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 @ 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 66 1,200 2,400 British in Canada, opposite Buffalo, from report of Gen. A. Smyth, Dec. 3, 1812. 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 601 1,000 British forces at Kingston, Canada, Oct. 28, 1813; report of General 1,300 British forces under General Drummond, at Black Rock, Canada, Aug. 7. 1814 c 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. Including 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..... Total number of Regulars employed during the Revolution Same during the war of 1812 (approximately).. Total number of militia employed during the Revolution Largest force of regulars and militia employed in any one year of the The same in the war of 1812 (1814) The number of British Regulars opposed to the Continentals and militia in 1776 exceeded. The same in 1812 did not exceed The largest force of British Regulars in the United States and Canada any one year of the Revolution (1781) was 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 a 3, 000, 000 7,500,000 231, 771 50,000 164, 087 471, 622 89, 651 235,839 20,000 b5,000 € 41, 586 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, d 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. more than a century and a quarter after the discharge of the last soldier from active service.a COST OF THE WAR. As the surest means of enabling the reader to appreciate the cost of the war, and to aid him in forming an opinion in regard to the mistaken economy of our system, the following table is inserted, showing the total expenditures of the government in the departments of war and of the navy from 1791 to 1816, inclusive. From the above table it will be perceived that while through motives of economy and dread of a standing army, the expenditures of the Government for the twenty-one years preceding the war, amounted to $35,669,930.65; the same for the ensuing five years amounted to $82,627,009.14. The expenditures for the Navy during the preceding eighteen years was $27,150,424.81; the same during the ensuing five years, which were largely increased by our failures on land, were $30,285,534.40. a From Annual Report of the Commissioner of Pensions, June 30, 1903.-EDITORS. The number of pensioners in 1903 and amounts paid, according to wars, is as follows: |