The affair of the _Chesapeake_ had stirred the soul of the little navy, at least, to its depth. There were now, in 1810, in commission, the _President_, 44; _Constitution_, 44; _United States_, 44; _Essex_, 32; _John Adams_, 24; _Wasp_, 18; _Hornet_, 18; _Argus_, 16; _Siren_, 16; _Nautilus_, 12; _Enterprise_, 12, _Vixen_, 12. The whole list is given, as nearly all these were to make names for themselves. Attention, too, began to be turned to the lakes, for war was now foreseen by all naval officers and at least some of the administration. The British had a considerable force upon the American coast, but they were now more chary of giving offence. The danger was emphasized on May 16, 1811, when the _President_, carrying Commodore Rodgers’s broad-pennant, and at sea on account of having heard of the impressment of a seaman near Sandy Hook, sighted a strange man-of-war which stood away. The _President_ gave chase but did not come near until about 8:30 in the evening when, on a hail from the _President_, the stranger fired a gun which struck the _President’s_ mainmast. The latter at once fired a broadside, and recognizing shortly that her antagonist was disabled ceased fire. The other began anew but was soon silenced. At daylight the _President_ sent a boat and found that the ship was the British sloop-of-war, _Little Belt_, of 18 guns. She had suffered severely and thirty-one of her people had been killed and wounded. Offers of aid were given but declined, and the British cruiser stood for Halifax. Naturally the strong tension already existing was increased and matters moved rapidly. On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war. At the moment of America’s declaration of war against England Napoleon was on his way to Russia with an army destined never to return. Spain was being desolated by the struggle of the French and British in the peninsula; all the Spanish provinces in South America were in revolution. With the entry of the United States the whole western world was at war. Our population at this time, excluding negroes, was about 7,500,000; that of Great Britain was about 15,000,000. We had a navy of three large and one small frigate, one sloop-of-war, and seven smaller vessels, with 500 officers, of whom twelve were captains. There were 5,230 men in the enlisted force, of whom 2,436 were destined for the cruising ships, “the remainder being for service at the forts and navy yards, in the gunboats, and on the lakes.” In the British navy were over a thousand ships.