"The Militia System and the State Militias in the War of 1812" Topic

"General Emory Upton's classic review, The Military Policy of the United States, blamed the "failures and disasters" suffered by American arms during the War of 1812 upon "the pernicious military organization established by the [Militia] act of 1792." Influenced by Upton's preference for a professional military establishment, subsequent generations of military analysts and historians have consistently echoed his conclusion. In one of the more recent scholarly histories of the War of 1812, Harry L. Coles argued that the "militia system" established by the act of 1792 "created a huge army on paper but provided nearly nothing in the way of effectual training and preparation," and he intimated that the system itself was therefore instrumental in causing America's "disgraceful defeats" during the war. Even such advocates of a voluntary nonprofessional military force as General John A. Logan, the founder of the Grand Army of the Republic, criticized "the absurd militia law approved May 8, 1792."

Between 1812 and 1815 numerous contemporaries testified that militia soldiers were often "very little better than an infuriated mob" and agreed with General Edwin Tupper's observation that the American militia reaped "a plentiful harvest of mortification and disgrace."…"
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Amicalement
Armand

Nice find, Thanks.

A votre service mon ami!. (smile)

Amicalement
Armand