James Madison, the fourth President, was born in Virginia in 1751. During the Revolution he was a member of the Virginia Legislature, and later a member of Congress. He was a member of the convention that framed the Constitution of the United States. and one of the ablest advocates of its adoption. He was Secretary of State in Jefferson's administration, and succeeded Jefferson as President, serving two terms. He retired from the presidency in 1817, and died in 1836.

President Madison was really averse to the war, and he was a vacillating leader. The generals appointed at first were mostly Revolutionary officers, too old to be good commanders. They were selected for political reasons. The soldiers were high-spirited, but undisciplined. They sometimes refused to obey a disagreeable order, or to follow an unpopular commander; sometimes they turned about and went home. They even threatened the life of a general whom they thought guilty of cowardice.

The main purpose of the government at the beginning of the war had been to invade Canada. But the old General Dearborn, who had command of the army on the Canadian frontier, was inefficient. The troops were brave, and some of the officers distinguished themselves in various battles, but the conquest of Canada proved a difficult task. Old General Hull, as we have seen, contrived to lose Detroit and the whole Northwest.

The old Republican party of that day, which was the party advocating the war, had always professed a dislike for a navy. In preparing for war, the whole reliance had been upon the army, and the little navy had been neglected. The success of our soldiers was not doubted, but it seemed folly for a few ships to encounter the navy of Great Britain, which was then completely "mistress of the seas." Yet in the first year of the war the failures of the army under weak officers were overwhelming, and the country was only saved from complete discouragement by the bold triumphs of the daring little navy.

The powerful English frigate Guerriere [geh-re-air] was utterly disabled and captured in an hour and ten minutes after the had engaged the American frigate Constitution. This gave the greatest pleasure, because the defeat of an English person-of-war on the ocean was up to that time almost unheard of. Quickly after this triumph came that of the sloop-of-war Wasp over the English sloop Frolic. One of the most notable captures was that of the Macedonian by the frigate United States, under command of Stephen Decatur, the same who, as a young person, had captured and set fire to the Philadelphia, under the batteries of Tripoli. The year was closed by the capture of a fourth person-of-war, the frigate Java. This was effected by the Constitution, which was nicknamed "Old Ironsides." Under three different commanders this ship won brilliant victories in the war.

When the frigate United States captured the British frigate Macedonian, a young officer, who bore the official report of the victory to the capital, entered a large public assembly, escorted by two other officers, and presented the ensign of the Macedonian to Mrs. Madison, the wife of the President. The assembled guests cheered and wept with enthusiasm, while the young officer's mother and sisters, who were present, embraced him, delighted that he had come safely out of the battle.

There were other victories than these we have mentioned, and some defeats, but the prowess of American seamen excited admiration everywhere. It was a war for sailors' rights, and the sailors were deeply interested in it. The adventurous character of American life in that day had developed a spirit of personal daring well suited to naval warfare. Such was the emulation of officers that in boarding an enemy's ship they actually pulled one another back in some instances, so eager was every one to get over the side of the hostile vessel first. One American seaman on the Constitution, in her battle with the Java, remained on deck in a dying condition until the enemy surrendered, when the poor fellow raised himself with one hand and gave three cheers, and, falling back, expired.

There were many affecting examples of courage in these contests. In the losing fight of the Chesapeake with the Shannon, when Captain Lawrence was carried below mortally wounded, he said, "Don't give up the ship!" These words became a battle-cry in the navy, and a watchword for brave people in difficult circumstances from that time to this.

The exploits of a small navy, pitted against the greatest maritime power the world had ever seen, set the people wild. When the commanders of successful vessels returned to port, cities welcomed them with banquets, State Legislatures voted them swords, and the general government struck medals in their honor.

A little fleet was launched on Lake Erie in 1813, and its officers and sailors were anxious to rival the glory of the American ships at sea. In the Battle of Lake Erie, fought this year. Commodore Perry hung up for his signal "Don't give up the ship!" the dying words of Lawrence. When his flag-ship was riddled and disabled by the enemy, he got into a small boat and was rowed to another vessel, standing upright while the enemy was raining shot about him. Reaching the ship Niagara, he sailed down on the British line and broke it, and at length compelled the whole fleet to surrender. "We have met the enemy, and they are ours—two ships, two brigs, one schooner, and one sloop," Perry wrote to General Harrison at the close of the battle.

A similar engagement took place on Lake Champlain. While the Battle of Plattsburg was raging on the land, the British squadron, superior in soldiers and guns, attacked the American ships under Macdonough. The battle lasted two hours and twenty minutes, and resulted in the surrender of the English ships. So severe was the fight, that not a sound mast was left in either squadron—the masts were splinters and the sails were rags.

Many private vessels were fitted out under authority of the government as privateers. These scoured the seas, and captured or destroyed above sixteen hundred British ships. The seamen on them fought with the same splendid courage as their brethren in the navy. The swiftest of these privateers were "Baltimore clippers."