Volume Ii Part 9 (2/2)

Col. Kennie led the attack against the redoubt on the right, and succeeded in entering, but found there his grave. Driven forth, the troops sought safety in flight; but the fire that pursued them was too fatal, and they threw themselves into a ditch, where they lay sheltered till night, and then stole away under cover of the darkness.

The ground in front of the American intrenchments presented a frightful spectacle. It was red with the blood of men. The s.p.a.ce was so narrow along which the enemy had advanced, that the dead literally c.u.mbered the field.

The sun of that Sabbath morning rose in blood, and before he had advanced an hour on his course, a mult.i.tude of souls ”unhouseled, unanneled,” had pa.s.sed to the stillness of eternity. New Orleans never before witnessed such a Sabbath morning. Anxiety and fear sat on every countenance. The road towards the American encampment was lined with trembling listeners, and tearful eyes were bent on the distance to catch the first sight of the retreating army. But when the thunder and tumult ceased, and word was brought that the Americans still held the intrenchments, and that the British had retreated in confusion, there went up a long, glad shout--the bells of the churches rang out a joyous peal, and hope and confidence revived in every bosom.

The attack on the right bank of the river had been successful, and but for the terrible havoc on the left sh.o.r.e, this stroke of good fortune might have changed the results of the day. The fort, from which Gen.

Morgan had fled, commanded the interior of Jackson's entrenchments, and a fire opened from it would soon have shaken the steadiness of his troops. But Col. Thornton, who had captured it, seeing the complete overthrow of the main army, soon after abandoned it.

The Americans, with that n.o.ble-hearted generosity which had distinguished them on every battle-field, hurried forth soon as the firing had ceased, to succor the wounded, who they knew had designed to riot amid their own peaceful dwellings. ”Beauty and booty,” was the watchword in an orderly-book found on the battle-field; and though there is not sufficient reason to believe that the city would have been given over to rapine and l.u.s.t, yet no doubt great excesses would have been tolerated. The recent conduct of the English troops on the Atlantic coast, where no such resistance had been offered to exasperate them, furnished grounds for the gravest fears.

The British in this attack outnumbered the Americans more than three to one, and yet the loss on the part of the latter was only _thirteen_ killed and wounded--seventy-one, all told, both sides of the river--while that of the former was nearly two thousand, a disparity unparalleled in the annals of war.

The British were allowed to retreat unmolested to their s.h.i.+ps, and the sails of that proud fleet, whose approach had sent such consternation through the hearts of the inhabitants, were seen lessening in the horizon with feelings of unspeakable joy and triumph. All danger had now pa.s.sed away, and Jackson made his triumphal entry into the city.

The bells were rung, maidens dressed in white, strewed flowers in his path, the heavens echoed with acclamations, and blessings unnumbered were poured on his head.

But as there had been foes and traitors to the American cause from the first appearance of the British fleet, so there were those now who stirred up strife, and by anonymous articles published in one of the city papers, endeavored to sow dissensions among the troops. It would, no doubt, have been better for Jackson, in the fulness of his triumph, and in the plenitude of his power, to have overlooked this. But these very men he knew had acted as spies while the enemy lay before his entrenchments, causing him innumerable vexations, and endangering the cause of the country, and he determined as martial law had not yet been repealed, to seize the offenders. He demanded of the editor the name of the writer of a certain article, who proved to be a member of the legislature. He then applied to Judge Hall for a writ of habeas corpus, which was granted, and the recreant statesman was thrown into prison. Soon after, martial law being removed, Judge Hall issued an attachment against Jackson for contempt of court, and he was brought before him to answer interrogatories. This he refused to do, and asked for the sentence. The judge, still smarting under the remembrance of his former arrest by Jackson, fined him a thousand dollars. A burst of indignation followed this sentence, and as the latter turned to enter his carriage, the crowd around seized it, and dragged it home with shouts. The fine was paid immediately; but in a few hours the outraged citizens refunded the sum to the general. He, however, refused it, requesting it to be appropriated to a charitable inst.i.tution. Judge Hall by this act secured for himself the fame of the man who, to figure in history, fired the temple of Delphos.

The arbitrary manner in which Jackson disposed of the State legislature and judges of the court, became afterwards the subject of much discussion, and during his political life the ground of heavy accusations. If the question be respecting the _manner_ in which he a.s.sumed arbitrary power, it is not worth discussing. But if, on the other hand, the a.s.sumption of it at all is condemned, then the whole thing turns on the necessities of the case, and whether that use was made of it which the general good and not personal feelings required.

