30 long 24's, or rather (allowing for the short weight of shot)
long 22's, of the _Constitution_. Characteristically enough, James,
though he carefully reckons in the long bow-chasers in the
bridle-ports of the _Argus_ and _Enterprise_, yet refuses to count
the two long eighteens mounted through the bridle-ports on the
_Guerriere's_ main-deck. Now, as it turned out, these two bow guns
were used very effectively, when the ships got foul, and caused
more damage and loss than all of the other main-deck guns put together.

[Illustration: This diagram is taken from Commodore Morris'
autobiography and the log of the _Guerriere_: the official accounts
apparently consider "larboard" and "starboard" as interchangeable
terms.]

Captain Dacres, very much to his credit, allowed the ten Americans
on board to go below, so as not to fight against their flag; and
in his address to the court-martial mentions, among the reasons
for his defeat, "that he was very much weakened by permitting the
Americans on board to quit their quarters." Coupling this with the
assertion made by James and most other British writers that the
_Constitution_ was largely manned by Englishmen, we reach the
somewhat remarkable conclusion, that the British ship was defeated
because the Americans on board would _not_ fight against their
country, and that the American was victorious because the British
on board _would_. However, as I have shown, in reality there were
probably not a score of British on board the _Constitution_.

In this, as well as the two succeeding frigate actions, every one
must admit that there was a great superiority in force on the side
of the victors, and British historians have insisted that this