New-York tribune., 1907-01-06
29H# COMMERCE OBIITERATING FAMOUS BATTLEFIELD 8E
Railway Tracks and Ware
houses Where the Heroes
of Chalmette Fell.

The battlefield Of Chalmette, where befeu tho
overthrow of the British Just ninety-two years
ago next Tuesday by the American troops near
New Orleans. is being fought over again. In
the present struggle however. commerce. and
not army of redcoats. is the invading force
The soldiers who now occupy the field are en-
gineers and laborers. and instead of the roar
o. cannon there may be heard the din OF der
r1cke and pile drivers. A great railroad terminal
IL being built on the ground where General jack
son and his fought for the safety of a
city and the honor Of a nation" and in snort
time the many familiar landmarks which were
won't to recall that memorable conflict Will be
wiped away to make room for train yards, train
Sheds wharves and docks.
In cost the present struggle will far surpasss
that Of January s. 1916. In overcoming the
many obstacles that confront the construction
Of tho terminal, the low. swampy character of
the ground. the treacherous soil by which the
Mississippi River at this point is confined to
,ts channel. the Southern Pacific and Frisco
railroads expect to spend S150oooo0
Yet this conquest Of historic landscape by
the cohorts Of .commerciaiism is not regretted
by those who favor the preservation OF such
scenes as much might be expected. 1t is SAID
by many that the OF this land for the pur-
pose OF increasing the trade and wealth of New
Orleans,
roads running into it. is, after all, better than
that this famous bit OF land should lie in neg
lect as 81 has for many years. The public had
x1ven little heed 10 it. Many Of its noted land
marks had been permitted from sheer lack Of
care to decay and fall to pieces. The Villere
House, for example, where General PakenhaIn.
the British commander. had his headquarters
was greatly damaged several years ago by fire
Since then trees have sprung up within the
walls their growing branches topping over the
ruins and their roots tearing asunder the foun-
Cations. Even the monument erected in honor
of the heroic deeds achieved on the plain below
has been only half finished because OF the lack
OF public interest The Louisiana Legislature
failed to appropriate enough money to complete
# and private organizations which have sought
% nnfsh the work have been able to do little
moro than keep the half of II built in repair.
Now an appeal has been made to the federal
government.
From time to time there has been an agita-
ton started TO make a national military park
OF the battle-ground, but every movement OF
this kind has fallen through. The federal gov
ernment's sole contribution to the preservation
of this historic landscape was the establishment
Of the Chalmette military cemetery, back Of
where the American lines were formed. In it are
buried several hundred soldiers who perished
in the Civil War. This reservation. IN striking
contrast to fits surroundings has been most
neatly kept
ITS MEMORIES IMMORTAL.
But although the battlefield itself Will soon be
obiiterated beneath railroad tracks, freight
6epots and warehouses its memories will sur
viye4 It was on this ground that the Americans
achieved the crowning triumph Of the entire
war. Until this battle Continental Europe had
paid little attention 10 what England try
ing to do with the Yankees" one French
writer expressed It. The military experts of
Paris and Vienna paid as little heed to the con-
nict as does Washington at the present time
the Dutch-Achinese war. The Battle OF Chai-
nette. however. startled every European cap
ital. II astonished Napoleon who at that
tns on the Island OF Elba. 1t Is said that he
regarded II az incredible that raw levy OF
farmers and mountaineers should have we'll
nigh annihilated a superior force of trained SOL
diery Of the same stock those troops under
Wellington who in Spain the first to
resist successfully his schemes Of aggrandize-
rnent.
The field Of Chanette lies about five miles
below the city OF New Orleans. AT the time 1t
announced that the British forces were ap-
preaching General jackson had been busy for
three weeks reviewing and disciplining the mill
tia and other troops. Gathering his men to-
gether he marched out of the city December
g. 1914. and attacked the enemy boldly in the
evening of the same day. The British had about
b.0O0 men and the Americans about 2 100 the
latter being assisted TO some degree however,
by a gunboat in the river. Although General
jackson did not defeat the foe. yet he held back
the British for the time being, and by doing
was able to fortify the plain Of Chalmette. Here
the English attacked him on January =, 1915,
and were overwhelmingly defeated. They lost
several hundred killed and wounded, whereas
the American, losses were only six killed and
eight wounded.
What aided rot a little in the overthrow OF
the invaders was the work Of an American
traitor who fled 10 the English ranks and was
brought before General Pakenham. He un-
folded the plans of General Jackson, told of the
disposition OF the troops. their numbers and the
character Of the Notifications He said that the
weakest point in the line the position occu-
pied by CarrolPs brigade, and recommended
that the British concentrate their attack there.
General Pakenham listened TO the story, but,
taken along at the time of the attack, and that
he be made 10 point out the weak place. If It
proved other than he said he was TO be shot.
but If he found to have told the truth he
was TO be rewarded handsomely. ---. -.-
As Il happened, General Jackson, on learning
Of the detection of this soldier and suspecting
That he might disclose the most vulnerable points
IN his line Of defence to the enemy. made radical
changes in the arrangement of his troops only
the night before the attack. He reinforced Car
rolls brigade heavily, that when the British
literally moved down by the American shot and
shell. The traitor. who chanceG TO escape the
1re of his own countrymen, was thereupon
hanged, to be riddled by the bullets of both
armies.
COBBETT'S ACCOUNT.
In the life OF Andrew jackson by William
Cobbett the engagement is described as follows:
'The day dawned and the signals intended 70
produce concert in the enenly's movements were
deserted. On the left the swamp, sky
rocket perceived rising in the air. and pres
entity another ascendea from the right next the
river. They We're intended announce that all
was prepared and ready to proceed and carry by
storm defence which had twice foiled their