A nickname bestowed on the war of 1812 by the Federalists, because the nation, by the cessation of trade by sea, was shut up in its shell, like a terrapin. A song was sung, of which this is the first verse:—

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1812.  

        Huzza for our liberties, boys,
  These are the days of our glory—
The days of true national joys,
  When terrapins gallop before ye!
There’s Porter and Grundy and Rhea,
  In Congress who manfully vapor,
Who draw their six dollars a day,
  And fight bloody battles on paper!
      Ah! this is true terrapin war.
‘Harper’s Encyclopædia of United States History,’ ix. 51.    

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