Before noon, from sea to sea and from lakes to gulf, from the valley of the Hudson to the sierras of the Rockies, from Jupiter Inlet to the Philippines, ran the silent alarm of the telegraph that the Great Coalition had declared War!
Forty-eight hours later the combined battle-fleet of the four Nations put to sea with its army transports, bound for the American coast.[6]
The United States learned of its departure before its rear-guard had well cleared the land. The news did not come from American spies. It came from the Coalition itself.
War, the Chameleon, as Clausewitz called it, was presenting a new aspect of its unexpected phases. Not a cable had been cut following the declaration of war; and now the submarine cables and the wireless began to bring official news from the enemy--news addressed not to the American government, but to the American people.
It was news that told of an invulnerable fleet carrying more than a thousand rifled cannon of the largest caliber ever borne by ships in all the world. It told of enough battleships alone (and named them) to match the Republic’s fleet with a dreadnaught for every effective American ship of any kind.[7]
“Clever!” said the Secretary of State to the President. “It is Terrorism.”
“Don’t you think that you’d better reconsider your idea of letting this go through?” asked the Secretary of War. “It’s pretty dangerous stuff.”
“It’s the Nation’s War,” answered the President. “Will it demoralize our people to know the truth, even under the guise of terrorism? Do you know in whose hands I’m going to leave that question?”
“In the hands of the newspapers,” replied the President.
The newspapers did not require to be told that the purpose of this novel news service from the enemy was Terrorism.
They answered Terrorism by Printing The News.
_The Battle That Was Decided Years Before_
Then the sea-coast cities began to call to Washington. By telegraph and telephone they demanded protection. It was a chorus from Maine to Georgia. Into the White House thronged the Congressmen.
“Defend us! Defend our people! Defend our towns!” said they.[8]
“We cannot do it!” said the Chief of Staff. “No wit of man can guess at what point of many hundred miles the enemy will strike. He may land on the New Jersey coast to take Philadelphia. He may land on Long Island to march at New York. He may strike at Boston. He may land between Boston and New York, on the Rhode Island or Massachusetts coasts, and keep us guessing whether he’ll turn west to New York or east to Boston. He may even strike for both at once, from there.”