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INCLUDING THE Previous Engagements between the Americans and the British, the Indians, and the Spanish which led to the Final Conflict on the 8th of January, 1815 BY ZACHARY F. SMITH
INCLUDING THE Previous Engagements between the Americans and the British, the Indians, and the Spanish which led to the Final Conflict on the 8th of January, 1815 BY ZACHARY F. SMITH
Member of The Filson Club and Author of a History of Kentucky and School Editions of the same Illustrated thingy LOUISVILLE, KENTUCKY JOHN P. MORTON & COMPANY Printers to The Filson Club 1904 COPYRIGHTED BY The Filson Club and All Rights Reserved 1904...
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PREFACE
PREFACE
In the preparation of the following account of the "Battle of New Orleans," I have availed myself of all accessible authorities, and have been placed under obligations to Colonel R.T. Durrett, of Louisville, Kentucky. I have had free access to his library, which is the largest private collection in this country, and embraces works upon almost every subject. Besides general histories of the United States and of the individual States, and periodicals, newspapers, and manuscripts, which contain val
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INTRODUCTION
INTRODUCTION
England was apparently more liberal than Spain or France when, in the treaty of 1783, she agreed to the Mississippi River as the western boundary of the United States. Spain was for limiting the territory of the new republic on the west to the crest of the Alleghany Mountains, so as to secure to her the opportunity of conquering from England the territory between the mountains and the Great River. Strangely enough and inconsistently enough, France supported Spain in this outrageous effort to cur
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Gulf Coast Campaign, Preceding the Final Struggle.
Gulf Coast Campaign, Preceding the Final Struggle.
On the 26th of November, 1814, a fleet of sixty great ships weighed anchor, unfurled their sails, and put to sea, as the smoke lifted and floated away from a signal gun aboard the Tonnant, the flagship of Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane, from Negril Bay, on the coast of Jamaica. Nearly one half of these vessels were formidable warships, the best of the English navy, well divided between line-of-battle ships of sixty-four, seventy-four, and eighty guns, frigates of forty to fifty guns, and sloops
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General Jackson Assumes Command of the Seventh Military District of the Southwest.
General Jackson Assumes Command of the Seventh Military District of the Southwest.
General Andrew Jackson had, in July, 1814, been appointed a major-general in the United States army, and assigned the command of the Southern department, with headquarters at Mobile. His daring and successful campaigns against the Indian allies of the British the year previous had won for him the confidence of the Government and of the people, and distinguished him as the man fitted for the emergency. At the beginning of the war British emissaries busily sought to enlist, arm, and equip all the
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Battle at Mobile Bay—the British Repulsed.
Battle at Mobile Bay—the British Repulsed.
General Jackson strongly suspected that Louisiana would be invaded, and that New Orleans was designed to be the main and final point of attack. Yet he was led to believe that the British would attempt the capture of Mobile first, for strategic reasons. Early in September he reinforced the garrison of Fort Bowyer, situated thirty miles south of Mobile. This fortification, mounting twenty cannon, commanded the entrance to the harbor. It was garrisoned by one hundred and thirty men, under the comma
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Assault and Capture of Pensacola, the Spanish Capital of Florida—the British Driven To Sea.
Assault and Capture of Pensacola, the Spanish Capital of Florida—the British Driven To Sea.
Incensed at the open and continued violations of neutrality by the Spanish Governor, who had permitted Pensacola to be made a recruiting camp for the arming and drilling of their Indian allies by the British, General Jackson determined to march his army against this seat of government, and to enforce the observance of neutrality on the part of the Spanish commandant at the point of the bayonet if need be. He had removed his headquarters to Fort Montgomery, where by the first of November his comm
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Lafitte, the Pirate of the Gulf, and His Sea-rovers, Loyal To the American Cause.
Lafitte, the Pirate of the Gulf, and His Sea-rovers, Loyal To the American Cause.