That it was necessary, no one can doubt. He had a right, also, as commander-in-chief of the army in that section, to whom the defence of the southern frontier had been intrusted, to force the civil power into obedience to the orders of the general government. He was to defend and save New Orleans, and if the civil authority proved treacherous or weak, it was his duty to see that it did not act against him while plainly in the path of his duty. New Orleans so considered it; and six years after, the corporation appropriated fifty thousand dollars to the erection of a marble statue of him in the city. Congress thought so, when, thirty years after, it voted the repayment of the fine, with interest, from the date it was inflicted, and notwithstanding the whole matter was made a party question, it will not stand as such in history.

Jackson remained in New Orleans till March, when he was relieved by General Gaines. On taking leave of his troops, who, by their cheerful endurance of hards.h.i.+ps and their bravery, had become endeared to him, he issued an address full of encomiums on their conduct, and expressions of love for their character. He concluded by saying, ”Farewell, fellow--soldiers! The expression of your General's thanks is feeble; but the grat.i.tude of a country of freemen is yours--yours the applause of an admiring world.” What a contrast does this man, covered with the laurels of his two recent campaigns, present to the captive boy in the revolutionary struggle whose hand was brutally gashed by a subordinate British officer, because he refused to black his boots! This world has changes. The lad with his eye to the knot-hole at Camden watching the defeat of the American army with anguish, and the hero gazing proudly on the flying columns of the veteran troops of the British empire, are the same in soul--but how different in position! They say, ”Time sets all things even.” In Jackson's case, the wrongs done to his family by an oppressive nation, and the outrages he himself had received, were terribly avenged.

[Sidenote: Feb. 11.]

At length the joyful tidings of peace reached our sh.o.r.es. The British sloop of war Favorite, chosen for her name, arrived at New York under a flag of truce, bearing an American and British messenger, with the treaty already ratified on the part of England. The unexpected news acted like an electrical shock on the city. It was late on Sat.u.r.day night when the announcement was made, but in an incredible short s.p.a.ce of time the whole city was in an uproar. That blessed word PEACE pa.s.sed tremulously from lip to lip, and as if borne on the viewless air, was soon repeated in every dwelling. In a few minutes the streets were black with the excited, heaving mult.i.tudes, whose frantic shouts rolled like the roar of the sea through the city. In every direction bonfires were kindled, and as flash after flash leaped forth to the clouds, the deafening acclamations that followed, attested the unbounded joy of the people. Expresses were immediately hurried off north and south, and as the swift riders swept meteor-like through village after village, shouting ”PEACE” as they sped on, the inhabitants sallied forth to hail the glad tidings with shouts. All day Sunday that electrical word ”PEACE” pa.s.sed like an angel of mercy over the towns and hamlets between New York and Boston. It swept like a sudden breeze through the congregations gathered for wors.h.i.+p in the house of G.o.d. It imparted new fervor to the minister at the altar, and swelled the hymn of thanksgiving from tearful wors.h.i.+ppers to its loudest, gladdest note. ”PEACE,” like a dove folded its wings on the thresholds of thousands of homes that night, turning the wintry fire-side into a scene of unbounded thankfulness and joy.

Although news had never been carried over the country with such rapidity since the battle of Lexington and Concord, it did not reach Boston till Monday morning. The bells were at once set ringing, but their clamorous tongues were well nigh silenced by the louder rejoicings of the people. Messengers were immediately dispatched in every direction, sending the glad tidings on. Men forgot their employments--politicians their animosities in the general congratulation. The sea ports were suddenly gay with flags and streamers, and the song of the sailor blended with the sound of the hammer and the hum and stir of commerce. Men forgot to ask on what terms peace had been obtained--the joy at its unexpected announcement obliterated for the time all other thoughts and considerations.

At Was.h.i.+ngton the pleasure was more subdued, for the politicians there knew that after the first enthusiasm had subsided every one would ask what were the terms of the treaty.

But although the administration had provoked Fortune beyond all forbearance, she seemed resolved not to desert it, and brought, nearly at the same time, the news of the victory of New Orleans, to solace the national pride for an indefinite and unsatisfactory treaty.

