USA > Tennessee > Old times in Tennessee, with historical, personal, and political scraps and sketches > Part 18
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Quite a number of officers and men were attracted to the spot by this scene, and having always regarded Weatherford as the abettor of the Fort Mims massacre, many of them cried out, "Kill him! kill him! kill him!" Gen. Jackson, with a waive of his hand, exclaimed, "Silence! Any man," he added with great vehemence, "who would kill as brave a man as this should die himself." Weatherford was invited into the General's tent, and he alighted from his horse, taking with him his deer and presenting it to Gen. Jackson, who accepted the gift. They drank a glass of brandy together and partook of a camp colla- tion, after which they entered into a free and friendly talk touch-
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ing the object of Weatherford's visit. Gen. Jackson frankly stated to him the terms upon which he would be permitted to surrender. The great chief of the Creeks replied that he desired peace in order that the remnant of his people might be rescued from their suffering and the women and children saved from starvation, and then drawing himself up to his full height, his keen black eye looking into that of him who never quailed be- fore a public or a private foe, he added, with a pathos and an eloquence that has never been exceeded in ancient or modern times, "There was a time when I had a choice, and could have answered you. I have none now; even hope has ended. Once I could animate my warriors to battle; but I cannot animate the dead. My warriors can no longer hear my voice. Their bones are at Talladega, Tallashatches, Emucfau, and Tohopeka. I have not surrendered myself thoughtlessly. Whilst there were chances of success, I never left my post, nor supplicated peace. But my people are gone, and I now ask it for my nation and for myself. On the miseries and misfortunes brought upon my country, I look back with deepest sorrow, and wish to avert still greater calamities. If I had been left to contend with the Georgia army, I would have raised my corn on one bank of the river, and fought them on the other; but your people have de- stroyed my nation. You are a brave man : I rely upon your generosity. You will exact no terms of a conquered people but such as they should accede to. Whatever they may be, it would now be madness and folly to oppose. If they are opposed, you shall find me amongst the sternest enforcers of obedience. Those who would still hold out, can be influenced only by a mean spirit of revenge; and to this they must not, and shall not, sacrifice the last remnant of their country. You have told our nation where we might go, and be safe. This is good talk, and they ought to listen to it. They shall listen to it."
The Creek war ended with the treaty of Fort Jackson, one- half the territory being exacted as indemnity for the expenses of the war. There being no further need for an army in that sec- tion, an order came from Gen. Jackson to his brave and gallant troops to take up the line of march homeward. This order was accompanied by an address to his comrades in arms, which con- cluded as follows: "The rapidity of your movements and the
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brilliancy of your achievements have corresponded with the valor by which you have been animated. The bravery you have dis- played on the field of battle will long be remembered and appre- ciated by your General, and will not be forgotten by the country which you have so materially benefitted." In a few days these brave men arrived at Fayetteville, where they were honorably discharged, each man carrying with him to his home the con- sciousness of having done his whole duty. Gen. Jackson imme- diately set out for his home, and all along the way he was greeted with the enthusiastic cheers of a grateful people. At Nashville he was received with every manifestation of popular approval. He was conducted to the court-house, where he was welcomed in a neat and eloquent speech by the Hon. Felix Grundy in behalf of the citizens, to which Gen. Jackson made a most felicitous reply. He then partook of a public dinner, and after mingling freely with the citizens, his old friends and neighbors, he re- turned to the pleasant shades of the Hermitage.
