CH. XIII.]

nu; by which boats might be brought up to the river, and troops ferried across, to carry the battery on its right bank. This, however, proved a work of such extraordinary labor, that it was not till the evening of the 6th, that the cut was declared passable. The boats were immediately brought up, and secreted near the river, and dispositions for an assault were made at five o'clock on the morning of the 8th of January.

General Jackson, meanwhile, had completed his works on the left bank of the river. His front was a breastwork of nearly a mile long, extending from the river into the swamp, till it became impassable, and for the last two hundred yards taking a turn to the left. The whole was defended by upwards of three thousand infantry and artillerists. The ditch contained five feet water; and the ground in front, having been flooded by water introduced from the river and by frequent rains, was slippery and muddy. Eight distinct batteries were judiciously disposed, mounting in all twelve guns of different calibres. On the opposite side of the river, there was a strong battery of fifteen guns, and the entrenchments which had been erected were occupied by General Morgan, with some Louisiana militia, and a strong detachment of Kentucky troops.

The British general, on the night of the 7th, dispatched Colonel Thornton, at the head of a large force, to cross the river and carry the American works there. Having effected this, he was to give a signal of his success, and then General Gibbs and General Keane were to advance upon Jackson's entrench

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ments in front. Owing to delays and hindrances, the day had broken before Thornton reached the opposite shore but bravely pushing forward, he suc ceeded in his object, and the troops there having fled, this important position fell into the hands of the enemy.

But Pakenham did not wait for Thornton's signal. Fearing every moment's delay, he gave the word to advance to the assault. Silently, 1815. but swiftly, through the wintry morning,-the day just beginning to dawn,-the first column advanced against the works. But they were soon perceived by our wakeful countrymen, and a heavy fire was opened upon them, which mowed them down by hundreds. For, incredible almost as the statement appears which is made by an English writer, it was found, whilst they were in the heat of the charge, that both fascines and scaling ladders had been forgotten; and on the very crest of the glacis the attacking column was forced to halt, without the means of crossing the ditch or mounting the parapet; incapable, too, of defending themselves against the storm of shot which was poured on them from those unimpregnable ramparts. A few, indeed, mounting on one another's shoulders, succeeded in entering the works; but it was only to be overpowered by numbers. One small battery, in front of the lines, was carried at the point of the bayonet. But when the captors, with desperate courage, endeavored to force their way across a single plank into the body of the works, they were repulsed with frightful slaughter, and the battery was recaptured. "It was

in vain," says Mr. Gleig, "that the most obstinate courage was displayed. They fell by the hands of men whom they absolutely did not see; for the Americans, without so much as lifting their faces above the rampart, swung their firelocks by one arm over the wall, and discharged them directly upon their heads. The whole of the guns, likewise, from the opposite bank, kept up a well directed and deadly cannonade upon the flank; and thus were they destroyed without an opportunity being given of displaying their valor, or obtaining so much as revenge."*

No wonder, that the British column, despite its brave and gallant advance, found it impossible to endure such a fire as met them, and slaughtered them by hundreds at a time. Shattered and disordered, they broke and fled. Pakenham, whose personal courage was inferior to that of none of his compeers, passionately endeavored to rally the panic-stricken and disheartened troops. Waving his hat, and calling on them to follow, he reached the edge of the ditch, -but only to fall dead in front of his

men.

Generals Gibbs and Keane succeeded in bringing the troops a second time to the charge; but the second approach was more fatal than the first.

