The Unpopular History of the United States
latter losing seventy officers and 2,000 men. This crushing defeat, and the surrender of 5,000 Americans at Charleston—which cost us nearly the whole of North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia—were not compensated for by the minor exploits of Marion and Sumter.
Referring to Camden, General Washington wrote: “This event shows the fatal consequences of depending on militia. Regular troops alone are equal to the exigencies of modern war. No militia will ever acquire the habits necessary to resist a regular force. The firmness requisite for the real business of fighting is only to be attained by a constant course of discipline and training.”
Excuse me, son, if I cuss once in a while; don’t put that down. But I get mad every time I think of General Stevens, at the battle of Cowpens, being forced to place a guard behind his militiamen with orders to shoot the first recruit who left his post. Isn’t that a disgraceful proposition for patriots fighting in the cause of freedom?
[40]