Maj. Gen. Wm. H. Harrison having resigned his position in the army, public opinion strongly pointed to Gen. Jackson as his successor. In deference to this expressed will of the people, President Madison appointed Jackson a Major General in the United States Army, and assigned him to the command of the Southern and Western Division. A great crisis had now arrived. threatening imminent peril to our young republic. Our Govern- ment found itself with an empty treasury, its resources having been exhausted by a two years' war, while it had little or no credit upon which to raise money to carry on the war and to prosecute it with the vigor which the crisis demanded; and what was more alarming still, Napoleon had fallen, thus releasing the victorious army of England. The vast resources of the British Government, its thousand war ships and great army, were now directed toward America. A large British army arrived in the Chesapeake Bay in August, 1814, and Washington was captured and reduced to a heap of ruins. The Government was in no condition to defend a coast of upwards of one thousand miles in extent. The Gulf States seemed destined to be overrun by the British army ; the mouth of the Mississippi to be occupied, New Orleans to be captured, and the work of conquest to be extended up the Mississippi and its tributaries. Gen. Jackson, nothing
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daunted by these extensive preparations, and the danger that menaced the country at so many points, hurried to Mobile, only to find the fragments of three broken regiments throughout the Gulf coast. It was anything but an encouraging outlook that met him. But Gen. Jackson was not the man to quail before difficulties and discouragements of this character. He called for volunteers from Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee, and com- menced making every possible preparation to give battle to the enemy whenever he should appear. He ascertained from relia- ble information that Spanish Florida, though pretending to be neutral, according to the stipulations of the treaty between the United States and Spain, was in fact a secret enemy of our Gov- ernment and an aider and abettor of England. He was entirely satisfied that the Spanish Governor of Pensacola, Marequax, was a confederate of the British Government, if he was not actually in its employ. The fine harbor of Pensacola was the rendezvous of the British navy. The British Capt. Percy arrived there with his feet of some eight ships, filled with soldiers under the com- mand of Col. Nichol, who, by invitation, made the Governor's house his headquarters, and from the fort floated the British flag by the side of the Spanish flag. The forts of Florida were used as depositories for British arms and ammunition. The Creek In- dians who fled to Florida, as well as the Seminoles, were enrolled as British soldiers, and armed and drilled to make war against the United States. Gen. JJackson kept an eye on the movements in and around Pensacola, and he finally sent a messenger to the Governor asking for an explanation of these acts of hostility to- wards our country. Instead of an explanation, an insulting answer was returned. This aroused all the fires in the old chief- tain's breast. He had no instructions from his Government to resent this insolence and chastise the perpetrators of these acts of war. But he needed no such instructions; he always took the responsibility of doing what he believed to be right, espe- cially if his own honor or that of his country demanded it, and then his action was prompt and decisive. There was no compro- mise in him; he never did things by halves; he always went in for a clean victory or a clean defeat. He never got mad either until there was no other alternative, and then he was more than a wild horse in a buggy ; he was a tornado that swept along with
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terrible and resistless fury, bearing down all opposition. He forthwith issued an order to his army to march to Pensacola, de- termined to make .the Spanish authorities respect their obliga- tions to this country, and also to teach the proud Britons a lesson they badly needed. His army then consisted of about three thousand men. Gen. Coffee had arrived with his Tennessee vol- unteers, and he had also received reinforcements from Mississippi and Louisiana. He knew that he could depend upon these men in an emergency, such as then presented itself, for many of them had given evidence of the possession of great courage on many a hotly-contested field. He therefore took up the line of march with entire confidence in his ability to dislodge the British, who were getting a firm foothold in that portion of Florida, prepara- tory to a descent upon the Gulf States. He arrived before Pen- sacola on the 6th of November, 1814, and took the town by storm on the 7th, capturing the forts in the harbor, with the ex- ception of Barrancas, at the mouth of the bay, which was blown up by the British after they had escaped. Celerity of movement was important just then, and four days afterward (on the 11th) he was in Mobile with his army, ready to meet the British there.
Those who were present say that the old chieftain gave the Spanish Governor of Pensacola the most vigorous cursing they had ever heard one man give another. He was "terribly in earnest," and enforced his speech to that functionary in the most emphatic manner. It was "a setting down " the Governor never forgot, and he said afterwards that he would rather encounter a Bengal tiger than Gen. Jackson. When Jackson left, he said to him, " Now, sir, I have learned you a lesson how hereafter to behave yourself, and if I hear that you impugn my honor here- after, or do anything detrimental to the interest of my country, I shall return and be upon you again, and hang you upon the first tree that may be most convenient!" They then parted, the Spaniard being glad that he had fared no worse. He was heard to remark that Gen. Jackson was the most ferocious animal -that had ever attacked him. That was the last that was heard of Marequax during that war.
