this terrible quagmire; and in the morning reached the Fishermen's
Huts, mentioned before as standing on the brink of Bayou Bienvenue,
near Lake Borgne. The site is as complete a desert as the eye of man
was ever pained by beholding. Not a tree or a bush grew near. As far
as the eye could reach, an ocean of weeds covering and partially
hiding the swamp presented itself, except on the side where a view of
the Lake changed, without fertilizing, the prospect. Here we were
ordered to halt; and perhaps I never rejoiced more sincerely at any
order than at this. Wearied with my exertions, and oppressed with
want of sleep, I threw myself on the chilly ground, without so much
as pulling off my muddy garments; in an instant all my cares and
troubles were forgotten. After many hours, I awoke from that sleep,
cold and stiff, and creeping beside a miserable fire of weeds,
devoured the last morsal of salt pork my wallet contained.
The whole army having come up, formed along the brink of the Lake; a
line of outposts was planted, and the soldiers commanded to make
themselves as comfortable as possible. But there was little comfort.
Without tents or shelter of any kind, our bed was the morass, and our
sole covering the clothes which had not quitted our backs for a
month. Our fires, so necessary to a soldier's happiness, were
composed solely of weeds, which blazed up and burned out like straw,
imparting but little warmth. Above all, our provisions were expended,
with no way to replenish in reach. Our sole dependence was the fleet,
nearly one hundred miles away, at anchor. It was necessary to wait
until our barges could make the trip there, and return. For two
entire days, the only provisions issued to the troops were some
crumbs of biscuit and a small allowance of rum. As for myself, being
fond of hunting, I determined to fare better. I took a fire-lock and
went in pursuit of wild ducks, of which there seemed plenty in the
bog. I was fortunate enough to kill several, but they fell in the
water, about twenty yards out. There was no other alternative.
Pulling off my clothes, and breaking the thin ice, I waded out and
got my game, and returned to shore, shivering like an aspen. As I
neared the shore, my leg stuck fast in the mire, and in pulling it
out my stocking came off, a loss that gave me great discomfort, until
we went aboard the fleet. I request that I may not be sneered at when
I record this loss of my stocking as one of the disastrous
consequences of this ill-fated expedition.
As the boats returned, regiment after regiment set sail for the
fleet. But, the wind being foul, many days elapsed before all could
be got off. By the end of January, we were all once more on board our
former ships. But our return was far from triumphant. We, who only
seven weeks ago had set out in the surest confidence of glory, and I
may add, of emolument, were brought back dispirited and dejected. Our
ranks were woefully thinned, our chiefs slain, our clothing tattered
and filthy, and our discipline in some degree injured. A gloomy
silence reigned throughout the armament, except when it was broken by
the voice of lamentation over fallen friends. The interior of each
ship presented a scene well calculated to prove the misadventures of
human hope and human prudence. On reaching the fleet, we found that a
splendid regiment, the 40th Foot, of one thousand men, had just
arrived to reinforce us, ignorant of the fatal issue of our attack.
But the coming of thrice their number could not recover what was
lost, or recall the fateful past. There was no welcome, nor
rejoicing; so great was the despondency that no attention was given
to the event. A sullen indifference as to what might happen next
seemed to have succeeded all our wonted curiosity, and confidence of
success in every undertaking.
On the 4th of February, the fleet weighed anchor and set sail, though
detained by adverse winds near the shore of Cat Island until the 7th,
when it put to sea. Our course, towards the east, led to the
conjecture that we were steering towards Mobile. Nor was it long
before we came in sight of the bay which bears that name.
SECOND ATTACK ON FORT BOWYER, MOBILE BAY.
