SPEECH
07
COR W I IT,
. or oiiio,
K)n the proportion to jLnstrvct the
Committee of ItfaytvnJ Meant to
report an appropriation 'for the
' continuation of the Cumberland
EoqiL S A, AvA
Ilotxa or Rmisist arms,
; February 15, 1340. , $
Mr. CORWTN, of Ohio, rose and
aid: Mr. Speaker; I am admonished,
hj the eager solicitations of gentlemen
around me to give way Jor amotion to
adjourn, of that practice of the House,
which accords us more of leisure on
4hU day, wan U allowed ns oQ any other
day of the week. The servants of other
good masters are, 1 believe, indulged in
a aort, of aatornalium in the afternoon of
Saturday, an! we have supposed, that
our kind masters, the people, might be
willing to grant us, their mbst faithful
k- iImm a aifnila rtrita fnurt tml It ia
Dow cast three o'clock in the afternoon,
and I should be mr willing to pause
. in the discussion, were I not urged by
those menacing cries of "Go on,' from
various parts , of the House. In this
state of things, I eannot hope to sum
mon to any thing like attention the un-
3uiet minds of many, or jaded and worn
oirn facCliea of a still larger portion
of the House. I hope, bo wever, the
House will not withold from me a boon,
which I have often seen granted to oth
ers, that is, the privilege of speaking
without being oppressed by a crowded
audience, which is accompanied by this
additional advantage, that the orator
thus situated can at least listen to and
hear himself. ; '
x If you, Mr. Speaker, and the mem
hers of this House, have riven that at-
t teuton - to toe speech i me genueman
from Michigan, (lr. Crary,) made yes
terday, which some of us here thought
it-our duty to bestow, 1 am sure the
novelty of the scene, to say nothing
more of it, must nave arrested your cu
' riosity, if, indeed, it Ad not give rise to
profound reflection, i -
I need not remind the House, that it is
rule here (as I suppose it is every
where else, where' men distune bv anv
rule at all) that what la said in debate
should be relevant aid pertinent to the
subject ander discussion. Ine Question
before us, is a proposition to instruct the
tomnaiuee pi ways ana jieans io re-
port a bill granting four hundred aud
fcfty thousand dollars to continue the
. ' the States of Ohio, Indians; and Illinois.
The objections to the measure are, ei
ther. haj this Government is in ho sense
bound by compact to.make the road, or
that it W nn a anrlr nf anv nfitinnul pnn.
mm mv. mt - v r " j mm . w m i w-b -
- cern. but meretv of -local interest, or
, W ( at, '
that iba present exhausted state of the
. Treasury wiD no; warrant the appro
OTjation, admitting the object of it to ht
- winy wunin mm eoniumuonai province
of Congress.
If the gentiemap from South Carolina,
. ' (Mr fkkens,) and the gentleman from
MaSne, (Mr. Parris,) woo consider the
Cumberland road a work of mere sec
tional advantage to a very small portion
of the people, hate attended to the sage
disquisitions of the gentleman from
Michigan on the art of war, they must
nowcither come to me conclusion, that
almost. the. whole of the gentleman's
speech w what old-fashioned people
would call a noa tequttur," or else
that this road connects itself with not
merelv the military defence! nf th ITn
ion, tut is interwoven; most intimately,
wun us progress oi science, od espe
. daily that most difficult of all sciences,
. the application of strategy to the. exi
: ... ccncies of barbarian warfare. It will
"TbViecn7ihartheiaFsec
long-rcactucg understanding of the een
tlcman'. from Michigan has discovered
- that, before we can vote with -a clea r
conscience on the instructions proposed,
, we must be 'well informed ss to the
number of Indians, who fought at the
battle cf 1 ippecanoe in 1811) how; the
savages were ainicq, wneincr rea
Liacx, or owe, or wuetner an were
Llcnded on their barbarian faces. Fur
ther, according to his views 'of the sub-
jeet, before we vote money to make a
road, we must know and approve of
, vt nai uencrai inrnson inougni, saia
and did, at the battle of 1 ippecanoe!
