USA > Louisiana > The history of Louisiana : from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 24
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28
Jackson establishes a line of defence .- Morgan crosses the river with his detachment .- Destruc- tion of the Carolina .- Action of the 28th of De- cember .- The legislature prevented from sitting. -Aff'air of New Year's day .- Both armies rein- forced .- Battle of the Eighth of January .- Bri- tish operations on the right bank of the Missis- sippi .- Suspension of hostilities .- Armistice .- Bombardment of Fort St. Phillip .- Retreat of the British army.
AT four o'clock, on the morning of the twenty- fourth, Jackson ordered his small army to encamp on the left bank of Rodriguez's canal, about two miles below the field of battle, leaving the Missis- sippi mounted riflemen and Feliciana dragoons near it, to watch the motions of the enemy. The canal was deepened and widened, and a strong wall form- ed in front of it, with the earth which had been ori- ginally thrown out. The levee was broken, about one hundred yards below, and a broad stream of water passed rapidly over the plain, to the depth of about thirty inches, which prevented the approach of troops on foot.
Embrasures were formed in the wall, and two pieces of artillery placed so as to rake the road which runs along the levec.
360
CHAPTER [1814
Morgan was now directed to send a strong de- tachment from the English Turn, who advanced as near as they could towards the enemy's camp, and destroyed the levee, so as to let in the water of the Mississippi, whereby the British army was completely insulated, and its march above and below obstructed.
On the twenty-sixth, Jackson, fearing for the situa- tion of Morgan, who, as the British occupied the in- termediate space, was entirely detached from his camp, ordered him to abandon his position, carry off such of the cannon as he conveniently could, and throw the remainder into the river, from whence they might be recovered when the water subsided; to cross the stream, and take and fortify a position opposite to the American lines.
The height of the Mississippi and the discharge of water through the openings made in the levee, had given an increased depth to the canal through which the enemy had come: this enabled them to advance their boats much nearer to their encamp- ment, and to bring up a new supply of artillery, bombs and ammunition. .
Early on the twenty-seventh, a battery was disco- vered on the bank of the Mississippi, which had been erected during the previous night, from which a fire was now opened on the Carolina, which was lying near the opposite shore. The repeated discharges of bombs and red hot shot from this battery were spirit- edly answered, but without effect, there being on board but one long twelve pounder that could reach. A red hot shot was lodged under her cables, from which it could not be removed, and soon set her in a blaze. Another discharge extended the ravages of the devouring element, and flames began to burst from numberless places. Orders were now given to
----------
361
THE SEVENTEENTH.
1314]
abandon her: one of the crew was killed and six wounded; the rest reached the shore in safety, and soon after the fire reached the magazine and the vessel was blown up.
The battery's fire was now directed against the sloop of war Louisiana, which lay at some distance higher up, the preservation of which was the more important, as she was the only public vessel remain- ing on the river. She was accordingly towed up, out of the reach of the enemy's guns.
In the afternoon the British moved forward, and obliged Jackson's advanced guard to fall back, and during the night they began to erect several batteries on the river.
By break of day, the enemy displayed in several columns, and drove in the advanced guards. Henow advanced, preceded by several pieces of artillery, part of which played on the Louisiana, and the rest on Jackson's line.
The Louisiana now opened a tremendous and well directed fire on the assailants, which was at first brisk- ly answered, but her guns and those of the line soon silenced the enemy's, broke his columns and forced him to disperse and fall back into the fields, where he took a position, beyond the reach of the Louisiana and Jackson's artillery. His loss was estimated at from two to three hundred men: seven were killed and ten wounded on the American line, and one man slightly wounded, by the bursting of a shell on board of the Louisiana.
