The San Francisco call., 1896-02-23
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OUR LAST FIGHT WITH ENGLAND,
1t Was the Most Remarkable Defeat
English Troops Ever Sustained.

English Troops Ever Sustained.
The battle of New Orleans was an cpl
tome of the whole war OF lol2-1S15. In
that battle, as throughout the whole war,
both on. land and sea, the advantage in
numbers of men, weight OF metal and ex
perlence, both of officers and soldiers. was
with the British The latter had in addi-
tion the advantage of almost a surprise of
the Americans but even with all these ad
vantages the 8th of January is red-letter
day In the history of America.
On the 23d of December, 1874 at 80
O'Clock in the fternoon, the sentry at the
door of General Jacksons headquarters,
LOG Royal street, New Orleans, was startled
by the ringing of the shod feet of galloping
horses on the stone pavement OF the quaint
old thoroughfare. Down the street,
on foam-fecked steeds, at full speed.
de la Ronde and Dussan, la Croix,
three Louisiana creoles, who brought
news of the arrival of the
British invaders at the VillIere plantation.
nine miles below the city. While the Amer
leans had been watching for them along
the shores of Mississippi Sound and at the
mouth of the Father of Waters the red
coats had effected a landing on the shores
OF Lake Borgne, and, marching through
the marshes on the east bank OF the Mis-
slssippi had struck that stream over 100
miles from its mouth. Refining in their
horses these Creoles inquired for and were
received by "Old Hickory" to whom they
communicated the foregoing facts. Cen
eral Jackson had been suffering from i'll
ness for weeks, but the news of the ap-
proach of the enemy and the peril of his
country did more than all his army sur
geons and learned physicians had been
a6le to accomplish. In less than thirty
m
writing out orders and couriers were dash
Ing away with them TO the various
commanders of the raw levles. which
were Jackson's only hope to turn back the
picked veterans of the Napoleonic wars.
1t is not generally known, but there
were really four battles of New Orleans
one on the 23d of December, one on De-
cember %, one on January l and one on
January 8. ] he first three were skirmishes,
in which the casualties were only few
slightly wounded, and which resulted
in the repulse of the Americans.
less than 5000 raw troops. most of them
armed only with the weapons they used
in the chase, defeated 1900 of the
flower of the British army, veterans who
had received their training under the eye
OF Wellington, and whose prowess had
caused to set the star of the great Napo-
leon. Contrary to the general belief,
there was not single cotton bale in the
| breastwork behind which the handful of
Americans awaited the foe. whose watch
word for the day was Booty and
Beauty. 1t was mainly of earth
work, with plank, and extended less |
than mile in length along the brink |
OF an old sawmill race, or coulee The line |
of the old breastwork is now the southern
boundary of the Chalmette National Gem |
etery. The ground so galantly held that
day is now the last bivouac of thousands /
,NT /
both to its present use and its former his
tory, upon entering 1t to-day the eye is
first greeted by an iron tablet bearing the
immortal rhymes of Theodore o. Hara:
On fame's eternal camping-ground
Their lowly tents are spread
While glory guards, with solemn round,
The BiSouac OF the Dead.
The American army that day consisted
OF sixty-six marines; twenty-five artiller-
lists, manning two six-pounders; Poiere's
regiment, 46J; Bakers Forty fourth, 331
Plauch's eighty-six carablneers; st.
Genes dismounted dragons, rs; Whites
blues, 81 Hudry's thirty-three Francs;
Guibert's chasseurs, SO; Coffee's Ten
nesseeans, $685. Beale's sixty-two rifle
men; Kinds Mississippians, 107; Adair's
Kentuckians, 700; eighteen Choctaw
Indians under Captain Pierre Jugeaut and
two battalions OF negroes (free) under
Major dAquin and Major Lacoste. This
last is also, perhaps, news to many, for
few people know that Indians and
negroes took part il the repulse of
the British invaders. The story of
the battle proper is found in every
Of day, and by o'clock the invaders
| had been repulsed with loss of nearly
5000 in killed. wounded and missing, or
more than one for each of the Americans
engaged. The casualties inthe American
forces were only thirteen killed. thirty
/ 1Jrnn Ha1 INA
losses in this battle were more dispropor-
toned than in any other battle in the his
tory of the world.
One incident connected with the battle
is of peculiar interest, as showing the
character of Andrew Jackson. 1t coming
TO his knowledge that certain Americans,
some of them prominent, were strongly
suspected OF disaffection and an inclina-
ton to communicate the weakness of his
force to the British, he caused them to be
arrested and put under guard, although
they were civilians. Their friends procured
writs of habeas corpus from Judge DOM
mick Hall commanding General Jackson
to produce his prisoners before him.
Knowing that to do SO meant their re-
lease (for he had no warrant to detain
them), the general deliberately disobeyed
the writ. The day after the battle,
when the general was in the full tide of
his popularity, bailiff bearing war;
rant for his arrest for contempt
OF court appeared at headquarters,
and the sword before which invading thou
sands had rolled back was sheathed in the
presence of that bit of paper, and the gem
eral whom the captors of Napoleon could
not subdue yielded himself prisoner to
an humble tipstaff. When brought before
him, despite the threatening attitudes of
the crowd which thronged the courtroom,
and ofpubIic sentiment which unanimously
justified Jackson's conduct, and in ac-
cordance with "Old Hickory's" exhorta-
ton, Il have done my duty, now you do
yours, Judge Hall imposed fine Of $1,000
on General Jackson, which fine was paid,
the old soldier refusing to allow it to be
| paid for him.
AS stated, the battlefield of Chalmette
is now occupied as National cemetery
In 1865 the ground was donated by the
city to the National Government, and in
it rest 69l3 known dead and 5279 ''un-
known" In the center is beautiful
monument of cut stone and gun metal,
erected by Joseph A. Mower Post No.
| l, G. A. R. Just above the bat
tie field, on the site of the old plan
tation-house, which was Jackson's head
| quarters during the battle, stands an in