them above all, when protected by works so formidable that nothing but a regular siege should have dislodged them-advantages of position may compensate for an utter lack of instruction and discipline. Agreeable as it might be to give the entire credit of this battle to raw troops, their heroic commander knew so well the uncertainty of their conduct in the open field that he was obliged to accept the advantages of a mere passive defense. In fact, at the very moment when the men from their breast works were cheering over a victory still unparalleled in our history, at a time, too, when the advance of a skirmish line might possibly have compelled the surrender of the British army, the commander had the mortification of seeing the division on the west bank of the river "abandon their position and run in headlong flight toward the city."a In a firm address to the fugitives, whose conduct might have been fatal to the city but for the decisive repulse on the other side, he told them that "the want of discipline, the want of order, the total disregard to obedience, and a spirit of insubordination, not less destructive than cowardice itself, are the causes which led to the disaster, and they must be eradicated, or I must cease to command." The number of troops employed in the year 1815 was: Regulars.... € 33, 424 €33, 641 Total OPERATIONS OF THE NAVY. 67,065 The victory of New Orleans, which terminated the battles on land, was followed on the 20th of February by the double victory of the Constitution over the frigate Cyane and sloop of war Levant. March 23 the last success of the Navy was achieved in the capture of the Penguin by the Hornet. Throughout this second conflict with Great Britain, while our military operations with but few exceptions were defensive, the Navy on the contrary carried on from the beginning a bold and successful warfare. Its victories over the enemy's armed vessels were not the only claims it had to the praise of the nation. In support of a large and gallant fleet of privateers it turned its guns so successfully against the enemy's commerce that "in less than three years of our war the captures by sea from England, besides 56 vessels of war, mounting 886 cannons, were 2,369 merchant vessels, with 800 cannons, 354 ships, 610 brigs, 520 schooners, and 135 sloops, besides 750 vessels of various sizes recaptured, altogether 2,425 vessels, with incalculable amount of cargoes, stores, provisions, and equipments, and many thousand prisoners of war." d On the land, too, it prepared the victory of the Thames, and saved the army from defeat at Plattsburg, while its marines and sailors at Norfolk, Bladensburg, Baltimore, and New Orleans afforded evidence that to their subordination and courage was due the luster they had won for our name on the sea. a Parton's Life of Andrew Jackson, vol. 2, p. 213. Return for February, 1815, Adjutant-General's Office. Crippled in the element where before he had deemed himself invincible, our enemy was made to seek peace at the hands of that branch of the national defense, which under the Constitution has thus far in our history been provided and maintained exclusively by Congress. NUMBER OF TROOPS EMPLOYED DURING THE WAR. The number of troops employed at different times from the beginning to the end of the war was: Regulars (including about 5,000 sailors and marines). Volunteers.. Rangers Total. 56, 032 10, 110 3,049 458, 463 527,654 The figures for volunteers, rangers, and militia (471,622) were furnished by the Adjutant-General's Office and represent the number of men who, according to the rolls of the Third Auditor's Office, were actually discharged from the service. The strength of the Regulars was obtained by subtracting 471,622 from 527,654, which, according to the rolls of the Pension Office, was the total number of soldiers, sailors, and marines in the service from 1812 to 1815. The return for September, 1814, represented the strength of the Regular Army at 38,186. The terms of service of the troops were as follows, for 12 months or more, including sailors and marines.. 6 months or more 3 months or more 1 month or more Less than 1 month. Total..... 63, 179 66,325 125, 643 125, 307 a 147, 200 527,654 The officers of this Army of more than half a million of men numbered: Regulars.. Volunteers, rangers, and militia Total.... 2,271 31, 210 33, 481 The number of officers who had received a professional education at the Military Academy up to June, 1814, was 120. In default of an efficient regular army, the number 458,463 shows to what extent the Administration was compelled to rely upon the States in pursuance of the military system of 1792; the number 398,150, which represents the number of men who served for periods less than six months, shows but partially to what extent we adopted, as in the Revolution, the policy of raw troops and short enlistments. If we resolve the army of 527,654 men into different arms of service, it appears that while Congress in March, 1814, reduced the regular cavalry to 981 men, the number of militia and volunteer cavalry, mounted infantry, and rangers, numbered 46,495. a Report of Commissioner of Pensions for 1874, p. 30. The half filled corps of regular artillery of 12 battalions, had it been raised to its maximum, would have numbered 5,940; the volunteer and militia artillery from first to last numbered 25,295. The total Regular Army, which was scattered from the Atlantic to the Mississippi, and from the lakes to the Gulf of Mexico, was never recruited above 40,000 men; the militia and volunteer infantry and riflemen, numbered 394,232. The failure of Congress, at the beginning of the war, to declare in favor of territorial recruitment and obligatory service, affords another result equally striking. The army voted in January, 1812, was 35,000 men; the number of inexperienced officers ultimately called out and whose average pay was at least four times that of the private soldier, was 33,481. Instead of falling upon the 5,000 British regulars who held Canada, at the beginning, and crushing them in a single battle, we allowed them to baffle every attempt at invasion, and to prolong the war till our loss in killed and wounded numbered 5,614. In contrast with our reckless extravagance in employing more than a half million of men the largest force of British regulars opposed to us was 16,500." In order that no statesman may fall into the error that numbers constitute strength; on the contrary, that he may clearly perceive that for want of wise legislation the strength of a nation may diminish while a It is exceedingly difficult to obtain from existing reports an accurate estimate of the total number of British troops in the United States during the war of 1812. But "Brannan's Letters" gives the following data, which is believed to be reasonably British in Canada, opposite Buffalo, from report of Gen. A. Smyth, Dec. 3. 