As you know George Washington wasn’t bashful about going to war—even with an army of untrained, unschooled, and even unpaid farmers, merchants, and shopkeepers. And look what he did with the British!
Thomas Jefferson was not known for his willingness to fight. But when the Barbary Pirates continued their demands for payments of ransoms for ships captured in the Mediterranean, Jefferson refused to meet their demands. Instead he sent ships to fight the pirates (think Muslims). He had to request more men and ships to meet the test.