The war had now lasted six months, and instead of the little American navy being swept from the sea, it had been a David to smite a Goliath. The capture of three British frigates in the three successive combats stirred Britain to the quick. Said the _Pilot_ of London: “Five hundred merchantmen [taken] and three frigates! Can this be true? Will the English people read this unmoved? Any man who foretold such disasters this day last year would have been treated as a madman or a traitor. He would have been told that ere seven months had gone the American flag would have been swept from the ocean, the American navy destroyed, and the maritime arsenals of the United States reduced to ashes. Yet not one of the American frigates has struck. They leave their ports when they choose, and return when it suits their convenience. They cross the Atlantic, they visit the West Indies, they come to the chops of the Channel, they parade along the coast of South America. Nothing chases them; nothing intercepts them--nay, nothing engages them but to yield in triumph.”[33] CHAPTER XVI The British force on our own coast was now, in 1813, much increased. Particular attention was paid to the approaches of New York and to the Chesapeake, which latter region was devastated. Destruction was carried on under the general orders of the British Admiralty to “destroy and lay waste all towns and districts of the United States found accessive to the attacks of the British armaments.” Hampton, in Virginia, was thus sacked with a brutality which even the very prejudiced British historian, James, called “revolting to human nature.” On February 24th the _Hornet_, which we left taking leave of the _Montagu_, 74, at Bahia, was on January 24th off Demarara. A brig, the _Espiegle_, was inside the bar; another, standing in for the port, was the _Peacock_. She was ready to engage, and at 5:25 P.M. action opened; fourteen minutes later the _Peacock_ was a prize and sinking. The two vessels were equal in size and nearly equal in men, the _Hornet_ having aboard 135 to the _Peacock’s_ 122. The _Hornet_ was superior in so far as carrying 32-pound carronades to the _Peacock’s_ 24’s; but weight of shot made no difference for the _Peacock’s_ guns did scarcely any damage. Lawrence, overcrowded with prisoners, returned to the United States, anchoring at Holmes Hole on March 19th. Less than three months later he was to die a defeated man, aboard the _Chesapeake_, the victim of rashness and over-confidence.