CHAPTER XVIII.

Captures Made After the Signing of the Treaty of Peace--The
Privateers--Exploit of the _General Armstrong_--Its Far-Reaching Result.


The treaty of peace between Great Britain and the United States was
signed December 24, 1814, at the city of Ghent, in Belgium. Had the
submarine telegraph been known at that time, or had we possessed our
ocean greyhounds, a good deal of blood-shed would have been saved, and
the most important victory of the whole war would not have been gained.
General Jackson won his famous triumph at New Orleans--still celebrated
in all parts of the country--January 8, 1815; the _President_ was
captured by a British fleet, January 15; Captain Stewart captured the
_Cyane_ and _Levant_, February 20; the _Hornet_ took the _Penguin_,
March 23, and the _Peacock_ captured the _Nautilus_, in a distant part
of the world, June 30. That was the last of hostilities between the two
countries, and let us pray that it will be the last for all time to
come.

In the account of the naval exploits of the War of 1812, I have confined
myself to those of the regular cruisers of the United States, but in no
other war in which we were engaged did the privateers play so prominent
a part. These vessels were usually schooners or brigs of 200 or 300
tons, with crews varying from 75 to 100 men. They left all of our
principal ports, many of the swiftest and most effective going from