1812. 2,400 2,314 Battle of River Raisin, Jan. 22, 1813; estimate of Major McClanahan Sacketts Harbor, May 29, 1813, report of Gen. Jacob Brown. 1,000 British Regulars at Nansemond River, Virginia; report of John Cassin, 4,000 Queenstown, Canada, June 13, 1813; report of General Dearborn. General Proctor's British forces, near Sandwich, Upper Canada, Sept. 30, 1813; report of General Harrison Battle of the Thames; estimate of General Harrison British forces at Kingston, Canada, Oct. 28, 1813; report of General Engagement at River de French, Mar. 4, 1814 Engagement at Odelltown, Mar. 31, 1814. 2,500 Engagement at Conjocta Creek, Aug. 5, 1814.. 1,300 British forces under General Drummond, at Black Rock, Canada, Aug. 7, 1814 € 4,000 Battle of Bladensburg, Aug. 27, 1814; estimate of General Winder c5,000 14,000 Battle of North Point (Baltimore), Sept. 15, 1814.. 8,000 Battle of New Orleans, Dec. 29, 1814; estimate of General Jackson 7,000 14,250 a Large number. bIncluding Indians. c Of all classes. its resources in men and money increase, let us briefly compare the statistics of the war of 1812 with those of the Revolution: Population of the United States in 1775. Same in 1812... a 3, 000, 000 7,500,000 231, 771 Total number of Regulars employed during the Revolution Same during the war of 1812 (approximately). Total number of militia employed during the Revolution 50,000 164, 087 The same in 1812 did not exceed The number of British Regulars opposed to the Continentals and militia in 1776 exceeded ....... Largest force of regulars and militia employed in any one year of the The same in the war of 1812 (1814). 471, 622 89, 651 235, 839 20,000 The largest force of British Regulars in the United States and Canada any one year of the Revolution (1781) was. # 5, 000 € 41, 586 The same during during war of 1812 (year 1814) was The total number of United States troops employed during the Revolution was.. Same in war of 1812 was d 16, 500 395,858 527,654 The length of the Revolutionary war, from the battle of Lexington till the cessation of hostilities pending negotiation for peace, was seven years; the same in 1812, from the declaration of war till the treaty of peace, two and one-half years. To complete the comparison the reader will recollect that the Continentals and militia in 1777 captured at Saratoga all that remained of the British army which began the invasion with 10,000 men; and that four years later the Continentals, in cooperation with the French, captured a second British army exceeding 8,000 men. In contrast with these achievements, not to dwell on battles like Trenton, Princeton, Monmouth, Guilford Court-House, and Eutaw Springs, the only decisive victory of the war of 1812 before the conclusion of the treaty of peace was at the battle of the Thames, where the force of British regulars dispersed and captured numbered but little more than 800. PENSIONS. Up to the year 1871 no pensions were granted for the war of 1812 except to disabled soldiers, and to widows whose husbands had been killed in battle or died of their wounds. The number of widows pensioned under these conditions was 4,955. The number of soldiers added to the rolls as invalids up to December 31, 1817, was 1,733; total, 6,688. From December, 1817, to June, 1861, 9,483 invalids from various wars were added to the rolls, many of whom, according to the statement of the Commissioner of Pensions, were disabled in 1812, but whose number can not be definitely stated. a These figures are approximated. The population of the United States in 1790 was 3,929,214; in 1810, 7,239,881. Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812, vol. 1, p. 220. p. 545. This included the German troops. Sparks's Writings of Washington, vol. 5, & Armstrong's Notices of the War of 1812, vol. 1, p. 220. Partly through the violent opposition to the war, but more especially through the dissatisfaction attending its feeble and disastrous prosecution, the soldiers who fought for the honor of their flag were never able to inspire the respect and affection which were so freely bestowed by the people on the soldiers of the Revolution. In 1871, however, the just and natural desire to reward the nation's defenders found expression in the law of February 14, which bestowed a pension upon every survivor who had served sixty days. The benefits of the law were also extended to every widow married before February 17, 1815, whose husband had served the same period. The number of soldiers pensioned under this law up to June 30, 1877, was 21,767; the number of widows, 6,913; total, 28,680." If to this number be added 6,688 pensioned for disability, the total number of pensioners up to 1877 amounted to 35,368. The survivors of this army in 1874 still numbered 22,932, who received for the year ending the 30th of June the sum of $2,204,849.35. This gratuity exceeded by more than $150,000 the total expenditures for the active army in 1811, the year immediately preceding the war. But the effect of short enlistments, or short periods of service, in forcing debt on succeeding generations appears still more clearly through the operation of the law of March 8, 1878, by which the conditions of pensions for survivors have been reduced to a service of fourteen days, with no restriction as to the date of marriage of the widows. This modification extends the gratuity to the survivors of a large portion of the 147,200 men who are reported by the Commissioner of Pensions as having served less than a month, and also to the survivors of that portion of the 125,307 whose terms of service for want of more exact figures are reported as ranging between one and three months. Already as the result of the new law 23,000 applications have been filed, and should all of them be granted the number of pensioners up to 1878 will be increased to 58,368, a figure more than double the effective strength of the Regular Army maintained at any time during the war. Moreover, as the pay of each pensioner is $8 per month, the same as was paid to the soldiers in the field, it will be discovered that while the present generation is carrying the debt of the last war, and is supporting the invalids of the Florida war, the Mexican war, and the rebellion, the policy of our forefathers will compel us in the present decade to disburse in gratuities more than three times the sum paid to the Regular Army between the years 1812-1815. But the drain on the national resources will not cease with the present decade. The removal of all restrictions in reference to the date of marriage may make it possible for widows to remain on the rolls of the Pension Office for a Statement furnished by Commissioner of Pensions, Aug. 8, 1878. |