On the 28th, the American sloop _Wasp_ captured the British
sloop _Reindeer_, in the British channel. On the 1st of September, the
_Wasp_ captured the British sloop _Avon_, and after taking three other
prizes, this remarkably successful vessel mysteriously disappeared. Her
fate was never known, though it is supposed she was lost at sea.
On January 15, 1815, the United States frigate _President_ was captured
by four English vessels. On the 28th of February, although peace was
declared, the United States frigate _Constitution_ captured two British
vessels of war, off the island of Madeira. In March, the United States
frigate _Hornet_ captured the British brig _Penguin_, off the coast
of Brazil.
The last hostile act at sea took place in the Straits of Sunda, in the
East Indies, where the United States brig-of-war _Peacock_ captured the
_Nautilus_, a British sloop-of-war. The three American vessels at sea
when the war closed each came home crowned with laurels. The part taken
by the American privateers during the war was considerable and a
detailed history of them would fill a volume larger than this. During
the war there were I,750 British vessels captured, against a loss of
I,683 American ships. The spirit and energy of the American seamen,
under all their embarrassments, gave an unmistakable indication of the
future greatness of the power of the United States Navy.
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