Sustained honor: The Age of Liberty Established
CHAPTER XIX.
NEW ORLEANS.
Amid the exciting scenes which followed in such rapid succession, no onehad noticed that the weather had undergone a wonderful change. By thetime the prisoners were comfortably quartered the sun had set, and thesky was obscured with dark clouds from which constant flashes oflightning were emitted. The distant roll of thunder and the sighing ofthe wind gave warning of the approach of a storm.
"The _Xenophon_ is in a poor condition to weather a storm to-night,"said Lieutenant Willard. "With her hull raked fore and aft a dozentimes, her mizzen gone, her foremast shot through, and her rigging socut to pieces, she can hardly be managed in good weather. A storm wouldsurely drive her on the rocks."
The vessel could be seen by the flashes of lightning, struggling to getto sea. At last she disappeared. The storm rose and the wind blew aperfect hurricane. Fernando had gone to see Captain Lane to make a fullreport. It was midnight, and he was still with the captain, when theboom of a gun at sea was heard. That was no gun of battle but a signalof distress.
"What is it?" cried Captain Lane.
"It's the _Xenophon_. I fear she cannot weather the storm."
Then they listened for an hour or more to the occasional boom of acannon.
"She's comin' right in on the stony point sou'east o' the bay," criedCaptain Lane.
Fernando started to his feet and said:
"We must go to their rescue."
At this Morgianna, who had been ministering to the wounded, entered andsaid:
"Are they not enemies?"
"Yes, but fellow-creatures, also. Those signal guns call out humanity,and the bravest are the most humane," said Fernando.
"I am glad you said that!" she remarked as Fernando hurriedly left theshelter in which the captain lay.
Day dawned and the _Xenophon_ was a broken wreck scattered along theMaryland coast. Occasionally a bruised and bleeding form was picked upsenseless or dead among the rocks, or on the beach. Sukey was busiestamong the searchers; but the scenes of horror and suffering whicheverywhere met his view changed his hatred to pity.
At last he came upon a poor, bruised, thoroughly soaked,wretched-looking man lying among some rocks, where the angry waves andreceding tide had left him. His once elegant uniform was now rotten,dirty rags. One gold epaulet was gone, and the other was somud-besmeared that one could scarce tell what it was composed of.
SUKEY'S THUMB LIFTED THE HAMMER OF HIS GUN.]
It required a second look for Sukey to recognize in that miserablecreature, drawing every breath in pain, the haughty Captain Snipes, whohad scourged and disgraced him. Snipes had severe internal injuries andwas dying. Sukey's thumb lifted the hammer of his gun, then he gazed onthe agonized face of his enemy, and, the tears starting to his eyes, helet down the hammer. At this moment Fernando came up, and Sukey cried:
"I can't do it, Fernando,--I can't do it! I've prayed for this, foryears, but now that it's given me, I can't. It's Captain Snipes, buthe's too bad hurt to kill."
"God has punished him," said Fernando, solemnly. "Verily, 'vengeance ismine, I will repay, saith the Lord.'"
They lifted their enemy as gently as if he had been their dearest friendand bore him to a fisherman's cottage, where Sukey did all in his powerto alleviate his suffering; but his time on earth was short. CaptainSnipes sank rapidly. That he was conscious and recognized his nurse noone can doubt, for just half an hour before he died, he took Sukey'shand and spoke the only words he was heard to utter after the wreck.
"Forgive me!" he said.
"I do, captain, God knows I do!" Sukey cried warmly, and the haughty,cruel Captain Snipes passed away, the victim of God's vengeance.
The day after the wreck of the _Xenophon_, news came from Baltimore ofthe repulse of the British fleet and army. It was a day of generalrejoicing. A squadron was to be sent to guard the coast and relieveFernando at Mariana. For some time he had been asking to be attached tosome western regiment with his recruits. He received official noticethat he had been assigned to a Kentucky regiment under Colonel Smiley,and, with the notice, came a commission to the rank of major. Fernandowas ordered to join the regiment at Nashville, Tenn., to act underGeneral Jackson in the South.
