USS Constellation Captures L'Insurgente

February 9, 1799

In the Caribbean, the new American frigate USS Constellation outmaneuvered and took a French frigate in the Quasi-War. The young U.S. Navy, built in part to meet French privateers, had just captured its first major warship. Americans remembered they could build ships that could beat French ships. The victory vindicated the Naval Act of 1794 and gave the new service a confidence it would carry into the Barbary Wars.