Page:Harris Dickson--The unpopular history of the United States.djvu/130

The Unpopular History of the United States Executive Orders which in the preceding foreign war had led to a succession of calamities, terminating in the capture of Washington City. The explanation of this paradox is found in the different character of our adversaries, but more particularly the difference in the quality of the army with which we began the two wars.

The Mexican War broke out three years after the Florida War ended, when we had a large number of well-trained men. Comparing it with the War of 1812 we find that in the War of 1812 the combined force of regulars, and volunteers of one year or more of service, was but 12 per cent of the total troops employed, while 88 per cent were raw recruits. In the Mexican War these figures were exactly reversed — 88 per cent of our troops were either regulars, or volunteers who had seen at least twelve months' service. In the one war an army of 5,401 raw troops fighting in defense of our National Capital, fled before 1,500 redcoats, with a loss of 19 killed and wounded. In the [112]