The war was shifting to the South; and the western and southern troopswere hastening to its defence. Fernando notified his men of the orderand Sukey volunteered to go with them. Job also enlisted as cook; butTerrence, having been notified that _Privateer Tom_ ready for sea, oncemore bade them adieu, and departed for Philadelphia, taking Mr. Hugh St.Mark the gunner with him.
Fernando went to the great white stone house, which had been repairedand again occupied by Captain Lane and his daughter. Captain Lane andMorgianna were alone in the large sitting-room when he entered. Thecaptain was convalescent, but not wholly recovered from his attack ofrheumatism.
"So you are going away?" said Captain Lane when Fernando had told him ofhis last order.
"Yes, captain, a soldier belongs to his country."
"I know it. I don't blame you one bit. So you will serve under Jackson.Well, I don't think another ship will venture to bombard Mariana. Haveyou sent the prisoners to Baltimore?"
"Yes, sir, all save Lieutenant Matson. I took his parole, and he stillremains in the village, I presume, during his pleasure. He will berequired to report once a week to Baltimore, but that need not bein person."
The captain was silent. While speaking, Fernando kept his eyes from theface of Morgianna. He could not look at her and be a witness to the glowof joy which he knew must warm her cheek on being informed that herlover was to remain. She quietly left the apartment while he wasconversing with the captain, and when he left, he found her alone inthe hall.
It was almost dark; but her face in its beauty seemed to illumine thehall. He took her hand in his own, and felt that same old thrill of fiveyears before.
"I am going away, Miss Lane," he said, "and I cannot go without biddingyou adieu and telling you how much I appreciate your brave, noble,self-sacrificing efforts in caring for the wounded."
Fernando really had a different opinion of Morgianna from that he hadat first entertained. He had thought of her only as a gay, frivolousgirl, witty, brilliant and beautiful; but the scenes of death, the siegeand carnage had shown him a new Morgianna;--it was Morgianna theheroine. She made several efforts to speak before she could fullycontrol herself.
"Major Stevens," she faintly said after a struggle, "the people of thispoor little village can never feel too grateful to you, for your braveand unselfish defence of their homes!"
"I am a soldier, Miss Lane, and I trust I did my duty."
Then they stood silent. Fernando would have given worlds to speak thepromptings of his heart: but stubborn pride forbade him.
"Whither do you go?" she asked.
"To the South; what point I do not know, save that we join our regimentat Nashville."
"Will you ever come back, major?"
"If duty calls me--"
"But have you no friends," she asked slowly, "no friends here, whom youwould like to see after the war is over?"
"Many, Miss Lane. These brave men and noble women, who have shared mytoils and dangers, are very dear to my heart, and when the Britons havebeen driven from our country, nothing would give me greater pleasurethan to renew my acquaintance with them."
"You are always welcome, major," she said, deeply moved. "Will you makeme a promise?"
"What is the promise?"
"That you will come as soon as the war is over."
"It is only a polite way of inviting me to her wedding," he thought;then he asked:
"Will you be here?"
"If heaven spares me, I shall."
"Then I will return, Miss Lane, if I live."
Their discourse had been friendly, but cold and formal. Fernando hadonce overstepped the bounds when he declared his love; but he wascareful not to do so again. Notwithstanding she had leaped to theredoubt amid screaming shells and whistling balls, to persuade
him backto the trenches, he could see nothing more tender than love of humanityin her act. He was so thoroughly convinced that she would wed LieutenantMatson, that he was once on the point of asking her when the marriagewould take place, but the subject was too painful to mention.
She followed him quite to the door, and here he said in a voice that washusky despite his efforts to prevent it:
"Miss Lane,--Morgianna, I had him paroled for your sake. He can remainin the village."
He was gone before she could make any response. His men were musteredat peep of day and marched away to Baltimore.
