THE AMERICAN MILITIA.
In the grand tapestry of world history, military statures of nations wax and wane, perceptions oscillate from fear to indifferent confidence, and the pivotal role that these perceptions play in global politics cannot be understated. In this retrospect, we delve into an antiquated portrayal of the American military militia, circa 1850. Tracing the revelations of the British newspaper, "John Bull's London Telegraph," on October 29th of the year in focus, we unravel a narrative seasoned with concern and estimation of the burgeoning American military might and its potential impact. As the sands of time have shifted, such observations provide an underlying framework that has constantly shaped global geopolitics and transfers of power.
The London Telegraph candidly places the American military militia on a pedestal, observing: "The Americans, on the contrary, possess the finest organized militia in the world. Their riflemen are faultless." This assertion stood in stark contrast to the station of the British forces at the time, amassed in conflict-ridden Crimea, indicating a fearful respect for the military prowess of the United States.
The appeal of American self-determinism and claimed military abilities seems to shine markedly through this aged narrative. Each American, according to the Telegraph's account, carries the potential of presidency or high command – a testament to the democratic ethos that still pulses at the heart of American society.
Further in the text, the notion of an inherently 'military nation' is ascribed to America - a notion that continues to permeate discussions on American foreign policy in the modern day. Even in the mid-19th century, the Telegraph anticipated the United States' ascension to a formidable power, prophesizing that "no nation can stay their destiny."
American history, right from its inception, is peppered with tales of fearless citizens-turned-soldiers fighting valiantly in the face of danger. As the Telegraph sources, each man to join the American ranks had "handled the rifle with unerring aim, bivouacked, winter and summer, in the forest and the prairie." Today, the spirit of this legacy can still be traced in the Veterans Day commemorations, stories of heroics passed down generations, and a sense of national pride deeply rooted in a determined fight for freedom.
The Telegraph's disclosure concludes with a grim prophecy for the British Empire. It fears that any hostilities with the United States would signal the downfall of England's supremacy – the crumbling of a colonial empire that spread its wings across the Atlantic and the Pacific. The newspaper ominously implies that the dominos of collapse would set in motion – the Americas, the West Indies, the Bermudas, and even as far as Australia and Tasmania would break away from the motherland.
The narrative becomes all the more poignant given the hindsight of subsequent global rebalancing, which transfers power from European powers to the United States and other thriving democracies. This sequence may have been the first of many knells in the eventual decline of the British Empire and the ascension of the United States - a new world superpower.
Walking down the alley of history often yields perspectives that appear prophetic when viewed through lenses honed by subsequent events. The Telegraph's account from 1850 provides such a lens, reminding us how perceptions of the past can shape the contours of our present reality. Today, these insights call for reflection and debate on the nature of power, the inevitability of change, and the cyclical process of ascendancy and decline in the global milieu. And so, we continue this wheel of introspection and learning as we brace for the currents of the future. As the Telegraph account chillingly foretells, "that which is now below would rise uppermost," reminding us to remain vigilant, adaptable, and forever students of our layered, intricate human history.
