IT was Mrs. Travilla, or Grandma Elsie, as Lulu and Grace called her,
who that afternoon started the captain upon the historical sketches so
greatly enjoyed by the younger part of the company, to say nothing of
the older ones.
"We will pass near enough to Forts Gaines and Morgan to get a view of
them--the outside at least--will we not, Captain?" she asked, with a
smile.
"Yes, mother," he replied. "Pensacola also, whither, as I have said, the
British went after their fruitless attack upon Fort Bowyer--now Fort
Morgan--then occupied by the Spaniards under Manrequez, and where they
were publicly received as friends and allies.
"All that, and the revelations of Jean Lafitte concerning their attempt
to engage him and his outlaws to help them in their contemplated attack
upon New Orleans, kindled the hottest indignation in the minds of
Jackson and the people of the Southwest. The general issued a
proclamation in retort for one sent out by the British officer Nichols
shortly before, in which he had made inflammatory appeals to the
French, who were prejudiced against the Americans, and the Kentuckians,
who were discontented because of a seeming neglect by their
government--a state of things largely owing to the arts of ambitious
politicians.
"Nichols had also sent out Indian runners to excite their fellows
against the Americans, and in that way he gathered nearly a thousand
Creeks and Seminoles at Pensacola, where they were supplied with
abundance of arms and ammunition.
"Jackson, in his proclamation--told of all this the conduct of the
British, and the perfidy of the Spaniards--and called upon the people of
Louisiana to 'arouse for the defence of their threatened country.'"
"And did they do it, sir?" queried Walter.
"Yes; they were thoroughly roused and much excited by the threatening
aspect of affairs, and at once set vigorously to work to prepare for
determined resistance to the threatened invasion of their country and
their homes.
"Jackson was impatient to march on Pensacola and break up that
rendezvous of the enemies of the United States, but it was slow work to
get his troops together, and November had come before he had his forces
ready for the attack.
"At last, however, he had four thousand men gathered at Fort Montgomery,
due north from Pensacola, and on the 3d of the month they marched for
that place, some Mississippi dragoons leading the way.
"On the evening of the 6th, Jackson, with his whole army, encamped
within two miles of their destination. Major Pierre was sent to the
Spanish governor with a flag of truce, and a message from his general
saying that he had not come to injure the town, or make war upon a
neutral power, but to deprive the enemies of the republic of a place of
refuge. Pierre was also told to demand the surrender of the forts.
"The British, however, were in possession of Fort St. Michael, over
which their's and the Spanish flags had been waving together until the
day before, and as soon as the American flag of truce was seen
approaching, it was fired upon from the fort by a twelve-pounder.
"Pierre returned to Jackson and reported these facts; then Jackson sent
to the governor a Spaniard whom he had captured on the way, demanding an
explanation.
"The governor asserted that he knew nothing of the outrage, and promised
that another flag should be respected.
"At midnight Pierre, sent again by Jackson, called once more upon the
governor with a proposal that American garrisons should be allowed to
take possession of the forts until Manrequez could man them with a
sufficient number of Spanish troops to enable him to maintain the
neutrality of his government against violations of it by the British,
who had taken possession of the fortresses, it seemed, in spite of the
Spanish governor's protests, the American troops to be withdrawn as soon
as the additional Spanish ones arrived.
"The governor rejected the propositions and before dawn three thousand
of the Americans were marching upon Pensacola. They passed along the
beach, but the sand was so deep that they could not drag their cannon
through it. Then the centre of their column charged gallantly into the
town, but on reaching the principal street they were met by a shower of
musketry from the gardens and houses, while a two-gun battery opened
upon them with balls and grape-shot.
"But Captain Laval and his company charged and captured the battery,
when the governor quickly showed himself with a flag, and promised to
comply with any terms offered if Jackson would spare the town."
"I hope Jackson wasn't too good to him," laughed Rosie.
"The surrender of all the forts was what Jackson demanded and received,"
replied the captain. "But one, six miles away, called Fort Barancas, and
commanding the harbor, in which the British vessels lay, was still in
the hands of the enemy. Jackson determined to march suddenly upon it
the next morning, seize it, turn its guns on the British vessels, and
capture or injure them before they could escape.
