Excerpt from Decisive Battles of America The battle on the Plains Of Abraham, which ended French rule on this continent, was fought by Englishmen with only slight American aid, but its consequences to Amer icans were assuredly momentous. As compared with Gettysburg, or Sedan, or Mukden, Bunker Hill was a mere skirmish, yet its fame is well founded, for it was the first formal stand against the British by an organized American soldiery, and in this and in the fact Of American initiative in seizing and fortifying Breed's Hill, it differed from the hasty gathering Of patriots at Lexington and from the brief conflict at Concord Bridge. In the light Of modern experience, again, the naval battles Of Lake Erie and Lake Champlain seem small engagements, but the one safe guarded Our northern frontier and the other repelled an invasion aimed at the very Vitals Of our country. On the other hand, the dramatic battle Of New Orleans, fought after peace was made, would have had but Slight political consequences had the outcome been different. AS to the war with Mexico, a certain chastening Of the American conscience has perhaps led us to forget the extraordinary gallantry Of a volunteer as well as a regular soldiery in a foreign country, repeatedly pitted against great Odds. The story Of the more significant battles in those campaigns is entitled to better acquaintance, and Taylor's final victory on the north and the series Of des perate attacks by which Scott reached the heart of Mexico are therefore set forth in some detail. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.