“She was a good ship, as well manned and as ably commanded as any vessel in our little navy; and it may be doubted if there was at that time any foreign sloop-of-war of her size and strength that could have stood against her in fair fight.” During the last cruise made by the _Constitution_ in the War of 1812 she was caught in a hurricane and strained so that she leaked badly, and at the last the carpenter, after sounding her well and finding the water gaining rapidly, went to Lieutenant Shubrick, the officer of the deck, and said: “Sir, the ship is sinking.” “Well, sir,” replied Shubrick, “as everything in our power is made tight, we must patiently submit to the fate of sailors, and all of us sink or swim together.” The _Constitution_ did not sink, but the words of the gallant Shubrick show us how the Yankee crew of the _Wasp_ met their fate. CHAPTER V ON THE UPPER LAKES IN 1814 AN EXPEDITION INTO LAKE HURON--THE BRITISH HAD THE BEST OF IT IN THE END--GALLANT ACTION OF A BRITISH COMMANDER AT THE HEAD OF THE NIAGARA RIVER--CAUTIOUS CAPTAIN CHAUNCEY AS A KNIGHT OF THE WHIP-SAW, ADZE AND MAUL--HIS EQUALLY PRUDENT OPPONENT--BRITISH TORPEDOES THAT FAILED--WHEN A THOUSAND MEN SUPPORTED BY SEVEN SHIPS ARMED WITH ONE HUNDRED AND TWENTY-ONE CANNON “WITH GREAT GALLANTRY” ROUTED THREE HUNDRED YANKEES AT OSWEGO--SUPPLIES THE BRITISH DID NOT GET--A NAVAL FLOTILLA CAUGHT IN BIG SANDY CREEK--CHAUNCEY AFLOAT ON THE LAKE--GALLANT YOUNG AMERICAN OFFICERS--LINE OF BATTLE-SHIPS THAT WERE NEVER LAUNCHED. The story of the deeds of the American naval sailors on the fresh-water seas during 1814 may very well begin with the actions in the extreme west. The Lake Erie victory of September 10, 1813, had annihilated the British naval power west of Niagara Falls, and no attempt to build another British fleet there has been made since that day. Nevertheless, in 1814, there were British successes afloat on both Lake Huron and Lake Erie that showed at once the resourcefulness and bravery of the British officers and men--that proved they were still able to damage the Yankee cause even if without shipping.