USA > Louisiana > The history of Louisiana : from the earliest period, Volume II > Part 25
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From deserters, desultory accounts were received, of a considerable reinforcement having arrived, under the orders of lieutenant-general Packenham and ma- jor-general Lambert: it was reported, that the British army now consisted of fourteen thousand men. Jack- son had information, that for several days, the com- munication between the army and fleet had been unu- sually active, and that a general attack was preparing- that the enemy was deepening Villere's canal and ex- tending it, in order to bring his boats to the Missis- sippi.
Early on the morning of the eighth, signals, to pro- duce concert in the enemy's movements, were noticed. A rocket ascended on the left, near the swamp, and soon after, another on the right, near the river; and a few minutes after, the charge was began with such ra- pidity, that our soldiers, at the outposts, with difficulty fled in.
The enemy's batteries, which had been demolished on new year's day, had been repaired during the night, and furnished with several pieces of heavy ar- tillery. These now opened, and showers of balls and bombs were poured on our line, and the air was light- ed with congreve rockets. The two divisions under generals Keane and Gibbs, were led by Packenham:
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both pressed forward, the one against the centre, the other against the redoubt on the levee. A thick fog, enabled them to approach within a short distance, be- fore they were discovered. They advanced, with a firm, quick and steady pace, in solid columns, with a front of sixty or seventy deep. On perceiving them, Jackson, who had been for some time waiting their appearance, gave a signal, on which our men, who were in readiness, gave three cheers, and instantly the whole line was lighted with the blaze of their fire. A burst of artillery and small arms, pouring with de- structive aim upon the British, mowed their front and arrested their advance. In the musketry, there was not a moment of intermission, as one party discharged their pieces, another succeeded: alternately loading and firing, no pause could be perceived-it was one continued volley. Notwithstanding the severity of the fire, some British soldiers pressed forward, and suc- ceeded in gaining the ditch in front of the line. At this moment, Packenham fell, in front of his men, mortally wounded, and soon after, Gibbs and Keane were borne from the field, dangerously wounded .- Lambert, who was advancing, at a small distance in the rear with the reserve, met the columns precipitate- ly retreating and in great confusion. His efforts to rally them were unavailing-they reached a ditch, at the distance of four hundred yards from our line, where, finding a momentary safety, they were rallied and halted.
They shortly after returned to the charge; but Jackson's batteries had not ceased their fire-their constant discharge of grape and cannister, and volleys of musketry, cut down the enemy's columns as fast as they could be formed; they now abandoned the con-
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test and the field in disorder, leaving it entirely cover- ed with the dead and the wounded.
A strong detachment, which formed the left of Keane's command, was sent, under Colonel Rennie, against our redoubt, on the right. This work was in an unfinished state. Rennie, urging forward with stern bravery, reached the ditch. His advance was greatly annoyed by Patterson's battery, on the right bank, and the cannon mounted on the redoubt; but he passed the ditch, and leaping, sword in hand, on the wall, called on his men to follow him, when the fatal aim of a rifleman brought him down. Pressed by the impetuosity of superior numbers, who were mounting the wall and entering at the embrasures, the men in the redoubt had retired to the rear of the line, when the city riflemen, cool and self-possessed, openedon the assailants, and at every discharge brought the ob- ject to the ground. The followers of Rennie aban- doned the attempt, in which he had fallen: they re- tired, galled by such part of the guns in the line as could be brought upon them: they sought a shelter behind the levee, but the fire of Patterson's battery, on the right bank of the river, severely annoyed them on their retreat.
The efforts of the enemy to carry Jackson's line of defence, were seconded by an attack, which was in- tended to have been simultaneous, on the opposite bank. Col. Thornton, before day break, had crossed the Mississippi with eight hundred men: but he had hardly effected his landing, when the day broke, and he hastened forward against Morgan's entrench- ment.
Jackson had foreseen an attack on that side of the river, and during the previous night, he had sent two hundred of the militia of the state to assist in opposing
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it. This detachment had advanced a mile down the river, and Arnaud, who commanded it, supposing that the general was mistaken, or deeming that the spirits of his men would be resuscitated by repose, had directed them to lie down and sleep. Hearing the rattling noise made by the British, who were approach- ing, Arnaud aroused his sleeping companions, and be- fore they could be formed, the foe was so near, that they became confused, and moved off in the direction in which they had come. A body of Kentuckians, who had reached Morgan's camp, at five in the morn- ing had been sent on to support Arnaud: they had proceeded about three-fourths of a mile, when they met his men hastily retreating up the road.
