Brave Fellows

IF conservatives could have read John O’Sullivan’s “After Reaganism” a year sooner, Bob Dole might be President, Newt Gingrich might have been a good Speaker, and Jack Kemp might have been a good speaker. It seems churlish to argue with it, especially since my only disagreement concerns the tail end, and a reference to the eighteenth century. But in America the eighteenth century is always in the news. Getting it wrong is a worse mistake than ignoring focus groups.

In Prospect Park in Brooklyn stands a column honoring a regiment of American soldiers who fought on the spot on August 27, 1776. They were from Maryland, led by Colonel William Smallwood, and they were known as “macaronis,” for their bright scarlet and buff uniforms (“stuck a feather in his cap, and called it ‘macaroni'”). But on that day, they earned another reputation. The British army besieging New York slipped through an unguarded pass on General George Washington’s flank and hit the American front line in the rear. Five hundred Americans died, and a thousand were taken prisoner. More would have been killed or captured if the Marylanders had not stood their ground, covering the retreat to Brooklyn Heights. In the thick of the fight, they sent word to Washington asking for reinforcements. He could not spare any; he had to watch them die. “Good God!” he is supposed to have cried, “what brave fellows I must this day lose!” Why did they fight? The usual reasons—courage, honor, good leadership. Another factor in the mix was their belief in their ideals. The Commander-in-Chief paid attention to ideals-he had had the Declaration of Independence read to his troops on July 9, as soon as it arrived from Philadelphia.

About the Author

Richard Brookhiser

Historian Richard Brookhiser is a senior editor of National Review and a senior fellow at the National Review Institute.

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Declaration of Independence

IF conservatives could have read John O’Sullivan’s “After Reaganism” a year sooner, Bob Dole might be President, Newt Gingrich might have been a good Speaker, and Jack Kemp might have been a good speaker. It seems churlish to argue with it, especially since my only disagreement concerns the tail end, and a reference to the eighteenth century. But in America the eighteenth century is always in the news. Getting it wrong is a worse mistake than ignoring focus groups.

In Prospect Park in Brooklyn stands a column honoring a regiment of American soldiers who fought on the spot on August 27, 1776. They were from Maryland, led by Colonel William Smallwood, and they were known as “macaronis,” for their bright scarlet and buff uniforms (“stuck a feather in his cap, and called it ‘macaroni'”). But on that day, they earned another reputation. The British army besieging New York slipped through an unguarded pass on General George Washington’s flank and hit the American front line in the rear. Five hundred Americans died, and a thousand were taken prisoner. More would have been killed or captured if the Marylanders had not stood their ground, covering the retreat to Brooklyn Heights. In the thick of the fight, they sent word to Washington asking for reinforcements. He could not spare any; he had to watch them die. “Good God!” he is supposed to have cried, “what brave fellows I must this day lose!” Why did they fight? The usual reasons—courage, honor, good leadership. Another factor in the mix was their belief in their ideals. The Commander-in-Chief paid attention to ideals-he had had the Declaration of Independence read to his troops on July 9, as soon as it arrived from Philadelphia.