Page:Harris Dickson--The unpopular history of the United States.djvu/142



XXI

OPENING THE CIVIL WAR

the beginning of the War of 1812, as you remember, we maintained no regular army. We started from the bottom and built new to the top. Volunteers and militia found no grizzled veterans to show them what to do, or to set the pace for obedience and efficiency. Throughout the Mexican War our regulars not only bore the brunt of fighting, and sustained the heaviest losses, but they furnished [124]