Page:Harris Dickson--The unpopular history of the United States.djvu/109

The Tin Horn Defense arms? Where? Not this Spring. But the worst of it is that thousands of sensible folks believe that rot. It's a shame to puncture such a pretty noise, but in 1814 this bugle trump experiment — this tin horn scheme of defense — was actually tested. A British fleet carrying 3,000 troops threatened Washington City. On July 4 President Madison sounded the bugle trump, day of all days when Freedom's blast should have been heard and answered by Freedom's warriors. Various governors were ordered "to hold in readiness for immediate service a corps of 93,500." We had these warriors on paper, upwards of ninety thousand, and their numbers seemed exuberantly ample to beat off 3,000 regulars. Besides, we had the bugle trump. Yet, heedless of that talismanic blast, the redcoats landed. On August 24th every solitary mother's son of our 93,500 warriors sprang to arms — every one of them, except 88,099. For defense of the Capital, 5,041 men actually assembled, without organization, discipline or skilled leadership. To render [91]