Again, upon this "process , of reason
in?, we must inquire where a cenera
should be when a battle begins, especial
ly in the night, and what his position
during the fight, and where he should
be found when it is over; and particu
larly "fiow a Kentuckian behaves him
self, when he bears an Indian war-
wh'op in day or, night. And, after sct
tlire all these puzzting propositions, still
0iust fully understand haw, sod by
t!.2
Ths
:s was
foughu and in what manner it then and
there became our trocps, re Jar and
mii'itia, to conduct themselves. Sir, it
must te obvious, that if these topics ate
gcrmain to the subject, then does the
Cumberland road encompass air the in
terests, and all the subjects, that touch
the rights, duties, and destinies of the
civilized word; and I hope we shall
hear no more, from Southern gentleman,
of the narrow, sectional, or unconstitu
tional character of the proposed meas
ure That branch of the subject is. I
hope, forever quieted, perhaps uninten
tionally, by the gentleman from Michi-
gan. tut military criticism, u it nas
not answered the purposes intended.
has at least done some service to the
Cumberland road." ' And if my poor
ailing comprehension has not blunder.
ed, in pursuing the soaring upward flight
of my friend from Michigan, he has in
this dCcussion written a new chapter in
the Mreuta philotophandij ana made
not ourselves only, but the whole world
his debtors in gratitude, bv overtsrning
the old worn out principfes of the "in
ductive system." '. ' .
Mr. opeateT, there have beeo manv
and ponderous volumes written, and va
rioMS unctiouf discourses delivered, 'on
the doctrine of association." pugaW
Stewart, a Scotch 'gentleman of no
mean pretensions in bis day, tnougnt
much, and wrote much concernine that
principle in (rental philosophy ; and
Brown, another of the same school, but
of later dale, has also written and said
much on the same subject This latter
gentleman, I think, calls it utvKgtt-
iwn but never, 1 venture to say, did
any metaphysician, pushing his research
es furthest, and deepest, into that occult
science, dream that would come to pass,
which we nave discovered and clearly
developed that is, that two subjects so
unlike, as an appropriation to road in
1640, and the proper tactics in Indian
war m 1811, were not jnerely .akin, but
actually, identically the same. : :
Mr. speaker, this discussion, I should
think, if sot absolutely absurd and utter
ly ridiculous, which my respect for the
gentleman from Michigan, and the A-
mertean Congress, will not allow me to
suppose, ha elicited another trait in the
American character, which has been the
subject of great admiration with iotet-
Hgenrrraveners rrom me old world.
t Qreijroera have admired the ease with
which us Ysnkees, ss they call us, can
turn our hands to any business or pur
suit, public or private ; apd this has
been brought forward, by our own peo
ple, as a proof that man, in this great
and free republic, is a being very far
superior to the same animal in other
parts oflhe globe less favored than ours.
A proof of the most convincing charac
ter of this truth, to flattering to our na-
uonai pnoe, u exniouea oeioro our eyes,
in the gentleman from Michigan, deliv
ering to the world a , crave lecture on
the campaigns of General Harrison, in
cluding a variety of very interesting
military events. In the years 161 1, 1613,
and 1813, In ail other countries, and
in all former times before now, a een
tlcman who would either speak: or be
listened to on the subject of war. in
volvinz subtlo criticisms on strategy, and
cnruiui reviews oi marc nes, seiges, oat
lies, regular; and casual, and irregular
onslaughts, would, be reqoired to show,
nrsr, that he studied much, investigated
fully, and digested well: the science, and
history of Ms subject But here, sir, no
such painful preparation is required;
witness the gentlcrsan. from Michigan.
tie nas announced to the House that he
is a militia general on the peace, esta-
Diisnmeni:: mat, ne is a lawyer we
know, tolerably wclfread in ,Tid4s
Practice and Epinse'i Nisi Prkis.