These two detachments ran along together, and formed behind a saw-mill race, skirted with a quan- tity of plank and scantling, which afforded them a to- lerable shelter. The enemy now appeared; his ap- proacht was resisted, and a warm and spirited opposi- tion made for awhile. A momentary check was given him. He retired, returned and again received a heavy fire. One of Morgan's aids now arrived, and ordered a retreat. Confusion ensued-order could not be restored, and the whole precipitately fied to Morgan's entrenchment, when they were instantly formed, and ordered to extend themselves in line to the swamp, to prevent the entrenchment being turned.
'Thornton halted, at the distance of about seven hun- dred yards, and soon after advanced to the attack, in two divisions, against the extreme right and centre of the line, now defended by about five hundred men. A well directed discharge of the artillery, which had been mounted on the works, caused his right division to oblique and unite with the left, and press forward to the point occupied by the Kentucky troops. These
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men finding themselves thus exposed, and not hav- ing yet recovered from the disorder of their? hasty retreat, now gave way, and soon after abandoned their position. The Louisiana militia gave a few fires and followed the example. The officers suc- ceeded in obtaining a momentary halt; but a burst of congreve rockets happening to set fire to a field of sugar cane and to other combustible materials, their fears were again excited-they hastily moved away, and could not be rallied, till, at the distance of two miles they reached a small race and were formed and placed in an attitude of defence.
The loss of the British in the main attack, on the left bank, is supposed to have beeen between twen- ty-five hundred and three thousand killed-the number of wounded was much greater. The loss of the Americans in killed and wounded was but thirteen.
General Lambert, on whom the command of the British army devolved on the fall of Packenham, Gibbs and Keane, now solicited permission to send an unarmed detachment to bury the dead and bring off the wounded, lying near Jackson's line. This was allowed, and a suspension of hostilities agreed on for twenty-four hours.
A considerable naval force of the enemy had been destined to cooperate in the late attack by as- cending the Mississippi. They succeeded in pass- ing the Balize, and made prisoners of a small de- tachment that had been stationed there, but were unable to pass Fort St. Philip at Plaquemines.
The squadron, which consisted of two bomb vessels, a brig, schooner and sloop, approached the fort, on the ninth, at ten o'clock in the morning, within striking distance, and soon after commenced
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to discharge an immense quantity of bombs and balls against the fort. A severe and well directed fire from its water battery compelled the shipping to retreat to the distance of two miles, where they could reach the fort with the shells from their largest mortars, while they stood beyond the reach of its artillery. The bom- bardment, with various intervals, was continued till the seventeenth, when a heavy mortar having been mount- ed and turned against them, they retreated on the morning of the eighteenth.
At midnight, between the eighteenth and nineteenth, the enemy precipitately abandoned his encampment on the left bank of the Mississippi, to return to his ship- ping, leaving under medical attendance, eighteen wound- cd, including two officers, fourteen pieces of artillery, and a considerable quantity of shot. Such was the situation of the ground they abandoned, and that through which they retreated, protected by swamps canals, re- doubts and intrenchments, that Jackson could not, without encountering a risk which policy neither re- quired or authorised, annoy him much on his retreat. He took eight prisoners only.
One of the medical men, left to take care of the wounded, handed to Jackson a letter from Lambert, imploring protection for the men thus remaining be- hind, and announcing that he had relinquished, "for the present, all further operations against New-Orleans."
"Whether" says Jackson's communication to the Secretary of War, of the nineteenth, "it be the purpose of the enemy to abandon the expedition altogether, or to renew his efforts at some other point, I shall not pretend to decide with positiveness. In my own mind, there is but little doubt that his last exertions have been made in this quarter; at any rate for the present season: and by the next, if he shall choose to revisit us, I hope we shall be fully prepared for him. In this belief, I am
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strengthened by the prodigious loss he sustained, on the position he has just quitted, and by the failure of his fleet to pass Fort St. Phillip. His loss since the de- barkation of his troops, as stated by all the prisoners and deserters, and as confirmed by many additional circum- stances, exceeds in the whole four thousand men."