The informant was the celebrated Captain Jean Lafitte, the leader of the reputed pirates of the Gulf, who had been outlawed by an edict of our Government. The circumstances were so romantic, and displayed such a patriotic love for and loyalty to our country, that they are worthy of brief mention. As Byron wrote, he Left a corsair's name to other times, Linked with one virtue and a thousand crimes. But this does injustice to these marauders of the sea , who put in a plea of extenuation. The dispa
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Jackson Arrives in New Orleans.
Jackson Arrives in New Orleans.
General Jackson left Mobile on the twenty-first of November and arrived with his little army at New Orleans on the second of December, and established headquarters at 984 (now 406) Royal Street. He found the city well-nigh defenseless, while petty factions divided the councils of leaders and people, especially rife among the members of the Legislature. There was, incident to recent changes of sovereignties and conditions of nationalities, serious disaffection on the part of a most respectable el
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Battle of the Gunboats With the Fleet of Barges.
Battle of the Gunboats With the Fleet of Barges.
An event was soon to happen which seemed for the time an irreparable disaster to the American cause. Commodore Daniel T. Patterson, in command of the Amer ican naval forces, on learning of the approach of the British fleet, sent Lieutenant Thomas Ap Catesby Jones, with five gunboats, one tender, and a dispatch boat toward the passes out to Ship Island, to watch the movements of the British vessels. This little flotilla, barely enough for scout duty at sea, was the extent of our naval forces in t
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Jackson Declares Martial Law.
Jackson Declares Martial Law.
On the sixteenth, two days before the review, General Jackson issued from his headquarters an order declaring "the city and environs of New Orleans under martial law." This imperious edict was resorted to in the firm belief that only the exercise of supreme military authority could awe into silence all opposition to defensive operations. Every person entering the city was required to report himself to headquarters, and any one departing from it must procure a pass. The street lamps were extingui
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To the Citizens of New Orleans.
To the Citizens of New Orleans.
The Major-general commanding, has, with astonishment and regret, learned that great consternation and alarm pervade your city. It is true the enemy is on our coast and threatens to invade our territory; but it is equally true that, 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. The General, with still greater astonishment, has heard that British emissaries have been permitted to propagate seditious reports a
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Bayou Bienvenue and the British Spies of The Fishermen's Village.
Bayou Bienvenue and the British Spies of The Fishermen's Village.
Bayou Bienvenue, formerly called St. Frances River, drains all the waters of a swamp-basin, of triangular form and about eighty square miles in surface, bounded on the west by New Orleans, on the northwest by Chef Menteur, and on the east by Lake Borgne, into which it empties. It receives the waters of several other bayous from the surrounding cypress swamps and prairies. It is navigable for vessels of one hundred tons burden as far as the junction with old Piernas Canal, twelve miles from its m
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Five Thousand British Troops enter Bayou Bienvenue and Land near Villere's Plantation.
Five Thousand British Troops enter Bayou Bienvenue and Land near Villere's Plantation.
By Jackson's order, Major Villere, son of General Villere, the owner of the plantation, placed a picket of twelve men at Fisherman's Village on the twenty-first, to watch and report promptly in case the enemy appeared there. After midnight, near the morning of the twenty-third, five advance barges bearing British troops glided noiselessly into Bienvenue from Lake Borgne, capturing the picket of twelve men without firing a gun. Soon after, the first division of the invading army, twenty-five hund
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Jackson Determines To Attack—bloody Night-battle of the Twenty-third of December.
Jackson Determines To Attack—bloody Night-battle of the Twenty-third of December.
Orders were issued rapidly, as the report of the alarm-gun gave notice to all to be ready. The troops were stationed within a radius of a few miles of the city, in garrisons. Major Plauche was summoned to bring down his battalion of uniformed volunteers from Bayou St. John, which summons was obeyed in a run all the way. General Coffee, encamped four miles above the city, under similar order, was at headquarters within one hour. Colonel McRae, with the Seventh regulars, Lieutenant Spotts, with tw
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Jackson Entrenches at Rodrique's Old Canal Site.
