ferred his command from Mobile to New Orleans, reaching the latter place about December 1, 1814. He at once began preparations for defense and was fortunate in having the governor of Louisiana order the organized militia to his support, several bodies thereof being already in the field at the time of his arrival at New Orleans. Guards were posted by General Jackson at all points by which it was expected the coming enemy would attempt to reach the city. New Orleans is vulnerable to attack from many directions, owing to the deep water of the various bayous which surround it, most of which lead into Lake Pontchartrain which lies in its rear. But General Jackson was on the ground in advance of the enemy and omitted no defensive operations along any of these waterways.

The hostile fleet made its appearance on the 12th of December, making its rendezvous, with forty sail, at Ship Island, off Bay St. Louis, whence, if unopposed, it could make its way, to Lake Pontchartrain and attack the city from the rear. Lieutenant Jones, in command of the American naval forces, was attacked by a flotilla of the enemy largely outnumbering him. The action which lasted for about two hours, was a very bloody one, the enemy losing about three hundred men. The American loss was but five killed and thirty wounded. Among these latter were Lieutenants Jones and Lockyer. These gallant young officers had been under fire before at Valparaiso where the gallantry of themselves and the men under their command, had added new laurels to the American navy.

That portion of the population of New Orleans which was loyal to the American cause, was alarmed by the result of this engagement. The English army was not far away and the last barrier to its approach and capture of the city seemed to be now swept away. Jackson had four thousand men for the defense of the city, three thousand of whom were volunteers and with these he had to meet and, if possi

ble, defeat the best trained soldiers of England.

General Jackson was not a soldier to hesitate; he knew the conditions surrounding him and met them as a soldier should. Fearing that steps might be taken by the civil authorities which would interfere with his plans for the protection of the city against the enemy, he placed New Orleans and its immediate surroundings, under martial law. The word "fearing" was used at the beginning of the preceding sentence. It was incorrect, for it is not on record that General Jackson ever feared anything. "Anticipating" would more properly describe the feeling which prompted the issue of his order. Those who sympathized with the plan of defense approved the order; those who did not, and there were many of these, were careful not to make publicly known their opposition. The order was drastic in its terms. All persons entering the city were required to report their arrival to the adjutant general of the army; those leaving the city must have a passport from the military or naval authorities. All lights on the city streets were required to be extinguished by nine o'clock in the evening, and those per

sons found abroad after that hour were under suspicion as spies. All male persons within the limits covered by the order were forced into the service and required to join either the land or naval forces.

There will be those who read these words who will esteem these orders as harsh and infringing on the rights of the citizen. But in the midst of arms, the laws are silent. Το such as would too harshly criticize these orders of General Jackson, it may only be necessary to call attention to conditions existing in Louisville in 1862, when the Confederate army under command of General Bragg threatened to occupy the city. Citizens were forced at the point of the bayonet, to assist in the construction of fortifications; their horses were taken from the carriages containing the fe

male members of their families; no one was permitted to leave or enter the city without permission from the military authorities, and in every respect Louisville in September, 1862, occupied the position of New Orleans in December, 1814. War is not a respecter of persons nor of civil laws, a fact which those within its midst cannot too soon nor too fully recognize.

Along with the proclamation of martial law, General Jackson issued an address to the people of New Orleans, as follows:

"The Major General commanding has learned, with astonishment and regret, that great consternation and alarm pervade your city. It is true that the enemy is on our coast and threatens an invasion of our territory; but, it is equally true, that with energy, union and the approbation of Heaven, we will beat him at every point where 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 a seditious report among you that the threatened invasion is with a view of restoring the country to Spain, from a supposition that some of you would be willing to return to your ancient government. Believe no such incredible tales. Your government is at peace with Spain. It is the mortal enemy of your country, the common enemy of mankind, the highway robber of the world who threatens and has sent his hirelings among you with this false report, to put you off your guard that you may fall an easy prey to his rapacity. Then look to your liberties, property and the chastity of your wives and daughters. Take a retrospect of the conduct of the British army at Hampton and other places where it entered our country, and every bosom which glows with patriotism and virtue will be inspired with indignation, and pant for the arrival of the hour when we shall meet the enemy and revenge these outrages against the laws of civilization and humanity.

"The General calls upon the inhabitants of the city to trace this unfounded rumor to its source and bring the perpetrator to condign punishment. The rules and articles of war annex the punishment of death to the crime of holding secret correspondence with the enemy, supplying him with provisions or creating false alarms, and the General announces his unalterable determination rigidly to execute the

martial law in all cases which may come within his province.