Jackson now determined to withdraw his troops from the position they had occupied and place them near the city, whence they might easily be advanced whenever it might be necessary. The seventh regiment of in- fantry was left to protect the point he was leaving, and further in advance on Villere's canal, where the enemy landed, he posted a detachment of Louisiana and Ken- tucky militia.
Having made these arrangements, he brought the rest of his army to the city, on the twentieth.
On the twenty-third a solemn service of thanksgiv- ing was performed in the Cathedral-exactly one month after the first landing of the enemy at Villere's planta- tion.
If the vigilance, the activity, and the intrepidity of the General had been conspicuous during the whole pe- riod of the invasion, his prudence, moderation and self- denial, on the departure of the enemy, deserves no less commendation and admiration. An opportunity was then presented to him of acquiring laurels by a pursuit, which few, elated as he must have been by success, could have resisted. But, he nobly reflected that those who fled from him were mercenaries-those who sur- rounded his standard, his fellow-citizens, almost univer- sally fathers of families ;- sound policy, to use his own expressions, neither required or authorised him to ex- pose the lives of his companions in arms, in a useless conflict. He thought the lives of ten British soldiers would not requite the loss of one of his men. He had not saved New-Orleans to sacrifice its inhabitants .---
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With tears of gratitude they greeted him on his return, in the strains which Ariosto addresses to his patron,
Fu il víncer sempre mai laudábil cosa, Víncasi o per fortuna o per ingegno : Gli è ver, che la vittoria sanguinosa Spesso far suole il capitán men degno ; E quella eternamente è gloriosa, E dei divini onori arriva al segno, Quando, servando i suoi senz'alcúu danno, Si fa che gl'inimici in rotta vanno.
La vostra, signór mio, fu degna loda, Quando al leone, in mar tanto feroce, Ch' avéa occupata l'una e l'altra proda Del Po, da Francolín sin alla foce, Faceste si, che ancor che ruggir l'oda, S'io vedro voi, non temeró la voce. Come vincer si de' ne dimostraste ; Ch' uccideste i nemici, e noi salvaste.
ORLANDO FURIOSO, XIV.
Thus paraphrased-
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Great honor every victor must obtain, Let fortune give success or conduct gain : Yet oft a battle, won with blood, will yield Less praise to him who boasts the conquered field. But ever glorious is that chieftain's name- And pure and sacred is his martial fame, Who, while the forces of his foes o'erthrown Proclaim his might, from loss preserves his own. Such was the war by thec, brave Jackson, wag'd, When Britain on the waves had fiercely rag'd- Had seiz'd each shorc that to the Gulph descends, And to our Lakes from Pensacola bends :
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Tho' yet afar, her lion's roar seem'd near, But present thou, what breast could harbor fear. Nobly thou taught's us victory to gain- By thee our friends were sav'd, our foes were slain.
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Eaton .- Latour .- Archives .- Gazettes.
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CHAPTER XVIII.
The Legislature adjourns .- Fort Boyer taken .- In- telligence of peace .- Jackson's proclamation .- Con- firmation of the intelligence .- French subjects de- mand their discharge from military service .- Apply to the Consul, and are discharged on his certificate. The Consul and them ordered into the interior .- They remain at home .- Louaillier's publication .- His arrest .- Writ of habeas corpus issued by Hall, who is also arrested .- The Clerk of the Court brought to head-quarters .- A record taken and with- held from him .- He avows his intention to issue the writ, and is threatened .- The Marshal avows his intention to execute it, and is threatened .- Intelli- gence of the treaty being ratified .- State militia discharged .- Proceedings against Hall and Louail- lier .- Order against the French subjects suspended. Hollander, Lewis and Dick ordered to be arrest- ed .- Orders against Lewis and Dick countermanded. Supreme Court .- Hollander discharged .- Louaillier acquitted .- The sentence disapproved. Hall sent out of the City .- Peace proclaimed.
THE legislature made an appropriation of two thousand dollars for the benefit of the Charity Hospital, the resources of which had been diminished by the li- beral succour it had yielded to the sick of the states of Kentucky and Tennessce. Provision was also made for the immediate relief of the wounded and the families of those who had been killed.
