that several of the crew who were British deserters were discharged
from the _Constitution_ before she left port, as they were afraid
to serve in a war against Great Britain. That this fear was
justifiable may be seen by reading James, vol. iv, p. 483. Of the
four men taken by the _Leopard_ from the _Chesapeake_, as deserters,
one was hung and three scourged. In reality the crew of the
_Constitution_ probably did not contain a dozen British sailors;
in her last cruises she was manned almost exclusively by New
Englanders. The only remainder vessel is the _United States_,
respecting whose crew some remarkable statements have been made.
Marshall (vol. ii, p. 1019) writes that Commodore Decatur "declared
there was not a seaman in his ship who had not served from 5 to 12
years in a British man-of-war," from which he concludes that they
were British themselves. It may be questioned whether Decatur ever
made such an assertion; or if he did, it is safe to assume again
that his men were long-impressed Americans. [Footnote: At the
beginning of the war there were on record in the American State
Department 6,257 cases of impressed American seamen. These could
represent but a small part of the whole, which must have amounted
to 20,000 men, or more than sufficient to man our entire navy five
times over. According to the British Admiralty Report to the House
of Commons, February 1, 1815, 2,548 impressed American seamen, who
refused to serve against their country, were imprisoned in 1812.
According to Lord Castlereagh's speech in the House, February 18,
1813, 3,300 men claiming to be American subjects were serving in
the British navy in January, 1811, and he certainly did not give
any thing like the whole number. In the American service the term
of enlistment extended for two years, and the frigate, _United
States_, referred to, had not had her crew for any very great
length of time as yet. If such a crew were selected at random