"The safety of the district entrusted to the protection of the General must and will be maintained with the best blood of the country and he is confident that all good citizens will be found at their posts with arms in their hands, determined to dispute every inch of the ground with the enemy, and that unanimity will pervade the whole country. But, should the General be disappointed in this expectation, he will separate our enemies from our friends. Those who are not for us are against us and will be dealt with accordingly."

This proclamation had the desired effect. Those not in sympathy with the American cause, knew the stern character of General Jackson and that he would execute to the letter, the laws of war to which he had referred in his address to the people of New Orleans. Therefore, they remained silent and desisted from any action denounced by the stern old warrior, who always said what he meant and acted in accordance with his pronouncements. While the disaffected were thus driven to an enforced silence, the patriotic residents of the city had new life instilled within them. Arms and accoutrements were issued to them and they were daily drilled in the duties of the soldier. General Jackson, for the encouragement of these citizen volunteers and those in sympathy with them, issued a second address from which the following extract is taken :

"The General, commanding in chief, would not do justice to the noble ardor that has animated you in the hour of danger; he would not do justice to his own feelings, if he suffered the example you have shown to pass without public notice. Inhabitants of this opulent and commercial town, you have, by your spontaneous efforts, shaken off the habits which are created by wealth and shown that you are resolved to deserve the blessings of fortune by bravely defending them. Long strangers to the perils of war, you have embodied yourselves to face them with the cool countenance of veterans; with motives to disunion, that might operate on weak minds, you have for

gotten the difference of language and the prejudices of national pride and united with a cordiality that does honor to your understanding as well as to your patriotism."

To the defense of that portion of the city approachable by the innumerable bayous and passes in the vicinity of Lake Borgne, a force of volunteers was assigned under command of General Villere, who was fully acquainted with the territory between the lake and the Mississippi river. General Jackson had especially ordered that navigation of the Bayou Bienville be prevented, but these orders Villere had not observed, a fact of which the English commander took immediate notice and advantage. Villere had placed a picket guard at the mouth of the bayou, near his own plantation, but this was not sufficient, and on December 23d, the enemy surprised and captured this guard and a company of troops on Villere's plantation. Troops to the number of three thousand were then taken up the bayou and encamped on a neighboring plantation. Notice of this movement was quickly brought to General Jackson, who decided upon an immediate attack. General Carroll, commanding the militia from Tennessee had made an unprecedented march to the scene of action and was ready for any orders that might take him and his gallant volunteers into action.

General Carroll had his command of mounted men also in readiness for active service. Coffee and Carroll were encamped near each other, four miles above New Orleans, and the general commanding notified them to be in readiness for a general attack, either offensive or defensive. An attack was expected by the way of Chef Menteure and Carroll's forces were so distributed as to properly meet it. General Jackson had an inferior force, but this did not deter him. He was not only ready for action but anxious for an opportunity to meet the enemy. On the 23d of December, the commander-in-chief approached the encampment of the British com

mand under cover of darkness. General Coffee was ordered to attack the British right, while General Jackson led the other forces and attacked them upon the left, while, at the same time, Commodore Patterson, commanding the schooner "Caroline," was to fire upon the English camp. At half past eight Commodore Patterson opened fire upon the enemy's camp, Coffee's forces rushed forward with impetuous attack, entering the enemy's camp, while General Jackson, with equal ardor, attacked their left, being supported by the fire of the "Caroline" and two field pieces. The contest was a warm one for a time, but a fog arising caused trouble among the American troops and a cessation in the battle.

General Jackson maintained his position until four o'clock on the next morning, when he withdrew his forces without the enemy's having ascertained his numerical weakness. Retreating to a point up the river where he could defy the enemy with even fewer troops than he had under his command, General Jackson calmly awaited attack confident in his capacity to defeat his enemy when a general engagement came, notwithstanding the superior force of that enemy. The British General Keane, commanding some of the men who had followed the Duke of Wellington in his successful campaigns, was disdainful of the volunteers who confronted him and imagined an easy victory as within his reach. But he had met with an unexpected reception on his first attack, which taught him a new lesson in warfare. Braddock, years before, had underestimated the military character of the American and sneeringly refusing to accept the counsel of the young American soldier, George Washington, had rashly gone to defeat, and to death. General Keane, perhaps, remembering the lesson of Braddock's defeat and Burgoyne and Cornwallis' surrenders, put a higher estimate upon the military genius of American soldiers, determined to hold his present position, if possible, until the arrival

of General Packenham and his forces, avoiding, in the meantime, further contest with the forces under the command of General Jack son. He had lost four hundred killed, two hundred and thirty wounded and seventy prisoners captured by the American forces. The loss of the forces under General Jackson were twenty-four killed, one hundred and fifteen wounded and seventy-four missing, supposed to have been captured. The large number of the British forces reported killed, as compared with those wounded, shows the superior the superior marksmanship of the frontiersman to that of the ordinary soldier. These men had carried a rifle from their earliest boyhood; they had used it against the savage and the wild beasts of the forest and had learned what it meant to make every shot count. Not only in this minor contest, but in that which was to come soon after, did this early attained facility with the weapons of warfare, stand them in good stead and teach such a lesson to England as has made that country ever since hesitate to come in contact with the American volunteer, the finest soldier who ever marched to battle.

