22 Preface to Third Edition 



fire, until the regulars had come up close to them, 

 when they also fled. The British regulars were too 

 heavily loaded to pursue, and, owing to their mode 

 of attack, and the rapidity with which their oppo 

 nents ran away, the loss of the latter was in each case 

 very slight. At North Point, however, the militia, 

 being more experienced, behaved better than at 

 Bladensburg. In neither case were the British put 

 to any trouble to win their victory. 



The above is a brief sketch of the campaigns of 

 the war. It is not cheerful reading for an American, 

 nor yet of interest to a military student ; and its les 

 sons have been taught so often by similar occur 

 rences in other lands under like circumstances, and 

 moreover, teach such self-evident truths, that they 

 scarcely need to be brought to the notice of a his 

 torian. But the crowning event of the war was the 

 Battle of New Orleans; remarkable in its military 

 aspect, and a source of pride to every American. It 

 is well worth a more careful study, and to it I have 

 devoted the last chapter of this book. 



NEW YORK CITY, 1883. 