The legislature had ceased to sit, on the first intel- ligence of the arrival of part of the British army on Vil- lere's plantation. Several of the members held com- missions in the militia, and had joined their respective corps: the younger had volunteered their services, and VOL. II. 46
362
CHAPTER [1814
the aged joined the several companies of veterans, which had been organised for the maintenance of or- der in the city and its suburbs. Several were attend- ing a military committee, and others, appointed by the legislature, to superintend the supply of the wants of indigent families, whose heads were on the line, and to provide succour for those who daily reached the city to assist in its defence. The apprehension from the black population, which had been excited by the rumour of Jackson's intention to fire the city, had in- duced a few respectable individuals from the country, who possessed influence in their respective parishes, and whose age and habits disqualified them from act- ive military service, to visit those neighborhoods, in order to contribute, by their presence, to the general maintenance of order. The city council were active in providing means for the support of the needy, and Girod, the mayor, was incessantly engaged in collect- ing arms and in driving stragglers to the field. Never was an army more abundantly supplied with provi- sions-the calls of Jackson for negroes to work on his line, for tools and munition, were instantly at- tended to.
Every day, towards noon, three or four of the mem- bers of each house, who served among the veterans or on the committees, attended in their respective halls to effect an adjournment, in order that, if any circum- stance rendered the aid of the legislature necessary, it might be instantly afforded. On going for this pur- pose to the government house, Skipwith, the speaker of the senate, and two of its members, found a sentinel on the staircase, who, presenting his bayonet, forbade them to enter the senate chamber. They quietly re- tired and proceeded to the hall of the sessions of the city council, where an adjournment took place. The
-----------
363
THE SEVENTEENTH.
1814]
members of the other house, who attended for the same purpose, were likewise prevented from entering its hall, and acted like those of the senate.
An unsuccessful attempt, notwithstanding great ex- ertions were used, was made on the thirtieth to obtain a quorum, and the next day it failed in both houses. The crisis had so scattered the members, that those who assembled found themselves obliged to send the sergeant at arms and other messengers to require the attendance of the absent members. With great diffi- culty, a quorum was obtained in cach house, late in the evening, and a joint committee was appointed, to wait on Jackson and enquire into the reasons that had occasioned the violent measures, resorted to against the legislature.
This committee, having performed this service, re- ceived from the general a written statement, in the following words:
CAMP AT M'CARTY'S, 4 MILES BELOW NEW-ORLEANS. Hcad-Quarters, December 31, 1814.
The Major-General commanding has the honor to acknowledge the receipt of the joint resolution of both houses of the hon. the legislature of the state of Louisi- ana, now in session, dated the 30th inst. and commu- nicated to him by a joint committee of both houses, to which the general gives the following answer:
That just after the engagement between the British and American armies had commenced on the 28th inst. when the enemy was advancing, and it was cve- ry instant expected they would storm our lines; as the general was riding rapidly from right to left of his line-he was accosted by Mr. Duncan, one of his vo- Junteer aids, who had just returned from New-Orleans; observing him to be apparently agitated, the general stopped, supposing him the bearer of some informa-
364
CHAPTER
[1814
tion of the enemy's movements, asked what was the matter. He replied, that he was the bearer of a mes- sage from governor Claiborne, that the assembly were about to give up the country to the enemy. Being asked if he had any letter from the governor, he an- swered in the negative. He was then interrogated as to the person from whom he received the intelligence ; he said it was from a militia colonel; the general en- quired where this colonel was, that he ought to be ap- prehended, and if the information was not true, he ought to be shot, but that the general did not believe it. 'To this Mr. Duncan replied, that the colonel had returned to New-Orleans, and had requested him, Mr. Duncan, to deliver the above message.
'The general was in the act of pushing forward along the line, when Mr. Duncan called after him and said, "the governor expects orders what to do." The gene- ral replied, that he did not believe the intelligence; but to desire the governor to make strict enquiry into the subject; and if true, to blow them up. The gene- ral pursued his way, and Mr. Duncan returned to the city. After the action, Mr. Duncan returned, and on the general's stating to him the impropriety of deliver- ing such a message publicly in the presence of the troops, as well as the improbability of the fact, he ex- cused himself by the great importance of the intelli- gence, and then, for the first time, the general heard the name of colonel Declouet, as Mr. Duncan's author.
'The above statement, the general gives as a substan- tial one, of the matter referred to in the resolutions of the senate and house of representatives ; and to this he adds, that he gave no order to the governor to inter- fere with the legislature, except as above stated.
