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The Project Gutenberg EBook of The Naval War of 1812, by Theodore Roosevelt #4 in our series by Theodore Roosevelt Please read the "legal small print," and other information about the eBook and Project Gutenberg at the bottom of this file.

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The Naval War of 1812

or the History of the United States Navy during the Last War with Great Britain to Which Is Appended an Account of the Battle of New Orleans

By Theodore Roosevelt

With an Introduction by Edward K. Eckert

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

For their amiable and expert assistance in the selection of the illustrations in this volume, thanks are due to Mr. James W. Cheevers, curator of the U.S. Naval Academy Museum; Ms. Sigrid Trumpy, curator of the museum's Beverley R. Robinson Collection of naval prints; and Mrs. Patty Maddocks, director of the Naval Institute Library and Photographic Service.

JS

PREFACE

The history of the naval events of the War of 1812 has been repeatedly presented both to the American and the English reader. Historical writers have treated it either in connection with a general account of the contest on land and sea, or as forming a part of the complete record of the navies of the two nations. A few monographs, which confine themselves strictly to the naval occurrences, have also appeared. But none of these works can be regarded as giving a satisfactorily full or impartial account of the war--some of them being of he "popular" and loosely-constructed order, while others treat it from a purely partisan standpoint. No single book can be quoted which would be accepted by the modern reader as doing justice to both sides, or, indeed, as telling the whole story. Any one specially interested in the subject must read all; and then it will seem almost a hopeless task to reconcile the many and widely contradictory statements he will meet with.