Jackson Entrenches at Rodrique's Old Canal Site.
As mentioned, Jackson occupied the line of Rodrique's Canal, two miles above the British camp at Villere's, and five miles below the city. The space from the river here back to the swamp was but seventeen hundred yards, making it an admirable line for defense. Early on the twenty-fourth every available man was put to work throwing up a breastwork on the upper side of the canal, while pieces of artillery were planted at commanding points for immediate emergency. Negroes from the adjacent plantati
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The Ship Carolina Burned With Hot Shot—Artillery Duel on the Twenty-eighth.
The Ship Carolina Burned With Hot Shot—Artillery Duel on the Twenty-eighth.
The enemy determined to destroy the ship Carolina, as she lay out in the river, from whose deadly broadsides by day and by night they had been so terribly harassed since the opening of the night battle of the twenty-third. Having brought up their artillery from their landing-place, they erected a battery commanding that part of the river, with a furnace for heating shot. On the twenty-seventh, they opened fire in range, and in fifteen minutes the schooner was set on fire by the red-hot missiles
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Defenses on the West Bank of the River.
Defenses on the West Bank of the River.
Realizing that the enemy might suddenly throw a force across the river, and by a flank movement up the right bank gain a position opposite the city, from which, by shot and shell, he might compel a surrender, Jackson sent Major Latour, chief of his engineer corps, to the west side, with orders to select a position most suitable for a fortified line in the rear of General Morgan's camp. Bois-Gervais Canal, three miles below New Orleans, was fixed upon, and one hundred and fifty negroes from the p
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A Second Attempt To Breach the American Works, on the First of January—Great Artillery Duel.
A Second Attempt To Breach the American Works, on the First of January—Great Artillery Duel.
On the evening of the twenty-fifth, Sir Edward Pakenham arrived at the British headquarters, and at once assumed chief command of the army in person. He was a favorite of Lord Wellington in the Peninsular campaigns, and held in high esteem by the English Government and people. His presence imparted great enthusiasm to the officers and men of the army, a majority of whom had served under him in other wars. The invad ing British forces were now swelled to over ten thousand men for present service.
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A View From the Enemy's Standpoint.
A View From the Enemy's Standpoint.
It is interesting to view a situation from an enemy's standpoint, and to know the impressions made upon an enemy's mind in a great issue like the one of contest. We quote again from Gleig's "Campaigns of the English Army": It was Christmas Day, and a number of officers, clubbing their scant stocks of provisions, resolved to dine together in memory of former times. But at so melancholy a Christmas dinner, I do not remember to have been present. We dined in a barn; of tableware, of viands, and of
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Tennessee and Kentucky Troops Arrive—Government Censured for Neglect.
Tennessee and Kentucky Troops Arrive—Government Censured for Neglect.
General Carroll's division of Tennessee troops arrived about this time; also the Louisiana militia were reinforced by several companies from the more distant parishes. On the fourth of January the entire body of Kentucky militia reached New Orleans, twenty-two hundred in number, and went into camp on Prevost's plantation. The day following, seven hundred and fifty of these repaired to the lines, and went into camp in the rear, arms being furnished to but five hundred of the number. There were, a
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Jackson's Entrenched Line, and the Positions of the Troops and Artillery.
Jackson's Entrenched Line, and the Positions of the Troops and Artillery.
Jackson's lines, five miles below the city, were along the canal, or old mill-race, on the border of the plantations of Rodrique and Chalmette. The old ditch, unused for years, had filled up in part with the washings of the earth from its sides, and grown over with grass. It was chosen because it lay at a point the shortest in distance from the river to the swamp, and thus the more easily defended. Along the upper bank of the canal a parapet was raised, with a banquet behind to stand upon, by ea
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The artillery was distributed on the line as follows:
The artillery was distributed on the line as follows:
Battery 1, Captain Humphries, of the United States artillery, consisted of two twelve-pounders and a howitzer, on field carriages, and was located thirty yards from the river, outside the levee. Battery 2, ninety yards from Battery 1; Lieutenant Norris, of the navy; one twenty-four pounder. Battery 3, fifty yards from Battery 2; Captains Dominique and Bluche, of the Baratarians; two twenty-four pounders. Battery 4, twenty yards from Battery 3; Captain Crawly, of the navy, one thirty-two pounder,
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The Battle of Sunday, the Eighth of January.
