Graham guardian., 1907-01-18

was opposed by New England
Massachusetts, and Connecticut
which declined to furnish troop
under he call of President Madi
son, declaring that they had M
cause of fquarrel with Great Britain
The engrossment Of Great Britiar
in the Napoleonic war fortunately
prevented aggressive movements
against the eastern states, and. the
theater of the war was chiefly II
the west and along the lakes. The
brunt of this contest was borne by
troops from Kentucky, who won
the decisive battle of the Thames
October 5, 1918,
But with the capture of Paris
by the allies, March 3, 1914, and
the retirement of Napoleon to
Elba, England, prepared to force
vigorous movements against this
country, She was then at peace
with the rest of the world, and
her soldiers, elate with victory,
were soon concentrated at Bor-
deaux preparatory for an Ameri-
can campaign. In August small
fleet of British vessels In Chesa
peake bay was re-enforced by
thirty sail, under Admirals Coch
ran and Mallombe, one.half being
ships of war, A large part of this
flctilla moved up the Potomac and
5000 troops, under Gen. Ross, dis
EN- barking, the battle Of Bladens
burg was fought on the Oath, and
was followed Immediately by the
capture of Washington and the
burning Of the government build
ings. A few days after the COM
bined naval and military British
force was repulsed in an attack on
Baltimore, and Gen. Ross, com
mauder.in. chief, was killed. About
the same time Commodore Nc
Donough won victory over the
British fleet on Lake Champlain,
and the British army of $4,000 was
defeated by the Americans, 1000
strong, at Plattsburg, on the New
York border,
Meantime the Indians in the
southern states were committing
great atrocities, and Gen. Jackson
had, upon a brilliant campaign,
succeeded in their defeat and in
the execution Of treaty OF peace
with them, August IA, 1914. This
enabled him to give his attention
to Mobile and adjacent points,
toward which the British soon di-
reeted their attention. He soon,
however, ascertaiDed that their
real destination was New Orleans,
and when the fleet, with Gen.
Pakenham and his army, debarked
at the head of Lake Borgne, fifteen
miles southeast of New Orleans
and moved toward that city, jack
son was there to confront them.
Re,enforcements had been hastily
summoned from Kentucky and
Tennessee, and on the 9Th of JAN
uary ensued the famous battle in
which the flower Of the British
army, nearly three times greater
in force, was disasteTously defeat
ed by the western backwoodsmen,
armed chiefly with squirrel rifles.
The extent of the disaster is IN
dicated by the fact that while the
British, besides the death of the
commander,in chief on the field,
sustained a loss of 1000 IN killed
and wounded, the American loss
was but sixteen.
AS it proved this was a sacrifice
of many brave lives which would
have been spared had conditions
been as now for transmission of
intelligence, for already on the
Oath Of December the treaty of
Ghent, which terminated the war,
had been signed by the commits
sioners of the two Powers. 1t
was unfortunate that so much
blood had been ruthlesslv shed,
but it does not dim the glory won
on the field Of Cbalinctte by Old
Hickory and his army, in which
Kentucky was represented by
1900 men. All honor to their
memory!-Courier. ournal.
-
JUST now the eyes of the whole
country are focused upon Texas,