The Bennington evening banner. (Bennington, Vt.) 19??-1961, 1911-05-08
A forgotten Battle

A news dispatch from Ottawa says
The echo of a century-old war was
heard in the Canadian House yester-
day when Martin Burrell NJ p, for
British Columbia, said he desired to
protest against the decision by the
London authorities that Canada could
not illustrate in Festival of Empire
Pageant the battle of Chateaugay, in
which large American force was
driven back by small Canadian force
and Canada was thereby saved to the
British empire Mr.. Burrell said the
reason given by the British authori-
ties that the feelings OF American Wis
itors to the coronation would be hurt
was absurd. Sir Wilfred Laurier, re-
piled that American school books did
not teach that Chateaugay was an
American defeat. He agreed with the
Canadian version but said his govern
ment had no control over the London
authorities"
There can be no doubt that the
British authorities intended by its
order forbidding this feature of the
pageant 10 avoid the possibility of
wounding the feelings of sensitive
Americans at a time OF national re-
joicing. but the general trend of opin-
ion on this side as it finds expression
in the newspapers is that our cousins
need not have taken the trouble.
Americans are not as"touchy" as
all that They know that they have
not won every battle in all their wars
and they do not feel particularly hui.
inflated by it. especially as no other
people ever did or probably ever will
Moreover, there has never been any
serious amount OF regret in the Amer
lean mind over any failure to capture
any part of Canada. AS a matter Of
simple fact, while in the two wars
with Great Britain it was but the
natural instinct OF strategy for Amer
leans to attempt to seize Canada, yet
even that movement was undertaken
with no help OF an eager prevailing
public sentiment that, apart from
wars necessity, made this country in
tensely ambitious to possess and
govern Canada, anyway Certainly
that ambition does not manifest itself
in the nited States today.
Again the military campaigns that
were made for taking any part of Can
adian territory would not today be re-
garded as very serious affairs, for the
most part. With some saving instan-
ces, they all appear to have been of
a strangely misdirected, haphazard,
purposeless kind of movements that
reflected little credit upon the mill
tary science OF the authorities respon-
sible for them, and the accounts OF
them read today very much as il there
were no very enthusiastic popular sen
timent behind the objects of the
troops. 1t is a pretty hard proposition
to invade and conquer a territory like
Canada and subdue a people like the
Canadians. Notwithstanding the dis
parity in numbers. Uncle Sam would
have to do some tall reckoning to
whip Canada today and it is more
than likely that even If he succeeded,
in gaining possession OF the principal
cities and strongholds he would never
be able to put an end TO the guerilla
warfare that the inhabitants would
wage on his troops and that would
ultimately wear them out. SO the fail
ure of the Americans to invade and
conquer Canada is no more humilia
ting than the failure of the British
to invade and conquer the feeble little
Thirteen Colonies on a memorable oc-
casion that began at Lexington and
| Concord.
Our British relatives were very
magnanimous in keeping the dread
pageantry of this battle OF Chateau
gay out of the program, but the Mes
senger will wager jar OF gooseber'
ries that not one American in a
thousand unless fresh from his school
books knows that there ever was such
battle. If it was there that Amer
lea was Inundated and the Canadian
people were rallied for the Empire,
the American didn't know it until the
show was stopped to save his feel
ings.
BY all means let the battle Of Chat
eaugay pageantry 90 on as originally
planned. Nations are not hotblooded
Bchoolboys or simpering lasses. II