Sunday, November 04, 2007

The scandal that created the army and executive privilege

I can see why this story is generally omitted from this history books:
Making Light: Retreat Along the Wabash

It was the worst defeat under arms ever suffered by the US Army. Out of some 1,100 men who answered muster on the night of November 3rd, 1791, only 27 were unwounded at sunset on the 4th. 90% were dead. The camp followers, the artillery, all were lost.

In just over three hours on that bloody morning St. Clair lost 60% of all the men then under arms in the service of the United States...

...And that, my friends, is why Fort Wayne, Indiana, is called “Fort Wayne” rather than “Fort St. Clair.”

That too is where we got a standing army, and where the doctrine of “Executive Privilege” comes from.
Among other things, we discover Washington was quite human.

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