Historians tend to agree with the Americans; of the approximately ten thousand men captured from American ships, only about a thousand were actually British citizens.
Britain claimed the right to board American ships and take into custody men who were thought to be deserters from the British navy.
The British boarded the Chesapeake and seized four men, only one of whom was actually British.
The Chesapeake and Leopard, June 22, 1807 The Chesapeake and Leopard, June 22, 1807 Americans were furious, leading Thomas Jefferson to remark, 'Never since the Battle of Lexington have I