**Citation**:
- Trinity Journal, [THE AMERICAN MILITIA., 1856-01-26]
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/
Original Article:
As held in the estimation of John Bull, Esq., No 1, first floor, Anglo Terrace, next door to La Belle France. John Bull's London Telegraph, of Oct. 29th, says : “ As to our being able to effect any military operations in a war with the United States, that is a farce. We have now some fifty thousand men in the Crimea, which constitutes the larger portion of the rank and file of the British army. The Americans, on the contrary, possess the finest organized militia in the world. Their riflemen are faultless. It is not too much to say that, within one month of a declaration of hostilities, the Americans could, and would, muster an army of some five hundred thousand men on the British frontiers. And, although hastily summoned to arms, they would not be raw recruits, as ours, but well trained soldiers, for each one, in the adventurings in the backwoods, has handled the rifle with unerring aim ; bivouacked, winter and summer, in the forest and the prairie ; pioneers of the wilderness ! men inured to danger and hardship—trained with the long rifle in hand from earliest boyhood ; their own commisariat and engineers ; at home in every position—whether training the wild Indian, or engaged in the bear or moose hunt—on foot or on horseback—on the ‘log cob' or in the canoe ; wild, determined, fearless, wiry, up to every work ; each and every one of whom considers himself to be President or Commander-in-Cliief—such would form the rank and file of an army of 500,000 down-Easters on our frontiers ; and work well too. The Americans are peculiarly a military nation. They possess the qualifications for generalship, in which we are greviously deficient. There are hundreds amongst them who could command an army of invasion with the most brilliant genius. They are fully up to their work as soldiers ; and, as tacticians, they are not one whit degenerated from their fathers who drove us from the Union in 1776, and combatted with us in 1814. As to martial enthusiasm, there in no bound to it. We are cold and phlegmatic ; the Americans fiery and ambitious. The future of that people is to be a great military nation, which will sweep the Amcrican continents from Hudson’s Bay, on the north, to Cape Horn, on the South, and no nation can stay their destiny. An American army would advance from Maine into New-Brunswick, and St. John and Frederickton would fall without a blow. Another army would simultaneously cross the St. Lawrence, and invest Montreal and Quebec. From New York State Kingston and Toronto would be summoned to surrender. The lakes would swarm with American armed steamers. Bombard New York, and the cities of Canada would be razed to the ground. The knowledge of this fact forms the strongest fortifications necessary to protect the Atlantic cities. No power we have in the Canadas, with all their loyal inhabitants, could preserve them to us.— They would be invaded at fifty points at once, and in one great combined movement the Provinces would be wrested forever from the mother country. So much for the commencement of the war—what would be the prospect of its termination ? The West India Islands and the Bermudas, one by one, would fall to the Americans. Thus, our trans-atlantic possession would be lost. During this time Australia would improve upon our difficulties, and it is not too much to add that Tasmania would hoist the lone star of independence. Our colonies lost to us in the Atlantic and the Pacific, England would, in truth, have achieved a grand success to remunerate her for going to war about Cuba. We would impress this fact, upon our readers. The declaration of hostilities with the United States would sound the first knell to England’s supremacy as a nation.— Not only should we be worsted abroad, but at home—in the general commotion of affairs which would follow—dynasties might change, constitutions be overturned ; that which is now below would rise uppermost, and, in the frothing cauldron of our “ hell broth,” things stranger might occur in the world’s history than the child assuming the power and position once maintained by the parent.”
The London Telegraph candidly places the American military militia on a pedestal, observing: "The Americans, on the contrary, possess the finest organized militia in the world. Their riflemen are faultless." This assertion stood in stark contrast to the station of the British forces at the time, amassed in conflict-ridden Crimea, indicating a fearful respect for the military prowess of the United States.
The appeal of American self-determinism and claimed military abilities seems to shine markedly through this aged narrative. Each American, according to the Telegraph's account, carries the potential of presidency or high command – a testament to the democratic ethos that still pulses at the heart of American society.
Further in the text, the notion of an inherently 'military nation' is ascribed to America - a notion that continues to permeate discussions on American foreign policy in the modern day. Even in the mid-19th century, the Telegraph anticipated the United States' ascension to a formidable power, prophesizing that "no nation can stay their destiny."
American history, right from its inception, is peppered with tales of fearless citizens-turned-soldiers fighting valiantly in the face of danger. As the Telegraph sources, each man to join the American ranks had "handled the rifle with unerring aim, bivouacked, winter and summer, in the forest and the prairie." Today, the spirit of this legacy can still be traced in the Veterans Day commemorations, stories of heroics passed down generations, and a sense of national pride deeply rooted in a determined fight for freedom.
The Telegraph's disclosure concludes with a grim prophecy for the British Empire. It fears that any hostilities with the United States would signal the downfall of England's supremacy – the crumbling of a colonial empire that spread its wings across the Atlantic and the Pacific. The newspaper ominously implies that the dominos of collapse would set in motion – the Americas, the West Indies, the Bermudas, and even as far as Australia and Tasmania would break away from the motherland.
The narrative becomes all the more poignant given the hindsight of subsequent global rebalancing, which transfers power from European powers to the United States and other thriving democracies. This sequence may have been the first of many knells in the eventual decline of the British Empire and the ascension of the United States - a new world superpower.
