El Paso daily herald. (El Paso, Tex.) 1881-1901, 1897-01-08


! city. jackson received his visitors
heard their news, offered them some
wine and then dispatched messenger
to each corps under his command. or
derlng them to break camp and march
to certain positions. Then the general
ate little, took brief nap on his sofa
and before J O'Clock was in the saddle
/ and riding toward the lower part Of the
city. AT Fort ST. Charles he reviewed
! his troops. They were 2,131, and more
| then half of them had never been in
action. They came from Mississippi,
| Tennessee and Louisiana, and among
/ them was a battalion of freemen of
color which did good service in the
fight.
A., In the encounter of December %,
Jackson was successful, but this was
only preliminary battle. The decis-
i've conflict was on Jan. 8, 1915. Jack
sons troops on that day mum bered A.
| 600, of whom 800 had been scattered
about for the defense of the camp,
along the Rodriguez canal, six miles
from the city and in the outskirts of
the woods. The other 5000 were
drawn up along the lines of the Rodi-
guez and Calmette plantations. between
| the river and the swamp. The British
army aggregated 14.420 of whom about
1000 assaulted Jacksons line. The
attack began at dawn. At s o'clock
the enemy had been repulsed, with 266
killed, l, l26 wounded and 452 reported
| missing. And these were trained
troops. OF the American volunteers,
13 were reported killed, 80 wounded
and 10 missing.
THE HERMITAGE.
When Jackson died, he left his fam
Gus home, the Hermitage, to his adopt
ed son, Andrew jackson. Jr. The state
of Tennessee bought it IN 1856 for S4S,
600. 1t contained then the residence,
stables, two cabins and 800 acres of
| land. 1t was the hope of the people of
Tennessee that the government would
establish there southern branch OF
the Military academy at West Point.
The war put an end to that idea. and
the family of Andrew jackson. Jr., was
) allowed to occupy the residence as ten
ant at will till the death of Mrs Jack
son in 1887. Then proposition to sell
the property was made, but the women
of Tennessee, to preserve it, organized
in January, 1889, the Ladies' Hermit
age association. They wanted to fol
low the plan of the Mount Vernon as
sOciatiOn, which had restored Wash
ingtOn's home to something like its
condition when Washington occupied
1t and had made it place of pilgrim
age.
The women of Nashville, under the
leadership of Mrs. Nathaniel Baxter,
) started the movement and procure
from the legislature charter. The
: legislature gave 475 acres of the prop
erty to the Confederate Home associa
ton and % acres, with the mansion
! and tomb of Jackson, to the Ladies
Hermitage association. The associa
tion quickly raised $40, 600 and set d bout
the work of restoration. The tomb
where lie the remains of General Jack
son and his wife under three weeping
willows was surrounded by neat fence
The mansion was rooted and painted
and the grounds and garden were re
: stored. But the work of the associa
2 ton is only half done. Money is hare
TO raise. Mrs Carlisle, the wife of the
secretary of the treasury, gave an en-
tertalnment at Washington year age
to raise funds 70 help the restoration
! and many individual contri buttons
have been made. But the Legislature
of Tennessee has refused to contribute
TO the work, and so it remains hall
! finished.
Another memorial to Jackson Il
which the ladies of the south take
lively interest is the monument which
stands on the battlefield of Chalmette
The daughters of 1776 1872, at New
Orleans, have undertaken the respon
stbilitv of completing This monument
| which has stood for many years hall
finished. The masonry has been un
protected, and relic hunters have
broken away parts of The base. But
the daughters of 1776-1Sl2 began a year
ago the work of restoration and com
pletion, and they hope before another
year has passed that the memorial tC
the glorious victory of Jan. s, 1915, will
stand perfect.
DUEL WITH DICKINSON.
The duel between Andrew Jackson
and George Dickinson, says Gran
Hamilton, grew out of his marriage tC
the wife of another man before hel
husband had divorced her. What was
the measure of his blame in this tran
, saction will never be clear. His
biOgra pliers say that he fell in love
with the beautiful Rachel Richards o.
Kentucky, when he was guest in her
house, that she fed from a drunken
aud abusive husband, and that Jackson
married her, believing she had been
divorced. Afterward, when the di
vorce had been granted, he married
her publicly again. Other historian:
treat the hero of New Orleans les.
kindly. They say that Mrs. Robard:
; had given her husband cause for suspi
con before she met young jackson
That she elOped with Jackson from hel
+ usbapd's house, and was pursued By
Robards, who exchanged shots will
, J Jackson across a river: that jackson
lived with her for two years. knowing
|