_captures_ Java--Essex _starts on a cruise--Summary_

At the time of the declaration of war, June 18, 1812, the American
navy was but partially prepared for effective service. The _Wasp_,
18, was still at sea, on her return voyage from France; the
_Constellation_, 38, was lying in the Chesapeake river, unable to
receive a crew for several months to come; the _Chesapeake_, 38,
was lying in a similar condition in Boston harbor; the _Adams_,
28, was at Washington, being cut down and lengthened from a frigate
into a corvette. These three cruisers were none of them fit to go
to sea till after the end of the year. The _Essex_, 32, was in
New York harbor, but, having some repairs to make, was not yet
ready to put out. The _Constitution_, 44, was at Annapolis, without
all of her stores, and engaged in shipping a new crew, the time of
the old one being up. The _Nautilus_, 14, was cruising off New
Jersey, and the other small brigs were also off the coast. The
only vessels immediately available were those under the command
of Commodore Rodgers, at New York, consisting of his own ship, the
_President_, 44, and of the _United States_, 44, Commodore Decatur,
_Congress_, 38, Captain Smith, _Hornet_, 18, Captain Lawrence,
and _Argus_, 16, Lieut. Sinclair. It seems marvellous that any
nation should have permitted its ships to be so scattered, and
many of them in such an unfit condition, at the beginning of
hostilities. The British vessels cruising off the coast were not
at that time very numerous or formidable, consisting of the
_Africa_, 64, _Acasta_, 40, _Shannon_, 38, _Guerriere_, 38,
_Belvidera_, 36, _Aeolus_, 32, _Southampton_, 32, and _Minerva_,
32, with a number of corvettes and sloops; their force was,
however, strong enough to render it impossible for Commodore
Rodgers to make any attempt on the coast towns of Canada or the