The Pensacola journal. (Pensacola, Fla.) 1898-1985, 1916-04-30
Address by Col. W. c. Davis, o. S. A.
at Banquet Of Bankers.

Il
tation; high explosives and shrapnel;
barbed wire entanglements and
mines; telephone, telegraph and wire
less communication; air-planes and
submarines. IF any people could safe
ly forego Washington's adjuration,
''In time Of peace, prepare for war"
it would seem that our forbears Of
1912 were that people. Yet, if we
put aside the misleading "gush" OF
the average school history on which
and doubtless you, were raised, and
examine critically the course OF 1na'
war, we shall find many occurrences
which, if not flattering to our pr1de'
may nevertheless be not without
their value if the lesson is properly
needed.
What Jefferson Wrote.
When the war broke out, Mr.. jeff
erson, who, during his adn1inistra-
ton, had practically disbanded the
regular army, and who had permit
ted the few ships of war left over
from the Revolution, to rot at their
mornings, wrote from Monticello, his
Virginia home: "The acquisition OF
Canada this year, as far as the neigh
borhood of Quebec, will be a mere
matter of marching; next year we
will take Halifax, and finally expel
the English from the American con-
tinent." But the event proved that
Mr.. jefferson like, possibly, another
great statesman of our day, who
boasts that in event of war he viii
raise million men between night
and dawn and drive the invader from
our shores) was mistaken. At that
time there were less than 5000 Brit
ish troops in all of Canada; why,
then, was not Canada speedily IN
vaded and annexed to the American
Republic, as ex-President Jefferson
boosted it would be? Because we
had no trained troops, and the raw,
1 unframed and undisciplined militia
men that flocked to the standard
were unequal to the job. Instead Of
! conquering Canada, the first fruits
of the war were Hull's surrender of
Detroit and the British capture Of
/ Michigan. Instead of assuming the
offensive and pushing the war, we
were thrown on the defensive prac-
tically throughout the whole contest,
and this too, in spite OF the fact
that we enlisted, first and last, over
100000 men, while the British regu-
lars in that war never exceeded IT,
600 and the combined British forces
(regulars, Canadian militia and In
dians) never reached 10000. Instead
of capturing Quebec, the Canadian
capital, we suffered our own capital
to be sacked and burned by a British
raiding party not much larger than
regiment, while 5000 newly raised
militia sent to oppose them, fled in
wild disorder from the battlefield.
System To Blame.
/ do not blame those men from
fleeing. They were as good, and
brave, and patriotic as you or I, OF
any group of men that might SINH
larly be gathered in their own or our
day. But I do blame the system that
would place them, or any other body
Of unframed or haf-trained men, on
battlefield to confront the veteran
troops of some other power.
Our whole military history, from
the revolution to the Spanish-Amer.
lean War, exemplifies the above
statement. There are no better sol
diers in the world than the American
soldiers, properly instructed and dis
ciplined, call him volunteer" chilli,
tia-man," or regular" as has beer
amply confirmed in every war IN
which this nation has participated
but it is worse than foolish-it is 9
crime-tO think that our unframed
masses can cope on equal terms with
the. veterans Of Europe or Japan
We have Numbered through all oul
past wars by calling out enormous
numbers of unframed men, to learr
the art of war during war itself; but
at what sacrifice of money and life
Over 100000 were enrolled during
the Revolution, over 100000 in the
War of 1872, more than 5000 ,0OC
(probably) during the Civil War
and more than 100000 during th'
war with Spain and Philippine insur
rection. The unnecessary losses Of
life and enormous sums spent in thil
most wasteful method of providing
for the national security have peer
simply appalling. More than 81,
100000, 100000 have been paid out il
pensions, and today there are on tn,
pension rolls, from organization
raised during the war with Spain
but which never left the U. S., thu
names Of more than twice as many
men as took part in the battle of San
Juan Hill Heretofore it has beer