ANDREW JACKSON, Maj. Gen. Comm'dg.
-------
365
THE SEVENTEENTH.
1814]
This statement clearly shows, that Jackson did not believe, that the general assembly had the least thought of offering terms to the enemy-and that the violence exercised against them, was the effect of a real or pre- tended misunderstanding of what he had said.
Duncan, on his examination, before a committee of the houses, stated, that soon after the beginning of the attack, he met Col. Declouet, who was hastening from the city, apparently in great perturbation, who re- quested him to inform the general of the existence of a plot, among several members of the legislature, to surrender the country to the enemy, and that he had heard, that Jackson was carrying on a Russian war, and it was better to capitulate and save the city; that he had been invited to join in the plot. Duncan added, that Declouet did not say he was sent by Claiborne, and that, as far as he recollected, Jackson's order was to tell Claiborne to enquire into the matter, and in case they (the legislature) made any such attempt, to blow them up; and afterwards, he (Duncan) meeting one of Claiborne's aids, directed him to inform the governor, the general wished him to prevent the legis- lature from assembling.
Declouet stated, that on the night between the twenty-seventh and twenty-eighth, he slept at his bro- ther's, below the city, and noticed the consternation of several of the inhabitants, and conversed with several members of the legislature, who apprehended direful consequences from the war. Hence, he feared a pro- position would be made by the legislature to capitu- late, which would occasion a disastrous division in the country. In the morning, he set off with the view of communicating his apprehensions to Jackson, but as he did not reach the line till after the beginning of the attack, he requested Duncan to make his communica-
.
366
CHAPTER
[1814
tion to the general. He added, no member of the le- gislature had manifested to him an intention of doing any thing positive. The step he took, was grounded on the apprehensions he entertained-apprehensions which he never would have had, if he had been ac- quainted with the good intentions and beneficent views of the legislature.
Jackson's biographers have seized on this event, a most erroneous account of which they have given, to blazon his character, to the injury of the state of Louisiana.
Eaton, who cannot be supposed to have wanted the best means of information, assures his readers, that Jackson was apprehensive of a design in the general assembly to propose a capitulation to the enemy, and intended to have had them confined in the government house. By placing the statement of Jackson side by side with Eaton's, the reader will be conscious of the gross error under which Eaton must have laboured.
"Jackson's object," says Eaton, "was not to restrain the legislature in the discharge of their official duties; for, although he thought, hat such a moment, when the sound of the cannon was constantly pealing in their cars, was inauspicious to wholesome legislation, and that it would have better comported with the state of the times for them to abandon their civil duties and appear in the field, yet it was a matter indelicate to be proposed ; and it was hence preferred, that they should adopt whatever course might be suggested by their own notions of propriety. This sentiment would have been still adhered to; but when, through the commu- nication of Mr. Duncan, they were represented as en- tertaining opinions and schemes, adverse to the gene- · ral interest and safety of the country, the necessity of a new and different course of conduct was at once
.
367
THE SEVENTEENTH.
1814]
obvious. But he did not order governor Claiborne to interfere with, or prevent them from proceeding with their duties; on the contrary, he was instructed, so soon as any thing hostile to the general cause should be ascertained, to place a guard at the door, and keep the members to their post and to their duty. My ob- ject in this, remarked the general, was, that then they would be able to proceed with their business without producing the slightest injury: whatever schemes they might entertain would have remained with themselves, without the power of circulating them to the prejudice of any other interest than their own. I had intended to have had them well treated and kindly dealt by ; and thus abstracted from every thing passing without doors, a better opportunity would have been afforded them to enact good and wholesome laws; but gover- nor Claiborne mistook my order, and instead of shut- ting them in doors, contrary to my wishes and ex- pectation, turned them out."