General Jackson was not yet ready for battle, preferring to await the arrival of the reinforcements which he knew were en route from Kentucky. But he lost nothing by this delay. Intrenchments were thrown up wherever the engineering force found them necessary; artillery was placed in the most advantageous positions, cotton bales, being used to strengthen the works. Fronting these works were wide ditches filled with water to retard the advance of the enemy. These ditches, it was afterwards developed, were unnecessary as the English forces never reached the immediate intrenchments of the American lines.

The two American vessels, the "Louisiana" and the "Carolina," on December 26, dropping down the river, shelled the English lines and drove the enemy into the swamp. On the 27th, the enemy sent a fire of red-hot shot into these two vessels, the "Louisiana" escap

ing injury by its distance from the assailants. The schooner "Carolina" being becalmed within range of the enemy's guns, was less fortunate, and soon after being abandoned by her commander, was blown up and destroyed.

General Packenham, soon after his arrival, with large reinforcements, made an attack upon the defensive works of General Jackson on December 28, advancing his entire force and opening a cannonade with his entire artillery. The air was filled with every character of shot and shell known to the artillery service of that day. But artillery attacks are but sound and fury signifying little. Few men are ever killed by artillery fire. A tremendous noise is made; the earth trembles under the impact of the heavy gun fire and when all is over, it is usually found that a certain number of men have been frightened by the uproar and that but few have been killed or injured compared to the noise that has been made.

In this instance, that was the real result. The militia, whom it was expected to throw into a panic with the cannonade, had speedily gauged the danger and found that, in no sense, did it compare with the noise made. They, therefore, declined to be stampeded by the uproar, but held their ground like veterans, while our own artillery took the measure of the English and kept them at a respectful distance. In this encounter, the enemy lost one hundred and twenty killed, while the American loss was seven killed and eight wounded. For several days after this the English nursed their wounds in comparative quiet, nothing more serious than picket skirmishing occurring, the "Louisiana" occasionally making herself disagreeable by dropping shells into the English camp.

Admiral Cochran, of the English naval force, had boastfully sent word into the American camp that he proposed to eat his Christmas dinner in New Orleans, while General Packenham, more disposed to delay, having met the volunteers unsuccessfully, named

January 1st as the day when he would dine in the Crescent City. But man proposed and But man proposed and God and General Jackson disposed in each of these cases. Admiral Cochran missed his Christmas dinner and General Packenham went where New Year's dinners are probably unknown.

January 1, 1815, was Sunday, a day on which many great battles have been fought, not only on this continent, but in other parts of the world. Under cover of a heavy fog, the enemy advanced to a point six hundred yards from General Jackson's works, and erected three batteries mounting fifteen guns ranging from six to thirty-two pounders. The opposing forces were now closer to each other than they had before been. When the fog had lifted, they began a heavy fire upon the American works, attempting, at the same time, an assault in column with their infantry. These latter were speedily driven back, but the cannonade was continued throughout the day until late in the day, when the well-directed fire of the American artillery had silenced most of their guns, and, under cover of the night, they withdrew. The American loss

in this artillery duel was eleven killed and twenty-three wounded; that of the enemy must have been much greater since they abandoned their position.

General Jackson now turned his attention to fortifying the right bank of the Mississippi, the enemy, at the same time, also turning their attention in that direction. Commodore Patterson landed on that bank some of the heavy guns of the "Louisiana," as a support for the land batteries on the left bank. Should the enemy attempt to force his way up the river, these guns would take him in flank and in those days of wooden ships, would probably have burned or sunk more than one of his vessels, as he was prepared to fire hot shot into them from furnaces erected near his guns. These hot shot would also have burned the buildings on the left side of the river in which the enemy had taken refuge. Gen. D. B. Morgan, commanding the New Orleans and Louisiana volunteers, was placed near this battery as a support and to drive back any attack the enemy might make at that point. He at once began to throw up entrenchments and mounted three twelve-pounders.