*"The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans," p. 179. British writers, we may mention, condemn the course of Pakenham as being "a series,-not of mistakes, (for that word implies the possession of some generalship, however defective,)—but of glaring proofs of the absence of every intellectual quality that enters into the composition of a military leader." Truly, hard measure for those who, like the British general, poured out their life's blood in the vain effort to gain possession of the wealth and resources of New Orleans,

The continued roll of the American fire resembled peals of thunder; it was such as no troops could withstand. The advancing columns again broke; a few platoons reaching the edge of the ditch, only to meet certain destruction. An attempt was made, by their officers, to lead them to the attack a third time, but entirely without success. Generals Gibbs and Keane were carried from the field, the latter severely, the former mortally wounded. The narrow field of strife between the British and the American lines was strewed with the dead. So dreadful a carnage, considering the length of time and the numbers engaged, has seldom been recorded; for there, on that bloodstained field, lay two thousand men in dead and wounded; while of our countrymen, who dealt such terrible destruction to the invaders from behind those ramparts, there were only six killed, and seven wounded.* General Lam

1815.

*On former occasions, we have called attention to the discrepancies in the accounts of the number of troops engaged, the killed and wounded, etc., in the various battles fought during this second war with England. We have to repeat the same remark in regard to the battle of New Orleans, with the additional perplexity, that the statements made by different writ

ers vary by thousands instead of hundreds. The numbers given in the text appear to us as nearly correct as we can get them; we may mention, in conclusion, however, that the American statement of the loss in the several engagements, is, fifty-five killed, one hundred and eighty-five wounded, and ninety-three missing; making a total of three hundred and thirty-three; the troops engaged in the battle of the 8th of January, numbered four thousand six hundred and ninety-eight. American authorities also state, in regard to the enemy, that on the 6th of January, their forces amounted to nine thousand; after that date, to twelve thousand; and that their loss in killed, wounded, and missing, was over four thousand five hundred. On the other

CH. XIII.]

bert, upon whom the command now devolved, finding that it was impossible to restore the fortunes of the day, withdrew his reserve from the reach of the American artillery, and collected the wreck of the routed army. He also recalled Colonel Thornton from the other side of the river, deeming it impossible to hold that post, after the disasters to which the army had been subjected on the plains of Chalmette.

A flag of truce was dispatched by the British commander, with proposals for the burial of the dead; and a truce of two days was arranged for that purpose. Despairing of success in the object of his expedition, Lambert took immediate measures to effect a retreat from his perilous position. With great secrecy, but keeping up a menacing attitude, meanwhile, the British, during a number of days following the expiration of the truce, sent their sick and wounded on board the vessels, together with baggage and ammunition, such as could safely be spared. In the dark, through the swamps, amongst alligators, and along causeways, well nigh impassable because of the rain, the disheartened invaders shrank away; while the Americans, on their part, kept throwing shot of every kind, by night and day, into the quagmire where the enemy had sheltered himself. The whole of the field artillery, most of the ammunition, and all

hand, British writers assert, that General Jackson must have had at least twelve thousand men under him, while their effective force was less than half that number.

They also state, that their total loss in this whole ex

pedition, was four hundred killed, and less than sixteen

hundred wounded and missing. These discrepancies

are probably irreconcileable.

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the stores of the invading force, were carried away on their retreat; except the siege artillery, which was already in part destroyed, and some powder barrels and piles of shot left in the useless batteries. Only eighty of the wounded were left, with an appeal to the humanity of the foe, which appeal, it is hardly necessary to say, was religiously respected by the victors.

While these operations were in progress near New Orleans, the British fleet on the coast was not inactive. It was intended that a squadron should enter the Mississippi, and, reducing the works at Fort St. Philip, ascend the river, and co-operate in the attack on the city. The bombardment of the fort commenced on the 11th of January, and was continued with more or less activity for eight days. At the end of this time, the enemy, finding they had made no serious impression, dropped down the river, and put to sea. The fort was garrisoned and bravely maintained by three hundred and sixty-six men under the command of Major Overton.

1815.

When the purpose of the enemy was fully understood, some efforts were made to annoy him on the retreat; but not to any great extent. The British troops, as Alison states, were safely reembarked on the 27th of January, and soon after were in some degree comforted for their disasters, by the capture of Fort Bowyer, near Mobile, commanding one of the mouths of the Mississippi, before which they had been so signally repulsed, in the preceding September, as we have related, but which yielded, with its garrison of three hundred and sixty men, and twenty-two