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Rebellion 1840     
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The Secretary of War presenting a stand of Colours to the 1st Regiment of Republican Bloodhounds
 
"The Secretary of War presenting a stand of Colours to the 1st Regiment of Republican Bloodhounds."  Library of Congress, Prints and Photographs Division, LC-USZ62-91404.

In this 1840 satire on the Van Buren administration, Secretary of War Joel Poinsett presents a stand of colors to his loyal soldiers, the bloodhounds. Says Poinsett:

"I congratulate you on your promotion, from the base & inglorious pursuit of animals, in an uncivilized region like Cuba, to the noble task of hunting 'men' in our Christian country! our administration has been reproached for the expense of the Florida war, so we have determined now to prosecute it, in a way that's 'dog cheap!'"

Editor Francis Preston Blair, a frequent apologist for the Jacksonians, kneels before the dogs assuring them that they will "prove like myself good collar men in the cause."