"But before morning the British squadron had gone, carrying with it
Colonel Nichols, Captain Woodbine, the Spanish commandant of the fort,
and about four hundred men, besides a considerable number of Indians;
and before leaving they had blown up the fort.
"Jackson suspected that they had gone to make another attack upon Fort
Bowyer and the town of Mobile, so hurried away in that direction,
leaving Manrequez angry and indignant at this treatment of himself by
the British, and the Indians filled with the idea that it would be very
imprudent for them to again defy the wrath of Andrew Jackson; much
dejected and alarmed, they scattered themselves through the forests.
"As for Jackson, when he reached Mobile, on the 11th of November, he
received messages urging him to hasten to the defence of New Orleans.
"He left that place on the 21st, reached it on the 2d of December--but
of what he accomplished there I have already told you."
"Yes, papa," said Lulu; "I'll never forget that interesting story. But
do tell me, will we pass near enough to Mobile to see those forts?"
"Yes," he said; then turning to Grandma Elsie, asked, "Mother, would
you like to stop and visit the forts?"
"I am willing if the rest wish it," she replied; "but otherwise would
prefer to press on toward home, my Ion home, which, now that we have
left Viamede fairly behind, I begin to long to see again."
"That being the case I am sure no one of us will wish to stop," returned
the captain gallantly, a sentiment at once re-echoed by Mr. Dinsmore and
all present.
"We are nearing there now, are we not, my dear?" asked Violet.
"Yes; we are moving rapidly, and if all goes well may expect to see the
forts early this evening."
There was an exclamation of pleasure from several of the young people;
then Lulu asked, "Papa, are there not some other historical places we
shall have to pass while we are in the Gulf or after we reach the
ocean?"
"Quite a number, daughter, but we will not delay our voyage in order to
visit them at this time."
"Perhaps some other day, then?" she returned inquiringly, smiling up
into his face as she spoke.
"Very possibly," he returned, smoothing her hair with caressing hand;
for she was, as usual, close at his side.
A pause in the talk was at length broken by a remark from Cousin Ronald.
"You had some great men among your Union officers, Captain, in both army
and navy, in the days of that terrible Civil War."
"We had indeed, sir," was the hearty response; "a number of them in both
arms of the service, and none more worthy of respect and admiration than
Farragut, who did such splendid service at both New Orleans and Mobile
Bay, to say nothing of other places. The city of Mobile could not be
captured as New Orleans had been, by reason of shoal water and
obstructions in the channel, but the passage of blockade runners,
carrying supplies to the Confederacy, was stopped, which was the main
object of the expedition."
"Yes, he did good service to his country," returned Mr. Lilburn,
"although, if I mistake not, he was a Southerner."
"He was born in Tennessee," replied Captain Raymond. "In the winter of
1860-61 he was on waiting orders at Norfolk, Virginia, where he watched
with intense interest the movements of the Southern States, and
especially the effort to carry Virginia out of the Union into the
Confederacy; and when that was accomplished he remarked that 'the State
had been dragooned out of the Union.'
"He talked very freely on the subject, and was told that a person with
such sentiments as his 'could not live in Norfolk.' 'Well, then,' he
replied, 'I can live somewhere else,' and that very evening left the
place, with his wife and son. That was the 18th of April, 1861. He went
first to Baltimore, but afterward took a cottage at Hastings-on-the-Hudson.
"The next December he was summoned to Washington, and on the 2d of
February sailed from Hampton Roads for New Orleans."
"Where he certainly did splendid service to his country," remarked Mr.
Lilburn. "I hope she appreciated it."
"I think she did," returned the captain; "he received many marks of the
people's appreciation, among them a purse of $50,000, which was
presented him for the purchase of a home in New York City."
"Did he live to see the end of the war, sir?" asked Walter.
"Yes; he was on the James River with General Gordon when Richmond was
taken, and on hearing the news the two rode there post-haste, reaching
the city a little ahead of President Lincoln. A few days after that the
naval and military officers at Norfolk, with some of the citizens who
had remained true to the Union, gave him a public reception.
