The Unpopular History of the United States
were personal cowards. They had merely failed to learn the lesson of cohesive courage. During those eight disastrous years we employed nearly 400,000 men—practically ten times the redcoats—gaining only two victories of consequence—Stillwater and Yorktown. With overwhelming numbers in our favor, fighting on our own soil, we failed and continued to fail. Why! Because the individual American is inferior to the individual Britisher? Not a bit of it. No American is willing to admit that. It is not true. But the Briton was a trained soldier who knew his trade. Our volunteers and militia got into each other’s way. They had no conception of team work, and refused to learn. They were possessed of a mob spirit, time after time breaking into defiant insubordination and mutiny, even killing their own officers who attempted to enforce a semblance of discipline. For example: After the war was over some eighty recruits mutinied at Lancaster, and marched to Philadelphia. Here they were joined by about 200 comrades from the
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