g his crew.

In October, the sloop-of-war _Wasp_, Captain Jacob Jones, met the
British brig _Frolic_ off Cape Hatteras. Since the vessels were of
precisely the same strength, the contest could not have been a more
perfect test of the bravery and efficiency of the ships of England and
our own country. As respects bravery, it was equal, for the men on both
sides fought with a courage that could not have been surpassed. When
the crew of the _Wasp_ boarded the _Frolic_, they found no one on deck
except the man at the wheel and two wounded officers. The vessels were
so damaged that on the same day the British ship _Poicters_ captured
both.

During the same month (October 25th), Commodore Stephen Decatur, in
command of the frigate _United States_, encountered the British frigate
_Macedonian_ off the Island of Madeira, and captured her after a battle
of two hours, in which he lost twelve men, while that of the enemy was
more than a hundred. The _Macedonian_ was so shattered that only with
the greatest difficulty was she brought into New London.

The command of the _Constitution_ was now turned over to Bainbridge, who
sighted the frigate _Java_ off the coast of Brazil, December 29th. In
the terrific battle that followed he lost 34 men, but killed 120 of the
enemy, tore out every mast, and burst her hull with round shot. The
_Java_ was blown up, and the prisoners and wounded were taken to Boston,
where Bainbridge received a right royal welcome.

[Illustration: THE ARTS OF PEACE AND THE ART OF WAR.]

This ends the history of the first half-year of the war of 1812. While
everything went wrong on land, the ocean showed only a succession of
brilliant victories. England, chagrined and humiliated, declared that
her flag had been disgraced "by a piece of striped bunting flying at the
mast-heads of a few fir-built frigates, manned by a handful of outlaws."

REORGANIZATION OF THE ARMY.

Congress took measures for strengthening and reorganizing the army. The
pay and bounty of the soldiers were increased; the President was
empowered to raise twenty additional regiments of infantry, to borrow
money, and to issue treasury notes, and provisions were made for adding
four ships-of-the-line, six frigates, and as many vessels of war on the
Great Lakes as might be needed. The army was organized into three
divisions: the Army of the North, under General Wade Hampton, to act in
the country about Lake Champlain; the Army of the Centre, under