In the long wars between Spain and France and between En- gland and France, privateer commissions were sold by those powers, and the Gulf of Mexico became the theater of a destruct-
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ive war upon the commerce of the world, for very much of it was then carried in ships sailing under authority of these gov- ernments. The Bay of Barretarie afforded a safe harbor for the smaller class of vessels, but the larger ones could not enter it. This place became the headquarters of the licensed pirate. Jean Lafitte, a Frenchman, who was a blacksmith, a citizen of New Orleans, a man of undoubted courage, shrewd, sagacious, of great natural powers, was the chief of this band of "freebooters of the sea." At the head of a bold force, he succeeded in capturing many vessels with valuable cargoes, which were carried into Bar- retarie. To this point many traders of New Orleans resorted, and purchased from the pirates their spoils at low prices, and this trade laid the foundations of large estates. Lafitte covered over a multitude of his sins by the patriotism displayed by him in ac- quiring information and keeping his countrymen advised of the approach of the enemy's fleet, and the point of attack, which was New Orleans. Many circumstances exist which show that he was an incorruptible patriot, and a man of truth and honor. The enemy, appreciating the great importance of having accurate in- formation in regard to the approaches to New Orleans, opened a correspondence with Lafitte, interviews were had, and large re- wards were offered for the information they desired. Lafitte dal- lied with them, and obtained a knowledge of all their plans, without communicating to them any substantial information whatever. The information he thus obtained was communicated to the authorities at New Orleans, and was of essential service. Although many doubted his statements, such men as Edward Livingston, of New Orleans, who afterward became Secretary of State under President Jackson, believed in his patriotic inten- tions and fully trusted him. At this very time the brother of the pirate was captured and lay in irons in New Orleans, and the headquarters of Lafitte at Barretarie had been attacked by Com- modore Patterson, and his establishment laid in ruins. Not- withstanding all this, Lafitte remained as true as steel to the cause of his adopted country, which shows that he was composed of the true metal and could not be corrupted. He wrote to Gov. Claiborne, of Louisiana, among other things, "This point in Louisiana, which I occupy, is of great importance to the country. I tender my services to defend it, and the only reward I ask is
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that a stop be put to the persecution against me and my adhe- rents, by an act of oblivion for all that has been done. I have sailed under the flag of Carthegeria, and my vessels are regular in that respect. If I could have brought my lawful prizes into the ports of this State, I should not have employed the illicit means that have caused me to be proscribed."
New Orleans, which is situated about sixty miles above the Balize, was the objective point of the great army and fleet of England. That place was to be captured, and to be made the headquarters of future operations against this country. The delta is the general emptying-place of the greatest river in the world, which washes half a continent. The country is a " dead level," and for thousands of years these washings from half a continent have compressed the limits of the Gulf coast. Sir Charles Lyall compute that at some period the Gulf coast was one hundred miles North of where it is now, and that the mouth of the Mississippi was near Baton Rouge. Parties who have bored the delta to the depth of six hundred feet, have found the trunks of trees at that depth that grew along the banks of the great river. But the British fleet had to enter the river's mouth sixty miles beyond New Orleans, and make their way up to the city through the danger that would beset them. The practiced eye of Livingston, and the good, practical sense of Gen. Jackson, aided by the light shed upon the matter through Lafitte's exer- tions, showed them that the approach of the British would be through the Bayou of St. John, which empties into Lake Pon- chartrain seven miles from the city. The old pioneer and revo- lutionary soldier, Gen. James Winchester, who was in command of the small force left at Mobile, made a gallant defense of Fort Boyer, which lay at the straights of Mobile Bay, and prevented the landing of six British ships, which then hoisted sail for New Orleans.
