of by Regular troops. The United States ought to have a Colonial Department, with a Cabinet officer at its head, and the Bureau of Insular Affairs should be put under it, in place of being administered, as at present, by the War Department. In a dozen other ways, reforms might be instituted that would vastly improve that branch of the Government which is charged with the conduct of military affairs. Too much stress cannot be laid upon the following, viz: (1) The absolute necessity of organizing all American national resources so thoroughly as to render them instantly available upon the outbreak of war. (2) The enlargement of the Military Academy at West Point to its maximum capacity. (3) The advisability of giving to the young men at the various military schools additional training in order to render them fit to become officers. Such training ought, obviously, to take place at the non-productive period of their lives in other words, before they embark in business, professions or other vocations. (4) The extension of the system of Military Instruction Camps so as to embrace a large number of men up to the age of 45 years. (5) The names and addresses of all men who have received intensive military training such as would fit them to become officers or dependable soldiers ought to be registered at the War Department. (6) All military finance ought to be placed on the budget sys tem. It is impossible to emphasize too strongly the fact that all the improvements so imperatively needed by our land forces require TIME. American indifference to national defence has permitted many a golden moment to escape, and we as a people have apparently no appreciation of the Scriptural warning that peace can only be enjoyed so long as one is armed and prepared to defend one's possessions, and that when one encounters a stronger force, destruction is the in evitable consequence. As a matter of fact, the arguments of pacifists are absolutely controverted by the Bible, which lays great stress upon adequate defence and upon the disaster which is bound to overtake those who refuse to heed the warnings to be prepared against war.16 The reason is not far to seek. The fundamental law of life is the law of strife, and in the supreme test might nearly always prevails. The American people have but two alternatives — either to profit by the lessons taught every day by the present European struggle and thus to avert the horrors inseparable from war, or to learn these lessons by the bitterest experiences which human beings can undergo. Adequate preparation for war has never yet in history been made after the beginning of hostilities without unnecessary slaughter, unjustifiable expense and national peril. IT IS ONLY IN THE YEARS OF PEACE THAT A NATION CAN BE MADE READY TO FIGHT. Germany has been the last to demonstrate this truth, whereas England has afforded a convincing proof of the well-nigh insuperable difficulties that confront any nation which fails to realize this 15"When a strong man armed keepeth his palace, his goods are in peace: But when a stronger than he shall come upon him, and overcome him, he taketh from him all his armour wherein he trusted, and divideth his spoils."- Luke, xi, 21 and 22. 16" Then said he unto them, But now, he that hath a purse, let him take it, and likewise his scrip: and he that hath no sword, let him sell his garment and buy one."- Luke, xxii, 36. 66 Again the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, "Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say unto them, When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man of their coasts, and set him for their watchman: "If when he seeth the sword come upon the land, he blow the trumpet, and warn the people; "Then whosoever heareth the sound of the trumpet, and taketh not warning; if the sword come, and take him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. "He heard the sound of the trumpet, and took not warning; his his blood shall be upon him. But he that taketh warning shall deliver his soul. "But if the watchman see the sword come, and blow not the trumpet, and the people be not warned; if the sword come, and take any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood will I require at the watchman's hand.”— Ezekiel, xxxiii, 1-6. fact. In the present juncture the very minutes are precious, and Americans would do well to bear in mind Napoleon's exhortation to Colonel Colbert whom he sent on March 11, 1803, on a mission to the Emperor of Russia: "Go, sir, gallop, and don't forget that the world was made in six days. YOU CAN ASK ME FOR ANYTHING YOU LIKE EXCEPT TIME." Under the American system of government reforms and improvements in our military organization and in our land forces must be effected by Congress. Senators and representatives but reflect the will of their constituents, and, if the American people genuinely desire adequate national defence, they need only to make known their wishes in no uncertain terms. In 1806, Prince Adam Czartoryski, the great Russian Minister for Foreign Affairs, declared that "Bonaparte is the only man in Europe who knows the value of time." It behooves us Americans to take that saying to heart and to remember that few truths have ever been uttered greater than that contained in Lord Brougham's splendid motto: "Lose not the opportunity; by the forelock take NOTES CHAPTER I 1. President Wilson, in his annual message to Congress on December 8, 1914, declared that, We must depend in every time of national peril, in the future as in the past, not upon a standing army, nor yet upon a reserve army, but upon a citizenry trained and accustomed to arms." 2. Brevet Major General Emory Upton, The Military Policy of the United States, p. 305. This was published by the War Department in 1904, thanks to the interest and efforts of Secretary Root, the editing being done by Major General Joseph P. Sanger, assisted by Major William D. Beach and Captain Charles D. Rhodes. General Upton's book is one of the most masterful works of the sort ever written in any language. 3. Trevelyan, The American Revolution, I (part II), pp. 182-194; Bradley, The Fight with France for North America, pp. 8-15, 25-26, 113, 149-151, 233; Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America, I (chapter on The Volunteers of the Eighteenth Century), pp. 3-8; Sparks, The Writings of Washington, vols. I and II abound in references to the Colonial militia, especially II, pp. 123-124, 149-151, 158-160, 172-177, 194-196, 207, 219, 223-226 and 250; Brady, Colonial Fights and Fighters, pp. 170, 172, 185-186, 198, 212, 230 and 245. 4. Huidekoper, Some Important Colonial Military Operations (Historical Papers of the Society of Colonial Wars in the District of Columbia, No. 8, 1914), p. 36. Compare Carrington, Battles of the American Revolution, p. 6. 5. Parkman, A Half a Century of Conflict, II, p. 159. Also Sydney George Fisher, The Struggle for American Independence, I, pp. 16 and 206-207. 6. This was intended to be the most complete non-importation, nonexportation and non-consumption agreement that had yet been attempted." Fisher, I, p. 234. 7. Fisher, I, pp. 217-239; Fiske, The American Revolution, I, pp. 110-111; Lossing, Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution, I, p. 157. 8. Fisher, I, pp. 230 and 293; Fiske, I, p. 109; Lossing, I, pp. 515516; Upton, p. 1. 9. Upton, p. 1; Carrington, pp. 9-10. CHAPTER II 1. Carrington, p. 11; Fiske, pp. 121-126; Upton, p. 1. 2. Upton, p. 1; Carrington, p. 84. 3. Upton, p. 1. 4. The British force numbered about 3,000; the Americans, 1,500.Alphabetical List of Battles, 1754 to 1900, p. 226. piled from official sources by Newton A. Strait. This work was com 5. Upton, p. 2; Carrington, pp. 92-111; Lossing, I, pp. 540-547; Fiske, I, pp. 138-144. 6. Upton, p. 2; Carrington, p. 116; Fiske, I, p. 146. Owing to the dis satisfaction of the British Ministry, Gage was superseded by General Howe. 7. Upton, p. 2. 8. "Fear of a standing army and corresponding jealousy of military dictation, were additional reasons for making the Continental Congress rely upon its own judgment in legislation pertaining to army matters." Upton, p. 4. 66 66 9. These companies were to consist of 1 captain, 2 lieutenants, 1 ensign, 4 sergeants, 4 corporals, 1 clerk, 1 drummer, 1 fifer, and 58 privates." They were to be formed into regiments and battalions, each with 1 colonel, 1 lieutenant-colonel, 2 majors, 1 adjutant, and I quartermaster, all officers above the rank of captain being appointed by the provincial assemblies or conventions, or if in recess by the committees of safety. The militia could only be called out with the consent of the State legislatures. They were specially intended for home defense and to make head against forays of the enemy in the absence of the Regular or Continental Army."-Upton, p. 8. 10. "Such of the minute men as desired it were to be relieved by drafts from the whole body of the militia once in four months."— Upton, p. 8. 11. Upton, p. 8. 12. Four hundred commissions were sent to General Schuyler for the Northern District alone. 13. The returns show that up to November 19th only 966 men had enlisted. 14. The militia were to report in camp by December 10th and to remain in service until January 15, 1776.-Upton, p. 6. 15. "Nothing can surpass the impatience of the troops from the New England colonies to get to their firesides. Near three hundred of them arrived a few days ago, unable to do any duty; but as soon as I administered that grand specific, a discharge, they instantly acquired health, and rather than be detained a few days to cross Lake George, they undertook a march from here of two hundred miles with the greatest alacrity. . . . Our army requires to be put on a different footing.”General Schuyler to Washington, date not given but probably the end of November or beginning of December, 1775. Sparks, The Writings of George Washington, III, footnote on p. 191. 16. "The reason of my giving you the trouble of this, is the late extraordinary and reprehensible conduct of some of the Connecticut troops. Some time ago, apprehending that some of them might incline to go home, when the time of their enlistment should be up, I applied to the officers of the several regiments to know whether it would be agreeable to the men to continue until the 1st of January, or until a sufficient number of other forces could be raised to supply their place, who informed me, that they believed the whole of them would readily stay till that could be effected. Having discovered last week, that they were very uneasy to leave the service, and determined upon it, I thought it expedient to summon the general officers at headquarters, and invite a delegation of the general court to be present, that suitable measures might be adopted for the defense and support of our lines. The result was that 3,000 of the minute men and militia of this province, and 2,000 men from New Hampshire, should be called in by the 10th inst. |