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338 British naval dispositions. [1812 capitulated, involving in his capitulation other detachments not under his direct command. In all, 2500 men and 33 guns were surrendered to the British. For his conduct Hull was tried by court-martial and sentenced to death ; but the sentence was commuted. The British reaped no great advantage from their success, as Prevost, in the hope of patching up a peace, had agreed to an armistice with the American commanders ; and this respite enabled them to bring up reinforcements. Harrison succeeded Hull ; but under the new commander the Americans failed once more in an attempt to capture a British post on the Maumee river. At the eastern extremity of Lake Erie the Americans were not more successful. On October 13 the American general van Rensselaer attacked Queenstown on the Niagara. Fortune seemed at first to smile upon the Americans, and the British general Brock fell in attempting to drive his enemy back. But, at the crisis of the combat, 3000 American militia discovered that they had constitutional objections to crossing the frontier; and, as they refused to move, 900 men who had crossed were beaten under their very eyes, and compelled to surrender to the British. A second attempt to invade Canada in this quarter was made by General Smyth with no- better issue. But for a series of brilliant ship-actions at sea, the complete failure of the United States land forces, combined with the seditious opposition to the war in New England, might have resulted in peace. But on the element which Great Britain had come to regard as peculiarly her own, the overweening confidence of British naval officers and their neglect of gunnery caused reverse after reverse. In order to avoid provoking American susceptibilities, the fleet on the coast of the United States had not been adequately reinforced before the outbreak of hostilities. The following figures give the sea-going strength of the British squadrons in North American waters at the opening of five successive years, and show the progressive increase in the force employed. Rates 1811 1812 1813 1814 1815 Ships of the Line (13) 3 3 7 14 21 Intermediates (4) 00135 Cruisers and Frigates (56) 19 21 34 28 45 Small craft 73 53 47 70 92 95 77 89 115 163 But it must be remarked that the figures for 1814 and 1815 are not official, and are therefore far from exhaustive ; while of the West Indian squadrons, which are included in the table, a considerable portion was occupied in watching pirates, and, until the peace with France, in protecting British commerce against French privateers. In view of the fact that Great Britain possessed, in 1815, 219 ships of the line and 296 frigates, and had been at peace with France for eight months, the force employed in that year seems quite inadequate.