"Farragut was one of the speakers, and in the course of his remarks
said: 'This meeting recalls to me the most momentous events of my life,
when I listened in this place till the small hours of the morning, and
returned home with the feeling that Virginia was safe and firm in her
place in the Union. Our Union members of the convention were elected by
an overwhelming majority, and we believed that every thing was right.
Judge, then, of our astonishment in finding, a few days later, that the
State had been voted out by a miserable minority, for want of firmness
and resolution on the part of those whom we trusted to represent us
there, and that Virginia had been dragooned out of the Union. I was told
by a brother officer that the State had seceded, and that I must either
resign and turn traitor to the government which had supported me from
childhood, or I must leave this place.
"'Thank God, I was not long in making my decision. I have spent half my
life in revolutionary countries, and I know the horrors of civil war;
and I told the people what I had seen and what they would experience.
They laughed at me, and called me "granny," and "croaker"; and I said,
"I cannot live here, and will seek some other place where I can live." I
suppose they said I left my country for my country's good, and I thank
God I did.'"
"A countryman to be proud of," remarked Mr. Lilburn.
"Oh, I wish I could have seen him!" exclaimed Grace. "Papa, wasn't he a
Christian man?"
"I think so, daughter," replied the captain. "He is said to have had a
strong religious nature and a firm reliance upon Providence, believing
in God's constant guidance."
"Do you remember," said Grandma Elsie, "those lines of Oliver Wendell
Holmes' written in honor of Admiral Farragut, and read at a dinner given
him, in which this passage occurs?
"Fast, fast are lessening in the light
The names of high renown,
Van Tromp's proud besom pales from sight,
Old _Benbow's_ half hull down.
"Scarce one tall frigate walks the sea,
Or skirts the safer shores,
Of all that bore to victory
Our stout old commodores.
"Hull, Bainbridge, Porter--where are they?
The answering billows roll,
Still bright in memory's sunset ray,
God rest each gallant soul!
"A brighter name must dim their light,
With more than noontide ray:
The Viking of the river fight,
The Conqueror of the bay.
"I give the name that fits him best--
Ay, better than his own--
The Sea-King of the sovereign West,
Who made his mast a throne."
"A fine poem indeed, and with a subject worthy of all its praise,"
remarked Cousin Ronald, as Mrs. Travilla ceased. "No wonder you are
proud of him, cousins, for he was, as I said a moment since, one to be
proud of; I should be proud indeed of him were he a countryman of mine."
"As each one of us--his countrymen and women--certainly is," said Mr.
Dinsmore.
There was a silence of a few moments, presently broken by the captain.
"Yes," he said, "I think there are few, if any, of his countrymen, who
are not proud of our grand naval hero, Farragut; and there were others
among our naval heroes of that day, almost, if not quite, as worthy of
our affectionate admiration. Captain, afterward Admiral, Bailey, for
instance, who was second in command at the taking of New Orleans,
leading, in the _Cayuga_, the right column of the fleet of government
vessels in the passage of Forts St. Philip and Jackson, the capture of
the Chalmette batteries and the city.
"As you probably remember, he passed up ahead of the fleet, through the
fire of the forts, the Confederate vessels, the rams, fire-rafts,
blazing cotton bales, and dense clouds of smoke, meeting the attacks of
all unaided.
"Also it was he who was sent by Farragut in company with only one other
man, Lieutenant George H. Perkins, to demand the surrender of the city,
the taking down of the Confederate flag, and the hoisting in its stead
of the Stars and Stripes.
"It certainly required no small amount of courage to pass through those
city streets surrounded by a hooting, yelling, cursing crowd,
threatening them with drawn pistols and other weapons.
"And who can fail to admire the words of Bailey, in his official report
of the victory: 'It was a contest of iron hearts in wooden ships against
iron-clads with iron beaks--and the iron hearts won?'
"And not less admirable was his modest behavior at a dinner given him at
the Astor House, when called upon to reply to the toast of 'The Navy.'"
"Ah, what was that, sir?" asked Mr. Lilburn, pricking up his ears.
"I was reading an account of it only the other day," pursued Captain
Raymond. "The old hero straightened himself up, and began, 'Mr.