General Andrew Jackson, to whom Fernando Stevens was marching, was thehero of the war of 1812 in the South. Having utterly crushed the Creekpower and wrung from them a treaty which extinguished them politicallyas a nation, he set about securing that portion of the country againstfurther molestation. The belief that the war in the South was endedproved a deception when the British suddenly appeared in a large forcein the Gulf of Mexico. By permission of the Spanish governor of Florida,the British took possession of one of the forts at Pensacola, where theyfitted out an expedition for the capture of Fort Bowyer, [Footnote: NowFort Morgan.] on the eastern shore of the entrance to Mobile Bay. TheBritish attacked the fort, but were repulsed. Jackson, who was atMobile, hastened to Pensacola and demanded of the Spanish governor asurrender of the forts. The officer sent with the flag to demand thesurrender was fired upon, and next day Jackson with his troops chargedinto the town; when the frightened governor offered to surrender theforts. This was done, and the British blew up one, and abandonedthe others.
On his return to Mobile, Jackson found a message from New Orleans,urging him to hasten to the defence of that city, as the Britishcommander in the gulf had declared his intention to invade Louisiana,and sent an inflammatory proclamation among the inhabitants.
Jackson arrived at New Orleans, December 2, 1814, and found the cityutterly defenceless, and the people filled with alarm and distracted bypetty factions. Danger was imminent. The British troops that leftChesapeake Bay after their repulse at Baltimore had gone to the WestIndies, where they were joined by about four thousand veterans under thebrave Irish General Keane. The combined forces sailed in the directionof New Orleans, late in November. The wives of many of the officersaccompanied them, for not a man doubted that the speedy conquest ofLouisiana would be the result of the expedition. The dullness of thevoyage was enlightened by music and dancing, and all anticipatedexquisite pleasures to be found in the paradise before them. It is saidthat the British officers had promised their soldiers the privilege ofthe city, when captured, for three days, and that "booty and beauty,"was their watchword.
Fernando Stevens, with his experienced marksmen, joined Jackson at NewOrleans on the very day that Jean Lafitte, the pirate of the Gulf, cameto offer the services of himself and band to Jackson. The BritishGeneral had tried to engage the services of this band of outlaws.Lafitte was a shrewd Frenchman, and he and his band had been outlawed bylegal proceedings, though their crimes were only violations of therevenue and neutrality laws of the United States. When the invitation ofthe British was put into his hands, he feigned compliance; but as soonas the bearer had departed, he called his followers around him on theborder of the sea, and said:
"Comrades, I am an adopted citizen of the United States, and will neverviolate the confidence placed in me by serving the enemies of mycountry. We have been outlawed; perhaps we deserve it by ourirregularities. No matter; I am ready to serve my adopted country, andask you to join me. What say you, comrades?"
His brawny followers threw up their hats and responded:
"We will! we will!"
Fernando was at the headquarters of General Jackson when the famousbuccaneer held his interview with him. Fernando's regiment shortly afterhis arrival was assigned to the brigade of General Coffee.
The British forces halted at the entrance to Lake Borgne, between whichand the Mississippi New Orleans stands. Here, on December 14th, theycaptured a flotilla under Captain Jones, which secured to them completecommand of the lake.
Meanwhile Jackson placed New Orleans under martial law, and carried onhis measures of defence so vigorously, that the citizens began to pluckup courage. When he heard of the capture of the flotilla, he sentcouriers to General Coffee and others at the head of Tennessee andKentucky troops, urging them to hasten to New Orleans. His efforts weretimely, for, on the 22d of December, General Keane, with more than twothousand five hundred men, reached the banks of the Mississippi througha bayou, nine miles below the city and prepared to take New Orleans bysurprise. Vigilant eyes were watching his movements; and a prisoner whomhe had taken, escaping, hastened to New Orleans and gave General Jacksonnotice of the near approach of the foe. At the same time, Coffee andCarroll arrived with the Tennesseeans, and Jackson put a column inmotion to meet the invaders. Early on the evening of the 23d ofDecember, they marched, eighteen hundred strong, led by Jackson inperson, and at the same time the armed schooner _Carolinia_ dropped downthe river to within musket range of the British camp. Shot from thatvessel first revealed the fact to the British that their presence wasknown at New Orleans. The shells and shot from the vessel broke uptheir camp, when they were attacked in the dark by Jackson and hisfollowers. The combat that followed was indecisive, except in making theinvaders more cautious and discreet. In this night conflict, theAmericans lost about two hundred men, while the British loss wastwice as many.