The Battle of Sunday, the Eighth of January.
It was not yet daybreak on the morning of the eighth of January when an American outpost came hastily in, with the intelligence that the enemy was in motion and advancing in great force. In brief time, as the day began to dawn, the light discovered to our men what seemed the entire British army in moving columns, occupying two thirds of the space from the wood to the river. Obedient to the commands of their officers, who gallantly led in front of their men, the massive columns of the enemy moved
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An English Officer's Account of the Battle.
An English Officer's Account of the Battle.
Gleig, in his "History of British Campaigns," says: Dividing his troops into three columns, Sir Edward Pakenham directed that General Keene, at the head of the Ninety-fifth, the light companies of the Twenty-first, Fourth, and Forty-fourth Regiments, and the two black corps, should make a demonstration on the right; that General Gibbs, with the Fourth, Twenty-first, Forty-fourth, and Ninety-third, should force the enemy's left; while General Lambert, with the Seventh and Forty-third, remained in
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British Excuses for Defeat.
British Excuses for Defeat.
Many causes for the failure of the campaign of invasion, and for the disastrous issue of the battle of the eighth, were conjectured in the English army. Almost universal blame was attributed to Colonel Mullins, of the Forty-fourth Regiment, which was detailed under orders to prepare and have ready, and to carry to the front on the morning of the eighth, fascines and ladders with which to cross the ditch and scale the parapet, as the soldiers fought their way to the breastwork of the Americans. I
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Battle of the Eighth of January on the West Bank of the River.
Battle of the Eighth of January on the West Bank of the River.
We have mentioned that after the night battle of the twenty-third of December General Jackson ordered General Morgan to move his command of Louisiana troops from English Turn, seven miles below the British camp at Villere's, and to take a position on the west bank of the Mississippi, opposite to the American camp. Very naturally, the possibility, and even the probability, of the enemy, when his army was made formidable by all the reinforcements coming up, throwing a heavy flanking force across t
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Defensive Works and Forces on the West Bank, Opposite Jackson's Camp.
Defensive Works and Forces on the West Bank, Opposite Jackson's Camp.
General Morgan, commanding the Louisiana militia, was in position on Raquet's old canal site, next to the river. Major Latour, chief of the engineer corps, had been instructed by General Jackson, a week or two before the battle, to proceed across the river and to select on that side a suitable line for defensive works for General Morgan, in case the enemy should attempt a flanking movement on the right bank. Of this mission, Major Latour writes: Agreeable to orders, I waited on General Morgan, a
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The British Cross the River and Land at Daybreak; They Begin the Attack—The Battle and Retreat.
The British Cross the River and Land at Daybreak; They Begin the Attack—The Battle and Retreat.
About sunset on the evening of the seventh, General Morgan was notified of the intention of the enemy to cross the river by Commodore Patterson, who had closely observed his movements in the afternoon. Before day-dawn on the eighth, the General received information of the enemy landing on the west bank, at Andry's plantation. The rapid current of the Mississippi had carried his little flotilla three miles below the point he had desired to land. Having debarked his troops, he marched up the river
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"The Kentuckians Ingloriously Fled"—A Profound Sensation.
"The Kentuckians Ingloriously Fled"—A Profound Sensation.
In this historic review, we dwell exhaustively upon the episode of this battle on the west bank, on the 8th of January, 1815, not because of any intrinsic importance of the subject, but rather from the sensational incidents which attended the movements of the belligerents, and which were consequent upon the issue. The galling words of General Jackson, hastily and unguardedly uttered in an attempt to throw the blame of defeat upon a small detachment of Kentucky militia, "the Kentuckians ingloriou
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A Court of Inquiry Appointed by the Commander-in-chief Exonerates the Kentuckians.
