, and that of the President was shattered from stem to stern ; although, in short, very little

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