These studies, so happily, adapted to the
subject of war, with aa ippointn.ent in
the . milititia in time of peace furnish
him,-t -oncerwitb-all the-knowledge
necessary to discourse to us. as from
high authority, upon" all the' mysteries
in the ' u trade of death.". Again, Mr.
opearer, u must occur to every one,
that toe, to whom these .questions 'are
submitted, and these military Criticisms
are addressed, being all colonels at least,
and most ol us. like the eentleman him
self, brigadiers, are,' of all conceivable
iriDunaia, nest quaiined to decide anv
nice point, connected with military sci
ence. I hope the House will not be
alarmed by an impression, that I am
about to discuss one or the other, of the
military questions now before us , at
length, but I wish to submit a remark
or twe, by . way of preparing us Tor a
proper appreciation of the merits of the
discourse we have heard. . I trust, as
we are all brother offices, that the sen
tleman from Michigan, and the two
nunarea ana lorjy colonels, or cctierals
of this honorable House, will receive
what I have to say, as coming from an
old brother irt arms, and addressed to
them in a rpirit of candor)
whom, ths tattle cf
"Such as L cr.es comrshsfiCe,
.Rtpossng t::er t;ctory.''7
C!r, we all trow, t' j r.:V.:,:tr i
of the gentleman from Michigan, before
he was promoted. -1 lake it to te, be
yond a reasonable doubt, that he perused
with great care the title pars ol Hiaron
Steuben." Nayrl-go further; as the
gentleman has incidentally assured us
be is prone to look into musty and neg
lected volcmes, 1 venture to assert, with
out vouching the fact from personal
knowledge, that he has prosecuted his
researches so far as to be able lo know
that the rear rank stands right behind
the front This, I think, is fairly Jnfr
rible from wl -t I understood him to say
of the lines o, .campment at Tippeca
noe. Thus v .see, Mr. Speaker, that
the Gentleman front Micbisan, so
ar as study can rive us knowledge of a
aubject, comes before us, with eUimn to
great profundity .V But this is a subject,
which, of all others, requires the aid of
actual experience to make us wise
Now the gentleman from Michigan, be
ing a militia general, as he has told us,
his brother officers, in that simple state
ment has revealed the glorious history
of Unls, privations, sacrifices, and bloody
scenes, through which we know, from
experience v and observation, a militia
facer in time of pence is sura tor pass.
We all, in fancy, now see the eentleman
from Michigan in that most dangerous
and glorious event in the life ol a mili
tia' general on the peace establishment
a parade day I That day for which
all the other days of his life seem to
have been made. - We can see the
troops in motion; umbrellas, hoe and
axe handles, and other like-deadly ' im
plements of war overshadowing all the
held, when lo! the leader of the host
pproaches, . . ,
"Far off his coining shines
his plume, while, after the fashion of the
great Bourbon, is of ample length, and
reads its doleful history in the' bereaved
necks and bosoms of forty neighboring
hen-roosts! Like the great SuwarofT, he
seems somewhat careless in forms and
points of dress; hence his epaulets may be
on his shoulders, back, or sides, but -still
gleaming, gloriously gleaming in the
sun. Mounted he is, too, let h not be
forgotlon. Need I describe to the Col
omels and Generals of this honorable
House the steed which heroes bestride
on such occasions T No, I see the mem
ory of other days is with you. You see
belore you the gentleman from Michi
gan mounted on his crop-eared, bushy-
tailed mare, the singular obliquities ol
whose hinder limbs is described by that
most expressive phrase, ''sickle hams"
her height just fourteen hands, "all told;1
ves. sir. there too see hii M cteed that
laughs at the shaking of the spear," that
is, hii "war-horse whose neck n clothed
with thunder."
