Page:Harris Dickson--The unpopular history of the United States.djvu/110

The Unpopular History of the United States the spectacle more splendidly humiliating, President Madison and his Cabinet rode out to witness the battle of Bladensburg.

The British only employed 1,500 men, but they were trained men; 1,500 real soldiers marched through our paper forces of 93,500, just as if they had been paper — wet tissue paper. After a loss of eight men killed and eleven wounded, Freedom's warriors scattered, abandoning their Capital to the British torch, and yet, according to most conservative estimates, our 5,401 patriots should have easily licked a hireling army of 54,000 men.

Remember, this British fleet had been hovering along the Chesapeake for more than a year. Congress had ample time to get ready, and Congress possessed unlimited power to raise armies. Yet the administration paid no attention to the danger until June. Then they began to inquire of each other through the routine red tape channels, "What force have we?" Answer, returning by devious paths, "2,208 men," mostly recruits, [92]