A Court of Inquiry Appointed by the Commander-in-chief Exonerates the Kentuckians.
General Adair, supported by the officers of his command, insisted that the statements made in these reports to the departments at Washington were made upon a misapprehension of the facts, and that great injustice had been done the Kentucky militia in General Morgan's command by attempting to shift the responsibility of defeat from its real sources, and placing it to their discredit. A military court of inquiry was demanded, and granted by the commander-in-chief, the members of which were officer
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Controversy Between Jackson and Adair.
Controversy Between Jackson and Adair.
General Adair seems to have regarded the decision of the Court of Inquiry as a modifying compromise, in deference to the high personal character and influence of a number of persons concerned, and not the full vindication of the Kentucky militia from the imputations of ungallant conduct on the field reflected upon them in the official reports. The controversy, and other causes preceding it, had rankled the bosoms of both General Jackson and himself, and estranged the warm friendship that had bef
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The Covert Retreat of the British.
The Covert Retreat of the British.
The battles of the eighth were decisive of the campaign, and of the War of 1812-15, so far as military operations were concerned. The British had been beaten in generalship and beaten upon the field of battle, until they were made to feel and to confess to defeat so crushing as to leave no hope of retrieving disaster. Within fifteen days after landing, they had sustained losses equal to one third of their entire army of invasion. With prestige gone and spirit broken, and their ranks shattered, t
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Repulse of the British Fleet Before Fort St. Philip.
Repulse of the British Fleet Before Fort St. Philip.
On the first of January, Major W.H. Overton, in command of Fort St. Philip, which guards the passage of the Mississippi River from its mouth for the protection of New Orleans, received information that the enemy intended to capture or pass the fort, to coöperate with their land forces threatening the city. On the seventh, a fleet of two bomb-vessels, one sloop, one brig, and one schooner appeared and anchored below the fortification and began an attack. For nine days they continued a heavy bomba
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An English Soldier's View of Defeat.
An English Soldier's View of Defeat.
A graphic pen-picture of the chaotic and wretched condition of the English army after the crushing defeat of the eighth, and until its final return to the fleet, is given by Gleig in his "Narrative of the Campaigns." It will be read with all the more interest because it is the frank admission of a brave though prejudiced officer, giving an enemy's view of the great disaster that befell the British arms, in which he fully shared: General Lambert prudently determined not to risk the safety of his
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Second Attack on Fort Bowyer, Mobile Bay.
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 f
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Negotiations for Peace Concluded on the 24th of December, 1814.
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 o
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Legislature Suppressed Under Martial Law—Charges Of Treasonable Utterances.
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
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General Jackson—Clash with the Court.
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 th
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England's Purpose to Conquer and Hold Possession of the Territory Ceded by Napoleon, and to Establish Her Dominion in the Mississippi Valley.
England's Purpose to Conquer and Hold Possession of the Territory Ceded by Napoleon, and to Establish Her Dominion in the Mississippi Valley.
There are evidences that the English Government had revived an old dream of conquest and expansion, by which she might once again establish dominion west of the Alleghany Mountains, by the capture of New Orleans, the key to the lower Mississippi Valley. It is a well-known fact in history that that government refused to recognize the legitimacy of the sale and transfer of the Territory of Louisiana by Napoleon to the United States. She had looked upon the transaction with a covetous and jealous e
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Just Like Jackson.
Just Like Jackson.
During the war of 1812-15, the officials of the English Government, civil and military, distinguished themselves by their haughty arrogance and insulting tone of superiority toward the American people; and were, with revengeful malice, guilty of vandalism, spoliations, and cruelties, which were a disgrace to civilization, not to speak of the massacres and butcheries of thousands of women and children by the savage Indians, whom they employed and paid to commit these crimes. Andrew Jackson soon p
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Humiliation of England.