Mr. Speaker, we have glowing descrip
tions ia history of Alexander the Great
and his war-horse Bucephalus, at the
head of the invincible Macedonian pha
lanx, but, sic, such are the improvements
of roodorn times that every one must
ace that our militia general, with his
crop-eared mare, with bushy-tail and
sickle-ham, would literally frighten off
a battle-held an hundred Alexanders
But, sir, lo the history of the parade day.
The general thus mounted and equipped
is in the .field, and ready for action.
On the eve of some desperate enterprize
such as giving order to shoulder arms,
it may - be, there occurs a crisis, one of
the accidents of war which no sagacity
could foresee or prevent A cloud rises
and passes over the sum Here an oc-,
casion occurs for the display of that
greatest of all traits in the character of
a commander, that tact which enables
him to sctzd UDon and turn to a- mod its
count evenri unlocked fur as they arise.
a r . . . ; 7 o
(Vow lor U.3 caution herewith the Ro
man Fabius foiled the skill and courage
of-HaiinibaU-A-retrcat is ordered, and
troops and general, in a twinkling, are
lound naleiy bivouacked in a oeichbor
ing groceiylp Hot even here the gene
ral stiJI has room for the exhibition of
heroic deeds. Hot from the field, and
chafled with the untoward events of the
day, your general unsheaths his trench-
em blade, eighteen inches in length, as
yotf well remember, and with an energy,
and remorseless fury he slices the wa
termelons , that lie in heaps around him,
and shares them with his surviving
friends. Other, of the sinew of. war
are not waniing here. Whiskey Mr.
Speaker, that great leveller of modern
times, is here also, and the shells of the
wajermellons are ' filled to the brim.'
IJere s?ain, Mr. Speaker, is shown bow
the extremes of barbarism and civihza
lion meet As Jhe.Scandavian heroes
of old, after the fatigues of war, drank
wine from the skulls of their slaughtered
enemies, in Odins Halls, so how our mi
litia general and his, forces, from the
skulls of melons thus vanquished, in co
pious draught of whiskey assuage the
!.. . .. i f. re of t. in.-!:, after t! 3 Ihcij
scenes of a partda qj But, ths, for
this, short-lived .races of ours, all things
will have an end, and so even 3 it with
the glorious achievements of our general
Time is on the wing, and will not stay
his cism; the un,as iflrightened at the
might v events oi tne day, rwes oown
the sky, and. at the close of the day
when "the hamlet is still," the curtain
of night drops upon the scene,
44 And glory, like the phenix in its fires,
Exhales its odure, blazes, and expires.''
Such, sir, has been the experience in
war o the geptieman irom Micmgan.
We know this from the simple annun
ciation 'that he ii and hu been a briga
dier of militia in time of peace t and,
now, having a full understanding of the
qualifications of our learned general, both
rom siuay ana pracucwv t uupo. iuc
Ht)U".witl Jhat U hold giva us
profound reflection to his discourses on
the art of war. ; And this it will be more
inclined to, when we take into view that
the gentleman has, in his review of Gen
eral Harrison's campaigns, modestly
imputed to the latter great mistakes,
gross blunders, imbecility, and even
worse than this, ss 1 shall show hereaf
ter. 'The farce,; too, of the lecture of
ourjearned and experienced friend from
Michigan is certainly greatly'enhanced,
when we consider another admitted fad,
which is, that the general whose imbe
cility and errors he hss discovered had
not, like the gentleman from Michigan,
the great advantage of serving in water
melon campaigns, dui oniy lougni nerce
Indians in the dark forests of the West,
under such stupid fellows as Anthonv
Wayne, and was afterwards appointed
to the command of large armies by the
advice of such an inexperienced boy as
Gov. Shelby, the hero of King's Moun
tain. .i-ii-'V" : '.. 4 ."-i
v And now, Mr. Speaker, as I have tlte
temerity lo entertain doubts, and . with
great deference to differ iq my opinions
on this military question with theLgen-
ticman from Michigan, I desire to state
a few historical facts, concerning Gen
eral Harrison, whom the general from
Michigan has pronounced incapable, im
becile, and, as I shall notice hereafter,
something worse even than these. Gen
eral Harrison was commissioned by
General, Washington an officer of the
regular armv of the United States in
the year 1791. He served as aid to
General Anthony Wayne, in the cam
paign against the Indians, which resulted
in me name oi ine uapias w ma mbu
mee, in the fall of 1794. Thus, ia his
youth, he was selected . by General
IV.tiM mm mma whim militant fomtltr
And what did this youthful officer do
in that memorable battle of the Rapids 1
II ! Ilv, . vtiv v ill muiwii muri..
