Cheap coastal defence and the naval funding gap

Roosevelt celebrates American ships of the line appearing at the war's close, but Congress funded them slowly and later than they were needed. An alternative coastal-defence scheme used small one-gun boats moved between waterways by horse-drawn carriages. British operations swept past that inexpensive defensive concept. British success at Washington then encouraged an expectation that New Orleans, a provincial port, would offer no greater obstacle than the national capital. New Orleans proved better prepared, and the attack failed. The comparison connects delayed procurement and uneven local preparation to the wartime results Roosevelt used in his case for naval readiness.