The delegates from the Hartford Convention arrived in Was.h.i.+ngton just in time to hear the confirmation of the victory and the peace, and without delivering their message, stole quietly back to New England, lighted by illuminated cities and towns, and stunned by acclamations, on their way. Their enemies were too full of happiness to attack them, still the National Advocate of New York, edited by Mr. Wheaton, could not refrain from indulging in a little pleasantry at their expense, and inserted an advertis.e.m.e.nt: ”Missing--three well-looking, respectable men, who appeared to be travelling towards Was.h.i.+ngton, and suddenly disappeared from Gadzby's hotel, Baltimore, on Monday evening last, and have not since been heard from. They were observed to be very melancholic on hearing the news of peace, and one of them was heard to say, '_Poor Caleb Strong_,' &c. ”Whoever will give any information of these unfortunate, tristful gentlemen to the Hartford Convention, will confer a favor on humanity.” The National Intelligencer copied it, stating that those gentlemen had been seen in Was.h.i.+ngton, but their business was not known. One of them, however, was heard to groan, ”_Oth.e.l.lo's occupation's gone_.”

But after the first excitement pa.s.sed away, men began to inquire in what way, and on what conditions, the government had delivered the country from the evils of war, and crowned it with the blessings of peace.

We had apparently gained nothing. Our quarrel rested mainly on two points--first, the right of blockade as claimed and exercised under the orders in Council, and the right of impressment, as practiced on the high seas; yet no limits had been prescribed to the former, and no guarantees given against the latter. These great points of dispute were left untouched, and by the treaty the two countries stood precisely as they did at the commencement of the war; all (conquered territory on either side was to be restored) with the exception that for the surrender of a useless right--the navigation of the Mississippi--England deprived us of the valuable privilege heretofore conceded, of catching and curing fish on the coast of the Gulf of St.

Lawrence. The t.i.tle to the islands in the Pa.s.samaquoddy bay--the exact course of the boundary line running from the Atlantic coast to the river St. Lawrence--the line thence to the Lake of the Woods--were to be referred to three separate commissions, and in case of their disagreement, to some friendly power for final adjustment. The question of fisheries in the seas bordering on the British provinces, and the boundary line west of the Lake of the Woods were left without any provision for their settlement.

One would naturally think that a treaty which in its stipulations thus silently pa.s.sed over the very questions in dispute, and for which so much valiant blood had been shed and such a loss of life and treasure endured, would have been met with open condemnation, or at least with sullen acquiescence. On the contrary, however, its ratification was signalized by public rejoicings, and the most extravagant manifestations of delight. The astonis.h.i.+ng victory at New Orleans required us to be generous, and a nation which had thus vindicated its rights on sea and land, could afford to drop an unpleasant subject just where the discussion had begun. Such seemed to be the general feeling. At first sight, this settlement of the difficulties between the two countries appeared contemptible. Abstractly considered it was, and if we had been a weak nation, sinking into degeneracy, it would have proved so.

But in judging of it we must remember that treaty stipulations in continental diplomacy, like flags of truce in Mexico, depend almost entirely on circ.u.mstances whether they are regarded or not, and hence the _circ.u.mstances_ are more important than written stipulation.

European treaties, like European diplomacy, have in the past, served only to ill.u.s.trate the duplicity and faithlessness of monarchs. The question is, how events in their progress have settled the difficulties, as _fate_ settles them, and not as commissioners.

Now it was evident, both to the English and American commissioners, that articles on neutral rights and the impressment of seamen, were useless. Our navy and privateers had disposed of those questions, for ever. Our broadsides furnished better guaranties than strips of parchment, adorned with impressions of regal seals.

It was the fact that those two great causes of hostility, violation of neutral rights and impressment of seamen, were practically and permanently disposed of, which reconciled the nation to their omission in the treaty. Our people pay no attention to forms, only so far as they sanction their just claims. In this view, the acquiescence in the treaty, instead of exhibiting humility and fear on our part, indicate quite the reverse. Nothing can be more erroneous than to suppose that because those rights, for the protection of which we had gone to war, were not mentioned in the treaty, we therefore had concluded to waive them. On the contrary, we consented to leave them unnoticed, _because_ we knew we had _obtained_ them forever. No one in England or the United States doubted that these were definitely settled, and those who sneeringly ask ”what we gained by the war?” make the letter equivalent to the spirit, a form more important than a fact. The simple truth is, we got what we fought for, and it exhibits a narrow spirit to say, that because it was not engrossed on parchment it amounted virtually to nothing.

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