Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1851, by
J. & J. L. GIHON,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the
United States, in and for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.
PREFACE.
The following pages contain a collection of Stories of the War of 1812, with Great Britain; and of the Recent War, with the Republic of Mexico.
Rightly considered, the first of these national wars was a supplement to the glorious War of Independence. Up to the time when our government boldly threw down the gauntlet of defiance to the most powerful nation of Europe, in defence of Free Trade and Sailor’s Rights, the British nation regarded us as revolted subjects, successful for the moment, but destined always to be governed by British influence and ultimately to be reconquered.
The events of the second war with Great Britain finished what the first had begun, and set the seal on our Independence. From the period of its conclusion, our flag was respected by Britain and all other nations. Our naval prowess was recognized as a fixed fact.