Humiliation of England.
No event in the modern history of her military operations brought a deeper disappointment and a keener sense of humiliation to the English Government, and to the nation, than did the disastrous failure of this expedition, fitted out in haughty pride for the invasion and conquest of Louisiana. The true story of the campaign and battles was in the main suppressed by the Tory press, in the interest of the reigning dynasty and to save the pride and prestige of a really great and imperial people. A c
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Death of Lord Pakenham.
Death of Lord Pakenham.
Pakenham died the death of the brave soldier, the heroic Briton, and the beloved commander. His wounds were mortal, and he was at once borne back to headquarters unconscious and dying. No last words came down to us through the grief-stricken aids who ministered to him in his last hour. The British accounts of his wounding and death-scenes are conflicting and unsatisfactory. Judge Walker, in his work, "Jackson and New Orleans," after much research, says that Pakenham was wounded first while attem
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British Soldiers Won Laurels in European Wars.
British Soldiers Won Laurels in European Wars.
From English authorities we learn that there were in the English army, under Pakenham, regiments that had won laurels at Martinique, Badajoz, Salamanca, Vittoria, the Pyrenees, and Toulouse. The English chronicler, Cooke, says of some of these veterans, who touched, on their way to America from the coasts of France, the shore of Old England for a few days, that "scraps from our colors, or other little souvenirs, were craved for with outstretched hands, to find a resting place in the fair bosoms
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General Andrew Jackson.
General Andrew Jackson.
Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaw settlement on the 15th of March, 1767, so near the border of North and South Carolina as to leave it a question of contention as to which State may claim the honor of his nativity. His father, Andrew Jackson, came over from Carrickfergus, on the north coast of Ireland, in 1765. His mother was Elizabeth Hutchinson. The father died before the birth of Andrew. His birthplace was a rude log cabin of the border. His education was limited to the elementary studies
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Isaac Shelby, Governor of Kentucky.
Isaac Shelby, Governor of Kentucky.
Fortunate was it for Kentucky and for the nation that Isaac Shelby directed the military affairs of the Commonwealth during the period of the second war with England. This famous pioneer of the famous pioneers of Kentucky was born in Maryland, on the 11th of December, 1750, near Hagerstown. Early in life he was employed as a land surveyor. On the threatened invasion of Virginia by the federated army of the Northwest tribes under the celebrated chief, Cornstalk, he was lieutenant of a company in
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General John Adair.
General John Adair.
John Adair was born in Chester County, S.C., in 1759, and was the son of Baron William Adair, of Scotland, whose wife was a Moore. After remaining some years in South Carolina, Baron Adair returned to Scotland. The son became a soldier in the Revolutionary War when quite a youth, and served with gallantry in the colonial army. He was made prisoner, and was treated with repeated cruelties by the enemy. He was a member of the convention which ratified the Constitution of the United States. He remo
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Colonel Gabriel Slaughter.
Colonel Gabriel Slaughter.
Who commanded a regiment of Kentucky troops in the battle of New Orleans, was a native of Virginia, but immigrated to Kentucky in pioneer days and settled in Mercer County, about four miles east of Harrodsburg, on the turnpike road leading to Lexington. Though a man of ability, and much esteemed, he seems to have lived in the retirement of private life until the maturity of middle age. He early became a member of the Baptist church, in which he led a consistent and zealous life, taking a promine
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Kentucky's Contribution To the War of 1812-15.
Kentucky's Contribution To the War of 1812-15.
It is worthy of mention to the credit of Kentucky that, with a population of four hundred thousand, she furnished for the nation's defense, during the three years of war with England and the savages who allied with her, forty regiments of volunteer militia, besides a number of battalions and companies, over twenty-four thousand men in all, from 1812 to 1815. Excepting a small force of volunteers from the then Territory of Ohio, and a few regulars, her troops made up the entire body of the army o
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