President and gentlemen--hem--thank ye.' Then made a long pause,
glancing up and down the table. 'Well, I suppose you want to hear about
that New Orleans affair?' he continued. At that there were cries of
'Yes! yes!' and a great stamping of feet. So Bailey went on; 'Well,
d'ye see, this was the way of it. We were lying down the river below the
forts, and Farragut, he--he signalled us to go in and take 'em. Being as
we were already hove short, it didn't take much time to get under way,
so that wasn't so much of a job as ye seem to think. And then the
engineers, they ran the ships, so all we had to do was to blaze away
when we got up to the forts, and take 'em, according to orders. That's
just all there was about it.' And he sat down amid thunders of
applause."
"Ah ha, um h'm, ah ha! a nice, modest fellow he must have been,"
remarked Cousin Ronald, nodding reflectively, over his cane.
The call to tea interrupted the conversation, but on leaving the table
all gathered upon the deck again to watch the sunset, the rising of the
moon, and for the forts, Morgan and Gaines, which they were now rapidly
nearing, and upon which all gazed with interest as the captain pointed
them out and the vessel steamed slowly past.
"Ah, what a terrible thing is war!" sighed Grandma Elsie. "God forbid
that this dear land should ever again be visited with that fearful
scourge!"
"Ah, I can say amen to that!" Mrs. Dinsmore exclaimed, low and
tremulously, thinking of the dear young brothers who had fallen victims
in that unnatural strife. "We cannot be thankful enough for the peace
and prosperity that now bless our native land."
"No; and may it ever continue," added her husband. "Her growth and
prosperity since that fearful struggle ended have been something
wonderful."
A few moments of silence followed, the vessel moving swiftly on her way,
and a gentle breeze fanning the cheeks of her passengers as they sat
there placidly gazing out over the moonlit waters, then the quiet was
suddenly broken in upon by a loud guffaw, followed by a drunken shout.
"Aint I fooled ye nice, now? Ye didn't know I was aboard, capting, nor
any o' the rest o' ye. Ye didn't guess ye'd got a free passenger aboard
'sides that old Scotch feller a-settin' yander a-looking like he feels
hisself as good 's any o' the rest, ef he don't pay nothin' fer his
trip."
Everyone started and turned in the direction of the sounds.
"A stowaway!" exclaimed Captain Raymond. "The voice seems to come from
the hold. Excuse me, ladies and gentlemen; I must see to his case, and
that we are secured from the danger of a visit from him, as he is
evidently a drunken wretch," and with the words he hastened away in the
direction of the sounds.
"Ha, ha! I hear ye, capting!" shouted the voice; "but drunken wretch or
not, I wouldn't harm a hair o' any o' yer heads. All I'm a-wantin' is a
free passage up furder north, where I come from."
"Oh, mamma, I'm so frightened! so 'fraid the bad man will hurt my dear
papa," cried little Elsie, clinging to her mother, while tears filled
her sweet blue eyes.
"No, papa will whip de naughty mans," said Ned, shaking his baby fist in
the direction of the sounds.
"Ah ha, ah ha, um h'm! little laddie; I have no doubt your papa is
bigger and stronger than the naughty mans," said Cousin Ronald, "and if
he catches the good-for-nothing scamp, can whip him within an inch of
his life."
At that Walter burst into a laugh. "Now, Cousin Ronald," he said, "I'd
not be a bit surprised to learn that you are well acquainted with that
scamp. However, I'll run after Brother Levis to see the fun, if there is
any, but I'm sure nobody need be one bit afraid," and with that away he
ran.
"Ah, Cousin Ronald," began Violet, laughing, the others joining in with
her, and all entirely occupied in looking at the old gentleman, whose
face, however, could be but indistinctly seen, as he had so placed
himself that the moonlight did not fall fully upon it, "confess
that----"
But she got no further. A shout of drunken laughter from the other side
of the vessel again startled them.
"Ha, ha! the capting's gone in the wrong direction to catch this
customer. But he needn't to hunt me up. I'm a real harmless kind o'
chap, an' wouldn't hurt a hair o' any o' your heads."
Again every head was turned in the direction of the sounds, but seeing
no one they all burst into gleeful laughter, in which the captain
presently joined, having returned from his bootless search, fully
convinced that it need be carried no farther.