Gen. Jackson arrived in New Orleans on the 2d of December, 1814. Mr. Livingston was made his chief aid. Gen. Carroll was ordered to move on New Orleans with his volunteer forces. Gov. Claiborne had convened the Legislature of Louisiana in extraordinary session. But dissensions and factions prevailed, and nothing was done for the defense of New Orleans; no money was apprioated nor forces raised. Louis Lavallier, chairman of
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the committe of ways and means, says, in a report to the Legis- lature : "Are we always to see the several departments intrusted with our defense, languishing in inactivity which would be inex- cusable even in time of peace ? No proof of patriotism appears, but a disposition to avoid all expense, all fatigue. Nothing has yet been done. If the Legislature superadds its inaction to that of the community, capitulation, like that of Alexandria, must before long be the result of such culpable negligence." Never was a brave, patriotic General beset with so many difficulties in making a defense of a great city, and that, too, the emporium of the South-west. The forces at his command upon his arrival in New Orleans consisted of two 'half-filled newly raised regiments, num- bering eight hundred men; Maj. Planche's noble battalion of volunteers, numbering five hundred; two regiments of State mi- litia, badly armed; a battalion of free colored men ; the entire force amounting to two thousand, with only two vessels of war and six gunboats on the lakes. More than half the population were dissatisfied, and desired to capitulate upon the arrival of the enemy. Gen. Jackson, however, was determined to defend the city at all hazards, and to strike the enemy with all the power and force he could command upon his approaching the city. The more effectually to carry out his purpose, he declared martial law, and issued an order that no one should leave the city without his permission, signed by himself or one of his staff. A committee of citizens waited on the General, and asked permission to carry their wives to Baton Rouge, when they would return and help fight the battle. Gen. Jackson replied with great vehemence, " No, by the eternal God, none should leave the city. The women must stay and abide the fate of the battle; that he had fought chickens, and he always found that the game cocks fought best in the presence of the hens."
Gen. Jackson put forth superhuman efforts in his preparations to successfully repel the enemy, and by his magnetic influence dispelled the consternation that had prevailed throughout the city, and imparted courage to those upon whom its defense and safety depended. On the 15th of December he issued a procla- mation addressed to the citizens of New Orleans, saying, "The Major-General commanding has, with astonishment and regret, learned that great consternation and alarm pervade your city.
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It is true, the enemy is on our coast, and threatens an invasion of our territory, but it is equally true, with union, energy, and the approbation of Heaven, we will beat him at every point his temerity may induce him to set foot on our soil." This bold and confident assurance had the desired effect. Confidence was re- stored and faction became powerless. About this time informa- tion was given by Maj. Vellum that the enemy had landed at his father's plantation, and was then within a few miles of the city. Gen. Coffee's brigade of Tennesseeans had arrived. Gen. Carroll had raised a large force of volunteers in Tennessee, and was descending the Mississippi with them in flatboats as rapidly as he could. Fortunately he fell in with a boat laden with arms for New Orleans, which enabled him to arm his men. Generals Thomas and Adair, with detachments of gallant Kentuckians, were likewise on the river, hurrying to the rescue of the imper- iled city. They had neither arms, blankets, nor war supplies. Having been organized in great haste, and left as hastily, there was no time to procure these.
The British forces under Gen. Keen advanced upon the city with the view of giving the Americans battle. On the night of the 25th of December, the Caroline opened fire upon the advanc- ing foe. This was the signal for action, and Gen. Jackson gave the command, " Forward." Soon the battle raged with terrible fury. The British column, largely reinforced, opened a galling fire upon Jackson's artillerymen and marines, causing the latter to waver and get into confusion, during which the British pressed the assault with vigor and came near capturing the guns of the demoralized Americans. The electric presence of Gen. Jackson was now felt where it was most needed, for he soon rallied the marines, drove back the enemy, and saved his guns. The fight had now become general, and through the darkness of the night the flash of the muskets gave the only light by which the enemy could be distinguished. Gradually the engagement assumed the character of a duel of squads and detachments, during which the armies got badly mixed up; so much so that the Americans fre- quently fired upon squads of their own troops by mistake, and the British did the same thing. Prisoners were taken and re- taken by each party. No man knew what was taking place ex- cept that which occurred in his immediate presence. It was
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indeed "confusion worse confounded." Notwsthstanding these disadvantages, the Americans were holding their own wonder- fully. The enemy, astonished at the boldness and vigor with which their assault had been met, soon began to waver under a galling fire, and ultimately this wavering was converted into a flight, and Gen. Jackson was left in possession of the field. He determined to renew the fight the next day, but when the morn- ing came, learning meantime that Gen. Keen had been heavily reinforced, he prudently came to the conclusion not to risk a bat- tle in the open field, with only two thousand five hundred raw militia and volunteers pitted against six thousand well-disciplined English soldiers.