Walking down the alley of history often yields perspectives that appear prophetic when viewed through lenses honed by subsequent events. The Telegraph's account from 1850 provides such a lens, reminding us how perceptions of the past can shape the contours of our present reality. Today, these insights call for reflection and debate on the nature of power, the inevitability of change, and the cyclical process of ascendancy and decline in the global milieu. And so, we continue this wheel of introspection and learning as we brace for the currents of the future. As the Telegraph account chillingly foretells, "that which is now below would rise uppermost," reminding us to remain vigilant, adaptable, and forever students of our layered, intricate human history.
**Citation**:
- Trinity Journal, [THE AMERICAN MILITIA., 1856-01-26]
https://cdnc.ucr.edu/
Original Article:
As held in the estimation of John Bull, Esq., No 1, first floor, Anglo Terrace, next door to La Belle France. John Bull's London Telegraph, of Oct. 29th, says : “ As to our being able to effect any military operations in a war with the United States, that is a farce. We have now some fifty thousand men in the Crimea, which constitutes the larger portion of the rank and file of the British army. The Americans, on the contrary, possess the finest organized militia in the world. Their riflemen are faultless. It is not too much to say that, within one month of a declaration of hostilities, the Americans could, and would, muster an army of some five hundred thousand men on the British frontiers. And, although hastily summoned to arms, they would not be raw recruits, as ours, but well trained soldiers, for each one, in the adventurings in the backwoods, has handled the rifle with unerring aim ; bivouacked, winter and summer, in the forest and the prairie ; pioneers of the wilderness ! men inured to danger and hardship—trained with the long rifle in hand from earliest boyhood ; their own commisariat and engineers ; at home in every position—whether training the wild Indian, or engaged in the bear or moose hunt—on foot or on horseback—on the ‘log cob' or in the canoe ; wild, determined, fearless, wiry, up to every work ; each and every one of whom considers himself to be President or Commander-in-Cliief—such would form the rank and file of an army of 500,000 down-Easters on our frontiers ; and work well too. The Americans are peculiarly a military nation. They possess the qualifications for generalship, in which we are greviously deficient. There are hundreds amongst them who could command an army of invasion with the most brilliant genius. They are fully up to their work as soldiers ; and, as tacticians, they are not one whit degenerated from their fathers who drove us from the Union in 1776, and combatted with us in 1814. As to martial enthusiasm, there in no bound to it. We are cold and phlegmatic ; the Americans fiery and ambitious. The future of that people is to be a great military nation, which will sweep the Amcrican continents from Hudson’s Bay, on the north, to Cape Horn, on the South, and no nation can stay their destiny. An American army would advance from Maine into New-Brunswick, and St. John and Frederickton would fall without a blow. Another army would simultaneously cross the St. Lawrence, and invest Montreal and Quebec. From New York State Kingston and Toronto would be summoned to surrender. The lakes would swarm with American armed steamers. Bombard New York, and the cities of Canada would be razed to the ground. The knowledge of this fact forms the strongest fortifications necessary to protect the Atlantic cities. No power we have in the Canadas, with all their loyal inhabitants, could preserve them to us.— They would be invaded at fifty points at once, and in one great combined movement the Provinces would be wrested forever from the mother country. So much for the commencement of the war—what would be the prospect of its termination ? The West India Islands and the Bermudas, one by one, would fall to the Americans. Thus, our trans-atlantic possession would be lost. During this time Australia would improve upon our difficulties, and it is not too much to add that Tasmania would hoist the lone star of independence. Our colonies lost to us in the Atlantic and the Pacific, England would, in truth, have achieved a grand success to remunerate her for going to war about Cuba. We would impress this fact, upon our readers. The declaration of hostilities with the United States would sound the first knell to England’s supremacy as a nation.— Not only should we be worsted abroad, but at home—in the general commotion of affairs which would follow—dynasties might change, constitutions be overturned ; that which is now below would rise uppermost, and, in the frothing cauldron of our “ hell broth,” things stranger might occur in the world’s history than the child assuming the power and position once maintained by the parent.”
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