Page:America Fallen!.djvu/201

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Reaping the Whirlwind
189

raged and overrun, the United States was tamely submissive. The regular army, alas! except for the slender garrisons, was concentrated thousands of miles away on the Mexican border; but the moment the news of the invasion was flashed inland, orders were given for the mobilization of the militia and every emergency measure was taken to meet the invader.

But so quickly did he strike inland that it was at once evident that any concentration of troops in the East, in sufficient strength for effectual resistance, was impossible. Therefore, acting on the advice of his Chief of Staff, the President sent out an order for the retirement of all forces, regular and militia, behind the general line of the Alleghanies, and their concentration at Pittsburg, the temporary seat of Government.

And so, with smothered rage, the descendants of the men who fought at Lex-