Here Mr. Speaker, let me aummon a
witness merely to show now military
men ma v differ.The witness I call to
controvert the opinion of the gentleman
from Michigan is uencral Anthony
Wavne. In his letter to the becrelarv
of War, giving an account of tile battle
of the Rapids, he says :
My faithful and gallant Lieutenant
IIarrion rendered most essential servi
ccs, by communicating my orders in
e? cry direction, and by am conauet
and bravery exciting the troops topress
for victory."
Sir, this evidence was given by Gene
ral Wayne, in the year 1794, some time
. i f .i .i '
1 imagine, owore ine genuemaa irum
Michigan was born, and long before he
became a militia General ,ind long, very
it m ..lI r..
long; Dciore ne ever perused ine uire
Eage bf Baron Steuben. Mr. Speaker,
:t me remind the House, in passing,
that this battfe and victory over the In
dian forces of the Northwest, In which,
according to the testimony of General
Wayne, MLieutenant Harrison rendered
the most essential services by his con
duct and bravery," gave peace to an
exposed line of frontier, extending from
Pittsburg to the southern borders of
Tennessee. It was, in truth, the close
of the war of the Revolution, for the In
dians who took part with Great Britain
id our revolutionary struggle never laid
down their arms until alter they were
vanquished by VVayne in 1794.
We now come to see something of
the man the Uenerat, whose military
history our able and experienced Gen
eral from Michigan has reviewed. Vc
know that debates like this have some
limes been had in the British Parliament
There, I believe, the discussion was u-
n' i . i I -I ii . ii '
suaiiy coouuciea ny mose in ine tiouse
who have teen and not merely heard of
service. We all know that CoL Napier
Lhas, in several volumes, reviewed the
campaigns oIAYellington, and criticised
the movements and merits ol Hereford
and Soult, and Massena, and many e
thers. Quite. yes I sav. unite ss wcH
known in military history as anyof
not' even excepting our General from
Michigan, vv e respect the opinions ol
Napier, because wo know he not only
inougm ox mr, put unit nojovgnt too
We rcppcct rrJ cdmiro t! "t coiiibin.i
lica'cf military fVill, v.i;!i irc.found
statc-.manhko views, wmcn we tnd in
"Cesar's Cormcntaries," because wo
know the. "mighty Suim.'' was a soldier,
trained in the field, and inured lo tho
accidents and dangers of war. But, sir, "
we Generals ol Congress require no sucli
painful discipline to give value to our
. ill - -T.L- mil . A . -
opinions. v e men oi mo ivm muiy
know all things intuitively. , We under
stand perfectly the military art by na
ture, j- Yes, sir, the notions oi ine gen-
tleman from Michigan agree exactlr
with sa'ge by the name of 4 Dogberry
whh insisted that dreading and writing
. . .. nr. e l
come ty nature." iur. epeum, w
liave heard and read much of "the ad
vance, of knowledge, the improvement
of the species, and the great march tof
mind. but never till now have we un
derstood ihb extent of meaning in theso
reenant phrases. " For mstance, th geti
tleman from Michigan asserts that Gen
eral . Harrison has none of the qualities
of a General, because, at the battle of
Tippecanoe, he was found at one tirno
at a dittance from his tent, urging ma
men . on to battle. He exposed his per
son too much, it seems. He sliould havo
staid at bis tent, and waited for the of-
. . i rii
hcera to come to mm lor orucn. i
. i. i
-sir, see now to wnai conclusion wis
leads us, Napoleon seized a stan Jard
at : Iodi, and rushed in frcotof his co
lumns across a narrow bridge which was,
swept by a whole park of German a r
lillerv. Hence. Napoleon was no offi
cer; he did not know bow to command
. ft ' A
an army, tie, use iiarrison, eipwa
his person too much. Oh, Mr. Speaker
what a pity for por Napoleon that ho
had not studied Steuben, and slaughtered
water melons with us natural born Gen
erals of this great age of the world !