The other writers, who have preserved details of the events of these days, have all fallen into great mis- takes, and Jackson himself appears to have been egre- giously deceived. One of his letters to the post mas- ter general, of the 22d of March, 1824, which found its way into the public prints, contains the following paragraph:
"When I left the city, and marched against the ene- my on the night of the 23d of December, 1814, I was obliged to leave one of my aids in command, having no other confidential officer that could be spared from * command. A few days after, Mr. Skipwith, in per- son, applied to my aid to be informed what would be my conduct, if driven from my lines of defence and compelled to retreat through New-Orleans-whether I would leave the supplies for the enemy or destroy
369
CHAPTER
[1814
them? As reported by my aid to me, he wanted this information for the assembly, that in case my intention was to destroy them, they might make terms with the enemy. Obtaining no satisfaction from my aid, a committee of three waited on me for satisfaction on this subject. To them I replied, "If I thought the hair of my head knew my thoughts, I would cut it off or burn it"-to return to their honorable body, and to say to them from me, thas if I was to be so unfortu- nate as to be driven from the lines I then occupied, and compelled to retreat through New-Orleans, they would have a warm session of it."
These charges were noticed by Skipwith, in a let- ter to Jackson of the thirteenth of May, 1827, which appeared in the Richmond Enquirer, in the following manner:
"It was on one of the nights, about the time alluded to by Maj. Butler, that, returning from patrol duty from the grand round of the city, in passing and seeing lights in the house of Mrs. F_ -, an old and much re- spected acquaintance of mine, and a great admirer of yours, I called in to pay her my respects, and found with her another very interesting lady, Mrs. E-
who in the course of her conversation mentioned a report, as circulated in the city, and I think she said, by some Kentuckians just from your lines of defence, that, if forced, you would destroy, rather than see, the city fall into the hands of the enemy. A day or two after, at the request of the military council of the city guards, of which I was a member, I waited on Maj. Butler concerning a citizen under arrest, and not directly, nor indirectly, charged with any thing con- cerning that report; and being asked by him, "Ifthere was any thing new in the city," I remember replying, that such was the report "among women." Conscious,
-
·
181-4]
THE SEVENTEENTH.
369
general, of having through life treated the names and characters of married ladies with the most scrupulous caution and respect, I cannot believe that I mentioned the names of the two ladies, between whom I heard the report : and never having, at any time attached to it, myself, either belief or importance, I could not have made it a subject of serious communication, to the senate, to the military council, or to any member, individually, of them. I am willing, therefore, to rest the truth of my assertions, in repelling this most slan- derous and . bolstered charge of yours, and conse- quently its utter falsehood, as far as it criminates my conduct and views, on the testimony not only of the remaining individuals, who composed the senate and the military council; but on the testimony of any two, or three, remaining individuals in society, who were eye witnesses of my conduct at the invasion of New- Orleans, and whose oaths would be respected, by a well composed jury of their vicinity.
I may well, then, sir, pronounce this last charge of yours to be false, utterly false! as applying to me indi- vidually, or to the senate over which I presided, or to the military council of which I was a member, or, that the most distant hint, or wish, was ever expressed in any of their deliberations, or in private, by any one of their members, with my knowledge or within my hearing, "to make terms with the enemy." And more false, if possible, is it still, that "the legislature should, with my consent or connivance, depute a committee to wait on you on that subject," or on any other, during the invasion, in which I had any agency, that was not founded, in my humble estimation at least, on princi- ples of patriotism and honor. I may, therefore, hope to find indulgence in every honest breast, for having expressed,. in some degree, the profound contempt,
VOL. II. 17
-----
370
CHAPTER [18]
which this charge so justly merits, and which it is im- possible for me with life, to cease to feel."
Thibodaux, then a member of the senate, who af- terwards exercised, as president of that body, the functions of chief magistrate of the state, on the resig- nation of governor Robertson, expressed his indigna- tion on the subject, in a letter to Skipwith, on the 10th of September, 1827.