Gen. Jackson was determined to fortify the city with bales of cotton, extending from the river to the swamp. He seized a ship loaded with cotton, which he took to construct breastworks, to- gether with other cotton from the city. It is said that Gen. Jack- son took no rest, nor did he sleep until his fortification was com- pleted on the 27th of December. Food was brought to him, which he ate while in the saddle, and without interfering with his duties. When his fortification was completed, a young spec- ulator complained to the General that a part of his cotton had been taken, and pointed out some bales as belonging to him. Gen. Jackson promptly handed him a musket and told him he must defend his own cotton, and made him do it.
On the morning of the 28th of December, Gen. Packenham, with his subalterns Gens. Keen and Gibbs, commenced a move- ment upon the American lines with the intention of renewing the fight. An eye-witness who saw the veterans of the British army, as they were marching to the strains of soul-inspiring music, and with banners flying, said it was the most magnificent sight he ever beheld. It was the intention of Gen. Packenham to make the attack upon the American lines at a point covered by heavy guns, but the Louisiana, which was lying at anchor in the river, opened fire upon the advancing columns, causing the British to halt, and finally to retreat without any further demonstration. Gen. Packenham, having now seen the American lines and learned something of their strength, called a council of war, at which it was determined to carry the American position by regular ap- proaches. The British army remained inactive until the 1st of
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January, 1815. Meantime Gen. Jackson was busy strengthening his fortifications, and erecting a battery on the North side of the river. He added a new battery on his fortifications, and strength- ened his lines where they were weak, and pushed them far into the swamp. The noise and movements in the enemy's lines on the last day of the year led Gen. Jackson to believe that he would be attacked early the next morning. New Year's day dawned upon a fog so dense that a man could discern nothing at a distance of twenty yards, aud it did not disperse until towards ten o'clock. At a signal from the central battery of the enemy, the whole of their thirty pieces of cannon opened fire full upon the American lines, and the air was filled with the red glare and hideous scream of hundreds of congreve rockets. The British had ascertained the position of the headquarters of Gen. Jackson, upon which they turned their guns and riddled the building. During the first ten minutes of the fire, as many as one hundred balls struck the house, but, though some of the General's suite were covered with rubbish and dust, and Col. Butler was knocked down, they all escaped without a scratch. Capt. Humphey, who was known as " the right arm of the artillery," soon caught a glimpse of the British batteries, and adjusting a twelve-pounder with the utmost exactness, he quietly gave the order, " Let her off!" and then a furious broadside was poured into the British lines. For an hour and a half a fierce artillery duel was kept up. The British guns were well aimed, and did considerable execution on the American works, knocking cotton bales about considerably, and setting fire to some of the cotton, the smoke from which added to the dense- ness of that from the guns. Most of the enemy's balls, however, buried themselves harmlessly in the soft, elastic earth of the thick embankment. Toward noon the firing ceased and the smoke rolled away. The British had thrown up a breastwork composed of hogsheads of sugar, but it afforded very little protection, for the balls from the American guns went crashing through the hogsheads, killing many of those behind them. And now it was discovered that the British batteries were heaps of ruins, and the guns dismounted and broken by the terrible fire of the American batteries. "Never," says the author of "Jaekson and New Or- leans," " was work more completely done-more perfectly finished and rounded off. Earth and heaven fairly shook with the pro-
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