So great and so repeated had been the reverses of the British arms, that
an opportunity to retrieve lost prestige, even in a small degree, could
not well be permitted to pass unimproved. The great flotilla of sixty
vessels, with the fragments of the shattered army, which set sail with
flags and pennants gayly flying in the breeze from Negril Bay, Jamaica,
but a little over two months ago, was still a power upon the sea, at a
safe distance from Jackson's triumphant army. The little outpost of a
fort that guarded Mobile Bay, which had inflicted a heavy loss on, and
beaten off, a squadron of the enemy's ships a few months before, lay in
their path homeward, and it was determined to invest it, and to
overwhelm it with numbers. On the sixth of February, the great armament
appeared in sight of Dauphin Island. On the seventh, twenty-five ships
anchored in a crescent position extending from the island toward Mobile
Point, where stood the fort. On the morning of the eighth, the enemy
landed five thousand troops opposite the line of ships at anchor,
investing the fort by sea and land. The fortification was erected for
defense mainly on the sea side, to render it formidable to ships
attempting to enter the pass into Mobile Bay. On the land side was a
sandy plain, rendering it incapable of defense against a superior force
protected by extensive siege works. The enemy mounted a number of
batteries behind parapets and epaulements, which directed their fire
upon the weakest parts of the defense. The fort was gallantly defended
by a garrison of three hundred and fifty men, under command of Colonel
William Lawrence. Some losses were inflicted on the besiegers as they
continued to push their works to within short musket-range of the fort.
But the heavy cannonading and fire from small-arms encircled the
besieged from every direction, and further defense became hopeless.
Terms of surrender were agreed to on the eleventh, and on the twelfth
the garrison marched out with the honors of war, yielding possession to
the enemy.
NEGOTIATIONS FOR PEACE CONCLUDED ON THE 24TH OF DECEMBER, 1814.
The small victory at Mobile Bay was barren of any gain to the British
cause; for, on the fourteenth, two days after the surrender,
intelligence came from England to General Lambert that articles of peace
had been signed by the plenipotentiaries of the belligerent nations, in
session at Ghent. Gleig remarks, in his "Narrative": "With the reduction
of this trifling work ended all hostilities in this quarter of America;
for the army had scarcely reassembled, when intelligence arrived from
England of peace. The news reached us on the fourteenth, and I shall not
deny that it was received with much satisfaction."
On the nineteenth, General Jackson issued an address from headquarters,
from which we reproduce as follows: "The flag-vessel, which was sent to
the enemy's fleet at Mobile, has returned, and brings with it
intelligence, extracted from a London paper, that on the twenty-fourth
of December articles of peace were signed by the commissioners of the
two nations."
Thus, on the day after the first landing of the British army on
Louisiana soil, and after the first battle was fought at night, terms of
peace were agreed on. It was fifteen days after that auspicious event
until the battles on the eighth occurred, causing such disaster and loss
of valuable lives to the English army and nation; and fifty-two days
from the signing of articles until a message of the good news was
received by the commander-in-chief of the British forces. There was no
alternative but to await the slow passage of the ship across the wide
Atlantic, with sails set to breeze and calm, and sometimes tossed and
delayed by adverse storm. To-day, the news of such an event would be
flashed over the great cables under the sea and the network of electric
wires throughout the land, in the twinkling of an eye after its
occurrence. Such an advantage at the time would have been worth to
England the entire cost of the telegraph system of the world.
LEGISLATURE SUPPRESSED UNDER MARTIAL LAW--CHARGES OF TREASONABLE
UTTERANCES.
On the morning of the twenty-eighth of December, just as the British
began their attack on the American line, General Jackson issued an order
forcibly forbidding the meeting of the Legislature in session, and for
taking possession of the legislative halls. The proceeding created great
excitement in the civil and military circles of the city, especially
among the members of the body and their immediate friends. The author is
indebted to Mr. William Beer, of the Howard Library of New Orleans, for
the loan of a copy of a rare little book entitled "Report of the
Committee of Inquiry on the Military Measures Employed Against the
Legislature of the State of Louisiana, the 28th of December, 1814." In
the full report of the testimony taken by the committee, we have a
history of the causes which led to this open rupture between the
commander-in-chief and the General Assembly of Louisiana, and of its
incidents and issues.
