Page:Harris Dickson--The unpopular history of the United States.djvu/95

This page has been validated.

“On to Canada!”


eral Brock. You’ll hear of him again. At that time he had only 1,320 regulars. Yet he very easily got Detroit, and the whole northwestern country, for a Christmas gift. Presently we shall count the cost, in men and money, to dislodge the redcoats.

What a howl went up from “On to Canada!” promoters. Every crossroads oracle expressed his opinion, his personal opinion. They accused General Hull of treason, they charged him with cowardice, they called him bad names, and convened a court martial to prove it. In spite of the Revolutionary hero’s vigorous defense, the court martial actually convicted him of cowardice, although acquitting him of the treason.

How did General Hull explain it? By saying that he began his march with the Fourth United States Regiment, consisting of 300 effective men, and was joined by 1,200 militia at Urbana. “After the disposition was made for the march, I was informed that part of the militia refused to obey the order. I directed their own officers to give them positive orders

[77]