8
THE CHEMAWA AMERICAN
by the whole civilized world as an outrage and a violation of the rules
governing civilized warfare. The act really had a beneficial effect on
the people of America for it caused petty party differences to melt away
and the internal strife that had been threatening the integrity of the
nation was obliterated in an intense patriotic desire for revenge. The
war w7as shortly' afterward brought to an end and the burned public
buildings in Washington were gradually replaced by substantial new
ones.
Recalling the gallantry and efficiency of the American soldiers in the
Revolutionary war it is difficult to understand why, a generation later,
a comparatively small British force could deliberately burn the capital
and escape unpunished, but the spirit of '76 had largely disappeared by
1814. President Madison was sadly deficient as a war president and
his administration in the war of 1812 failed utterly in arousing or or
ganizing the nation's military strength. Although the population num
bered 8,000,000 people the country never mustered at any one place a
well drilled and organized army of over 10,000 troops. On land the
American forces accomplished comparatively little worthy of note except
the work done on the Niagara frontier by a gallant little band under
the command of General Jacob Brown and later at New Orleans, by
Gen. Andrew Jackson and his riflemen. Fortunately for the country a
previous administration had built up a formidable little navy and so
made it possible for us to strike the enemy some telling blowrs on the
sea. The Pathfinder.