Since the landing of the British army on the twenty-third, there were
afloat in nebulous form some rumors of disaffection toward the American
military occupation of Louisiana, among an element of the population
unfriendly to the sovereignty of the United States over the territory
since its purchase from Napoleon. Up to the time of the military
occupation under Jackson, this hostile feeling seemed to display its
temper and policies mainly in matters of civil procedure. There was very
naturally a jealous opposition on the part of many leading citizens, of
French and Spanish descent, of whom the population west of the
Mississippi was almost entirely made up, against the annexation of the
territory east of that river as part of Louisiana, on equal terms of
citizenship and co-sovereignty. This east territory, they felt, had been
rudely seized and possessed by the United States, against the claim and
protest of Spain. It was being settled by American people, who in time
would help to Americanize the country, and to lessen the power and
control of the former creole domination. The virtues of a patriotic
love of their native countries yet lingered in the bosoms of these
citizens--a patriotic love which, when finally transferred to the new
government they were under, burned as brightly for the new sovereignty
as for the old.
Captain Abner L. Duncan, aid to Jackson, testified before the committee
as follows:
On the 28th, Colonel Declouet (of General Morgan's command) coming in
haste from the city, joined this respondent and begged him to inform
General Jackson that a plan was on foot among several members of the
Legislature for the surrender of the country to the enemy. Colonel
Declouet named in confidence to myself, to Generals Jackson and
Morgan, and to Major Robinson, several members as persons determined
on making the attempt. He added, that he heard one or more members
say, that Jackson was carrying on a Russian war (alluding to the
burning of Moscow), and that it was best to save private property by
a timely surrender; that he, Colonel Declouet, had been invited to
join in the measure. On this respondent making the communication to
General Jackson, the order he received was: "Tell Governor Claiborne
to prevent this, and to blow them up if they attempt it!"
Colonel Declouet told me the plan had been first disclosed to him by
the Speaker of the House, Mr. Guichard. He said in presence of
General Jackson and Mr. Daresac, that many other influential men were
concerned in it, and that they had held several night or secret
meetings on the subject. He gave the names of Mr. John Blanque and
Mr. Marigny, and generally all those voting with Mr. Blanque in the
House. He stated that, as an inducement offered to unite in the
plan, he was informed by Mr. Guichard that General Jackson would burn
and destroy everything before him sooner than surrender the country,
and that the English would respect private property. I understood
also, from some members of the House, Mr. Harper and Mr. Fickland
among them, and in the Senate from General Morgan and Mr. Hireart,
that an attempt would be made to dismember the State. I also
understood from other members that they would consider it an act of
violence; and would resist it by violence.
Colonel Declouet was the chief informant at headquarters; but rumors had
been rife for several days of disloyal utterances and of mysterious
proceedings, which caused uneasiness to the civil and military
authorities, and especially to Governor Claiborne, who had made known
his apprehensions of trouble from the disaffected element, warning
General Jackson of the dangers possible from this quarter. The
Legislature was to convene on the twenty-eighth; and it was intimated
that the overture for a surrender might be resolved upon that day. Such
a possible action, in the very crisis of battle, could be but an attempt
to marplot the military plans of the commander-in-chief, and to marshal
an enemy in the rear. The information brought in so abruptly on that
morning by Colonel Declouet made a profound impression on the mind of
General Jackson. The enemy had already opened the battle of the
twenty-eighth of December, with the forward movement of his columns and
under the heavy fire of his batteries.
In the excitement of the moment, Jackson gave the verbal order to his
aid, Captain Duncan, to be delivered at once to Governor Claiborne for
immediate execution. This order, as rendered by Captain Duncan, directed
the Governor to summarily close the halls of the Legislature, and to
place a guard at the doors to prevent a meeting of the body until
further orders. Duncan testified that the General put in emphasis the
words: "Tell Governor Claiborne to prevent this, and to blow them up if
they attempt it!"
