stout masts, and heavy cannon. Each carried on her main-deck thirty
long 24's, and on her spar-deck two long bow-chasers, and twenty
or twenty-two carronades--42-pounders on the _President_ and _United
States_, 32-pounders on the _Constitution_. Each sailed with a crew
of about 450 men--50 in excess of the regular complement. [Footnote:
The _President_ when in action with the _Endymion_ had 450 men
aboard, as sworn by Decatur; the muster-roll of the _Constitution_,
a few days before her action with the _Guerriere_ contains 464
names (including 51 marines); 8 men were absent in a prize, so she
had aboard in the action 456. Her muster-roll just before the
action with the _Cyane_ and _Levant_ shows 461 names.]

It may be as well to mention here the only other class of vessels
that we employed during the war. This was composed of the ship-sloops
built in 1813, which got to sea in 1814. They were very fine vessels,
measuring 509 tons apiece, [Footnote: The dimensions were 117 feet
11 inches upon the gun-deck, 97 feet 6 inches keel for tonnage,
measuring from one foot before the forward perpendicular and along
the base line to the front of the rabbet of the port, deducting
3/5 of the moulded breadth of the beam, which is 31 feet 6 inches;
making 509 21/95 tons. (See in Navy Archives, "Contracts," vol. ii.
p. 137.)] with very thick scantling and stout masts and spars. Each
carried twenty 32-pound carronades and two long 12's with a crew
nominally of 160 men, but with usually a few supernumeraries.
[Footnote: The _Peacock_ had 166 men, as we learn from her commander
Warrington's letter of June 1st (Letter No. 140 in "Masters'
Commandant Letters," 1814, vol. i). The _Frolic_ took aboard "10
or 12 men beyond her regular complement" (see letter of Joseph
Bainbridge, No. 51, in same vol.). Accordingly when she was
captured by the _Orpheus_, the commander of the latter, Captain