eon of the 'Guerriere,' under Commodore
Macdonough; and the proportion of blacks was about the same in
her crew. There seemed to be an entire absence of prejudice
against the blacks as messmates among the crew. What I have said
applies to the crews of the other ships that sailed in
squadrons."[5]

This ample and reliable testimony as to the treatment of Negroes as
sailors, puts to rest all doubts as to their status in the United
States navy.

In the summer of 1813, Captain (afterwards Commodore) Perry wrote a
letter to Commodore Chauncey in which he complained that an
indifferent lot of men had been sent him. The following is the letter
that he wrote.

"SIR:--I have this moment received, by express, the enclosed
letter from General Harrison. If I had officers and men--and I
have no doubt you will send them--I could fight the enemy, and
proceed up the lake; but, having no one to command the 'Niagara,'
and only one commissioned lieutenant and two acting lieutenants,
whatever my wishes may be, going out is out of the question. The
men that came by Mr. Champlin are a motley set--blacks, soldiers,
and boys. I cannot think you saw them after they were selected. I
am, however, pleased to see any thing in the shape of a man."[6]

Commodore Chauncey replied in the following sharp letter, in which he
gave Captain Perry to understand that the color of the skin had
nothing to do with a man's qualifications for the navy:

"SIR:--I have been duly honored with your letters of the
twenty-third and twenty-sixth ultimo, and notice your anxiety for
men and officers. I am equally anxious to furnish you; and no
time shall be lost in sending officers and men to you us soon as
the public service will allow me to send them from this lake. I
regret that you are not pleased with the men sent you by Messrs.
Champlin and Forrest; for, to my knowledge, a part of them are
not surpassed by any seamen we have in the fleet; and I have yet
to learn that the color of the skin, or the cut and trimmings of
the coat, can affect a man's qualifications or usefulness. I have
nearly fifty blacks on board of this ship, and many of them are
among my best men; and those people you call soldiers have been
to sea from two to seventeen years; and I presume that you will
find them as good and useful as any men on board of yo