The order was executed. The Governor commissioned General J.B. Labitat,
of the Louisiana troops, to enforce it; he placed a guard of soldiers at
the doors of the building, and forbade entrance to the members on that
day. Captain Duncan had put spurs to his horse and started on a lope to
the city with the order. On the way he met Colonel Fortier, an aid to
the Governor, who consented to promptly deliver the order, permitting
Duncan to return. In the proceedings of the committee, Honorable Levi
Wells, member of the House of Representatives from Rapides Parish,
testified that on the twenty-eighth, under an order of General Jackson,
an armed guard was placed at the doors of the legislative halls in the
city of New Orleans, which was to hinder the members from assembling;
"and even to fire on them, should they dare to persist in their design;
and that the life of a representative of the people, and a member of the
Body, was exposed to the greatest danger; that a sentinel, to hinder him
from repairing to his post, presented his bayonet and threatened to run
him through with it, unless he retired, adding to this outrage the most
insulting tone."
Through the mediation of friendly counsel the views of both the civil
and military chiefs were modified. The order was revoked within
twenty-four hours, and the guards withdrawn; on the twenty-ninth, the
Legislature was permitted to convene. In the conclusion, the committee
exonerated Speaker Guichard and other members of the Legislature
referred to as under suspicion, and severely censured Colonel Declouet
and Captain Duncan as the indiscreet authors of all the trouble. The
measures taken by General Jackson and Governor Claiborne were effectual;
while the report of the committee was evidently drawn to modify and
explain the imputed indiscretions of some of their fellow-members who
had been compromised. The procedure did not include all the legislators;
for some of these had volunteered their services, shouldered their
muskets, and gone to the front of battle.
A feeling of keen resentment toward General Jackson and some officers
involved in this affair was nursed long after by these legislators.
After peace was assured and hostilities at an end, the Legislature voted
a resolution of thanks for valiant services in defense of Louisiana to
the officers and soldiers from the States of Kentucky, Tennessee, and
Mississippi, with the request to the Governor that he should convey the
sense of this resolution in appropriate terms in a letter each to the
officers in command of these troops, respectively. The resolution was as
follows:
_Resolved_, That the thanks of the General Assembly be presented, in
the name of the State, to our brave brother soldiers from Tennessee,
Kentucky, and the Mississippi Territory, and their gallant leaders,
Generals Coffee, Carroll, Thomas, Adair, and Colonel Hinds, for the
brilliant share they have had in the defense of this country and the
happy harmony they have maintained with the inhabitants and militia
of the State.
MAGLOIRE GUICHARD,
_Speaker of the House of Representatives_.
FULWAR SKIPWORTH,
_President of Senate_.
Approved, February 2d, 1815.
WM. C. CLAIBORNE,
_Governor of State_.
The great chieftain could well afford to pass the slight in silence,
hailed as he was by the acclamations of the multitude--the deliverer of
the country, and the hero of the nation!
A similar resolution of thanks was voted to the officers and troops of
Louisiana, who had so patriotically sprung to arms on the invasion of
the enemy, and who had so gallantly fought in the several battles of the
campaign. In this resolution separate mention was made of each of the
officers of the State troops and their several commands, reciting the
meritorious services they had rendered, in terms of special praise,
making exceptions of certain officers who had incurred the displeasure
of some of the honorable legislators.
Under the first resolution, letters were addressed each to Generals
Coffee and Carroll, of Tennessee, to Major Hinds, of Mississippi, and to
Generals Thomas and Adair, of Kentucky. As these letters are of similar
tenor, we quote only the correspondence with General Adair:
NEW ORLEANS, February 25th, 1815.
_Sir_: To a soldier who has done his duty in all the conflicts in
which his country has been involved, from the War of Independence to
the present moment, it must be matter of great exultation to notice
the valor and firmness of the children of his old friends; to be
convinced that they are the true descendants of the old stock. That
the young men of your brigade should have looked up to you in the
hour of battle, as their guide and their shield, is only a
continuation of that confidence which their fathers had in a chief
whose arm had so often, and so successfully, been raised against the
foe. The enclosed Resolution of the General Assembly of Louisiana
will show you the high sense which is entertained in this State of
your services and of those of your brothers in arms. Be towards them
the vehicle of our sentiments, and receive for yourself the
assurances of my respect and best wishes.