Danger had now evidently subsided. The levy en masse of the militia, had been arriving in regiments and
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companies. "Every thing," says Latour, "was in rea- diness to repel the enemy, on whatever point he might make an attack. All the damaged arms had been re- paired, and a barge had arrived from Pittsburg, with muskets, cannon and balls. Louisiana had been de- fended and saved, with means much inferior to those of the enemy, and towards the end of January she was in ' a condition to defy double the number that had at first attacked her. Time had shown how groundless were the apprehensions which were pretended to be enter- tained from the disaffection of the people, and had evinc- ed the wisdom of the legislature, in rejecting the pro- positions which had been made, to suspend the writ of Habeas Corpus. They adjourned on the sixth of Feb- ruary.
On the twelfth the British possessed themselves of Fort Boyer, at the entrance of Mobile Bay.
By a communication of the following day, from Ad- miral Cochrane, Jackson was informed that the Admi- ral had just received a bulletin from Jamaica, (a copy of which was inclosed) proclaiming that a treaty of peace had been signed by the respective plenipotentia- ries of Great Britain and the United States, at Ghent, on the twenty-fourth of December. The despatch did not arrive till the twenty-first, by the way of the Balize, but the intelligence had been brought to the city on the preceding day by one of Jackson's aids, who had re- turned from the British fleet with a flag of truce.
In announcing this event, by an address to the army and the people of Louisiana, the General forewarned them from being thrown into security by hopes that might be delusive ; observing it was by holding out such, that an artful and insidious foe, too often seeks to accomplish objects, the utmost exertion of his strength will not enable him to effect. He added that to place them off their guard, and attack them by surprise, was
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the natural expedient of one, who, having experienced the superiority of their arms, hoped to overcome them by stratagem.
On the twenty-second, the gladsome tidings were confirmed, and a gazette of Charleston was received, announcing the ratification of the treaty by the Prince Regent.
We have seen that on the first account of the arrival of part of the British army on Villere's plantation, the French subjects who resided in New-Orleans and its en- virons, animated by Tousard, their Consul, had flocked round Jackson's standard, "determined to leave it with the necessity that called them to it, and not till then." As long as the foe remained in the state, they patiently submitted to toil, privation and danger, with exemplary fortitude and patience :- they had left their families in penury and distress, but the liberality of the the city council had ministered to their wants ;- that body had distributed among the needy inhabitants thir- ty-four thousand rations of bread, and thirteen thousand of. meat. But, whether the means of the corporation were exhausted, or the absence of danger rendered its officers less attentive, these supplies did not flowas abun- dantly as at first, and, pressed by the anxiety of coming to the help of their families, and no longer elated by the hope of gaining laurels, being useful to the country they lived in, or excited by their antipathy to the invaders- they grew tired of a service, which they now thought perfectly useless. A few solicited their discharge from the officers under whom they were immediately placed- Jackson was consulted, and insisted on their being re- tained. On this, a number of them demanded from Tousard certificates of their national character, which they presented to the General, by whom they were coun- tersigned, and the bearers permitted to return home .- The example was followed by so many, that Jackson
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was induced to believe that Tousard too easily gratifi- ed the applicants with certificates, and considering his compliance with his duty, as evidence of his adhesion to the enemy, ordered him out of the city.
Yielding to the advice of many around him, who were constantly filling his ears with their clamours a- bout the disloyalty, disaffection and treason of the peo- ple of Louisiana, and particularly the state officers and the people of French origin, Jackson, on the last day of February, issued a general order, commanding all French subjects, possessed of a certificate of their na- tional character, subscribed by the consul of France, and countersigned by the commanding general, to retire into the interior, to a distance above "Baton Rouge :- a measure, which was stated to have been rendered indis- pensable by the frequent applications for discharges .- The names were directed to be taken of all persons of this description, remaining in the city, after the expira- tion of three days.