New Orleans was saved from surprise; now it had to be saved from openinvasion. The events of the 23d dispirited the British, and in thiscondition General Packenham found the troops on his arrival on Christmasday with reinforcements, to take the chief command. He was a veteran,fresh from the Spanish peninsula, and was delighted to find under hiscontrol some of the best of Wellington's regiments.
He immediately prepared to effect the capture of New Orleans and thesubjugation of Louisiana without delay. With hot shot the annoying_Carolinia_ was burned, and the _Louisiana_ was the only American vesselleft on the river.
Jackson was wide awake, however, and began throwing up a line ofintrenchments from the banks of the Mississippi to an almostimpenetrable swamp in the rear, four miles from New Orleans.
There has been some dispute in regard to the redoubt which defended NewOrleans. There was an old story that a part of the redoubt was composedof cotton bales taken from a rich planter named Mulanthy, and that thecotton bales were afterward sold with hundreds of pounds of Britishbullets in them. General Harney, in the Washington _Sunday Herald_,several years ago denied this story. General Harney said:
"I asked General Jackson, General Adair and General Coffee, the latterhaving the immediate command of a brigade of Tennessee and Kentuckysharpshooters, whose long rifles mainly did the work of death, if therewere cotton bales used at all, and they all answered that the only worksthe Americans had were of earth, about two and a half feet high, rudelyconstructed of fence-rails and logs laid twenty-four inches apart, andthe space between them filled with earth, and if there had been anyworks constructed from cotton bales they must have known it." GeneralHarney was made by the Washington _Herald_ to say that in 1825 he waspromoted to captain in the first infantry, and sent to Nashville,Tennessee, to recruit for his regiment, and while there he met withGenerals Jackson and Coffee, from whom he obtained many points of thebattle which have never been in print.
Fernando had seen no service since leaving Mariana on the Marylandcoast. His riflemen were eager to meet the foe; but in the nightencounter they had been detailed to guard the city, and preserve thepeace. Day by day they had expected the enemy to advance to the attack;but the 7th of January, 1815, passed, and the British had not yet movedto the attack, further than some skirmishing and cannonading. On thenight of the 7th, the Americans slept on their arms, for they knewPackenham would not long delay. The memorable morning of January 8,1815, dawned at last.
There was a heavy fog on the river, and the British troops had actuallyformed and were advancing before Jackson ha
d made his arrangements.Fernando had just roused Sukey, who, having been on guard most of thenight, slept late, when he saw General Jackson on his white horse gallopup to where General Coffee and his staff stood. At this moment the foglifted a little, and the formation of the British army was seen, andFernando heard Jackson exclaim:
"By G--, they are ours!"
"They are coming, Sukey!" said Fernando. "Get your gun!".
"Won't they give me time to eat my breakfast?" Sukey asked.
"I am afraid not."
At this moment, Job, who was Fernando's cook, came running forward withsome broiled beefsteak on the end of a ramrod. He gave it to Sukeyand said:
"Heah, massa, take dis an' chomp um down foh dey git near enough tofight. I's gwine ter git my gun an' teach 'em dis chile ain't got noAngler Saxun blood in his veins."
Sukey presented an odd figure, for he wore no uniform. His head wascovered with an old, low, broad-brimmed hat. He sat on the carriage of abrass gun near and ate his breakfast, while watching the enemy advanceto the attack.
