With this brief introduction, and with extreme diffidence, I submit my work to the consideration of the candid, unprejudiced, and I trust, kindly disposed reader.
SAM'L BARTON.
NEW YORK, October, 1930.
THE BATTLE OF THE SWASH
AND
CAPTURE OF CANADA.
CHAPTER I.
THE UNITED STATES PRIOR TO 1890.
Before entering upon a detailed account of what naval experts of all nationalities have conceded to be the most interesting and important naval event of that remarkable century (the nineteenth), whose later years many of my older readers can doubtless remember, I will endeavor to present in as brief and concise a manner as possible, a summary of the events which preceded it, and the causes which led up to it; as without such an explanation the story of the battle itself would possess little or no historical value.
The first thing which it is necessary for me to explain, is my reason for choosing the title "The Battle of the Swash."