Herald of the times. [volume] (Newport, R.I.) 1830-1846, 1840-09-24
TEIE BRAVE SUPPORT
TlaE BRAVE.

Cannon OF Tennessee, III WHICH, e'teI eohe
remarks upon his plan of military defence by
Rail Roads for The purpose Of bringing many
men to focus lie speaks Of Gen. Harrison
thus:
Having disposed Of the subject Of my sys-
jcm of national defence until the meeting OF
The next Congress, ! will now proceed to
notice the Efforts made by some OF the party
iociicians, sopvtrs and miitrs, 10 n'isrepresent
my views in respect to Major General Will
liam Henry Harrison, and, without attempt
ing TO repeat my answers 10 numerous qnes'
| IONS asked nc IN reference 10 thht dis''h'
gulshed individual, ] WI here state such
hcts as, according to the best oi my recol
lecliun, will afford an accurate outline Of
what have said in my answers.
| served under the orders OF General fiar-
rs on in the North Western Army during the
principal pnrt Of the summer aud autumn oi
the year iSI3-during part Of which time
held the appoin,nient Of Adjuiant General,
" hich brough, me into daily, and often hour
ly intercourse with him, and though never
with Lin in battle, had many opportunities
of witnessing bis vigilance and devotion To
the service, uhd Of adInrlDg the energetic
simplicity aud systematic accuracy OF his
views. and the zeal aud promptitude with
WHICH he ma, chcd ~ aud fro from Fort Meigs,
through The deep swamps, from post to post,
when momeniy expecting TO enter combln'
cd sryaye and British ombuscade OF from
f,ur 10 five thousand Red and White sava-
pes: from hose cannon, rifle aud tomslawk,
Gentra Harrison was often protected and
escorted by fewer incn than the Life Guards
who accompanied our distinguished General
Jockson upon his Seminole campaign IN the
wear 1915, while the furce opposed to him
was not half as great as that with which
uorrison was menaced. With an equal
knowledge Of Jackson and Harrison, should
be minus, To both, and .nlse 10 my country, Vt
did not declare that, upon The occasions
here alluded to, more trying TO the real SOL
,lier than ANYTHING the field OF battle often
nrescpts. | have never known Gen. Jackson,
whose military homors are beyond oil dispute
IN eyncc more cheeriuness under the prIva.
,ions of food and rest, or more lhtrcPIdily oi
purpose in danger, than HARRISON uniformly
exhibited. Aud, although had the deep
mort .fcation to be unable to accompany nun
from Detroit, in pursuit of Tscnmseh anu
Proctor, which terminated IN the battle Oi
the Thames, October s, 1913, ye, was as
sured By Gov. Shelby aud Commodore Perry,
than whom there never brcaihcd Nuer, or
more chiyalrc spirits, that Harrison proved
himself to be an able General, "without fear
and withon, repr0ach."
It's true. that in the early part of the war
in the fall of l8lI-i3-l felt, and express
ed freely the apprehension, that Harrison
too mn,h Of the milk of human
kindness, and too much caution IN his move
mcnts, tur an efficient U. s. Co'nmnndcr-in III
chef | was strongly inclined to blame him
Tor not sustaining. the gallant army headed
by our esteemed Winchester, defeated at
the river Raisin; and for not controlling and
8 wing the brave Dudley aud his regiment on
the 5lh of May, at Fort Meiss. Blu, care
iul investigation Of the circumstances that
surrounded him, convinced ne, that his dis.
cipline, though mild and patcrnal, was strict.
ly conior mablc to our military law; and
,hat without great caution, such as put il out
1, fhis power to reinforce Winchester, or to
= We Dudley, the principal part Of his di9pos
able force would probably have been sacri
feed, in these, or in other unavalling efforts
To bring the war. in the Northwest to
speedy termination by great battle; when
any time before Perry's victory, great Bat
tie lost by General Harrison would have cx.
posed TO almost certain massacre hundreds
Of families, on hundreds Of miles OF frontier
N. re difficult to defend than any other part
Of the national frontier, not excepting that of
Florida. A frontier where, from the great
depth Of rich soil and muddy roads, forced
march uf a few successive days, often result
ed in loss Of effective strength nearly equal
to that of a well fought battle.
have often admitted. what ] could not
now conceal without fragrant injustice to the
slander,d patriot, that learned IN 1913 from
General Harrison the best lessons had ever
learned in the ar, Of war against savage
foe Lessons precisely such MS III 1915 |
found General Jackson zcalously employed
in teaching TO his volunteers IN the hrs' Sem
mole war. TO these lessons, and more cs-
pscially to that terrible theatre Of savage aud
British war, am indebted for the first i'm
pressions Of my system Of national defence
by Rail Roads and floating Batteries. With
a Rail Road from Cincinnati TO Fort Meigs,
with another from Pittsburgh to Cleveland
and Sandusky, General Harrison would have
triumphed over the Britlsh and Indians at
one tenth part Of the expense Of life and
money which attended his operations without
such roads.
In the expression OF my admiration Of Hur-
rlson as a military Commander, ] am by no
means disposed to compare him with wash
ington or Napoleon--who stand alone, un.
rvalled in the history of their respective
countries. Compared With these ex,raordi-
nary mon we can boast Of 10 great Generals.
Nor shall we probably ever see such men
IN our country, un,il we see our prlncipnl
sea ports IN the hands Of Foreigners, which
we may very soon be obliged TO wi,ncss.--
That seven years war against England,
Franco and Russla, or n civil war, such as
ragged IN France prIpy to the advent oi Ma
polcon, would produce such men rs WASH
lngton and Napoleon, j have no doubt, but
that months, or a year or two OF active ser
vice, alternately against n savage and
civilized foe, dIsregarhng all the approved
principles of the art Of war, can never produce
a great General snve only the great by com
parIson. Compared with all the living Cen
erals personally known TO me, ] have no
doubt but TINT Harrison was, mud is the most
highly qualified Tor the command OF large
army aud consequently the greatest and the
best tor the Office vi constitutional comlnan.
der chef
II is well known 10 all who know mo well,
that have always deemed il wrong Tor amy
mnn Ia be permitlcdio solicit or acccp; the
office Of President Of the United States long
er thln for upe term I desire the clrctio