Coffee's part of the line, to which Fernando was attached, was on theflank extending to the swamp. About a quarter of a mile from it, therewas a huge plantation drainage canal, such as are common in Louisianalowlands. At this, General Packenham formed his first attacking column.His formation was a column in mass of about fifty files front. This wasformed under the fire of the regular artillerists in a little redoubt inCoffee's front and that of some cannon taken from a man-of-war, placedin a battery on the river and served by sailors. Coffee, seeing thedirection of the attack, which was intended to turn his flank, dasheddown the line saying to his men:
"Hold your fire until you can see their belt-buckles."
The riflemen were formed in two ranks so that one rank would load whilethe other was firing.
Fernando's position behind the earthworks was near an old oak tree,which threw out its branches about his head. Sukey stood at his sideholding his long rifle in one hand and his broiled meat and sea-biscuitin the other. The enemy came boldly forward, and a finer display wasnever seen on review. Their lines were well dressed and Packenham, onhis snow white charger, rode as boldly as if he had no fear of death. AsSukey munched his hard biscuit, his eyes were steadfastly fixed on LordPackenham.
"Say, Fernando, ain't that fellow on the big horse General Packenham?"
"No doubt of it, Sukey."
"He'd wipe out the score of what's left of one hundred and eight," saidSukey, swallowing his last bite of biscuit at one gulp and examining thepriming in his gun.
Colonel Smiley was first to give orders to fire from Fernando's part ofthe work, and there rang out a volley all along the line. The brasspieces on their right began blazing away with the heavy iron cannon downtoward the river, which with the rattling of small arms almost made theground quake under their feet. Directly after the firing began, CaptainPatterson, from Knox County, Kentucky, came running along. He leaped onthe breastwork, and, stooping a moment to look through the darkness, aswell as he could, shouted:
"Shoot low, boys! shoot low! rake them! rake them! They're comin' ontheir all-fours!"
It was so dark that little could be seen, until just about the time thebattle ceased. The morning had dawned, but the dense fog and thick smokeobscured the sun. The Kentuckians did not seem to appreciate theirdanger, but loaded and fired, and swore, laughed and joked as though itwere a frolic. All ranks and sections were soon broken and after thefirst volley every man loaded and fired at will. Sukey did not fire asoften as some of the others, but at every shot he went up to thebreastwork, looked over until he could see a redcoat, and then takingaim blazed away. After each shot he paused to write in his book.Lieutenant Ashby, who had had a brother killed at the River Raisin,seemed frantic with rage and fiendish glee. He ran up and down theline yelling:
"We'll pay you now for the River Raisin! We'll give you something toremember the River Raisin!" When the British came up on the oppositeside of the breastwork, having no gun, he picked up a rifle barrel whichhad been broken from the stock and threw it over at them. Then findingan iron bar he leaped upon the breastwork and threw it at the mass ofheads crowding forward to scale their works.
While the conflict was at its height, when Packenham was leading thelast grand charge against the earthworks. Major Stevens' attention wasdirected by repeated and vociferous shouts to "come down," to an objecton his right. Turning his eyes in that direction, he saw Sukey, standingcoolly on the top of the breastwork peering into the darkness forsomething to shoot at. The balls were whistling as thick as hail aroundhim, and cutting up the dirt at his feet.
"Come down, Sukey, come down!" Fernando commanded. Sukey turned roundand, holding up the flap of his old, broad-brimmed hat with one hand, tosee who was speaking to him, answered:
"Oh, never mind, Fernando--here's Sukey--I don't want to waste mypowder, and I'd like to know how I'm to shoot until I see something. I'mwatching for that man on the big white horse."
