8 Preface to Third Edition 



to ravage large stretches of territory, and needing 

 formidable military expeditions to overcome them, 

 there are now only left broken and scattered bands 

 which are sources of annoyance merely. To the 

 North we are still hemmed in by the Canadian pos 

 sessions of Great Britain; but since 1812 our strength 

 has increased so prodigiously, both absolutely and 

 relatively, while England's military power has re 

 mained almost stationary, that we need now be un 

 der no apprehensions from her land-forces ; for, even 

 if checked in the beginning, we could not help con 

 quering in the end by sheer weight of numbers, if 

 by nothing else. So that there is now no cause for 

 our keeping up a large army ; while, on the contrary, 

 the necessity for an efficient navy is so evident that 

 only our almost incredible short-sightedness pre 

 vents our at once preparing one. 



Not only do the events of the war on land teach 

 very little to the statesman who studies history in 

 order to avoid in the present the mistakes of the 

 past, but besides this, the battles and campaigns are 

 of very little interest to the student of military mat 

 ters. The British regulars, trained in many wars, 

 thrashed the raw troops opposed to them whenever 

 they had anything like a fair chance; but this is not 

 to be wondered at, for' the same thing has always 

 happened the world over under similar conditions. 

 Our defeats were exactly such as any man might 

 have foreseen, and there is nothing to be learned 

 from the follies committed by incompetent com 

 manders and untrained troops when in the presence 



