When the war started, the Navy only had six vessels smaller than a frigate. None of these were the "small fast sailing ships" the cutters were. The shallow-draft cutters suffered significant losses but managed to distinguish themselves as a fighting force. The cutter "Jefferson" captured the first British merchant ship, the "Patriot", in June 1812. In July the cutter "James Madison" captured the British ship "Shamrock". In one battle, the cutter "Surveyor" put up such a fight against the larger British frigate "HMS Narcissus", that when the "Surveyor" finally surrendered, The British Captain returned the sword of the American captain in recognition of his bravery. The cutter "Commodore Barry" was captured by British forces after putting up a strong defense. In one incident, the cutter "Eagle" was run aground during a battle with a British brig, the HMS "Dispatch" and a British sloop that was with her. The cutter's crew dragged the cutter's guns onto a bluff and kept fighting until late in the day. When they ran out of shot, they began firing back the spent British cannonballs (according to the legend). The War of 1812 saw the only USRCS prisoners of war taken by an enemy until World War II. The War proved the USRCS could hold their own against even the greatest naval force of the time.