Posted by Robert Dilley on September 11, 2003 at 17:32:07 from 65.39.15.66 user rdilley.
I don't have the book at hand either, but I am reasonably sure John could not have been using a prismatic compass in SW. I seem to remember at least one occasion where he put the compass on the ground to steady it while taking a bearing. Can't do that with a prismatic.
My whole family was amused on our recent trip to Kentucky, listening to the tour guides telling how the saltpetre mined from Mammoth Cave was vital to the US "winning the War of 1812". We Canadians muttered in the background (not too loudly -- we didn't want to get abandoned in one of the darker areas) "what do you mean -- you lost the War of 1812". After all, the US invaded Canada on several different occasions and got comprehensively defeated each time.
I looked on getting home into my (US) Encyclopedia of American History, and was interested to see it say that the War was a total disaster for the US, but that clever PR built on the US win (after the war had officially ended) at New Orleans to paint the whole affair as a triumph. A classic of early 19th century spin.