"The notorious," said he, "ungenerous and unme- rited accusation, which has been cast upon the whole legislature of Louisiana, and particularly upon the senate, by Gen. Jackson, in his published letter to the post-master general, in order to defeat your preten- sions, as a candidate in opposition with his favorite Mr. Crogan, is, in my humble opinion, such as ought to be taken up and repelled with the indignation it really deserves. This charge was not laid upon you alone, but it embraces the whole senate. Could you not, sir, as being then the president of that honorable body, could you not, with propriety, call upon the members who were sitting with you, and prevail upon them to join in clearing, through the same medium that was made use of, those shameful stains with which that body has been stigmatised? And would it not be but fair, if this infamous calumny was recoil- ed towards its source and against its very author ? A supine silence appears to operate on the part of the members of the general assembly, as a conviction of the truth of the accusation; and this opinion, as you may know yourself, is circulating in the public, by the exertions of the general's friends.
"I beg leave to be excused, for attempting to suggest the right course you have to follow; these are the dictates of a heart indignantly offended, at the rash at- tack of the general, and although it does not fall upon
-
1815]
THE SEVENTEENTH. 371
me directly, (for you will recollect I was on active mi- litary service,) it rebounds upon me very heavily, and wounds me to the very heart's core."
The journal of neither of the houses makes any mention of the motion for, nor of the appointment of, the committee of which Jackson speaks. The mem- bers of the house of representatives have universally expressed their indignation at the unfounded charge, and their astonishment at the egregious imposition, under which Jackson must have been, when he made it.
Major-General Villere, of the state militia, reached the camp on the twenty-ninth, with six hundred men of the militia of his division, and was directed by Jack- son to take the command of a second line, which was now formed between the first and the city.
On new-year's day, a thick fog concealed the movements of the enemy, till towards eight o'clock. He how opened a brisk fire from three batteries he had just completed. The left, on the road, had two twelve pounders; the centre eight eighteen and twen- ty-four pounders, and some carronades; the right, close to the woods, mounted eight pieces of cannon and carronades of different calibres. A flash of con- greve rockets accompanied the balls, and for a quarter of an hour the fire was kept up with unexampled cc- lerity, and answered in so brisk, steady and well di- rected a manner, that it now slackened in a percepti- ble degrec. The cannonade was, however, kept up on both sides, but with varied intervals, for an hour, during which seven of the enemy's guns were dis- mounted, and when the fire ceased, the greater part of his artillery was unfit for service. At one o'clock, he abandoned his battery near the woods; the centre one
.
372 .
CHAPTER [1815
and that near the road continued to throw a few balls and rockets till three, when they were silenced.
Soon after, Major-General Thomas, of the second division of state militia, arrived with five hundred men, who encamped behind the main line, on Dupre's plantation, and three days after, a detachment of the militia of the state of Kentucky, amounting to two thousand two hundred and fifty men, under Major- General Thomas and Brigadier-General Adair, ar- rived and encamped below the city, on Prevost's plantation. Afterwards, a part of this force, under General Adair, advanced and took a position, a little in the rear of Jackson's line.
The deplorable condition of a great part of the mi- litia of the states of Kentucky and Tennessee, who were in want of warm clothing, and from the nature of the service, occasionally exposed in the open air, the winter being extremely severe, excited the sensibility of the legislature of Louisiana, and on the motion of Louaillier, an appropriation was made of six thousand dollars. This sum was placed in the hands of a com- mittee, of which the mover was an efficient member. An equal sum was added, by subscription in the city: the planters of the German Coast sent thirty-six hun- dred dollars, and those of Attakapas transmitted five hundred. By these means, with other aid, a sum of sixteen thousand dollars was obtained, as an addition to that appropriated by the legislature, and the whole was expended in the purchase of blankets and wool- len cloths, which were distributed among the ladies of New-Orleans, to be made into wearing apparel; and within one week, twelve hundred blanket coats, two hundred and twenty-five waistcoats, eleven hundred and twenty-seven pairs of pantaloons, and eight hun- dred shirts, were completed and distributed. Spe-
.
373
THE SEVENTEENTH.
1815]
cific donations of several boxes of hats and shoes, and a considerable number of matrasses, were made by merchants and shop-keepers.
A number of debtors, who had taken the benefit of the acts establishing the prison bounds, were anxious to join in the defence of the city, but were apprehen- sive of exposing their sureties. On this being repre- sented to the legislature, an act was passed, extending the prison bounds, until the first of May following, so as to include Jackson's line. -
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.