WM. C.C. CLAIBORNE,
_Governor of Louisiana_.
To General John Adair.
The response of General Adair:
GOV. WM. C.C. CLAIBORNE.
_Sir_: I have the honor of acknowledging the receipt of Your
Excellency's note, inclosing a Resolution of the Legislature of
Louisiana, generously awarding the thanks of the State to the militia
from her sister States, who aided in the late successful struggle to
expel a powerful invading enemy from her shores.
To a proud American, citizen or soldier, the consciousness of having
faithfully discharged his duty to his country must ever be his
highest and most lasting consolation. But when to this is added the
approbation, the gratitude of the wisest, the most respectable part
of the community, with whom and under whose eye it has been his
fortune to act, it will ever be esteemed, not only the highest reward
for his services, but the most powerful incentive to his future good
conduct.
Accept, sir, for the Legislature, my warmest acknowledgments for the
honorable mention they have made of the corps to which I belong, and
for yourself the esteem and respect so justly due from me, for your
polite and highly interesting note of communication; and my best
wishes for your health and happiness.
JOHN ADAIR.
GENERAL JACKSON--CLASH WITH THE COURT.
A member of the Legislature, Mr. Loillier, severely censured the
commander-in-chief for continuing New Orleans and vicinity under martial
law after the defeat and embarkation of the British army, and for his
arbitrary course in sending a body of creole troops to a remote camp
near Baton Rouge, in response to their petition for a discharge. Jackson
ordered his arrest. Loillier applied to Judge Hall, of the United States
District Court, for a writ of habeas corpus, which was promptly granted
by the court. General Jackson summarily ordered the arrest of Judge Hall
also; and that he and the assemblyman both be deported beyond the
military lines, as persons liable to incite insubordination and mutiny
within the martial jurisdiction. Intelligence of the treaty of peace at
Ghent soon followed, and martial law once again yielded to civil
authority.
Judge Hall, resenting what he deemed a great indignity upon the court,
issued an order, summoning Jackson to appear before him to answer a
grave charge of contempt. Jackson's attorney attempted to plead in his
defense, but the judge silenced him, and set the hearing a week after.
On the thirty-first of March, Jackson appeared in court in person, but
refused to be interrogated. As his defense had been denied, he announced
that he was there only to receive the sentence of the court. Judge Hall
then imposed a fine of one thousand dollars, which sum the veteran
offender drew from his pocket and handed in to the court.
These proceedings were attended with profound excitement throughout the
city and community. The hero of the day had a determined following
present in crowds at and near the court-room; and among these were the
Baratarian contingent, with their leaders, and others as desperate as
these. But the great commander had set the example of implicit obedience
to the law, and no disrespect to the court was shown. But as the General
sought to retire from the scene, the enthusiasm of the crowds overleaped
all bounds of propriety. With shouts and roars of applause the devoted
people lifted him in their arms and upon their shoulders, and bore him
in triumph through the streets of the city to his headquarters, despite
the chagrin and helpless protestations of the victim of their
admiration. Tall and gaunt, and angular in person, with his long, spare
limbs dangling helplessly about him, and rocked and swayed by the
movement of the masses under him, the great warrior was never in all his
life before in a position more awkward and undignified. The master of
men and emergencies was unthroned for one time in life.
The money to pay the fine was proffered over and over again to reimburse
him by ardent friends, but Jackson would listen to no terms of payment
of the fine, except out of his own purse. He alone had committed the
offense--if there was an offense--and he alone would assume to pay the
penalty. It was not until 1844, one year before his death, that Congress
passed an act to refund the principal and interest, which amounted then
to twenty-seven hundred dollars. In advocacy of this bill Stephen A.
Douglas, then Senator from Illinois, made his maiden speech upon the
floor of the Senate of the United States.
ENGLAND'S PURPOSE TO CONQUER AND HOLD POSSESSION OF THE TERRITORY CEDED
BY NAPOLEON, AND TO ESTABLISH HER DOMINION IN THE MISSISSIPPI VALLEY.