Time has shown this to have been a most unfortu- nate step, and those by whose suggestions it was taken, soon found themselves unable to avert from the gene- ral the consequences to which it exposed him, The people against whom it was directed were loyal-many of them had bled, all had toiled and suffered in the de- fence of the state. Need, in many instances, im- providence in several, had induced the families of these people to part with the furniture of their houses to sup- ply those immediate wants, which the absence of the head of the family occasioned. No exception, no dis- tinction was made. The sympathetic feelings of every class of inhabitants were enlisted in favor of these men ; they lacked the means of sustaining themselves on the way, and must have been compelled, on their arrival at Baton Rouge, then a very insignificant village, to throw themselves on the charity of the inhabitants. Another
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consideration rendered the departure of these men, an evil to be dreaded. The apprehension of the return of the enemy was represented, as having had much weight with Jackson in issuing his order. Their past conduct was a sure pledge that, in case of need, their services would again be re-offered; there were among them a number of experienced artillery-men; a description of soldiers, which was not easily to be found among the brave who had come down from Kentucky, or Tennes- see, or even in the army of the United States. These considerations induced several respectable citizens to wait on Jackson, for the purpose of endeavouring to in- duce him to reconsider a determination, which was viewed as productive of flagrant injustice and injury to those against whom it was directed, without any possible advantage, and probably very detrimental, to those for whose benefit it was intended.
Eaton has informed his readers that "Promptitude and decision constitutes one of the leading traits of Jack- son's character." Those who called on the general, were soon convinced, that hasty determinations are sel- dom patiently re examined, or willingly changed: they found him inexorable. The recommendation was there- fore given to the French exiles, to forbear the manifesta- tion of any positive resistance, but to remain quietly at home, in the hope, that official accounts from the seat of government, changing the state of affairs, should soon enable Jackson to withdraw his late orders, without ad- mitting they were too precipitately issued. They were assured, that the laws of the country would protect them, and punish, even in a successful general, a violation of the rights of, or a wanton injury to, the meanest indivi- dual, citizen or alien. They were referred to the case of Wilkinson, against whom an independent jury of the Mississippi territory had given a verdict in favour of
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Adair, who had been illegally arrested and transported, during the winter of 1806.
The mail now brought northern gazettes, announcing the arrival of the treaty at Washington, on the 14th. The hope, that had been entertained, that Jackson would now allow those unfortunate people to stay with their families, was disappointed; a circumstance which induc- ed several of their countrymen, who had become citizens of the U. States, to imagine, that antipathy to the French population influenced the general's determination .- It has justly been allowed, that those who are ignorant of each other's language, often lack the liberality of giv- ing the best construction to each others acts; and the inhabitants of New Orleans had often complained, that the government of the United States had not had the indulgence, which the king of Spain had always extended to them, of sending superior officers to preside over them, who spoke their language. Jackson had uniform- ly kept aloof from the French part of the population, and did not appear to treat the officers of the state govern- ment, with the attention which was believed to be due them; and those who were considered, as his most confi- dential friends, werc believed to be in opposition to the officers of the state.
Louallier, the member of the house of representatives for the county of Opelousas, a native of France, had been an efficient member of the legislature, and had been remarked for his constant and steady efforts, in bringing forth the energies of the state for its defence, and in providing and distributing assistance for its needy de- fenders. He had been hitherto extremely useful in the regulation of the finances-we have seen he was one of those, who thought the legislature should remain in ses- sion, while danger hovered over the state. He had thought it better to open the treasury, and induce sailors to go on board of public vessels, by ample bounties,
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than to empower the commodore to send out press gangs-he thought that the state should not outlaw its defenders, by suspending the habeas corpus-he did' not believe in the cry of Jackson and Claiborne, of dis- affection, sedition and treason. He thought every citi- zen owed to the state the exertion of his utmost facul- ties, during the pending crisis; he accordingly enrolled himself in one of the companies of veterans, patroled the .city during the night, and sat, during the day, in a milita- ry council, and a committee of succours. Of the latter, he had been the most efficient member. In distribu- ting relief to the indigent, he had frequently visited in person the mansions of those, who had abandoned their families, buckled a knapsack on their backs, placed a musket on their shoulders, and followed Jackson; and he had witnessed the distresses of their families. He had given credit to the admiral's communication; being unable or unwilling to believe, that officer entertained so unfavourable an opinion of those who opposed him, as to conceive the idea, that they could be imposed upon, by so flimsy a means, as a forged newspaper. He had ap- proved the caution of Jackson; but the confirmation of the signature of the treaty, in a Charleston gazette, had sanctioned the belief, that the admiral's information was correct. The frequent and uncontradicted repetitio of the intelligence in letters and newspapers, placed it be- yond all doubt. When he heard, that the treaty was before the senate, he entertained very little doubt of its instant ratification.
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