It was not long until Sukey got his eye on the man on the big whitehorse, and leveling his rifle pulled the trigger. At that instantPackenham fell, bleeding and dying, into the arms of Sir DuncanMcDougall, his favorite aid, who performed a similar service for GeneralRoss when he was mortally wounded a few months before. Sukey coollydescended from the breastwork and, sitting down at the root of a tree,took out his book and said:
"I've balanced the score. They flogged me; but, by the eternal, I'm morethan even."
During the action some of the Tennesseeans became mixed with Smiley'sregiment. One of them was killed about five yards from where Fernandostood. A ball passed through his head, and from the range of Britishbullets it seemed quite probable that he was accidentally shot by someof the Americans. This was the only man killed near where Fernandostood. The firing began to slacken when he fell. While three or four menwere carrying the body away, a white flag was raised on the oppositeside of the breastwork, and the firing ceased. The white flag was ahandkerchief on a sword or stick. It was raised by a British major, whowas cut off and unable to retreat with the main army. When the firingceased, he came over the breastwork. A little Tennesseean, who looked asif he had spent his days in the fever-infested swamps, demanded hissword; but the officer was looking about for some commissioned officerto give it to, when Colonel Smiley, whose democratic principles were atenmity with punctilio, ordered him to hand over the sword to "Paleface,"as the youth was called. A great many who were unable to escape in theretreat, came over and surrendered. Among them, Fernando saw a veryneatly dressed young man, standing on the edge of the breastworkoffering his hand as if for some one to assist him down. He was not overnineteen years of age, and his language and manner indicated thegentleman.
Major Stevens took his musket and set it against the breastwork andassisted him to the ground. He at once began to take off his cartouchbox, and the major noticed a red spot on his clean, white under jacket.
"Are you wounded?" Fernando asked.
"Yes, sir, and I fear badly."
"Let me help you, my man!" said the major, unbuckling his belt.
"Please don't take my canteen, for it contains my water."
"I shall not take anything that does not encumber you."
Just then one of the Tennesseeans who had gone down to the river forwater came along with some in a coffee-pot. The wounded man saw him,and said:
"I am very thirsty, sir, will you please give me a drop?"
"Oh, yes," said the Tennesseean. "I will treat you to anything I havegot." The young man took the coffee-pot and swallowed two or threemouthfuls out of the spout, and handed it back. In an instant, Fernandosaw him sinking backward. He called to Sukey, who was near, and theyeased him down against the side of a tent, where he gave two or threegasps and was dead. He had been shot through the breast.
A number of British soldiers and officers had sought shelter from thefire of the Americans in the ditch on the other side of the breastwork.These, of course, being unable to retreat came in and surrendered. W
henthe smoke lifted from the battlefield it disclosed a terrible spectacle.The field looked like a sea of blood, for it was literally covered withredcoats. Straight out before their position, the entire space occupiedby the British troops was covered with dead or wounded. In some places,where the lines had made a stand, they lay in piles like winrows of hay,while the intervals between were more thinly sprinkled. About twohundred yards directly in front of their position, lay a large dapplegray horse, which was said to have belonged to Packenham. Nearly halfway between the horse and the breastworks was a heap of slain, markingthe spot where Packenham fell; his horse having retreated some distancebefore it went down.
The battle was over, and Sukey sat down to finish his breakfast whichhad been interrupted by the stirring event.
The British left seven hundred dead and fourteen hundred wounded on thefield, while five hundred were made prisoners making a loss oftwenty-six hundred. The Americans lost eight killed andthirteen wounded.
Packenham and three of his general officers slain in the fight were sentto England in casks of rum for burial. The British troops under GeneralLambert stole noiselessly away on the night of the 19th across LakeBorgne, in small transports, and escaped to the fleet. They thenbesieged Fort Bowyer for two days, February 20th and 21st, when MajorLawrence, who was in command, was compelled to surrender, and thevictors were about to push on to Mobile, when they were arrested bytidings of peace.
The treaty of peace was signed at Ghent on December 24th, 1814, but,owing to the slow means of communication in those days, it was not knownin America until the following February, or the battle of New Orleanswould never have been fought.