Sir, it might have altered the map
Europe; nay, changed U. destinies of
the world L' , A
Again: Alexander the lireat sporrea
his horse foremost into the river, and
cuiv Ho rout the Persians, who stood i(
full opposed Ton the other side of tho
stream: True, this youth ' conquered
the work), sod made himself master of
what had constituted the Median, 1'er-
sian, Assyrian, and Chaldean empires.
Still, according to the judgment of us
warriors bv nature, the mighty Mace
donian would have consulted good sense
by coming ever here, if, indeed,' there
were any here hereabouts in those days,
and studying, like my friend from Mich
igan, first TiddV Practice, and Espa-
mma'i KiaS Pnn: mnA m lilll inafrh of
Steuben, Alexander .the Great might
have made a man of himself b the art
of vyar, had he even been, a member of
our Congress, and heard us colonels
discuss the subject of an afternoon or
two. Indeed, Alexander, or Satan, I
doubt not," would have improved greatly
in strategy by observing, during this ses
sion, thq tactics of the Administration
party on the New Jersey election ques
tion. Mr. Speaker, this objection to a
general, because he will fight. is not o-
nginai wnn my iriena irom iiicnigin.
I remember a great authority, in poinv
agreeing with the gentleman in this. In
the times of the Henrys, 4th and 5th, of
Englapd, there lived one Captain Jack
FaUtaff. ' If Shakspear may be trusted.
bis opinions of the art military were ex
actly those of the gentleman from Mich
igan. He uniformly declared, as his
deliberate judgment on the subject, that
"discretion was the better part of valor;,
and this is aa authority for the gentle
man. Cut who shall decide! Tbuslho
authority stands Alexander, the migh
ty Greek, and Napoleon Bonaparte, and
Harrison, on one side, and Captain John
FaUtaff and the General fiom Michigan
on the other I Sir, I must leave a ques
tion thus sustained bv authorities, both
wave to posterity. Perhaps tho liahts
of another age may enable the world to
decide it' ,J confess my inability to say
on whicnsidrUeclgttrtmhOTtt
lies. - . v' '
I-hope J may obtain the pardon of
the American Congress for adverting in
this discussion to another matter, grave
ly put forward by the gentleman from
Michi gan. Without the slightest feel
ings of , disrespect to, that gentleman, I
must be allowed to say that his opinions
(hastily, I am sure,) obtruded on tho
House on this military question, can
only .be considered as subjects of mer
riment . V:' V 'i'
4 But I come, to notiet, since lam com
pcd to it, one observation of the gen
tleman, which 1 fee quite certain on re
flection, he' will regret himself. In a
sori oi parcnuiesis in nis ipeccn, ne saia
that a rumor prevailed at the ,tipe (allu
dina to the battle of Tipporanna) that
Cot Joseph 11 Davics, of Kentucky;
who commanded l squadron of cavalry,
there, was, by some trick of General
Uarrjson, mounted, during the battle,
on a while horse belonging lo the Geo
eral, , tod that, being thus gonjmicJLaa'
L"
7: