III 
 
 
GIFT OF 
 
 JANE 
 
NOTES 
 
 OX THE 
 
 War in the South ; 
 
 WITH 
 
 BIOGRAPHICAL SKETCHES 
 
 OF THE LIVES OF 
 
 MONTGOMERY, JACKSON, 
 
 SEV1ER, 
 
 The late Gov. Claiborne, 
 
 AND OTHERS. 
 
 By Nathaniel Herbert Claiborne, 
 
 OF FRANKLIN COUNTY, VA. 
 
 A Member of the Executive of Virginia during the late Wai * 
 
 RICHMOND : 
 
 PUBLISHED BY WILLIAM jR 
 
 1819. 
 
35 5 
 
 COPT -RIGHT SECURED. 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 THE following NOTES were written while the war 
 was going on. They are now published without al 
 teration. Had they been written after the war, the 
 stile and manner of the remarks would have been 
 different : as they are, they present the feelings of 
 the day to the reader ; and in that view, perhaps, are 
 valuable. Some few of the numbers were published 
 while the war continued; and were erroneously as 
 cribed, in the upland country, to a writer with whom 
 the author would blush to be compared ; for he feels 
 his inferiority : but such was then the fact, in the 
 neighbourhood in which the author now resides. 
 
 The Life of WILLIAM C. C. CLAIBORNE has been 
 lately added ; and is now published at the request of 
 many of that gentleman s political friends. 
 
 The stile of this book will not stand the knife of 
 criticism ; but the feelings under the influence of 
 which it was produced, are above the reach even ef 
 malice. 
 
 335869 
 
NOTES ON THE 
 
 War in the South, <jc 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 JL HE days of delusion have passed away : the objects 
 of Great Britain arc no longer veiled by shadows, 
 clouds, and darkness : they are as plain to the under 
 standing; as a ray of light to the human eye. The 
 schemes* of ambition and conquest in which the court 
 of St. James indulges, are now unmasked : and the 
 alternative with the American people, is, by Bravery 
 and perseverance, to shew the world, they deserve 
 the high rank bequeathed them by their fathers ; or, 
 by servility and meanness, to sink down, the scorn 
 and contempt of all mankind. The British ministers 
 frequently declared that Bonaparte was the only bar 
 to a general peace ; and some of our citizens put con 
 fidence in this delusory declaration. No sooner was 
 it announced in America, that by dint of the sword, 
 the divine right of kings to power was established in 
 France, and the election of Bonaparte by the people 
 set aside, than the miserable tribe of an^lo-jacobites 
 cried there Is peace from this day between the United 
 States and Great Britain. How* woefully have they 
 been disappointed ! Disengaged from the Europran 
 contest, it is evident, they indulge in plans of ambi 
 tion and conquest as extensive as were ever yet 
 
 A 
 
:NOTES ON Tire >VAH ix TIIR SOUTH. 
 
 ascribed to the hero of Maringo : and to accomplish 
 them, they resort to means both perfidious and cruel. 
 They attempt to lull us into a state of false security, 
 by avowing a disposition for peace, and inviting ne- 
 gociations ; while they are sending to our shores Beets 
 and armies, instructed to Jay waste every part of the 
 country into which they may be able to penetrate. 
 In conformity with those instructions, the notorious 
 Cockburn having succeeded in gaining possession of 
 the City of Washington, on the twenty-fourth of 
 August lasf, destroyed all the public buildings and a 
 printing office, at which was recorded from time to 
 time the achievements of this hero. No event could 
 have roused the people more effectually than the des 
 truction of our infant Rome. Every genuine American 
 iviil now feel, and not stoop to the meanness of rea 
 soning. Invoking the assistance of God, the American 
 people will rush like a mountain torrent on the enemy, 
 wherever he shall shew himself: and I augur that hta 
 triumph will be of short duration. Our efforts must be 
 redoubled to cripple him in Canada, the place where 
 he is most vulnerable. We must make every neces- 
 gary sacrifice, for offensive, as well as defensive war. 
 Annies, yes, powerful armies, must be raised ; taxes 
 must be imposed, and loans effected. Our population 
 will enable us to raise one hundred thousand mn. Our 
 country abounds with the necessaries of ; life. Such 
 an army as is here recommended would have no effect 
 on our agriculture. If taxes are laid, loans may easily 
 be effected: but above all, if the banks are pYoperly 
 protected, money from them may be obtained, until 
 the taxes are collected, sufficient to fortify the sea 
 ports, maintain the army, and enlarge the stock of 
 arms and ammunition; and the troops being stationed 
 in each state, and along the lines of Canada, would 
 give such circulation of money, as to enable the 
 people to pay the necessary taxes) with e;se. A little 
 energy only is necessary : public credit will be re- 
 
NOTES ON THE 1VAK IX THE SOUTH. 
 
 vircd, the ranks of the army filled and organized. 
 The lemonade system will do no longer. If arms 
 cunnot be had tVom abroad, we can make them at 
 home. We have lead in abundance; iron all over 
 the back country ; the materials of gunpowder every 
 \vhere: our artisans equal to any in the world. The 
 American musket is equal, if not superior, 10 the 
 boasted tower gun, in the certainty and fore*; with 
 which it directs the ball : our cannon shoot nearly 
 with the accuracy of the rifle : our people are habitu 
 ated to the use of the gun from their infancy, and ride 
 with a dexterity and grace to which Europeans 
 kave no claim. Hence our riflemen and cavalry are 
 the best in the world. The national amusements, the 
 pursuits of agriculture, make us healthy and strong ; 
 the education we receive at our schools, implants m 
 our bosoms a high sense of honor, and makes us fit 
 depositories of that liberty our fathers bought with 
 treasure and blood. The bone and muscle of the 
 nation lies in the country ; and that mercantile 
 spirit which worships money, and amalgamates honor 
 and baseness, patriotiMn and cowardice, has raised its 
 detestable front no where but among an insignificant 
 few in the town of Alexandria. But to return from 
 this digression, what effect will the momentary occu 
 pation of the capital have on the nation ? None. 
 That is to say, it will not further the views of the 
 enemy at all. When compared to many of our towns, 
 Philadelphia, New-York, Richmond and Boston, and 
 others, it is but a village. Properly understood, he has 
 paid dear for the advantage he has gained. Commo 
 dore BAHNEY contended nobly with him. Had the 
 commodore and his gallant seamen been properly 
 seconded, the enemy wouldS never have gained the 
 city. Cockburn appeared to have been sensible uf 
 the danger that awaited him, and he retreated from 
 Washington the day after he entered it. The severity 
 with which he was handled by the gallant Barney and 
 
8 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 his marines the day he entered Washington, may 
 well be interred, from the circumstance that Cock- 
 burn, in his iJiglit, abandoned ninety -six of his wound - 
 ed, and Itft near two hundred of his dead unburied. 
 Had such an event, as the momentary occupation of 
 Washington, in the days of the revolutionary war, 
 prod M-ed despondency in a single individual, our 
 gal!aut sires would have smiled at his weakness. 
 Baring the : evolution, the enemy in succession occu 
 pied New-York, Philadelphia, Boston, Richmond, 
 Charleston and Savannah ; with the least of which 
 places Washington cannot be compared in wealth 
 and population : and what effect did the occupation- 
 of these places have on our fathers ? None. It only 
 served to stimulate them to nobler efforts in the 
 great cause of independence; but it went no further 
 towards the conquest of America, than the occupation 
 of a private gentleman s farm. It produced then, as 
 it will do now, additional irritation. The- people are 
 roused ; they have talked of peace, and sought to 
 betray UB with a kiss. Nothing is now heard but 
 cries of vengeance. Military parade every where 
 meets the eye. The children are learning the manual 
 of a soldier. While penning these notes, I was inter 
 rupted by some patriotic boys, asking my influence, 
 as a member of tne Virginia executive, to arm them, 
 that they might participate in the defence of their 
 country. I need hardly tell the reader the pleasure 
 it gave me, to see this honorable spirit, in the rising 
 generation. These youth, said I to myself, are fired 
 by the pride of valor, and the love of country ; they 
 will illustrate their birth, and do honor to their pro 
 genitors. America is safe; for we know the mischief 
 intended us. Our independence shall not be des 
 troyed: it is built on a rock firmer than adamant t. 
 the billow* of British hostility cannot shake it, -. 
 
OM THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER 
 
 f THE views taken of our political situation in the 
 antecedent number of the CRISIS are now discovered 
 to be almost universally considered as the only just 
 and true ones.j For myself, 1 only claim the "merit 
 of having early and publicly stated, that, properly 
 considered, the enemy had paid dear for his incursion 
 into Washington; that his loss, amounting to a tenth 
 of his army in killed, wounded and deserted, made 
 us a most abundant compensation for his occupation 
 of the capitol for a mere moment of time. In fact, 
 when I first heard of the incursion of the enemy into 
 Washington, knowing as I did, it was an incon 
 siderable place, without any commercial importance... 
 I wai really surprised at the despondency which, for 
 a short time, seemed to have taken possession of the 
 public mind. I had frequently heard, that the occu 
 pation of Boston, New-York and Philadelphia, by the 
 euemyv in the time of the revolutionary war, had 
 produced no effect,, but to stimulate our gallant fathers 
 to additional exertion to throw off the yoke of a 
 stupid king, "the curse of hi* own country and el 
 the world." 
 
 Since the publication of the first number of the 
 CRISIS, I have learnt that our forefathers considered ii 
 more prudent in General Washington, to retreat front 
 Philadelphia, and abandon that important city for a 
 short time to the occupation of the enemy, than to risk 
 the safety of his army by fortifying the place and at 
 tempting to hold it. *A Venerable officer, who contri 
 buted largely to the liberation of our beloved America 
 &em the galling yoke wf Britain, aaci >yhosU live? ia 
 
10 KOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 
 
 Montgomery county, Virginia, revered by all good 
 men, has frequently declared, that at the time Gene 
 ral Washington evacuated Philadelphia, he blamed 
 hi.n ; but the old soldier now invariably adds, "I wad 
 mistaken ; a little reflection has taught me, that the 
 defences were not such as to enable the Americans 
 to retain it ; and I shall always regret, that I once 
 thought and perhaps said hard things of the greatest 
 >and best of men. General Washington saw matters 
 rightly, and in evacuating Philadelphia, he saved the 
 army and perhaps his country." And what effect 
 did the occupation of Philadelphia by the enemy in 
 the days of the revolution have on our brave sires? It 
 reused them to men* formidable exertion, and served 
 to fix our independence on a basig too strong to 
 be overturned. 
 
 The incursion into Washington, has already had the 
 same effect. To have succeeded partially, by a course 
 of policy to have been expected only from cowardly 
 barbarism, is not to be wondered at. They have 
 talked of peace, and invited negociations to make it; 
 and at the same time they have sent their navy to our 
 coast, and their veterans to invade and crush us; 
 and they have selected for their commanders, men 
 .who would rob, murder and burn, to retain their places 
 and please their employers: but the curtain with 
 drawn which concealed their objects, and their views 
 exposed, they cease to be dangerous. The people 
 : roused, they retreat from Washington the day after 
 they enter it. They are beaten at Baltimore, and 
 disgraced at Plattsburg. Indeed their flight at Platts- 
 burg is without a parallel in modern history ; while 
 we look back in vain for specimens of firmness 
 and valor equal to that displayed by the Americans 
 in defence of that fortress. Europe will behold with 
 astonishment, thirty-five hundred men, principally 
 :mlitia, driving from the fords of the river Saranac 
 fourteen thousand veterans, who had fought with 
 success for ten- years against French regulars. 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOVTIt.- if 
 
 The people of England, if their prince suffers then* 
 to Hear the truth, will not be able to account for the 
 dastardly retreat of the governor-general of the 
 Canadas in the night time, abandoning his beef, his 
 flour, his camp equipage, his ammunition, his sick 
 and his wounded comrade?. The governor-general 
 of the Canadas, and the Americans , can explain it to 
 them : they will ascribe it to our faithful rifles, our 
 cannon, our bayonets ; to the holy enthusiasm which 
 animates Americans, but above all, to the interpo 
 sition of a just God who smiles on a good and noble 
 cause. I should not be surprised at the prince regent 
 forbidding the London journalists publishing; the truth, 
 as respects the affairs of Baltimore and Plattsburg. 
 It might bring John Bull to his senses, should the 
 truth come out by accident. Mr. Canning, of pun 
 ning memory, who wished the Americans to experi 
 ence some dreadful calamity, to bring them to their 
 senses, as he expressed it, and who with an eye to 
 Ross and the governor-general of the Canadas, and 
 their veterans, lately said in parliament, we were 
 not new to expect such a peace as we might have had 
 before Bonaparte was expelled the throne of France, 
 to quiet the people whom he rides, and whips and 
 tpurs so unmercifully, without regard to the condi 
 tion of the poor beast, may rise in his place, and pro 
 fessing to undeceive the people, declare on his cor 
 poral oath that the affairs of Baltimore and Plattsburg 
 are mer fabrications ; and that the battle of Lake 
 Champlain was a rencounter between- canoes upon a 
 river of that name. Indeed I do solemnly believe 
 that nothing is- too barefaced for this miserable 
 punster and unblushing advocate of corruption and 
 tyranny. 
 
 " But the truth,, and the whole truth, will ultimately 
 tome out,, notwithstanding the lying reports made by 
 their commanders, written expressly for the Gazette, 
 They will fiad in the short space of four months^they 
 
12 -NOTES ON THE AVAJl lls THE SOLTII 
 
 have lost in killed, woivmled and prisoners, -nearly 
 f \vehe thousand troops viz. two hundred captured 
 at Eric 1 , eight hundred killed and taken in the surtie 
 from Erie ; sixteen hundred in Drummond s -repulse 
 from E.rie; eight hundred at Chippewa; ,o-ne thousand; 
 .at the classic heights of Niagara; one thous&nd at 
 "Washington ; the like number at Baltimore; two 
 thousand at Plattsburg; one thousand on Lake Cham- 
 plain ; besides many more at various other places : 
 -that while those losses have been sustained by them, 
 ours have not amounted to a fourth, nay more, not to 
 a sixth of their number. They will hear also that 
 while our men are trire-to the .core, their oppressed 
 , soldiers, invited by the fertility of our soil, the salu 
 brity of our climates, the hospitality of our people, 
 the mildness and respectability of our governments, 
 and the prospect of rising from the dependent and 
 slavish condition to which they have been reduced in 
 England by the -combined influence of fraud and the- 
 : sword, are deserting from them hy hundreds and 
 incorporating themselves with us. 
 
 In fine, the people of England will soon discover, 
 however the government may be disposed to conceal 
 jt, that if the war continues two years longer, we 
 shall become one of the most powerful nations in the 
 world. Already our sun has risen far above the 
 political ihorison, with a splendor, that has attracted 
 the eyes of the universe. Our naval victories have 
 been so signal, that iu every sea where the American 
 flag is unfurled, it excites admiration and respect, 
 for it waves o.ver the best and bravest seamen in the 
 world. Our militia go into battle with something 
 like the confidence of veterans, and on any thing like 
 equal terms beat down opposition. Our regulars are 
 the pride and boast of our country. Our Bro\vn, 
 Jackson and Scott are thought equal to the first 
 .European generals, while Porter, McComb, Strieker, 
 Ripley, and inaiiy more, have giyea promise 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. i.J 
 
 of distinguished military talents. Our manufactures, 
 more especially oi anna and ammunition, exhibit an 
 elaboration which approximates to perfection. Our 
 agriculture flourishes ; the music of the loom and 
 spinning-wheel every where delights the ear. The 
 fairest of all God r s fair creation, to whose powers we 
 bow with all the emotions inspired by respect, wh m 
 we delight to honor, and for whose safety we should 
 think it true glory to die, clothe us with the work 
 manship of their fair hands. We are rapidly improv 
 ing in all sorts of manufactures, of which wool, cotton 
 and iron are the staple articles. In a little time we 
 shall want nothing that is made in England. And 
 ur wheat, cotton, hemp, tobacco, &c. which they will 
 want, they must pay for in money. 
 
 I anticipate this state of things with pleasure. It 
 is a consummation devoutly to be wished for. For 
 myself, I candidly confess, that taking into conside 
 ration the crimes they have perpetrated at Hampton 
 and elsewhere, I wish to have as little intercourse as 
 possible with them. They oppressed our fathers, 
 when the present United States were colonies. They 
 put the filth of Europe in requisition for seven long 
 years to fight our brave forefathers into submission to 
 the chains they had forged for us. * Instigated by the 
 devil, they have repeatedly sit the Indians upon us, 
 and paid in money for scalps taken from the mur 
 dered bodies of defenceless women and children.: 
 When professing to be at peace with us, they were 
 exercising the press on our citizens, and murdering 
 them at the mouths of our rivers. Before war was 
 declared, they laid their felonious paws on a thousand 
 of our ships and millions of our property, and se 
 questrated it to their benefit. And now that they 
 have driven us into war, they wage it against us in 
 such a way, as to shew that they impiously discharge 
 themselves from all the obligations imposed by the 
 religion of Christ, the principles of honor or common 
 
14 JS 7 OTES ON TUB WAtt IN TMB SOUTH. 
 
 honesty. Every honest man speaks of their conduct 
 with the bitterness of detestation. Every patriotic 
 bosom throbs with a wish to punish them. 
 
 P. S. Since writing the foregoing number of the 
 CRISIS, I have learned that it has pleased Uod to blesff 
 our arms with a signal victory in the south-west. 
 Our young- and aspiring eagles, are rapidly gaining 
 the commanding heights to which nature and nature s 
 God seem to beckon them; they cover with their 
 protecting win-rs every part of our country, and m 
 approaching the weaker members of the confedera 
 tion, unite them more firmly to the vast foundations 
 of the American commonwealth. The writer of 
 $iese communications feeling the deepest interest in 
 that quarter, and possessing means of information, 
 (all his nearest connections being in arms in that 
 section of the country) not enjoyed by many, will 
 devote two of the succeeding i umbers to a review of 
 the most important events tnere ; in which the fate 
 of Fort Mims, and the defeat of the celebrated 
 "Weatherford, the key and corner stone of the Creek 
 confederacy, will be particularly noticed ; and facts 
 made public, which have not been heretofore gene 
 rally known* 
 
KOTCS ON THE AVAR IX THE, SOUTH. :s 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 IN this communication, and one or two numbers 
 that will follow, I shall endeavor to exhibit the politi 
 cal portrait of our affairs in the south-west section of 
 our country. In doing so, I am performing a social 
 duty. Every man, who renders service to his coun 
 try," is entitled to remuneration. Affd the highest 
 and most estimable of all rewards, next to conscious 
 approbation, is the applause of an enlightened public. 
 Merit, it is true, in all governments, whether repub 
 lican, aristocratical or kingly, is too frequently 
 overlooked, and the mead of praise too often be 
 stowed on the meanest subalterns, to die prejudice 
 of men who make the noblest sacrifices 1 , ^o advance 
 the general happiness. If all men did their duty, if 
 all possessed that species of courage which is aione 
 commendable, the daring to do thai which is right ; 
 this accusation against all governments would cease 
 to be heard, because it would cease to be true : but 
 unfortunately, such are our prejudices and our passi 
 ons, that we see persons and measures too frequently 
 through perverted and deceiving mediums; and hence, 
 jnen are oftentimes denounced and vilified by their 
 contemporaries for deeds in themselves meritorious/ 
 and entitled alike to the praise of present and future 
 generations. 
 
 The writer of the Crisis has examined his own 
 heart; and while he acknowledges a due portion of 
 infirmity, he feels much gratification in the reflection, 
 that he has in various publications, since the com 
 mencement of the just and necessary war in which 
 we are engaged, particularly in the essays signed a 
 
16 NOTES OK THE WATl IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 Virginian, made an effort to transmit to posterity 
 anecdotes of zeal, patriotism and courage, display eel 
 both by officers and privates, in the service of their 
 country: and the principal object in view in all the 
 antecedent numbers of the Crisis has been invariably 
 the same* The eye of the writer has frequently 
 turned towards the south-west section of our exten 
 sive country : but lost in admiration of the blaze of 
 military glory, which on that frontier has, without in 
 terruption, shone on the American character, he has 
 hitherto refrained to animadvert on the events, winch 
 requires the peri of a Caesar properly to pourtray: 
 and even nowphe with diffidence offers the informa 
 tion that follows, in the hope that it may be preserved 
 in,your columns for the use of the historian destined 
 in future to write the history of the present times. 
 
 The conduct of the citizens of Tennessee, Missi- 
 sippi Territory and Georgia, in this war, has been 
 such, that when they visit the other states in the 
 Uuion, they every where not only experience all the 
 rights of hospitality, but the ardent patriot through 
 the whole nation extends the right arm of fellowship, 
 and in the language of the heart exclaims, "you too 
 are my brethren." Scarcely was the war commenced 
 against Great Britain, before the perfidious court of 
 8t. James determined on the annihilation of the Amer 
 ican settlements on the Mississippi, by means so 
 cruel, and perfidious as to be without a parallel in the 
 history of any country but England. In the malignity 
 of her hatred, she determined, that the numerous 
 and fierce tribes of savages who inhabit the banks of 
 the Alabama, should be stirred up to an extermin 
 ating war against us. Rut thank God ! by valour, 
 patriotism and firmness, we have been enabled to 
 defeat the vilest excesses of human corruption, and 
 dissolve a confederation, which at one time threatened 
 to wipe from the map of our country, as with the 
 bosom of oblivion, a rich, flourishing and respectable 
 settlement. 
 
N0TKS ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 1?. 
 
 At the time of which we are speaking, the nume 
 rous and warlike tribes of Indians, denominated the 
 Creek nation, were at peace with the United States. 
 The American government had long indulged a hope, 
 that they could be reclaimed from their savage state, 
 and induced to partake of the benefits of civilization. 
 For this purpose, books of various sorts, more especi 
 ally the bible, were distributed among them. Well 
 informed men were sent to instruct them in reading, 
 writing, &c. ; implements of husbandry in abundance 
 were furnished them, and artists hired to impart 
 information to them respecting the arts and trades, 
 which contribute most to advance the comfort of 
 man. AVhile the United States were thus honorably 
 engaged, the British agents were busily employed 
 in stirring up the Creek savages to war against us. 
 Tecumseh, a Potawatamie chief, who had made him 
 self famous by numerous murders and robberies on 
 the north-western frontier, and who had, as a 
 reward for his crimes, been made an officer in the 
 king s army; and a trader by the name of Elliott, a 
 kinsman of the notorious Elliott, passed through the 
 nation and encouraged the savages to break with us. 
 They furnished them with money to buy a stock of 
 arms and ammunition in Pensacola, and encouraged 
 them by the promise of assistance from powerful 
 armies to be sent to their aid from beyond the great 
 waters. They were told, that of right, the soil on 
 which the Americans resided belonged to the savages; 
 that it had been taken from them fraudulently ; that 
 the king felt indignant at the imposition put on his 
 red children, and had determined to drive the white in 
 truders from the beautiful country which lies beween 
 the Tombigbie and Mississippi ; that this great object 
 with the assistance of the Indians could be easily 
 effected ; and as a reward for the assistance which 
 the Indians might render, the soil thus conquered, 
 
18 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 
 
 and the moveable plunder, the fruits of joint exertion, 
 should be guaranteed to the savages. 
 
 These proposals to a people, passionately fond of 
 bloodshed and rapine, were too alluring to be resist 
 ed. The number in favor of war increased daily ; 
 and in a very short time, with few exceptions, the 
 nation was preparing to make it. 
 
 Among the first who entered into the views of the 
 British commissioners, was the since celebrated Wea- 
 therford; with whom it may not be amiss to make 
 the reader better acquainted at this time. Weather- 
 ford was born in the Creek nation. His father was 
 an itinerant pedlar, sordid, treacherous and revenge 
 ful ; his mother a full-blooded savage, of the tribe oi 
 the Seminoles. He partook of all the bad qualities 
 of both his parents, and engrafted on the stock he 
 inherited from others, many that were peculiarly 
 his own. With avarice, treachery, and a thirst for 
 blood, he combines lust, gluttony, and a devotion to 
 every species of criminal carousal. Fortune, in her 
 freaks, sometimes gives to the most profligate an 
 elevation of mind, which she denies to men whose 
 propensites are the most virtuous. On Weatherford, 
 she bestowed genius, eloquence and courage. The 
 first of these qualities enabled him to conceive great 
 designs, the last to execute them ; while eloquence, 
 bold, impressive and figurative, furnished him with a 
 passport to the favor of his countrymen and follow 
 ers. Silent and reserved, unless when excited by 
 some great occasion, and superior to the weakness of 
 rendering himself cheap by the frequency of his 
 addresses, he delivered his opinions but seldom in 
 council ; but when he did so, he was listened to with 
 delight and approbation. His judgment and eloquence 
 had secured the respect of the old ; his vices made him 
 the idol of the young and the unprincipled. It is even 
 doubted whether a civilized society could behold this 
 monster without interest. In his person, tall, straight 
 
NOTES ON THE \VAll IN THE SOUTH. 10 
 
 nd well-proportioned ; his eye black, lively and pene 
 trating, and indicative of courage and enterprise ; 
 his nose prominent, thin and elegant in its formation ; 
 while all the features of his face harmoniously arranged, 
 speak an active and disciplined mind. Passionately 
 devoted to wealth, he had appropriated to himself a 
 fine tract of land, improved and settled it ; and from 
 the profits of his father s pack, had decorated and 
 embellished it. To it he retired occasionally, p.nd 
 relaxing from the cares of state, he indulged in plea 
 sures which are but rarely found to afford satisfaction 
 to the devotees of ambition and fame. Such \\ ere 
 the opposite and sometimes disgusting traits of cha 
 racter in the celebrated Weatherford, the key and 
 corner stone of the Creek confederacy ! 
 
 This extraordinary man having entered fully into 
 the views of Tecumseh and Elliott, began to assem 
 ble lus followers, and soon collected, at the town of 
 Eccanachaca (which in the Creek language means 
 holy) about fifteen hundred warriors. The news of 
 this warlike spirit in the Creeks soon spread 
 the frontiers, and dismay for awhile " set on 
 a brow." The cloud was already visible above the 
 norizon ; and from the elements which composed it, 
 it was feared that its consequences would be dread 
 ful. Had Weatherford proceeded directly to the 
 execution of his plans, he might have overrun the 
 whole Mississippi territory. At this time no troops 
 were in the neighbourhood of the territory, except a 
 regiment of six hundred volunteers, commanded by 
 Gen. Claiborne, raised through the personal ialluence 
 f the General himself, who had devoted the early 
 part of his life to war, and had in the field of battle 
 established a reputation for personal bravery and miii 
 tary skill, which placed him among the first of the pro 
 fession. This regiment was stationed at Baton Rougue 
 three hundred miles from the Tombi.2;bie settlement. 
 The remains of two old Regiments were too far oft , 
 
20 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 being at New Orleans, to co-operate with the volun 
 teers, in defence of the frontiers. In fine, the United 
 States were but illy prepared to meet this new and 
 unexpected blow. 
 
 Orders, however, were issued bj Gen. Flournoy 
 to Gen. Claiborne, on the 28th June, 1813, to march 
 forthwith with the volunteers to the frontiers of the 
 Mississippi territory. This order Gen. Claiborne 
 executed with zeal, supplying from his own funds 
 the transportation necessary for the troops, who arrived 
 at Mount Vernon before any serious mischief was done 
 by the savages. The General immediately adopted mea 
 sures necessary for the defence of the country; one hun 
 dred and fifty men were directed to occupy Fort 
 Minims; other parts of the regiment were divided 
 among two other forts ; all intended to protect the 
 Tombigbie settlements, which was the first part of 
 the territory likely to suffer, from the inroads of the 
 Indians. The scintillations of hostility on the part 
 of the Choctaws to the United States had already be 
 gan to appear ; and to guard against them, a fourth 
 division repaired to their lines, while a few, aided by 
 some of the neighboring settlers, remained at Mount 
 Vernon. 
 
 The foregoing arrangements being made, with a 
 view to the protection of the frontiers, the General 
 came to a determination to adopt a more efficient 
 system of operations on Weatherford, in the heart of 
 the Creek nation. With this view, he wrote the 
 Commanding General on the 2d of August, " that 
 if you will authorize my entering the Greek nation, 
 I will do so in ten days after the junction of the 7th 
 regiment, and if I am not disappointed, will give to 
 our frontiers peace, and to the government any portion 
 of the Creek country they please. Some force ous;ht 
 to enter the nation before they systematise and are ful 
 ly prepared for war. With one thousand men and your 
 authority to march immediately, I pledge myself to 
 
KOTES ON THE V>*APc IN THE SOUTH. ;Jt 
 
 burn any town in the Creek nation. Three months 
 hence it"might be difficult for three thousand to effect 
 what can be done with a third of the number at pre 
 sent. They gain strength, and their munitions of war 
 cnlnnre every day." Unluckily the Commanding 
 General was "not authorised to grant this leave, and 
 ihc volunteers were, left to act on the defensive. 
 
 About this time General Claiborne visited Fort 
 Minims, and finding the works defective, gave orders 
 for two additional block-houses, and concluded the 
 order, with these words: "To respect an enemy and 
 prepare in the best possible way to meet him, is the 
 certain means to ensure success." Having learned 
 that Weatherford was about marching to attack the 
 torts, the general repaired to Fort Early, and took 
 command there in person. To this step the General 
 was led by the consideration, that it was sixty miles 
 more advanced in the nation than the other forts, and 
 of course the first at which the enemy might strike. 
 In addition, its garrison was weaker than any of the 
 other posts. As soon as the General, in consequence 
 of this information, went on to Fort Early, he wrote 
 Major Beasley of the meditated attacks of the enemy, 
 and again advised him of the necessity of being on his 
 guard. The General s letter was delivered on the 
 39th August, and the next day Fort Mimms was at 
 tacked, and taken. Weatherford had approached it 
 undiscovered with one thousand five hundred war 
 riors, and before the garrison was apprised of its 
 danger, full two hundred of the enemy occu 
 pied the gate, which from neglect had been left 
 open and unguarded. So soon as Major Beas 
 ley discovered the enemy, he rushed forward to the 
 gate, followed by the garrison. A bloody contest 
 now ensued. The Indians struggled to maintain the 
 possession of the gate ; the Americans, animated by 
 the example of the gallant but unfortunate Beasley, 
 strore to drive them~from it. The victory for fifteen 
 B 2 
 
22 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 minutes appeared doubtful. The weapons used by 
 the combatants were knives, tomahawks, swords ami 
 bayonets. The besieged, and the assailant, who 
 could not gain the gate in consequence of the crowd 
 who were contending for it, resorted to the rifle and 
 musket. The scene to the eye of sensibility was the 
 most melancholy that was ever yet exhibited on 
 the theatre of America. The whole number of the 
 garrison was two hundred and seventy-five of this 
 number one hundred and sixty were of the milita 
 ry; the others were old men, women and children, 
 who had repaired to the fort to escape assassination 
 from the roving savages. Beasley had been repeated 
 ly wounded, yet he still continued to defend himself, 
 till he fell pierced by many wounds. Even in death 
 he preserved his reputation for heroic courage, and 
 expired with his eye, that never winked at the fear 
 of death, steadily fixed on the enemy. It is some 
 what remarkable that every officer expired at the gate. 
 A lieutenant, who was wounded early in the action, 
 was carried into ablock-house by two women, but when 
 he had recovered*a little from the wound, he insisted 
 on being taken back to the gate. This being done by 
 the same heroic matrons, it is said of him that he 
 reposed himself by the side of a dead comrade, and 
 while in this situation, another ball terminated his exist 
 ence. All the American officers, and most of their sol 
 diers, being now killed, the savages, after losing at 
 the gate two hundred killed and twice that number 
 wounded, finally entered the fort. The women and 
 children now took possession of the blockhouses, and 
 Seizing on the guns therein, for some time defended 
 themselves with undaunted bravery ; but the houses 
 were finally fired by the enemy, and all those unfor 
 tunate females and their children who had escaped 
 the rifle perished in the flames. Of the whole number 
 in the fort, at the commencement of the attack, only 
 seventeen escaped, gf tUeia two thirds were badly 
 wounded. 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 23 
 
 The fall of Fort Mimms resounded through the 
 Union. The conduct of the miscreant Weatherford, 
 who was under so many obligations to the United 
 States, was every where reprobated. The gallant 
 Jackson, whose campaigns will hereafter be reviewed, 
 was ordered to take the field with six thousand Ten- 
 nesseans ; and four thousand Georgians led by Gen. 
 Floyd, also entered the Creek nation ; and in the 
 southern quarter Gen. Flournoy assumed the com 
 mand of the regulars and volunteers on the frontiers 
 of the Mississippi territory. The savages, on the 
 other hand, emboldened by their success at Mimms, 
 every where took up arms, and the exposed settle 
 ments, not only in the territory, but in Georgia, suf 
 fered all those extremities of distress which are the 
 accompaniements of Indian war. Gen. Flournoy 
 inarched the army to the Tombigbie settlements to 
 clear the forks of the enemy, who after the destruc- 
 tion of the fort were, foraging among the deserted 
 plantations. The army was so lucky as to fall in 
 with them, and killed several ; but could not bring 
 them to a general action, though every effort was 
 made to do so. The Americans succeeded , however, 
 in driving them from the frontier, which for a month 
 they had pillaged with impunity. This, considering 
 the superior force of the enemy, was all that at this 
 time eould be effected. The success of the enemy 
 at Mimms had so elated the savages, that those who 
 before were cold and neutral, were now the open 
 advocates of war, and a nation capable of raising 
 ten thousand warriors, were in every direction in 
 arms against us. We reserve for future numbers a 
 review of the memorable operations of Jackson, 
 Floyd, and others. The movements of the troops on 
 the Mississippi frontier is the sole subject of this 
 number. 
 
 For some time Gen. Flournoy commanded the 
 southern army with distinguished ability. With the 
 
H NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 
 
 aid of the Mississippi volunteer?, lie had succeeded 
 in driving Wealheri urd from the Tombighie. la that 
 quarter, the people enjoyed a security after the hill 
 of Fort Minims beyond what was to have been ex 
 pected, considering the smallness of his army. In 
 the fall of the year 1813, Gen. Flournoy, in conse 
 quence of some arrangements made by the Secret-iry 
 of War, repaired to New Orleans ; by which step 
 the command devolved on Gen. Ciaiborne. Gen. C. 
 no sooner took command of the army than he deter 
 mined to cany the war into the heart of the Cyeek 
 nation, as soon as he should be joined by Col. Rus 
 sell s regiment of regulars. This junction being 
 effected about the 13th of November, the General 
 took up his line of march to Eccanachaca, (or holy 
 town,) which is on the banks of the Alabama, arid 
 considered from its topography the most secure spot 
 in the nation; being defended on one side by the 
 river, and on every other by swamps, almost im 
 pervious to Iranian footsteps. At this place, which is 
 distanced one hundred and ten miles from Weather 
 ford s Bluff, and at which Gen. Ciaiborne concentrated 
 his army, the enemy had collected most of their mili 
 tary stores, impressed as they were that it could not 
 be approached and destroyed. On the march, the ene 
 my frequently attempted to check the Americans; but 
 without success. Gen. Ciaiborne reached the swam]/ -* 
 which environ Eccariachaca on the 22d of December, 
 and on the morning of the 23d, he came in sight of 
 the town. The army had marched in order of battle, 
 formed in three lines, having the flanks protected by 
 light companies. The front line was led by Major 
 Smoot ; the centre the General headed in person. 
 Weatherford on the other hand, had formed his men, 
 in fine order, on a rise, skirted by a forest of brush 
 wood. As soon as Smoot s line \vas exposed to their 
 view, they fired on them, which was briskly return 
 ed. The" action being commenced, the centre 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 2o 
 
 advanced with a quick step, and soon came to the 
 ground which the front had occupied, and from which 
 they had debouched to the right to turn the enemy s 
 left flank, and give an opportunity to the centre to 
 make a free use of the bayonet. 
 
 The regiment of regulars under Col. Russell, and 
 the volunteers under their respective officers, vied 
 with each other; and indeed it would be impossible to 
 discriminate between them. The enemy, on their 
 part, defended themselves with courage, nor did 
 they fly until they were charged. Cut off from the 
 points to which they no doubt intended to retreat, by 
 the movements of the front line, and precipitated 
 by the impetuosity of the charge, from the centre, 
 they retreated through the town to the river, and in 
 dependently of those lost on the field of battle, many 
 must have perished in the river. The loss of the 
 enemy was upwards of one hundred ; the Ameri 
 cans lost ten in all. The town, containing two 
 hundred houses, the best built in the nation, was 
 forthwith destroyed, as was the magazine of pro* 
 visions, and the water transportation the enemy 
 had collected at this place. The next day, ano 
 ther town ten miles higher up, was burnt, and the 
 plantation of "Weatherford was destroyed; a just 
 punishment for the unprovoked and savage war he 
 had waged against the United States at the instance 
 of Great Britain. 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER IV, 
 
 IT has been demonstrated that the conduct of the 
 United States to the Creek Indians was both just 
 and honorable. Without any consideration, save 
 that which arises from the consciousness of doing a. 
 good act, the government of the United States had, 
 for more than twenty years, endeavoured to reclaim 
 them from a savage to a civilized state. By the ex 
 ertions of government, bent only on augmenting the 
 stock of human happiness, it was evident ; that the 
 situation of the Creeks was greatly ameliorated. 
 Many of them spoke and wrote our language. Pious 
 men were sent at the, expense of government, to in 
 struct them in the religion of Christ." The rising ge 
 neration were instructed in numerous schools. The 
 fruitful soil, with which the country abounds, "groan 
 ed beneath the hand of honest industry." Forests 
 were cleared which shaded a hemisphere filled with 
 riches ; and each revolving year gave to the industri 
 ous Indian, a liberal increase to his stores. A senti 
 ment of pity (a fit cement for lasting friendship) had 
 taken possession of the American breast towards the 
 Indians ; and our citizens and government vied with 
 each other in acts of benevolence and charity towards 
 them. They were instructed in the fabrication of the 
 implements of husbandry. The loom and the spin 
 ning wheel were in full operation through the whole, 
 nation ; while the art of house -building, so essential 
 to the accommodation of man, and his protection 
 fro:n the winds and waters of heaven, was rapidly 
 approximating to perfection. If any of our citizens 
 injured them, a punishment was provided by h 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 57 
 
 the temper of the nation, in unison with the temper 
 of the government, rendered its infliction certain. 
 And such \vas the progress of the Creeks in civiliza 
 tion, and the obligations they were under to the 
 United States, that no one believed they could be 
 cajoled into a confederacy against us. 
 
 That the perfidious court of S . James, seeking 
 for aggrandisement, in the misfortunes of all peo 
 ple, would attempt it, could not be doubted. The 
 British history is a history of the most disgusting 
 enormities. In every quarter of the globe where her 
 councils have prevailed, bloodshed and rapine have 
 followed in their most hideous and cruel forms. 
 What precept of the Christian decalogue has that 
 perfidious court observed ? None; no, not one. ^he 
 has rewarded her generals, who, in cold blood, have 
 given up to the hatchet of the savage, prisoners made 
 in battle. She has decorated her hall of legislation 
 with human scalps. She has alternately fought under 
 the banners of the crescent and the cross. She has 
 associated with the followers of Mahomet, in a war 
 against Christians. She has oppressed the cathoac 
 of Ireland, and at the same, time at Home, licked the 
 dust from the foot of St. Peter. She has subsidized, 
 as the occasion required, the wandering Arab, and 
 the robbers of Algiers, and sought an alliance with 
 the pirates of Barataria, to make war on the wor 
 shippers of the living God. 
 
 No one acquainted with the British history will be 
 surprised at the efforts of the British court to bring 
 the Creeks into the league she had formed wftn 
 other savages, against us; nor will any one thus in 
 formed, suppose she would hesitate, from the consi 
 deration that the Creeks had no cause of complaint 
 against us, and nearly surrounded as the Creeks are 
 by the American settlements, a rupture with the 
 United States would end in the ruin of the Indians?. 
 The disposition of the British court is too base and 
 
28 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 bloody ior such mild and philosophical calculation*- 
 Already red with blood, and alike regardless of the 
 cries ot the innocent women and children, who might 
 perish by the scalping knife of the savage, and the 
 ultimate ruin of the Indians; she was prepared for 
 any act, however atrocious, which would give an ad 
 vantage over her enemy. With this temper, we have 
 seen her agents mixing with the savages and stirring 
 them up to an unjust and unnecessary war ; supply 
 ing them with arms and ammunition to destroy their 
 benefactors and friends, and stimulating them to the 
 commission of numerous murders, by promising to 
 add to their already ample territory, the beautiful 
 country that lies between the Tombigbie and the 
 Mississippi. But fortunately, no blind fatality rules 
 the destinies of man. On the contrary, it is the eye 
 of a just God that overlooks the transactions of the 
 word; and hence it is that the Creek confederacy, 
 though directed by the genius of a Weatherford, has 
 been dissolved by the brave and patriotic men, whose 
 deeds we are recording, with the ease that a Hercules 
 disengages himself from the cobwebs of a spider. 
 
 But it is time to turn from this digression, and ex 
 hibit a view of the operations of Gen. Jackson; who, 
 after the attack by Weatherford on Fort Minims, 
 was ordered with a strong force, to enter the Creek 
 nation. General Jackson soon collected a respecta 
 ble force at the Ten Islands, where he was delayed 
 for some time from active operations by the want of 
 provisions. The government of the United States, 
 not expecting a war with the Creeks, were unprepared 
 for such an event; and we all know how difficult it is 
 to put the commissariat in proper order; yet the ap 
 pearance of the troops at the Ten Islands was not 
 without advantage, as it served to keep embodied 
 in his vicinity, a strong force of the enemy, collected 
 from the upper Creek towns, while General Flour- 
 uoy was operating against Weatherford in the forks 
 
SOTE9 6N THE \VA3R Itf TH& 
 
 of t . Tombigbie. By the indefatigable exertions of 
 Gen. Jackson, provisions in abundance were at last 
 procured, and the General found himself in a situation 
 to commence active operations. About the first of 
 November, 1813, he detached Gen. Coffee, an 
 officer of great merit, with nine hundred mounted 
 riflemen and cavalry, with directions to cross the 
 Coosey river, and attack the Tallushatches Towns, 
 at which place the Upper Creeks were beginning to 
 assemble. These orders were executed by General 
 Coffee with promptitude. On the morning of the third 
 of November, Gen. Coffee s detachment reached the 
 town, While they were yet distant a mile, the yells 
 of the savages were heard, a proof that they were 
 aware of Coffee s approach and were preparing for 
 battle. From the great superiority of the American^ 
 the action lasted but a short time. The town was 
 built in wood-lands, a circumstance favorable to the 
 savages. Each tree served as a breastwork, and from 
 behind them the Indians defended themselves with 
 desperation. Driven at last from their shelter by a 
 charge, they retreated to the houses, which they de 
 fended till every svarrior was killed. Not a man of 
 them would accent quarters. Posterity may be dis 
 posed to doubt this tact. It is nevertheless true. 
 
 In more instances than one, a humane attempt to 
 save the life of a wounded Indian was near proving 
 fatal to him who made it. Every Indian acted, as if 
 the safety of the Creek nation depended on himself 
 only: not one would turn on his heel to save his life ; 
 and when the Americans, satisfied with victory, made 
 demonstrations of quarters, it was met by the brow 
 of supercilious and haughty contempt. The loss of 
 the enemy was two hundred killed, that of the 
 Americans was five killed and forty-six wounded. 
 Gen. Coffee, Col. Cannon, and Col. v Allcorn distin 
 guished themselves in this affair, and were all in the 
 front when this charge was made. During the action, 
 
3d N*TES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 an occurrence took place, which I am the more in^ 
 clined to relate never having seen it in print that I 
 recollect, and which from its importance it would be 
 inconsistent with the fidelity of history not to record, 
 more especially as it serves to shew the dreadful 
 fanaticism, with which the British agents had con 
 trived to inspire a large portion of the Creek nation. 
 
 An Indian of great consequence, as soon as the 
 battle commenced, vaulted on the roof of one of the 
 houses, and while his countrymen were fighting, he 
 was busily engaged in haranguing them. ^ His address 
 has since been understood to have been, that the 
 Great Spirit was in favor of the Indians and their 
 allies the British ; and that innumerable spirits of 
 inferior order, at that moment occupied the sur 
 rounding atmosphere, commissioned by heaven to 
 catch the bullets shot by the Americans ; and to 
 demonstrate to his countrymen the truth of what he 
 said, he declared, that he had exposed himself on 
 the top of the house in full view of the enemy safe 
 from all harm. His exposed situation and the vehe* 
 mence of his expressions, however, attracted notice, 
 an<i a shot soon convinced him of his delusion, and 
 pu v an end to his existence. 
 
 On the return of Coffee te the Ten Islands, Gen. 
 Ja- kson passed over the Goosey river, with the main 
 army, and pushed on to Tailidoga, where the upper 
 Creeks, one thousand one hundred strong, were be- 
 sieving a handfui of friendly Indians. On the seventh 
 of November, ha arrived, and a memorable battle 
 was fought, which eventuated in the defeat of the 
 B.-nish allies, who losi two hundred and severity- 
 eight killed, besides many wounded : the loss of the 
 Americans was fifteen kifled and eighty-four wound 
 ed. Gen. Jackson had formed his army in parallelo 
 grams. The contest was, as may well be imagined, 
 \ineu ;!{{. On the side of the savages, fanatical fury: 
 on tue pur t of the Americans, bravery supported by 
 
 <J < 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 31 
 
 a profound system of tactics. Nothing could equal 
 the surprise of those barbarians at finding themselves 
 beaten through aline of more than a mile long, while 
 they retreated and were cut to pieces. 
 
 On the morn ing of the eighteenth of November an 
 action was fought by a body of militia from East 
 Tennessee, commanded by Gen. T \\hite, and the 
 Creeks at Hillibee town. The loss on both sides was 
 trifling in killed or wounded. The enemy, early in 
 the action, threw down their arms and demanded 
 quarters, which was given without hesitation. The 
 prisoners were marched into the settlements and 
 treated with kindness. 
 
 The resentment which the barbarous murders at 
 Fort Miming had excited, had in part subsided. Ti-e 
 Indians had been punished severely for their cruel 
 conduct at that place, and for their murders on the 
 frontiers of Georgia and Mississippi territory. And 
 the government and people of the United States 
 were alike disposed to bury the tomahawk and be 
 at peace : but unfortunately a powerful party still 
 existed among the Creeks bent on war. In our next 
 we shall finish our review of Gen. Jackson s and 
 Gen. Floyd s campaigns, which produced peace, and 
 we trust a lasting one. 
 
 In closing tUis number a train of melancholy re 
 flections rush upon the mind. Man, it would sec in 
 is destined to be unhappy: he cannot be reclaimed 
 to a state of primitive peace. And shall one bar 
 barous and unfeeling court, forever be permitted by 
 their ambition and their crimes, to keep the remot 
 est regions of the earth exposed to the flames of war? 
 No. The insular situation of Britain shall not al 
 ways protect her ; her crimes, recorded on the im 
 perishable pages of faithful history, shall excite the 
 notice of all nations. Though her prince regent may 
 be drunk " like Festus," with ambition and unde 
 served success i the hand e retributive justice must 
 
 o 
 
$* NOTES ON THE WAH IN THE SOUTH.- 
 
 at last overtake him. His iron bosom may jet shake 
 on a throne which he disgraces ; and his courteous 
 satellites be convinced that heaven never intended 
 that the triumphs of despotism and vice should be 
 eternal. The cup of British abominations is frill to 
 overflowing. The billows of blood, which by British 
 intrigues have successively stained the sands of Asia, 
 the forests of America and the fairest provinces of 
 continental Europe, may yet be rolled back 
 England herself. 
 
JfOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER V. 
 
 THE two antecedent numbers of the Crisis present 
 $ie reader with a detail of numerous battles fought 
 between the Americans and the Creek Savages. At 
 the recital, a good man is inclined to ask, wkence 
 arises this contention between natives of the same 
 soil, and capable of rendering to each other so many 
 acts of benevolence and kindness ? A man at all 
 acquainted with the history of the court of St. James, 
 for the last fifty years, will not be surprised at being 
 told, it has arisen from the cruel and perfidious> 
 policy of that court. Did not the first American war 
 spring out of the tyranny of that court, and did Great 
 Britain cease to wage it until she had expended one 
 hundred millions of money, and sacrificed one hurt- 
 dred thousand lives ? What enlightened man who 
 is ignorant of the fact, that every war which has since 
 disturbed the repose of the world, both civilized 
 and savage, has originated from the same corrupt 
 court? Alas! how deeply is it to be regretted, that 
 the success which has attended her ambitious projects 
 in Europe, has rendered her bolder, and given to her 
 soldiery propensities and habits, which must make it 
 the wish and the interest of all good governments 
 and all brave men to set limits to 41 power which she 
 so villainously abuses, 
 
 Not content with the advantages which the com 
 mercial habits of her people would alone ensure 
 her, for a century to come, over all other nations, she 
 seeks to make all who venture on the ocean tri~ 
 butary to her ; and should all nations knuckle 
 
M- NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 pretensions which the British court sets up to the 
 sovereignty of the seas, all will in reality become 
 her colonies. The efforts she makes to bring the 
 world to this state of degradation, are indeed gigan 
 tic. She oppresses her own people, and scatters 
 among unprincipled chieftains of all countries and 
 all colors, black, red and white, bribes and favors, to 
 enlist them in her interest. Were all the citizens of 
 the different countries which she has oppressed, what 
 they should be, her piratical courses would be aban 
 doned ; the band of cut-throats and ravishers deno 
 minated the British army, would be dispersed ; the 
 pine, which grows on the craggy mountain, would be 
 cut down, not to ride on the liquid wave to oppress 
 man, but to give a wider spread to civilization and 
 commerce. War would cease ; man would look on 
 his species as his brethren. The innocent infant 
 would repose in the cradle, exempt from the terrors 
 inspi-ed by the savage in British pay. The virtuous 
 matron would no longer be in fear of an outrage 
 more terrible than death. And the mansions of the 
 dead would no more be broken into, and the mementos 
 of affection for departed worth stolen away. In look 
 ing over the pages of British history, which groan 
 "while they record British crimes, I have sometimes 
 been tempted to exclaim, " A blind fatality governs 
 the destines of .man ! How else has it happened, 
 that the monsters, who, at Hampton, at St. Sebas 
 tian s and at Tappanannock, gave vent to vices 
 which have not heretofore been ascribed to the fabled 
 fugitives from the flames of hell, have been suffered 
 to remain unexpunged from the face of the earth r" 
 But I am wrong. It is the decrees of a just God 
 which are fulfilling. All people will ultimately be 
 raised against " the robbers of the world the com- 
 jnon enemy of mankind." A drunken ideot, under 
 Che influence of unprincipled ambition, will not ib*- 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH; *5? 
 
 ever be permitted to destine to the flames of war 
 the remotest regions of the world. 
 
 I will venture to augur, if Great Britain persists in 
 the war against the United States, and continues to 
 tyranize over all countries, as she has done for the 
 last fifty years, that the present generation will yet 
 witness her total overthrow. What cause has she for 
 carrying on the war against the United States? 
 None. At peace with all Europe, the grounds of this 
 war are removed. She would be without a pretext 
 for those robberies and impressments, which drove 
 us in self-defence to take up arms.. Why, then, does 
 she continue to wage it B Her object is visible to all 
 mankind. She wishes to gain advantages by which 
 she may oppress us in future, and prevent our growth 
 in population and commerce. Maine and New Or 
 leans are the objects of her ambition. Possessed of 
 these, the north, and the south, and the west of this- 
 great country must be tributary to her. Our trade 
 must pass in review before her, while, with the 
 tomahawk of her Indian allies, she would circum 
 scribe our limits. Fortunately for us, the viper bites 
 against a file. The campaigns we are reviewing will 
 shew the folly and madness of her plans-. She may 
 collect her troops and scatter her sattelites along our 
 coast ; but the brave yeomanry who oppose her, can 
 not and will not be enslaved. Her most powerful 
 ally in this war, the Creek Indians, have been beaten 
 into peace. And we now resume our review of the 
 occurrences which led to this happy event.. 
 
 It may be observed, that the Creeks who were at 
 war with us, like ancient Gaul, may be divided into 
 three parts. One part inhabited the Alabama, another 
 the Coosey, and the third the Tallapoosa. Of these, 
 it may be said, that those who occupied the Coosey 
 and Tallapoosa were the most numerous and perhaps 
 tlie OcOfst warlike; those on the Alabama the most 
 savage;, and led on. by. a. chief, (Weatherford,) wh fr. 
 
tilfc WtJTES ON THE WMl Iff THE SOUTH, 
 
 has appeared on the theatre of the world with im- 
 usual lustre. Against all three, at the time of which 
 we are speaking, a simultaneous movement was made, 
 by troops from the west under Gen. Jackson ; from 
 the north under Gen. Floyd; and from the south 
 under Gen. Claiborne. Of the operations of these 
 generals we shall speak separately. 
 
 On the twenty -third of December, 1813, General 
 Claiborne gained the banks of the Alabama river, and 
 defeated W atherford in a pitched battle, and suc 
 ceeded in destroying the principal towns on that 
 river; afte- which,. the .Alabanrians, who had so far 
 survived the war, transferred themselves to the Tal- 
 lapoosa and Goosey country ; and the frontier of the 
 Mississippi territory no longer witnessed the horrors - 
 of savage warfare.. 
 
 On the 29th of November, 1813, Gen. Floyd, with 
 the Georgian troops, occupied a post on the southern 
 bank of tiie Tallapoosa river, and had a severe action 
 with th& savages. At dawn of day, Gen. Floyd hav 
 ing previously formed for battle, saw the Indians- 
 present themselves at every point; and the battle 
 soon became general. The Indians fought with the 
 desperation of fanatics. At nine o clock they were 
 charged by the Americans and completely routed. 
 The loss of the enemy was estimated at three hun 
 dred killed and wounded \ among the former were 
 two of their kings. The loss of the Americans was 
 stated in killed and wounded, to amount to seventy, 
 among the wounded was Gen. Floyd, who on this oc 
 casion discovered all the traits which denote an able 
 general ; and Col. Newman, who has since, for his 
 services on this day, been made adjutant-general of 
 the Georgia militia. All the troops acquitted them 
 selves handsomely in battle, and discovered that 
 subordination, which is the sure presage of victory 
 and glory. On the twenty-seventh of January, 1814,. 
 fekurge. body of Indian* iuau au attack at five o clock 
 
NOTES ON TftE WAR IN THE SOlJiif, $7 
 
 on Gen. Floyd s army. They stole upon and shot 
 \he cehtinels, and rushed with great impetuosity on 
 ihe American lines. The right, left and front were 
 closely pressed ; but the good conduct of the officers 
 and the men, at last triumphed, and the savages, 
 notwithstanding the advantages under which they 
 came into action, were repulsed at every point. At 
 day-light the cavalry charged and sabred all whom 
 they could overtake. 
 
 The loss of the enemy had been variously repre 
 sented ; it is admitted on all hand* to have been con- 
 aideraWe. They had an opportunity, from the dark 
 ness, to remove many of their killed and wounded, 
 and of it they availed themselves. The loss on the 
 part of the Americans was indeed severe, and amount 
 ed to one hundred and fifty killed and wounded. The 
 brave Col. Newman in the commencement of the 
 action received three balls, and the Adjutant- General 
 Hardin had his horse shot from under him. Majors 
 Watson s, Booth s, Cleveland s and Freeman s bat 
 talions, all signalized themselves, as did Captain 
 Duke Hamilton s cavalry. Soon after this last action, 
 Floyd s army was disbanded, and afterwards, no ex 
 pedition of moment was carried on against the 
 Greeks from Georgia. 
 
 We shall now finish our reviews of Gen. Jackson s 
 campaigns; beginning where our last number closed. 
 Gen. Jackson being informed of the movements of 
 Floyd, and that it was the intention of that general 
 to advance on Tueaboche, which is in the centre of 
 the upper Creeks, resolved on making a diversion in 
 his favor. With this view he took up his line of 
 march on the fourteenth of January, 1814. On the 
 twenty-first he encamped in the vicinity of the bend 
 of Tallapoosa. Knowing that he was iij the neigh 
 borhood of a large Indian force, his order of encamp 
 ment was that of battle. It was fortunate. L: th 
 morning, at six o clock* the enemy, in great 
 
58 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 Attacked his left flank ; the action continued to ragm 
 en the left flank and on the left of the rear line to? 
 90 me time. As soon as it was light, the attacked lines 
 were ordered to charge the enemy, which was done 
 accordingly. The slaughter was prodigious ; the 
 savages were driven by the bayonet full two miles. 
 About eight o clock, the enemy again appeared on 
 the right flank, and renewed their attack ; but they 
 were quickly repulsed by the troops under the com 
 mand of Cols. Carrol and Higgins, who greatly dis 
 tinguished themielves. Cul. Carrol has since beep 
 advanced to the rank of brigadier-general. No man 
 better deserved promotion. To an excellent under 
 standing he unite* expedience. His patriotism is 
 ardent ; his constitution strong; his devotion to the 
 military profession appears to have been born with him ; 
 and being in the bloom of life, he may have an oppor 
 tunity to render his country much service. -In this 
 last rencontre, the gallant General Coffee was wound 
 ed. And his aid-de-camp A. Donaldson, Esq. was 
 killed. Having succeeded in making a diversion in 
 favor of Floyd, Gen. Jackson determined to fall back 
 on his resources, rendered necessary from the want 
 of provisions, which will always be a serious incon 
 venience to any army who have to open a road as they 
 advance into an enemy s country. In conformity 
 with this determination, Gen. Jackson took up his re-* 
 turn march the next day. On the twenty -fourth, the 
 army had to pass a defile, at which the general anti 
 cipating an attack, gave orders to the different offi 
 cers relative to the mode of defence. The front 
 columns had already passed, and the centre had en 
 tered it, when the alarm-gun was fired. We have 
 seen the heroic firmness which those troops had here 
 tofore displayed ; we are at a loss how to account lor 
 the panic which they now discovered. IS otwithstand- 
 ing the best efforts of the general, Col. Carrol and 
 many Others* the rear precipitately fled ; failing back 
 
KGTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. & 
 
 on the centre, they spread dismay there also. About 
 twenty-five of the rear guard were rallied. Russel"* 
 company of spies stood tirm, as did Armstrong s ar<- 
 tillery. These troops acquitted themselves beyond 
 all expectation. They advanced to the top of a hilU 
 to which they were ordered, through a most galling 
 fire, and dragged up the artillery, from which they 
 poured on the enemy a shower of grape shot; then 
 charged and repulsed them. Craven Jackson and 
 Constantine Perkins, two privates of the artillery, 
 greatly distinguished themselves. The reader may 
 well see the perilous situation the army was in, when 
 told that this body of brftve men had scarce gained 
 the hill, when Capt. Armstrong, Captains Mugavock, 
 Bradford and Hamilton all fell. 
 
 The honorable "William Cookc, who had entered 
 the army as a volunteer, at the age of sixty-live, as 
 cended the hill, ^nd was among the very first who 
 came into action. To the honor of the troops gene 
 rally, it must be remembered, that the panic soon 
 subsided, and being rallied, was advancing to the 
 support of their comrades, whom we have seen so 
 gallantly dispersing the enemy. This last defeat 
 was decisive. The yell of the savages was heard wo 
 more during the return march of the army. The loss 
 of Gen. Jackson in those several actions with the 
 enemy was considerable. It is some consolation to 
 reflect that that of* the enemy was greater by four 
 fold. From this time to the twenty-eighth of March, 
 nothing occurred worthy of notice. On this day a 
 battle was fought at the bend of the Tallapoosa, 
 which put an end to the war with the Creeks. It was 
 to the savages bioo-dy and disastrous, and put them 
 completely within the power of the United States, 
 It appears from the official letters of Gen. Jackson, 
 that the enemy s loss could not have fallen short of 
 ei^i hundred killed, and it was believed by some to 
 have exceeded a thousand. The enemy now acknow- 
 
40 NOTES ON tHIi WAtt IN TUB SOUTH. 
 
 ledged themselves conquered. The Americans lost 
 nearly two hundred killed and wounded. The Ame 
 rican government forgave their perfidy and made 
 peace with them. Major Montgomery, Lieut. So- 
 nierviile and Lieut. Moulton were the officers killed 
 in this memorable battle. " No men. ever acted more 
 bravely or fell more gloriously." 
 
 Of all the slain on the part of the Americans, the 
 gallant young Montgomery appears to have been most 
 deeply regretted. The present generation has done 
 justice to his merits. Posterity will consider the 
 ground on which he fell as holy; for there is deposited 
 all that was perishable of a gentleman, a scholar, a 
 patriot and a hero. The man who loves his country 
 and venerates the name of the hero who would cite to 
 defend it, will feel a wish to become more intimately 
 acquainted with this illustrious vindicator of his coun 
 try s rights. To gratify this laudable curiosity, I sub 
 join a brief sketch of th life and character of Major 
 Montgomery. I am the more inclined to do so, be 
 cause I have never seen any thing of the kind in print, 
 .that I recollect. 
 
 Major Montgomery was born in Wythe county, 
 Virginia, of parents who partook of the perils and 
 shared the glories of the American Revolution. His 
 family at an early day, emigrated from Ireland, and 
 in this their adopted country, transmitted to their 
 children those traits of character for which the Irish 
 people have been celebrated throughout the civilized 
 world. The major inherited troui them genious, wit, 
 liberality and courage. Having received a liberal 
 education at an academy in North Carolina, he qua 
 lified himself for the profession of the law. I am 
 told he was an able lawyer, and an eloquent pleader 
 of causes. 
 
 On the war breaking out between the United States 
 and Great Britain, lie laid aside his profession and 
 Altered into the army. In this new situation he soon 
 
N9TES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH . 41 
 
 developed those qualities which have rendered his 
 memory so dear to the good and virtuous part ef the 
 community. Attentive to the health and wants of 
 Iiis men, he was esteemed by them as a father; exact 
 in his discipline, strictly obedient to the orders of 
 Iiis superiors, and punctilious in the performance of 
 his promises, younger officers looked on him as a 
 model for imitation for in him Nature had implanted 
 sentiments of honor without a shade. In his person, 
 he was tall, being upwards of six feet high, slender 
 and delicate; his complexion pale, and his appear 
 ance indicative of observation and thought. In the 
 company of the opposite sex, he was polite, reserved 
 and modest ; for he felt that the dependence of the 
 one imposed the obligation of protection on the other. 
 Anticipating the Indian war in which he fell, he visit 
 ed his relations for the last time. To one of them, he 
 is said to have expressed himself as follows : " I 
 grieve not at my departure : should it be my lot to 
 Jfali in battle, I hope I shall die gloriously ; and then 
 you will tell of my late with pleasure." Yes, gen 
 erous, noble youth, at the age of twenty -four years 
 you have verified your own expectations : you have 
 done honor to your progenitors and illustrated your 
 country s annals. The" turf that covers your ashes, 
 like the fields of your early ancestors, will be forever 
 irreen ; for it is watered bv the tears of science, pa- 
 ~mtism and courage. 
 
, -.$ dX THE WAfc 1JJ 1 Hfi SOt ttt, 4) 
 
 CHAFTfifi VI. 
 
 Alii* good men" unite in deploring the dreadful 
 scene* of c&rnage which we have in the preceding 
 pages recordedi An American must rejoice in the 
 reflection, that the Creeks mV/oked the war, by the 
 \Vfttttflil api^sfclmi* Th government of th* 
 Itftttii with pittrfifti teflSfffiPSi, imd far * 
 ef years ktoed to reelaiffl them from tht> 
 savage to th@ eivlll^ed state ; the money eharitnbly 
 espemled to obtaifl this tolf^ld ebjoei mt witli 
 general apprabatian, though it must bea.dii\ittd, that 
 a few had always mfthitahietl the opifitefl thattlu^ ft! eft 
 ^f eiviliaing the savaps wns wild and chyiiierieal ; 
 
 and from peHefttt HMMk oil ijKlividupJs of difter* 
 ent tribes, we are constrained reluctantly to acknow 
 ledge, that facts seem to countenance this opinion. 
 The Creek Indians are surrounded by our settle 
 ments, and thereby have enjoyed opportunities of 
 mixing with, and (if Nature s God had not placed 
 obstacles in the way) acquiring a fondness for civilized 
 life. The American government had invariably pun 
 ished all aggression on their territory, and the secu 
 rity of their persons and property was thought an 
 object of the first magnitude. From the commence 
 ment of General Washington s administration, down 
 to the attack on Fort Mimms, these aborigines could 
 complain with truth of no injuries unredressed. The 
 prospects of civilizing them, are now, alas ! obscured, 
 perhaps annihilated, by an act the most wanton and 
 barbarous that it has fallen te the lot of history to 
 record. 
 
4 NOTES ON THE WAR Itt THE 
 
 It is true. the hand of retributive desolation has 
 passed ov * their jcouu try ; but all join in expressing 
 the same opinion, that it was inevitable. Instead oi 
 new expenditures, with a vain hope of ameliorating 
 the situation of the Creeks, and extending to them 
 the comforts, the information and improvements of 
 polished life, these questions are every where in all 
 the political circles of this great empire discussed 
 what is to be their destiny ? what must be done 
 with them to guard more effectually against future 
 eruptions ? 
 
 Our reflections on this subject, will exclusively 
 occupy this chapter. At the commencement of hos 
 tilities by the Creeks, they possessed a territory of 
 great extent, fertile and salubrious, watered by many 
 bold and navigable rivers, well covered with the best 
 of timber for architectural purposes, and occasion 
 ally exhibiting symptoms of banks of iron ore. In 
 deed, the country occupied by the Creeks, is repre 
 sented as so iertile, and at the same time so extensive, 
 as to be capable of sustaining a population of full 
 two mil inns. On this great tract, the American go- 
 verrimevit, with a humanity that cannot be too much 
 extolled, hud invariably prevented their citizens from 
 trespassing. To the Creeks the greater part of it was 
 useless. It is believed by many, thai, its possession 
 by them was a, principal reason why the efforts of 
 Ihirty years to civilize them had failed. Before 
 their rupture with the United States, their whole 
 population was estimated at twenty -four thousand. 
 The most powerful agent in civilizing man is a neces 
 sity to labor. When a man is thoroughly convinced 
 that he must exert all his powers, corporeal and men 
 tal, to live, then he will acquire, if he did not previ 
 ously possess it, a just idea of his own rights, and a 
 due respect for the rights of others. Ease and indo 
 lence is the goal to which the most persevering ef 
 forts of many in polished life are principally direct,- 
 
NOTES ON THE WAI* IN THE SOUTH. 45 
 
 ed. The mariner who exposes himself to the storms 
 of a troubled sea, consoles himself with the reflec 
 tion, that the voyage he is engaged in will be pros 
 perous, and that when it is finished, the profits of 
 the trip will make his situation easy for life. Rare 
 indeed is the man who is born to affluence seen ex 
 erting his faculties for the improvement of his own 
 situation in life, or benefiting the condition of his 
 countrymen ; so rare, that we may lay down the fore 
 going observation as generally true, although honor 
 able exceptions have always existed, and will, be 
 yond a doubt, always continue to exist. If then we 
 reason on the ground that the minds of the white 
 man and the Indian in a state of nature is precisely 
 the same, having the like propensities and passions, 
 and capable of the like excesses, and when placed in 
 a civilized state susceptible of the same noble and 
 generous emotions, all which is an hypothesis the 
 truth of which has never been demonstrated, it fol 
 lows as a necessary consequence, that as long as the 
 Greeks remain in their present situation, having im 
 mense uncultivated deserts around their habitations, 
 abounding with games, and inviting and alluring 
 them to the vagrant life of hunters, all the favors and 
 donations of government, having in view their civili 
 zation, will be thrown away. For the government to 
 withdraw their protection from them altogether, would 
 certainly be cruel. They are without social know 
 ledge ; and they remain to this day, strangers to the 
 precepts of the gospels of peace. Thus situated, 
 they are objects worthy of commisseration ; and in 
 adopting measures for our future security, we should 
 have an eye to their happiness. Fortunately, the one 
 is not at all incompatible with the other. It seeius 
 to us that both are objects,. as respects the Creeks, easy 
 sf attainment. 
 
 Matters should be so contrived, that the various 
 tribes of which the Creek confederacy consists, should 
 
43 NOTES N THE WAR IK THE SOUTH. 
 
 be completely separated from each other, and at the 
 same time, make them farmers fr&m necessity. Lay 
 oft* districts thirty and fifty miles wide alternately, 
 extending through the territory they possess ; the 
 smaller ones to be settled by the savages, the larger 
 traes to be disposed of to the whites, as the United 
 States waste and unappropriated lands are at this 
 <day. The districts retained by the United States 
 would speedily be settled. The strength ot the 
 savages, by being divided, would cease to be for 
 midable, and the means which foreign nations now 
 possess of arming them, and inciting them to murder 
 and rapine, would be destroyed. After paying ail 
 expenses incident to the foregoing arrangements, the 
 funds arising from the sales of the retained districts* 
 it is humane and just should be laid out for the bene 
 fit of the aborigines. It would supply them with the 
 useful domestic animals, the implements of husband 
 ry, and still leave enough for further experiments to 
 spread among them a knowledge of the gospels of 
 peace. To pocket the profits arising from the sales 
 of the retained districts, we shall always protest 
 against as cruel and disgraceful. We view as equally 
 cruel and disgraceful, the plan- so often mentioned in 
 political circles, of seizing on their country by force, 
 on the ground that by their treachery they have for 
 feited it, and removing them beyond the Mississippi. 
 What! remove them beyond the Mississippi to be 
 come extinct in the wars that will follow between 
 them and their neighbors, and the tribes of savages 
 by whom they will be environed ! No, let them occu 
 py the land of their fathers, but let them do it in. 
 peace. While we provide for our own safety, let us 
 not overlook theirs. Our fathers bequeathed us a 
 reputation clouded by no act of dishonor. The peo 
 ple of the present day, have demonstrated to the 
 world, that they merited the legacy, and they will 
 nerer stain it by an act of injustice* 
 
NTES ON THE WAR HI THE SOTJTH. 47 
 
 CHAPTER VII. 
 
 GENERAL Jackson had hitherto held a commis 
 sion in the rniiitia oui} r . Gen. Hampton having re 
 signed, he was in May, 1814, appointed a brigadier 
 in the regular servke,and bv brevet a major-general. 
 An unfortunate misunderstanding having arisen be 
 tween Major-General Win. H, Harrison and the 
 secretary of war, Harrison resigned, which furnished 
 the government with a fair opportunity to bestow on 
 Jackson new evidence of the estimation in which 
 they held the services of that excellent officer. Ho 
 was now appointed major-general, and was commis 
 sioned along with Benjamin Hawkins, to conclude a? 
 treaty of peace with the Creek confederacy. The 
 appointment of Hawkins excited great astonishment, 
 and was denounced as impolitic. It gave great of 
 fence in Tennessee and the Mississippi territory. 
 It was said, that the constant assurances of Col. 
 Hawkins, that hostilities were- not to be apprehend 
 ed from the Creeks, and that the intrigues of the 
 British and northern Indians to excite them would 
 fail, lulled the gallant but unfortunate Major Beasley 
 into that false security, from which his general en 
 deavoured in vain to rouse him, and to which himself 
 and his garrison subsequently fell a sacrifice. With 
 respect to the merits of Hawkins, we are ignorant; 
 but it must be considered, that in his diplomatic cha 
 racter with the Indians, he discovered no trait of 
 extraordinary talents ; on the contrary, it was evi 
 dent, that after many years residence among the 
 Creeks, he was profoundly ignorant of the savag3 
 
48 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 character. Considering tfie prejudices against Haw 
 kins, surely he would not have been appointed, but for 
 the locographical knowledge he had of the Creek coun 
 try, a species of information, it was perhaps neces 
 sary for the commissioners to possess. His associa 
 tion with Gen. Jackson caused the popular outcry 
 speedily to subside, and a general confidence in the 
 commissioners has succeeded. In recording the pub 
 lic feelings on the appointment of Col. Hawkins, it 
 may not be amiss for us to express our own. We 
 have the utmost confidence in the patriotism, firmness 
 and integrity of that gentleman: further it is not 
 necessary for us to go. The treaty executed in 
 August, 1814, by the commissioners and by the head 
 men of the Creek confederacy, has met with pretty 
 general approbation, and has dissipated in a great 
 measure, the prejudices which before hung over Haw 
 kins s character. 
 
 Its provisions in many respects have answered our 
 anticipations in the. preceding chapter. In the cir 
 cumscribed limits within which they are now con 
 fined, and the fine navigation of their rivers, we see 
 very formidable barriers to the future intrigues of 
 British and Spanish emissaries. No sooner was it 
 known that the treaty was signed, than vast numbers 
 of the disaffected savages retired loPensacola, where 
 they were received by the Spanish governor and en 
 couraged in their hostile temper towards the United 
 Stages. The interest which the Spanish functiona 
 ries felt in favor of the savages, was indeed mani 
 fested at the commencement of hostilities. Arms 
 and ammunition in abundance, in every stage of the 
 conflict, through which they had now passed, had been 
 from time to time furnished them. A body of British 
 troops, about two hundred in number, officers and 
 men, having landed in Pensacola, the fugitive Creeks 
 to the number of full three hundred, were permitted 
 to be incorporated with them, armed with new 
 
NOTES ON THE WAft IN THE SOUTH, *9 
 
 jTiuikets and dressed in English uniform. T!ic know-- 
 ledge of this military preparation in Petisacola ex 
 cited general alarm through the American settle 
 ments it its vicinity. And some great stroke on the 
 part of the enemy and his allies* perhaps in con 
 junction with rhc Spaniards, \vaa every where anti 
 cipated. An attack on New Orleans had long been 
 expected. Win. C. C. Claiborne, governor of the 
 state of Louisiana, with an eye to that event, had 
 urged the government of the United Siates to adopt 
 measures for its security. Fortunately, this vigilant 
 and able statesman did not content himself with sim 
 ply calling on HevcuU s fur holp ; IK* had put hi a 
 ihould& to the wheel and had dona every thing in 
 his power to ba prepared lor the day of trial. It wan 
 known about this time, that an immense armament 
 had been collecting in Kir^lam! and Ireland, defined 
 for America, and that Lord Hill, an officer who had 
 fought with distinguished reputation in the peninsula 
 of Europe, wa* designated to command it. 
 
 The magnitude of the armament, the fall season of 
 the year when they were expected to sail, the recent 
 pacification in Europe, the nature of the population 
 of New Orleans being mostly French or the dc>- 
 iidants of French, the amazing wealth of this 
 city, the effect its occupation would have on the 
 western states, and comments which had frequently 
 appeared in the London Courier pointing out the im 
 portance of this place, contributed to satisfy the 
 public mind, that this great emporium of western 
 and south-western wealth had become an object of 
 British ambition. As soon as it was known that the 
 enemy had appeared in Pensacola, the governor of 
 Louisiana informed the government thereof, and 
 admonished them that in it was seen, in the chrysalis 
 vtate, the expedition against New Orleans. Gen. 
 Jackson viewed matters in the same light, and has 
 tened to Mobile, there to adopt such measnvci as 
 
30 NOTES ON THE WAH IN THE 
 
 circumstances might require. He concentrated the 
 forces nt that time spread through the adjacent coun 
 try, n.nd dispatched an officer to Tennessee, to hasten 
 on the march of new levies from that state. While 
 these operations on the part of the Americana were 
 going on, the propriety of them was evinced by the 
 arrival of a British squadron, under the direction oi* 
 an Irishman of the name of Nichols, a man of deso* 
 lute morals, who was received with open arms by the 
 governor of Fensacola* The first moment after hia 
 arrival was devoted to an effort to bring to the 
 Standard of his master all the traitors and &coun* 
 drulg in the country. ll& Issued ft proclamation, iii 
 which he reviled the American government, demmne* 
 *>d them a under the influence of France at th 
 time they went to war with Great Britain, and- in 
 the name of hia majesty ami loving master, offered 
 in high style tha protection of his most potent arm 
 to $eh state or states o# choose to throw oft the au 
 thority of the federal government. With the ixcep- 
 tion of a few negroes "and Indians, no one was fie- 
 daced by his proclamation. His surprise was visible 
 to all who surrounded him, at finding that his pro 
 clamation was so totally disregarded ; that no effort 
 was made to suppress it. On the contrary, it was 
 inserted in the American papers, but to be ridiculed, 
 and himself to be despised. 
 
 On the twelfth of September, 1814, Nichols 
 appeared before Fort Bowyer, with a considerable 
 force of British, Indians and Spaniards; and a 
 squadron of ships hove in sight on the morning of the 
 same day. Until the fifteenth, the British command 
 er was busjed in preparatory steps. On that day, with 
 the claw rungs of light, he opened his batteries, and 
 the squadron moved up in front of the fort and com 
 menced firing into it. The formidable force by 
 which the fort was attacked, had no effect on the 
 gallant Lawrence who commanded, or upon his 
 
JjOT-ES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTjH. 51 
 
 brave troops, The fire from the fort was so animated 
 Slid so well directed, that it bore away the flag from 
 the mast head of their largest ship, and set tire to 
 the Hermes, which being abandoned by the crew, 
 goon after exploded* On the land side, the enemy 
 were handled with such severity, that the Spaniards 
 and Indians 30011 fled, and the fleet reiiri !^ out of 
 the reach of the guns from the fort, Nichols followed 
 the example set him by hi? comrades and Owl back to 
 perpecoia, The IPRS sustained by the Jissaiiunts, as 
 may well be supposed, was heavV- its real amount 
 was studiously concealed by them, I:i the number 
 of their wounded was Nichols, who lot an eye. It 
 is tlio policy of the American govermJic-nt neither 
 to conceal tfieir losses or to exaggerate thoir vicTv ries; 
 ihe ofucial report of their commanders are there- 
 lore invariably published without beiii garbled, 
 Th&re is one advantage that attends this course ; 
 the people evory where read papers, sluaiped with 
 the seal of public authority, and cenftdc in them, 
 The people in the large towns, were in ilu* habit from 
 thf* commencement of the war, of collecting in 
 large numbers at the post offices of post nights ; if 
 jiny important news was in the papers, a reader of 
 goad voice was selected, and being furnished with 
 \\ candje, it was read to the crowd, I well renvjsn- 
 |>er when the news of the defeat of Nkhok wa- 
 ip the multitude, who that night thronged tr,; 1 nti eot 
 m front of tbq post office, in ih-> citj of Riolu.vjml; 
 tho air resounded with Reclamation^ i\i j.>\\ : Tn^ 
 rtncmy had an immense superiorirv of hoavy guns t 
 and at least tVjiu- tiuit-rtthe nuii-b-M- of naen,, TOe furt 
 ir:u v"a?5 bur illy constructed, and a Siort ilms before 
 Vimost in vulna^ in((ood, an onlei had l^erii but lately 
 given. tj repair it, which was not yei T v u!!y cauiplied 
 How v/ondt-rful then : Sir the defeat 
 
 it 
 
52 NOTES ON THE AVAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 The defence of Fort Bowyer has given celebrity 
 to the hero who commandecl it, anil will transmit 
 with renown his name to posterity. The American 
 commanders had heretofore repeatedly advised their 
 povernftififtt of the hostile acts of the Spaniards of 
 Pensacola, and had even urged the necessity of seiz 
 ing and holding it during the war. The American 
 government nut willing at this time to add to the 
 number of their enemies, had declined to give per 
 mission to their oflicers to take any hostile step to 
 wards the Spaniards. Gen. Jackson, however, conclud 
 ed, and very properly, that his country would riot suf 
 fer the outrage they had now participated in, to wit: 
 the attack on Fort Bowyer, and the shelter they af 
 forded to the British with impunity. Gen. Coft ee 
 having arrived with the new levies from the upland 
 country, without waiting for orders from Washing 
 ton, Jackson, on his own responsibility, determined 
 or, attacking Pehtacola, without delay: pushing for 
 ward with great celerity, he attacked and carried it 
 with great ease, but not until he had previously ad- 
 vised the Spanish governor that his object was to pro 
 tect. the neutrality of the province of Pensar.ola, by 
 the expulsion of the British, and to hold it only until 
 the Spanish court would furnish a force sufficient to 
 garrisun ir s r>ml prevent its fulling into the hands of a, 
 ncople \vlso in* considered as acting a part likely to 
 Involve hU exc.f.ildiicy in very serious difficulties. To 
 ;il I ihc propositions of the, American commander, the 
 Hoaninh guvernoi 1 finally acceded, but with jesuisticut 
 duplicy in his heart; at the same time, he subsequent- 
 iv allyVviHi (he principal fort, to wit ; the Barancas, to 
 ae blown up, by which means the British escaped out 
 \ the bay; hi which, otherwise, they would have been 
 penned up, and la all human pt-obahility might have 
 ?}ef>n captured r destroyeid, 
 
 Tho jr:rir.ipdl fort, beif.g dcstroyri] ; the British. 
 ;ur- ni. -: K-trotttiv] and tho Indians, who had 
 
NSTES N THE WAR W THE SOUTH. & 
 
 rendezvoused at Pcnsacola, having fled back to their 
 deserts. In Sue, the gieat object of the expedition 
 beiug attained, he parted with the Spanish governor, 
 havi -.ig ;;revious!y intei changed promises of lasting 
 friendship, and returned to Mobile. Brigadier-Gen 
 eral Wi.iches^er having arrived at Mobile, Jackson 
 devolved on him the command of that port and its 
 dependencies, and repaired to New Orleans, at which 
 place he arrived on the first day of December, 1814. 
 On tnis new theatre we shall soon see him surrounded 
 by Druve, patriotic and intelligent cotmsellers, lead 
 ing to ba ie and to victory a gallant and deserving 
 ar.iv, and by deeds of generalship and valor trans 
 mitting hi& name decked with lanrels to all future 
 ages. Previous to his leaving Mobile he had opened 
 a correspondence with the govoinor of Louisiana, 
 who had given him a great deal of information with 
 respect to the situation of New Orleans, the routes 
 by which it might be aj.prtv.ched, and the probable 
 feelings of the local population, in tue event of the 
 threatened invasion taking place. The governor had 
 earnestly entreated him to press on to New Orleans, 
 to concert proper measures for defence, and expli 
 citly stated, that a policy in the smallest degiee tem 
 porising would not do; as for himself, the governor 
 declared he was prepared to exert his authority, to 
 save the city from falling into the hands of the enemy. 
 On the arrival of Jackson at New Orleans, the des 
 pondency which had seized on many, was dissipated 
 by the energetic course he pursued. The governor 
 recommended an embargo to the legislature, which, 
 was enacted without delay, to prevent the enemy, 
 who appeared off the coast in great force, about tlie 
 sixth of December, 1814, from being fed by traitors 
 who lurk in all large towns, regardless of everything 
 save personal aggrandisement. 
 
 The force Jackson now had to rely on for the de 
 fence of this great city, was about six hundred regu- 
 
54 ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 
 
 lars ; Daquin s battalion of coloured people lately 
 organized by the governor, the city volunteers and 
 local militia. Gen. Coftbe was in the neighborhood 
 of Baton Rouge, with about one thousand of his 
 far-famed rifleman, whither he had been directed to 
 repair and await orders ; and Col. Hinds, with the 
 Mississippi dragoons was equally distant : orders had 
 been given for assembling a considerable force in 
 Kentucky and Tennessee, but where they were WHS 
 not known. While things stood thus, an immense 
 "armament suddenly appeared oil" Cat Island, but a 
 Jittle way from the American lines ; expresses were 
 now sent off with orders to Coffee arid Hinds, to push 
 forward to New Orleans with all speed ; and likewise 
 up the river to hasten the advance of the new 
 levies from Kentucky and Tennessee. The zeal with 
 which these orders were complied with entitle the 
 respective officers to the utmost praise. Coffee en 
 camped four miles above the city, having advanced 
 one hundred and fifty miles in two days. Hinds, 
 with his dragoons was equally expeditious, in four 
 days he marched two hundred and thirty miles. 
 The new levies spoken of above, were yet a great 
 way off, but on receiving the orders ot Gen. Jackson, 
 they advanced with renewed /.eal, and luckily ar 
 rived in due time to participate in the great scenes 
 which soon followed. The local government of Lou 
 isiana now called out the militia of the state en masse. 
 Governor Claiborne had observed that a considerable 
 number of seamen of various nations were strolling 
 about the streets of New Orleans unemployed; theie 
 he determined to make useful : he conferred on Mr. 
 Tompson, a young man of great teaming, who spoke 
 most of the languages of Europe, a captain s com 
 mission, and directed him to press into the service, 
 all seamen, without regard to the country to which 
 they belonged, arid to place himself and them under 
 the command of Gen. Jackson and Com. Patterson. 
 
*OTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOL Til. Jp 
 
 In a few days Tompson had collected and reduced 
 to order a considerable number of seamen, Italians, 
 .Spaniards French, Portuguese, &c. who subsequent 
 ly behaved v/ell ami were of great service. White 
 these energetic steps were going on, Gen. Jackson 
 proclaimed martial law, a measure that had been 
 previously advised by Gov. Claiborne. 
 
 That this last mentioned measure was taken with 
 the approbation of the governor, I have heard fre 
 quently denied. That the measure, right or wrong, 
 may be well understood, and if praise belongs to it, 
 that that praise may be bestowed on all who partici 
 pated ia it, I will here insert an extract from one of 
 the governor s letters to G .1. Jackson : " Enemies," 
 says the governor, " to the country, may blame your 
 prompt and energetic measures, but in the person of 
 every patriot you will find a supporter. 1 think, with 
 you, our country is filled with traitors and spies." 
 In the same communication, he states " that the 
 police of our cities is too loose, and that strangers 
 should not enter and depart at pleasure." Of the 
 naval force under Com. Patterson, five gun boats 
 were stationed on Lake Borgne, under Lieut. Jones, 
 an officer of great merit. Jones had from time to 
 time understood that the enemy were daily receiving 
 additional reinforcements, and being satisfied in his 
 own mind, that the position he then occupied was 
 not ?. proper one, he resolved to retreat to the ilegolets, 
 at which place there was erected the fort of Petit 
 Coquette, commanded by Capt. Newman. Arrived 
 at this spot, his determination was to resist, to the 
 last extremity, any force that might come against him: 
 with this object in view, he attempted hi v^i i to reach 
 the Regolets, the winds bum;?.; a 
 anticipating his olvji ct, had . v. ith 
 
 barges, and on the fourteenth he was compelled to 
 come to action. The BritUk forc< 
 three boats, mounting forty -three guns, and having on 
 
56 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE S8UTH, 
 
 board full fourteen hundred men. On the part of the 
 Americans were five boats, one hundred and ninety 
 men, and twenty-three guns. This disparity .of 
 force, of which the enemy were apprised, induced 
 them to anticipate an easy conquest. The American 
 line being formed to receive the enemy, now waited 
 their approach ; about twelve the action commenced, 
 and in a short time every part of the American line 
 was warmly engaged: the battle had lasted but a 
 short time, before two of the enemy s boats being in. 
 advance of the others, attempted to board the boat 
 commanded by Jones ; one of them, having one hun 
 dred men on board at the time, was sunk, and the 
 other beaten oft , after sustaining great loss, particu 
 larly in officers. Jones being severely wounded, was 
 constrained to leave the deck, whereupon the com 
 mand devolved on Lieut. Parker, who displayed all 
 that courage which is the uniform property of an 
 American seaman, nor did he strike his flag until 
 it was apparent that further resistance would be mad 
 ness and folly. If additional evidence were request 
 ed to shew the superiority of the American to the 
 British seamen, this action in the superior mischief 
 done the enemy would surely prove it. The Ameri 
 can loss was six killed and thirty-five wounded, the 
 residue surrendered; that of the enemy was ascer 
 tained to be full three hundred in killed and wound 
 ed. Among the American wounded was Jones and 
 Lieutenants Speclder and M Ever: Lieutenants Ul- 
 rick and Deferres, who each commanded a boat, 
 escaped unhurt, but were equally exposed to danger, 
 and behaved with a gallantry that has secured to them 
 the respect of their countrymen and a bright page in 
 the naval annals of the United States. In this 
 action the Americans sustained a great loss by the 
 capture of the gun boats, and the British obtained 
 the uncontrouled command of Lake Borgne, where 
 by a variety of places were thrown open at which 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 57 
 
 they miijhi land. In the American camp justice was 
 done to the bravery of Jones and his comrades, at 
 t h- s;ime time, that the advantages the enemy had 
 acquired were seen and acknowledged. Instead of 
 being borne down by the unnuwicions opening of the 
 enemy s demonstrations 0:1 New Orleans, Jackson 
 seemed to acquire daily additional confidence in the 
 success of the defence he was soon to make, and he 
 contrived to make the people at large believe that he 
 himself was a host, and that the troops he command 
 ed were not ami could not be beaten. This impres 
 sion was not confined to the men ; it had taken a 
 strong hold among the ladies of New Orleans, who 
 saw in him and his gallant associates^ a guarantee 
 the dreadful scenes which had been exhibited 
 
 at Hampton and at other places in Virginia. The 
 fortunate arrival at this time of Major-General Car 
 roll, with the new levies from Tennessee, and the 
 knowledge which soon becamq general, that the 
 Kentucky troops might hourly be looked for, having 
 in command among them Gen. John Aclair, an officer 
 of many of the like traits of character with Jackson: 
 courage mounting, when occasion required, to despe 
 ration ; yet allied with a coolness which could look 
 at death without reflecting on the agonies which it 
 brings along with it ; and a mind so gigantic, and at 
 the same time so minute, that while it sees the 
 greatest and most desirable objects at an immense 
 distance, cool) v and with arithmetical certainty calcu 
 lates the details by which they may be attained dis 
 sipated the last doubt with respect to the success of 
 the anticipated defence. Along with Gen. Carroll 
 came a small supply of arms, which had been sent 
 on by order of tiie general government. M. Girod, 
 mayor of New Orleans, had been applied to by the 
 governor, to procure for the use of the troops, all the 
 arms and ammunition in the city, and by his activity 
 liv-ge *apn lies had been procured. On the twenty- 
 
SS NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 third of December, the drums beat to arms: the ene 
 my had landed about sixteen miles from the city, at 
 Bien Venn, and were already in possession of Gen. 
 Villere s plantation, where they had surprised and 
 captured a company of militia. As soon as this in 
 formation reached Gen Jackson, he resolved to attack 
 them forthwith : but fears being entertained that pos 
 sibly the enemy had landed at Bien Venu to draw the 
 American force below, to give an opportunity to land 
 elsewhere, and ivach the city by another route, 
 Governor Claibornc, with Labatsit s brigade of Lou 
 isiana militia and M :j. Gen. Carroll s division, 
 were directed to take post on the Geiiiiile road, to 
 observe occurrences and, act as events might justify. 
 This position the governor occupied throughout the 
 siege, from which the troops he commanded might 
 easily be commanded to the suburb Marigne, and 
 become a reserve corps; and had Jackson s lines 
 been forced on the eighth of January, the division 
 commanded by the governor must also have been 
 routed before the enemy reached the c \-y. Th 
 necessary precaution being taken, Jackson, with 
 Coffee s brigade and Daquin s battalion, the regular 
 troops, advanced on the enemy ; at the same time 
 the companies of Louisiana troops, under Capts. 
 Roche, St. Geme, Huday, White, Guibert, and 
 Beale, under Major Plan^he, at Bayou St. John, 
 inarched with the rapidity of lightning to the plains 
 of Villere, to encounter the foe. Com. Patterson, by 
 direction of Gen. Jackson, dropped down the river 
 and opened the batteries of the Caroline upon the 
 British lines. It was now dark, but the fires along 
 the enemy s lines shewed clearly the position they 
 occupied, and enabled the Americans to adopt their 
 measures accordingly. Coffee, with his brigade, 
 Hind s dragoons, and the New Orleans riflemen 
 trader Capt. Beale, advanced on the enemy s right 
 wing: Major Planche with the New Orleans volun- 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 59 
 
 teers, Daquin s corps of coloured troops and the 
 regulars, led on by Jackson in person, moved on 
 the enemy s left. The enemy were thrown into con 
 fusion by the uofexpecteifeess yi the attack. It is 
 well understood at this time -hey expected little or 
 no opposition. Recovering from the surpi ise which 
 the crape and cunnister shot from the Caroline had 
 engendered, they were directing an animated re 
 sistance to the Caroline, when Coffee s command 
 having: penetrated within the line of centiuels, opened 
 a destructive fire along their right wing. The enemy 
 admonished cf the efficacy of the troops by whom 
 they were assailed, by the number who were constant 
 ly falling from the fire, more particularly of our 
 riflemen, fell back with some precipitation : they 
 were already beaten, and but for the superiority of 
 
 their discipline, must have been completely cut up. 
 The right wing of the American army came into ac 
 tion about the time that the enemy were receding 
 from the fire of Coffee s line ; here the resistance 
 was much more obstinate ; Daquin s coloured troops 
 v. particularly pressed by a vast superiority of 
 force, and returned the fire of the enemy with a viva 
 city that, attracted the eye of the commanding gene 
 ral, and the admiration of their comrades. The 
 regular troops and Planche s volunteers being brought 
 into line, Daquin was in a measure relieved, and the 
 contest becoming more equal, the enemy s left wing 
 likewise receded. The darkness increasing, and the 
 repulse of different parts of the enemy s lines taking 
 place at different times, disorder was early intro 
 duced, and both armies now fought in considerable 
 confusion. While the battle was going on, the ene 
 my were constantly receiving reinforcements, which 
 we.-e formed in the rear as fast as they arrived, and 
 pushed forward with all imaginable haste. Notwith 
 standing this, the American troops felt their way 
 to every part of the British lines , and the enemy 
 
6Ci NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 after a brave resistance were again compelled to 
 retreat. The tide was now running strongly ia favor 
 of the Americans, and Slopes were indulged that the 
 British would be constrained to surrender, when 
 suddenly a dense fog arose which put a stop to th; 
 combat. The American commander now concentrat 
 ed his lines, and foiling back to the ground which tha 
 British occupied at the coimnenceriient of the battle, 
 he determined on waiting the approach of day to 
 enable him to renew the action : subsequently tin*. 
 general changed his mind and retired to M Carty s, 
 where he established himself. 
 
 In no action fought during the second war between 
 (Treat Britain and the United States did the Ameri 
 can troops behave more bravely than they did in this : 
 in fine, tew troops ever behaved as well ; and none, 
 . however long; dedicated to war, ever acted better. 
 Every man seemed to act as if the fate of New Or 
 leans depended on his conduct, and fired by the 
 pride of valor and the love of country, exhibited 
 prodigies of courage. When the action first com 
 menced, Coilee is reported to have passed along the 
 line exclaiming " You have said you could light, now 
 prove it." They did prove it to their enemies and 
 to the world ; if the glorious deeds of our revolution 
 ary fathers were forgot; if the battles at Erie, at 
 Piatlsburg, Chippewa, at the classic heights of 
 Niagara, and numberless other places, had never taken 
 place; this en the plains of Villere, would of itself 
 shew, that the United States can boast of a popula- 
 lation possessing the faculty of fighting,, to a degree 
 beyond the lot of most nations : whether- this arises 
 from the nature of our climate, the ea^c and inde 
 pendence of circumstances which our people enjoy, 
 or the freedom of our political institutions, which 
 elevate our sentiments, is not material to determine. 
 The fact is as w have stated it, and history will 
 prove it. \Vhat was the prize for which the com- 
 
30TES ON THE WAR *N THE SOUTH. oJL 
 
 batants contended on the plains of Viilere ? It was 
 the city of New Orleans, the capital of the state of 
 Louisiana ; and we might ask, what city in Europe 
 was ever defended successfully by an undisciplined 
 militia? None; no, not one. The battle of Jena 
 opened the gates of Berlin to the French, and the 
 regular force destroyed, the Prussian monarchy was 
 at the mercy of the great Napoleon. Passing over the 
 battles of Waeram and Austrelitz, arid the conse 
 quences that followed them, we find that Paris, (their 
 regular army being cut up) opened its gates without 
 a blow to enemies the French had before frequently 
 humbled. In England the regular force kept Charles 
 on the throne in opposition to the wishes of the 
 people, and when thny deserted him his power paseed 
 away and himself was brought to the block. Crom 
 well overturned the liberties of his country the mo 
 ment he secured the army; and Richard, the most 
 amiable and the best of men, \vas by the help of the 
 army, set aside, and Charles II. the most worth 
 less of the worthless house of Stewart, raised to the 
 throne. James kept the throne while the army was 
 faithful, but the cunning Dutchman having secured 
 the regular force, easily displaced him, although it 
 was notorious, that his party was equally as numer 
 ous as that of his rival. Whence does this arise ? 
 The question is easy of solution. In Europe the 
 soil is the property of the privileged classes ; the 
 government is principally for the benefit of those 
 who govern. Not so in the United States : the soil 
 here is pretty equally divided : it may be said em 
 phatically to belong to the peoples and the govern 
 ment is public property, for every man of virtue and 
 talents may aspire to the highest offices. In America 
 every man has a home and a government to defend. 
 We venture to augur, that so long as our government 
 is free, a well armed militia is our surest and oui 
 best defence. In the battle of Bien Yenu the Ame> 
 
<33 NGtES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTK 
 
 ricaa general brought into {\n* field two thousand 
 troops : it was commenced on the part of the enemy 
 with fall three thousand, and before it terminated 
 their force was doubled ; the action lasted au hour, 
 and when it terminated, the foe had been driven to 
 take shelter under the bank of the river, which served 
 as a breastwork. The American loss was thirty in killed ; 
 one hundred aud fifteen wounded, and seventy -four 
 made prisoners, The British admitted an equal loss 
 in killed, wounded and prisoners: of course it is 
 behaved to have been much greater. When the result 
 "of this action was known in the city, which of course 
 was the case in a few hours, a scene was exhibited 
 which every patriot will remember with pleasure-: 
 all was bustle in hurrying oft" necessaries to the 
 wounded, " that sex w aose smiles soften the misfor 
 tunes of life, and whose charms heighten the enjoy 
 ments of freedom," took the lead in this honorable 
 measure ; they had before clothed the .soldiers ; they 
 now furnished the hospital department with lint 
 linen, wines, &c. for the use of the sick and wo -. rul 
 ed. These acts of benevolence were not confined to 
 the Louisiana troops, they were extended to ail :-ie 
 defenders of the country, und in so polite and iV el- 
 ing a manner that a Tcnncssean, in telling me 
 some time since, of the obligations he was under to 
 the citizens of New Orleans, for clothing furnished 
 him and others, hud his generous heart so over 
 powered by the "jrateful recollection, that he could 
 not refrain frotn tears. 
 
 In the action of the twenty-third, the Americans 
 had to deplore the loss of Col. JLauderdale, of Coffee s 
 brigade ; he had seen much service, was young, ar 
 dent and intelligent, and highly esteemed; also Li -rut: 
 M Lelland, of the regular" troops : they fell wl ere 
 they fought, and are entitled to the gratitude of tleir 
 country. From the twenty -third to the twenty -sixth 
 i>f December, the enemy was engaged in getting can- 
 
ES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 68 
 
 Bon, ammunition and other things necessary for au 
 invading army iVosi? their sliippirig ; in the interim, 
 they had received reinforcements to a great amount. 
 Sir Edward Pakenham having arrived, took the com 
 mand in chief; their force was now estimated at fii- 
 teen thousand men ; among: the major-generals who 
 commanded divisions, was Keene, who commanded 
 on the twenty -third, Gihbs and Lambert : the two 
 last had not yet arrived, but were expected in a short 
 lime. Pakenham was Lord Wellington s brother- 
 in-law, and had served along witii his assistants. 
 abovenamed, under that celebrated soldier. The 
 greater part of the British troops were from Spain. 
 After tho twenty-third, Jackson was cn^a^eti without a 
 moment s intermission, in fortifying the ground to 
 \vhich he had retired. This position is the most 
 favorable that the country admits of. The swamp 
 here approaches within three quarters or less of a 
 mile of the river, the soil sandy and light. and de 
 scending from the river to the swamp, ditches might 
 be facilitated by letting in the river water, \\hich v as 
 then high. Already the works had become formidable. 
 The Caroline, after the battle of the twenty-third, 
 had been taken to the opposite side of the river, and 
 had there remained ever since. On the twenty- 
 seventh, at day-break, a battery which hud been 
 prepared in the night, with heavy cannon, threw on 
 her a number of red-hot shot. " Capt. Henley, who 
 now commanded, returned the fire with spirit, but 
 finding that to remain any longer in his present si 
 tuation, would be destructive not only to the vessel 
 but the crew also, attempted ineffectually ,to force 
 her up the river opposite the American line. A shot 
 had already fired her, and the flame was gaining 
 ground rapidly: an effort to remove the shot had fail 
 ed. Thus situated, Henley wisely determined on 
 quitting her, which was no sooner done than the 
 magazine exploded. One of the crew of the Caroline 
 
64 N@TES ON THE WAR IN THE 8OUTCL 
 
 was killed and six were wounded. On the twenty- 
 eighth, Sir Edward attempted to carry the American 
 works by storm. While their columns were advuic- 
 ing, their rocketeersmen threw an immense number 
 of rocketts ; this was an instrument of destruction 
 which was but little understood in America; while 
 flying it certainly has an awe inspiring effect : a few 
 moments will shew, that there is little certainty in 
 the direction of the rockets, and that it is the most 
 harmless of missives. The American batteries 
 checked their advance and soon compelled them te 
 retire. The sloop Louisiana, which lay opposite the 
 American line, did the enemy great injury; the crew 
 of the sloop were the pressmen before spoken of; she 
 was commanded by Toinpson, and although orders 
 were to be given in a half a dozen different lan 
 guages, no confusion was visible during the battle. 
 The enemy saw the mischief the Louisiana was 
 doing, and discharged at. her a number of hot shot 
 and bomb shells, but with little eflfect. This action 
 lasted but a short time, but long enough to prove to 
 the American general the strength of his works and 
 the skill of his engineers. The loss of the Americans 
 was thirty or forty killed and wounded. 
 
 The enemy moved in the open field, hence we may 
 infer that their loss was much more considerable ; 
 what it really was they have never stated. Among 
 the killed on the part of the Americans was Col. 
 Henderson of Carroll s division. From this time to 
 the first of January Gen. Jackson and Sir Edward 
 were mutually engaged in harrassing each other, and 
 augmenting the means of annoyance and defence, 
 which it would be unnecessary to detail at length. 
 About this time a member of the legislature is said to 
 have inquired of an officer belonging to Jackson s 
 army, whether if the lines were forced and the 
 general was compelled to retreat beyond the city, 
 would he destroy it? Upon being asked, why he 
 
ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 65 
 
 made the enquiry, the member replied, " that if 
 Jackson s lines were forced, some of the members of 
 the legislature had been talking of the necessity in 
 that event, of negociating for the safety of the city.* 1 * 
 This conversation was soon reported to Gen. Jackson, 
 who thought he saw in it something; extremely crimi 
 nal, and communicated it to Gov. Claiborne, with a 
 request that he would watch their proceedings, and 
 as soon as the subject should be openly discussed in 
 their hall, to arrest the members and hold them in 
 custody, subject to his (Jackson s) orders. Gov. 
 Claiborne on the receipt of this unpleasant informa 
 tion, inquired into the facts, and resolved to act for him 
 self. He had resolved that the country should be de 
 fended at every hazard; and he saw that the mere dis 
 cussion of such a subject in the legislature, at such a 
 period, might damp the zeal which was now displayed 
 in the defence of the city, and might introduce into 
 tiie ranks of the army, disaffection and even mutiny. 
 To wait till the subject should be discussed in the 
 legislature, he very properly concluded, would not 
 do, for each member had his friends, and arresting 
 1hein might excite popular commotion. Having 
 weighed all the circumstances, he determined to act 
 promptly and decisively: he forthwith placed an 
 armed force at the door of the capitol with directions 
 not to suffer a member to enter. This was certainly 
 a bold step. I have understood it excited some dis 
 satisfaction towards the governor, on the part of a few 
 of the members, but it soon blew over, for the very 
 members who had conversed on this subject, were 
 themselves patriots of the first order, who, alas ! 
 were alive to the horrors which usually befalls a city 
 taken by storm. Their wives and children too were in 
 thecity. What would be their situation in a winter s 
 night, houseless, and buffeted by the winds and waters 
 of heaven ? It is not to be wondered at, that fathers 
 and husbands ; that moral and amiable men, should 
 
66 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 reflect what was to be the destiny of their wives and 
 daughters, should the foe enter New Orleans, ex 
 asperated as they would be by a struggle like which 
 they had seen nothing in Europe. To polished minds 
 Hampton in Virginia had exhibited a scene terrible 
 beyond description. The governor has attested their 
 patriotism to the world, although he condemned the 
 weakness which in this particular case they exhibited. 
 And the legislature, more just than some other people 
 have been, so soon as they resumed their legislative 
 labors, in a manifesto to the world, did justice to the 
 governor, with an extract from which paper we shall 
 close this chapter. It is a monument more durable 
 than brass, recording alike the magnanimity of the 
 legislature, and the patriotism and energy of a public 
 ofncer, the spotless purity of whose character de 
 traction can never tarnish. " The enumeration- says 
 the legislature, " of the corps and individuals who 
 have given so many proofs of patriotism ai;d devo 
 tion to their country, ought not to be closed without 
 mentioning the governor of this state, whose efforts 
 have consfantly been directed towards cherishing the 
 haj;py dispositions of the inhabitants, and whose au 
 thority,, to its utmost extent, has been employed 
 in securing the success of the measures adopted for 
 the defence of this country." 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN TUB SOUTH. 
 
 CHAPTER VJII. 
 
 BETWEEN the twenty-eighth and thirtieth each 
 army received considerable reinforcements ; Major- 
 General Gibbs arrived at the British camp with tour 
 thousand troops detached from Wellington s army, 
 and at the same time Major-General Villere entered 
 Jackson s encampment with three hundred and sixty 
 Louisiana militia. Apprehensive that another attempt 
 might be made to carry our lines, the Americans la 
 boured unremittingly to make them more formidable, 
 and on the opposite side of the river, at this place 
 eight hundred yards wide, began to erect batteries 
 and other works, at which Gen. Morgan and a re 
 spectable force was stationed. It was anticipated, 
 that seeing fewer obstacles in the way, the enemy 
 might find the means of crossing the river, and in 
 that direction reach the city ; hence these precaution 
 ary steps on the right bank. On the thirty-first the 
 enemy fired on the left of Jackson s lines from a 
 redoubt they had newly erected. A cannonading on 
 both sides was kept up throughout the whole of the 
 day, with, it is believed, little effect on either side. 
 In the night of the thirty-first the enemy erected 
 two additional batteries at the distance of six hun 
 dred and twenty yards from our lines. 
 
 On the first of January, as soon as it was light, 
 the enemy opened on the American lines a heavy and 
 incessant fire from all their new raised batteries, 
 which was returned with great animation. The ob 
 ject was to silence our guns and make a breach in the 
 breastwork; but in this thev did not succeed; on the 
 
8 NOTES ON THE WAR IX THE SOUTH. 
 
 contrary, several of their guns were quickly dismount- 
 ed, and the fire from the American batteries was so 
 well directed, that in the course of an hour theirs 
 \vas nearly silenced. The superiority of the Ameri 
 can gunnery was thus rendered more clear in the 
 greater injury done the enemy. "While the cannon* 
 tiding was going on, the British army was drawn up 
 ready to storm the American lines, so soon as a 
 breach could be effected. This day s experience 
 however, convinced them, that if carried at all, the 
 process must be quicker than that of first making a 
 breach with cannon. In the course of this day the 
 enemy in considerable force, under cover of the wood, 
 penetrated to within a short distance of that part of 
 the line which extended into the swamp where 
 Coffee s riflemen were placed; they were no sooner 
 discovered than they were attacked and driven back 
 with considerable loss. From the first to the fourth 
 nothing occurred worthy of notice ; on the latter day 
 the Kentucky troops arrived and encamped within 
 the vicinity of New Orleans ; they were commanded 
 by Gen. Thomas. A part of them were the same 
 day detached, and under Gen. John Adair, marched 
 and took post a little in the rear of Jackson s lines. 
 This position was admirably chosen, as will be seen 
 in the brilliant battle of the eighth, which we are soon 
 to record. 
 
 From the first landing of the enemy, deserters were 
 occasionally coming over to the American camp, and 
 it was evident that as their knowledge of the country 
 improved, the disposition of the British soldiers to de 
 sert was enlarged and the number increased. From 
 this source the American generals were daily appris 
 ed of the strength and designs of the enemy, and of 
 the occurrences in their camp. All concurred in 
 stating their force at over fifteen thousand, and that 
 they were making, day and night, preparations for 
 storming at an early period, the American 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 69 
 
 The unoccupied space between the two armies was 
 bare of trees and inconsiderable in distance. The 
 noise of sledges and hammers, which were distinctly 
 and almost unremittingly heard, sounded the note of 
 preparation, and bespoke the approach of that storm 
 which has since burst desolation and death on these 
 boasted conquerors of Europe. With the help of 
 glasses, the American officers could plainly discover 
 the industry they devoted in making scaling ladders 
 and fascines. It was seen th at night did not put a 
 stop to their labors : on the contrary, their hammers 
 told an increased activity. The most obscure soldier 
 in the American lines saw that the hour of peril was 
 at hand, and instead of shrinking from the terrors of 
 the approaching tempest, seemed by the cheerfulness 
 of his countenance and the alacrity with which he 
 obeyed the orders of his officers, to wait its coming 
 with the composure and firmness that belong to 
 cultivated minds. This is not to be wondered at ; 
 they were almost to a man freeholders, or the sons 
 of freeholders; they were not taken from the streets 
 of dissipated and corrupt cities, or enlisted into tha 
 army to prevent their becoming victims to the shiver ; 
 ing pangs of want. With few exceptions they could 
 read and write, and had paid more or less attention 
 to acquiring information. Many who were in the 
 ranks as privates were scholars of the first order. 
 Beale s company were all men of fortune and edu 
 cation ; and in Hind s corps were upwards of twenty 
 youth whose landed estates were worth each twenty 
 thousand dollars. 
 
 Such an army as this was, along with the character 
 istic bravery of Americans, has the coolness and 
 deliberation in dangers which appertains to reason 
 and reflection only. In the night the centinels report 
 ed that the enemy were establishing new batteries, 
 and that the activity of the preceding day, so far 
 from having slackened, was evidentl increaseiK 
 
70 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 On our side the officers passed through the lines and 
 every where inspired that confidence which is a sure 
 prelude to victory. The approach of day was looked 
 for with impatience. Every officer and soldier be 
 longing to the American lines was now at his post 
 prepared to defend his country s rights. At last the 
 looked for hour arrived ; the great luminary of day, 
 as if ashamed of the wickedness of man, shot forth a 
 feeble ray ; its beams were veiled in tears ; in a little 
 while the mist cleared away, and the sun in all its 
 brilliancy shone on a scene to America 1hc most 
 glorious, and to Great Britain the most humiliating 
 that had ever before been exhibited on the vast thea 
 tre of the world. The mist was not gone when the 
 enemy wc-re discovered in line and prepared to ad 
 vance. A rocket of brilliancy discharged from one 
 end of their line went off and proclaimed that the 
 moment for action had arrived. One of our batteries 
 fired from a twelve pounder a shot of defiance. The 
 enemy now formed in column near one hundred deep, 
 and advanced on Jackson s line. They had just be 
 gan to move when their batteries threw showers of 
 shot, and the air was filled with their Ccngreve 
 rockets. The American batteries now opened their 
 fire upon their advancing coluirn. It had so happen 
 ed that a day or two before this, Generals Jackson 
 and Adair being in conversation about the strength 
 of the works, Adair told him that such was the disci j 
 pline of the enemy that the only way to defeat him 
 was to shoot down their columns as fast as they ap 
 peared, and that to do this, it would be necessary to 
 Cave a powerful reserve so located that they could 
 throw themselves at any time in that part of the line 
 on which the enemy should press. Fortunately, Jack 
 son caught at the idea, and acted upon it. Gen. Adair 
 with a brigade of Kentucky troops was posted a little 
 in the rear, with orders to advance and throw himself 
 iuto that part of the trenches against which the foe 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 71 
 
 might appear to be making their most formidable ad 
 vances. It was soon apparent, that the. pan < 
 lines occupied by Carroll s division had been singled 
 out as ti.e priiiapal point of attack; to that pom: 
 therefore the gallant Adair repaired with his brigade : 
 by the time he had united his troops with Ca 
 division, the enemy, notwithstanding the terrible 
 havo ck made by the cannist--r and grape shot 
 was fired at them, had advanced \vithin the reach of 
 the musketry. The whole American line now open 
 ed a fire on them, which was utterly irresistible; it 
 swept away ail v.vhin its range : their officers endea- 
 YOMivd to push them on, but it was impossible. Al 
 most at the same moment, Gen. Pakenhnui, who had 
 advanced v. iat o!V to inspirit his troops by his 
 
 presence, was wounded by a mu-,ket ball ia the kfiee, 
 and nearly cut in two by a cannon shot. Generals 
 Gibbs and Keene were also dreadfully wounded. 
 The death of Pakenham, the fall ot Keerie and Gibbs 
 all at the same moment, and the heaps of dying aiul 
 dead which the field exhibited in every direction, 
 struck a panic in the enemy, who now fled with pre 
 cipitation until they had fairly got out of reach of the 
 American cannon. The j could not be rallied. While 
 the foregoing scenes were passing on the left of the 
 American line, Major-Gen. Lambert, who succeeded 
 to the command in chief, pushed forward a column 
 of fresh troops on our right": they moved bi> 
 the river and levee. The style with which this co 
 lumn advanced was entirely different from that 
 which was observed in the enemy on the left. In 
 stead of a slow and sullen step, they were at the line 
 before our cannon could lire more than two rounds. 
 They came up in full tro; ; a part of the column even 
 en ered the redoubt through the embrasures. To 
 keep possession of the redoubt was impossible, unless 
 the entrenchment in the rear could be carried. This, 
 Col. Renee, the British commanding officer, now atjj 
 
T2 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 tempted, but in vain; as fast as they shewed thefla- 
 selves they were shot down ; not a man of those who 
 entered the redoubt escaped death; Renee fell with 
 five wounds through t!re body. The part of the co 
 lumn who had not yet got up to the redoubt .-ad 
 faultered ; their officers tried to push them on, but to 
 no purpose. To advance was certain death. They 
 /broke and fled with precipitation, leaving the banks 
 of the river covered with their dead and wounded 
 comrades. The defeat of the enemy was decisive. 
 Major-Gen. Lambert acknowledged a loss of twenty- 
 six hundred, in killed, wounded and missing. Gibbs 
 died of his wounds the next day. It is ascertained 
 that fully one hundred of their officers were killed, 
 wounded or taken prisoners. On tSie left of the 
 American line, where the greater part of the enemy s 
 troops acted, an area of three acres was nearly co 
 vered with dead and wounded. All those who reach 
 ed the ditch in front of the American lines lay there 
 concealed till the battle was over, when five hundred, 
 mostly wounded, were captured. Some might be dis 
 posed to doubt it, but it is nevertheless true, that the 
 American loss was barely six killed and seven wound 
 ed, as can be attested by the oaths of thousands. If 
 we consider the numbers engaged, the short time the 
 battle raged, the little experience in war of the 
 American troops, most of them having within the last 
 two months left their farms, stores and work houses, 
 to drive away the enemy, the animation and certain 
 ty with which these undisciplined men delivered their 
 fire, we may wel say that history furnishes no battle 
 like this. Yes, on this day, our army put in the 
 shade the achievements of all preceding ages. The 
 /battle on the eighth of January, 1814, on the left 
 bank of the river Mississippi, forms a most memo 
 rable sera in the annals of the United States ; it has 
 resounded through Europe, and extorted respect for 
 the American character from all the nations of the 
 
NOTES OX TIIE ^SVAR ES THE SOUTH. 73 
 
 earth. On this day was reilected back on the enemy 
 a full share of misfortune. They had threatened to 
 lay waste our towns and the whole country on the 
 st-a. board. They had given notice of this determi 
 nation in a letter addressed to the American govern 
 ment by Admiral Cochrane. The haughty islanders 
 will no longer plume themselves on the injuries they 
 do us. The battle of the eighth has proved to demon 
 stration, that) the just vengeance of an irritated peo 
 ple is terrible beyond description. That the enemy 
 intended to act up to the threat their admiral had 
 made, cannot be doubted ; their word was on the 
 morning of the eighth " beauty and booty," and it is 
 clear that impunity to rapine and lust was promised 
 to stimulate their troops to perseverance and con 
 quest. \Vhen we reflect on the full measure of woe 
 prepared for New Orleans, we must be excused in 
 saying in our triumph, we rejoice that the foe was 
 humbled in dust and ashes. The destruction ef the 
 enemy s army was now inevitable, but, for an occur 
 rence the most unfortunate on the right bank of the 
 river. At the moment of advancing on Jackson s 
 line as already described, he had passed in boats to 
 the opposite shore a strong detachment under Col. 
 Thornton. These advanced against Gen. Morgan s 
 lines, which they unfortunately forced after a short 
 contest. Gen. Morgan, however, rallied the troops, 
 and the enemy not pursuing his success further, rein 
 forcements were thrown over the river, and direc 
 tions given to Gen. Humburt to put himself at their 
 head and repulse the foe, let the cost be what it might. 
 Their disaster, however, on the left bank was so 
 serious, that the enemy lost all confidence in them 
 selves, and that night retreated, and recrossing the 
 river united with the shattered remains of their main 
 army. Gen. Humburt now moved forward and re- 
 occupied the ground from which Morgan had the day 
 before retreated. Ou the right bank but few troops 
 
T4f NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 wore engaged on either side. The British detachment 
 \v:is estimated at eight hundred, and the American 
 force was about the same in number. Morgan s re 
 treat has been ascribed to the misconduct of some 
 Ktatucky troops who occupied one extremity of his 
 line. An ample apology has been made for them : 
 their arms were utterly insufficient, being the great 
 er part out of order : indeed the want of arms was 
 so great that the fourth of the troops collected for 
 the defence of New Orleans had none at all, and of 
 those who were armed, one third was with guns that 
 wanted rapairs. It would be out of our object to 
 inquire whose fault was this. On the left bank the 
 Americans succeeded in taking one thousand stand 
 from the enemy. 
 
 The loss of the enemy in killed and wounded, on 
 the right bank of the river was one hundred and twen 
 ty; that of the Americans one killed and five wound 
 ed, and for this we have the returns of the proper 
 officers. Certainly, we have reason to be grateful to 
 Divine Providence, our very defeats are, if possible, 
 triumphs. See the superiority of the mischiefs we do 
 the foe. The menacing attitude of the enemy was 
 now dropped. Having concentrated his force, appre 
 hensive of attack, he fortified most diligently, and 
 erected on the roa d by which he intended to retreat, 
 numerous batteries, the better to protect him from 
 his formidable opponents. It was apparent from his 
 movements, that Lambert meditated a flight, for the 
 situation he occupied was truly unpleasant, as Jack 
 son occasionally bombarded him, and was daily taking 
 toll for the temerity of his own demonstrations on 
 New Orleans. On the night of the eighteenth Lam 
 bert moved, leaving eighty of his wounded who he 
 recommended to Jackson s humanity, arid fourteen 
 cannon, a large supply of powder scattered on the 
 ground to render it useless, and a number of heavy 
 articles of value. So rapid was his flight that a( 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 7 
 
 (hough pursued he could not be overtaken, and but 
 few of his stragglers could be captured. . About this 
 time, the enemy, who had attempted with their ship 
 ping, to come, up the river, retired from Fort Si. 
 Philip s, which they had bombarded for five days with 
 out silencing a single gun or doing other mischief 
 than killing two of our men and wounding five. The 
 injury their shipping sustained it is their policy to 
 conceal. We confidently believe it was considerable. 
 
 While the enemy were attempting to ascend the 
 Mississippi river, Gov. Claiborne, who heretofore had 
 been stationed on Colson plantation, on the Gentille 
 plain, three miles from the city, entrusted with the 
 defence of the important pass of Chef Menteur, and 
 the estuary or Bayou St. John of Lak^ Pontclmr- 
 train, was appointed to the command of the right 
 bank of the Mississippi in the place of Gen. Morgan, 
 who was given a command in the main army under 
 Gen. Jackson. 
 
 The British having retreated to the water, their 
 favorite element, and their fleet being foiled at St. 
 Philips, and having sailed out of the river, Louisiana 
 was now freed from invasion. The enemy s demon 
 strations as they termed it, cost them an immensity 
 of treasure, and a great deal of blood. It is com 
 puted that their killed and wounded, amounted to 
 four thousand, while they were operating against the 
 city: a thousand prisoners were made at different 
 times by the American forces. Numbers dishearten- 
 ed by the vigorous discipline to which they were sub 
 jected, and tired of the bloody scenes which had long 
 been before their eyes in Europe, and now in Amer 
 ica, or enamoured with our free institutions, deserted 
 the standard of their master, and came over to the 
 American camp. Add to this, the climate of New- 
 Orleans, being uncongenial with the British consti 
 tution, disease in its most hideous form, entered the 
 enemy s cainp, and with giant strides thinned their 
 
r6 NOTES ON THE WAR IN TilE SOUTH, 
 
 ranks. An intelligent gentleman who had the bet 
 opportunity of judging aright, put down their total 
 loss in killed, wounded, taken captive, and deserted, 
 at on half their numbers at their landing ; nor can 
 we think this too large, when we know that in the 
 action of the 8th, on the left bank of the river, they 
 lost in killed and wounded, upwards of eighty officers, 
 and had as many captured as made the loss of officers 
 alone on that day one hundred. Besides the battle 
 of the 8th, they suffered severely in several other 
 contests, and daily lost more or less of their men. 
 The adventures of a private belonging to Coffee s 
 brigade will shew how little the Americans regarded 
 these boasted conquerors of the conquerors of Europe. 
 This man having hung round his neck his powder 
 horn and bullet pouch, and put his rifle in good 
 order, gravely asked permission to attack the enemy; 
 this being granted, he made a circuit through the 
 swamp, and placing himself on the right of the 
 enemy s lines, he waited till night to commence his 
 attack ; as soon as it was dark, he crept up to the 
 edge of the swamp and discovered a centinel, whom 
 he shot ; then laying down his own gun, he advanced 
 to tke dead man and brought away his arms. In the 
 course of the night he killed three centinels, and be 
 fore day returned to camp, bringing with him his 
 own gun and the three guns he had taken from the 
 three centinels he had killed. The British forces 
 having withdrawn, the New Orleans volunteers now 
 returned to their homes, and Coffee s and Carroll s 
 troops returned to their camp above the city. No 
 thing could equal the joy of the people on seeing 
 these brave men : the Marseilles hymn, yankee 
 doodle and other patriotic airs were played through 
 the streets by the city bands, who escorted them 
 through the town, and* when any of the returning 
 companies presented themselves in the street, white, 
 handkerchiefs were wav.ed by the ladies in token of 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 77 
 
 the respect they had for brave men and patriots. It 
 could riot be othewise, Louisiana was true and faith 
 ful to the core. The children seemed, while the 
 invasion lasted, to have partaken of the general en 
 thusiasm, chaunting national airs ; arid groups of boys 
 were frequently seen in the streets going through the 
 manual of a soldier. Gen. Jackson had repeatedly 
 declared the enemy should never reach the city. 
 He did not stand alone in his valour, his firmness was 
 well seconded, and if the city had been doomed to 
 fall, many noble and generous spirits had resolved to 
 perish amid its ruins. Every inch of ground was to 
 be disputed. If line Jackson, as it was called, had 
 been forced on the eighth, line Dupree, three miles in 
 the rear, was instantly to have been occupied ; if un 
 able to retain this, other works one mile from the 
 suburbs of the city were provided ; if driven from 
 these also, the streets were to be seized by choice 
 spirits; every house to become a citadel; and every 
 mode of destroying the enemy resorted to that indivi 
 dual ingenuity could suggest. Ir is but justice to 
 say, that the enthusiasm which pervaded all ranks, 
 was kindled and kept alive during the invasion, in 
 a great degree, by the genius of Gen. Jackson ; nor 
 will I be suspected of an improper partiality to a 
 venerated brother now no more, when I sav that Mr. 
 Claiborne did all in his power to save the" city. As 
 chief magistrate of the -state, his authority was 
 pushed to its utmost limits to secure this object. But 
 what next to the favor of heaven contributed more 
 than any thing else to the glorious termination of the 
 campaign, was the invincible attachment of all ranks 
 and descriptions of people to their country, govern 
 ment and laws. We have already done justice to 
 the ladies of New Orleans, most of whom worked 
 incessantly on clothing, for such of the troops as stood 
 in need thereof. It would be ingratitude when an 
 enumeration is made of the principal agents, civil 
 G 
 
7S NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 and military, who contributed to the safety of this 
 city, to omit to mention Nicholas Girod, the mayor 
 of the place ; he even paid domiciliary visits to the 
 citizens to obtain arms, ammunition and necessaries 
 for the army, and thereby contributed to the repulse 
 of the foe. 
 
 The enemy having failed in their design on New 
 Orleans, turned their attention to much less objects. 
 On the eighth of February they attacked Fort llow- 
 yer, with a fleet of twenty -five sail and five thousand 
 land troops. The siege continued until the eleventh, 
 during which time they threw shells and balls into 
 the fort, and had finally advanced their wwrks within 
 a short distance of the fort. No relief being at hand, 
 the American commanding officer surrendered, the 
 garrison consisting of three hundred men. 
 
 The loss of the enemy was acknowledged to be 
 about thirty or forty. That sustained by the Ame 
 ricans, was stated by the gallant Col. Lawrence, the 
 commander of the fort, atone killed and ten wounded, 
 of which number was Lawrence himself. Here was 
 shed blood for the last time in the second war be 
 tween Great Britain and the United States. On this 
 day, the fifteenth of February, 1815, the glad tidings 
 of peace reached the city of Richmond, the place 
 where the foregoing Notes on the "VVar in the South 
 and south-western country were written, as the events 
 themselves transpired. It gives me pleasure to say, 
 it was hailed with every demonstration of joy; splen 
 did illuminations, and balls, and amusements, which 
 denote entire satisfaction, in this city and throughout 
 the United States ensued in celebration of this hap 
 py event. The sword honorably drawn in defence 
 of the nation was returned to its scabbard when no 
 further necessity existed to stain it with blood. Na 
 tional prejudices instantly gave way, and the wish 
 became universal that the peace might be lasting, in 
 preserving these notes, I have but one object, it is 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. ?y 
 
 this : that my family may see the part their relations 
 have taken in the contest through which we have just 
 past. When I shall repose in the silent tomb, if my 
 thinking faculties are there retained, I shall look 
 back with fond delight on an offspring ever ready to 
 defend their country, government and laws. Patriot 
 ism is the first of virtues, and the man who looks 
 \\ith indifference on his country s contests and strug 
 gles, is the meanest and lowest of animated beings: 
 such a creature U without the gentle qualities which 
 render a man most estimable u a member of society, 
 at the same time that he is a stranger to the generous 
 ralour which guarantees security to virtue. 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 81 
 
 CHAPTER IX. 
 
 GENERAL JdCKSOJf, 
 
 THE victories of Gen. Jackson over the British in 
 the vicinity of New Orleans, have spread joy through 
 the United States, and will exalt to the highest 
 pinnacla of glory this great country. There is no 
 thing in history which equals them either in brilliancy 
 of achievement or in the magnitude of the conse 
 quences likely to result thereupon. Gen. Jackson 
 may well be styled the Hannibal of America ; like 
 Hannibal he is ardent, brave and abounding in stra 
 tagem. We call on the antiquarian and the man of 
 modern reading to produce any thing in the cam 
 paigns of a Maryborough or a Wellington, that can 
 with propriety be compared in rapidity of movement 
 or extent of execution to the vast exploits of this un 
 rivalled military genius. Marlborough and Welling 
 ton, with soldiers previously dedicated for years to 
 shedding of human blood, commanded with reputa 
 tion and were occasionally successful. The AmerU*- 
 can general, on the other hand, inspires in a few days 
 a mass of farmers, mechanics and tradesmen, hastily 
 collected, with an invincible ardor, and while vastly 
 inferior in number to their enemy, leads them to vic 
 tory and glory. The contest on the plains of Bie;.- 
 Venuc, on the twenty-third of December, was a fair 
 fight, and it is admitted that but for a fog that uafor- 
 G. 2 
 
82 ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 innately arose, it would have terminated with the 
 overthrow ot the enemy s army. From the twenty- 
 third of December to the memorable eighth of Janu 
 ary, 1815, we find the American general constantly 
 contending, and always with success, with the in 
 creasing numbers of an enemy rendered furious by 
 the disgraceful defeats they had suffered in America, 
 contrasted with the recollection of the victories they 
 had obtained in Spain, and Portugal, and France. 
 And finally, on the eighth of January, defeating them 
 with a carnage seldom if ever before witnessed in 
 any age or country. Some of the few British officers 
 who survived this memorable battle, admitted*, that 
 the slaughter on their part was what they had never 
 before witnessed in Spain and Portugal, where no 
 more men were engaged, or the action lasted no 
 longer than that did on the eighth of January. It is 
 believed, says Mr. Miller, a former member of con 
 gress, and a man of first rate respectability, that 
 nineteen-twentieths of the enemy who attempted 
 to storm, were destroyed. From a journal found in 
 the pocket of an officer who was slain, it appears 
 that the enemy lost previously to the eighth, at least 
 three thousand men ; now add thereto the loss on the 
 eighth, and the slain on the lake in the contest with 
 the gun boats, and an aggregate number of six thou 
 sand is the result. Most men content thins elves with 
 a victory, and the glory it adds to the national cha 
 racter, and do not enquire into tl^e consequences 
 likely to attend it. Those that will attend the tri 
 umphs of the immortal Jackson, it is believed, will 
 be of the most important kind : the way to peace, 
 honorable and just peace, is paved by them. The 
 enemy have failed in the first object of their ambi 
 tion ; New Orleans is safe. This key to the western 
 states, and the possession of which would have in 
 stantly enabled the enemy to stir up all the savages 
 who surround us, is secure. The American victories 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 33 
 
 at New Orleans will resound through the civilized 
 world. In the great battle of Marengo, which settled 
 at the time, the fate of half Europe, the loss sus 
 tained by the Austrians in killed and wounded, was 
 little more than treble that which the enemy have sus 
 tained at New Orleans, it* vicinity and on the lake. 
 And let it be remembered, that in reference to the 
 numbers of the two armies here referred to, that of 
 the British was by far the most severe. In England 
 they will in amazement ask, could it be possible, 
 that Jackson could make veterans of militia in a few 
 days, officered by men, many of whom had never 
 before seen the fire of an enemy ; and finally, in 
 spite of the vast superiority of the enemy, nearly 
 destroy an army of regulars ten thousand strong, who 
 with their officers, had been previously led to victory 
 by their boasted Lord Wellington ? Most of their 
 officers of distinction have been killed; but fe\v of 
 them will return home, and their privates are sharing 
 the same fate. The British court tried to conceal the 
 aifairs of Lake Champlain and Plattsburg, as I fore 
 told in the third number of the Crisis ; but the whole 
 came out, Canning; and Co. to the contrary notwith 
 standing. And a full history of the British disasters 
 in the north section of the United States, is now to 
 be met with in all the languages of modern Europe. 
 It had like to have run John Hull crazy, To relievo- 
 John, the British court fittted out the* expedition to 
 New Orleans, at an expense, I conjecture ef forty 
 millions of dollars. It started from Portsmouth the 
 twenty-eighth of September. It was commanded by 
 Pakenham, brother-in-law of Wellington, by Keene 
 and others, and was said to be considerable. It 
 touched at Jamaica, and took in a black regiment, 
 and at Martinico and Guadaloupe, and took in the 
 garrisons of the two latter places, supposed to be at 
 least four thousand, and the whole subsequently form 
 ed a junction with the remnant of Ross s army. This 
 
84 NOTES ON THE WAK IN THE SOUTH 
 
 force was to sweep all before it. In a few days the 
 greater part of them have been destroyed. Pa ken- 
 ham and many of their distinguished officers are said, 
 to have perished ; while the loss on the part of the 
 Americans is truly small, as to numbers. The events 
 before New Orleans are not to be ranked among or 
 dinary occurrences. They astonish the people who 
 are in the early habit of performing the noblest feats, 
 and producing the best prodigies of valor; and while 
 they fill the hearts of good men with reverence to 
 that God who knows the justice of our cause, and 
 who carefully protects us from our enemies, they co 
 ver with shame the venal wretches who would have 
 submitted to tyranny rather than rnn the hazard of 
 death, in a manly effort to remain free and independ 
 ent. The war both by sea and land is honorable to 
 America, and it is believed when peace shall corne 
 (and our victories begin to show it to be near at hand) 
 that it will be seen that we have risen in the estima 
 tion of the world. No nation ever was conquered, 
 when a manly and united effort was made to resist 
 oppression. When nations have been subjugated, it 
 has been brought about by fraud ; it has not been ef 
 fected by dint of the sword. The people collectively 
 are invulnerable to open force. Let the good and the 
 rirtuous of all parties determine to exterminate the 
 British filth as it is poured on our soil, and peace, 
 honorable and just peace, is inevitable. A few more 
 such victories as those of the brave Jackson, and the 
 tears of widows and orphans will cease to flow. The 
 scriptures of our country tell us " to love our neigh 
 bors as ourselves," which is the injunction of patri 
 otism ; and to copy from the sa*ne book, which in robes 
 of eloquence and in the language of inspiration com 
 mands and enjoins all the manly virtues, " Cursed is 
 he who keepcth his swoid from blood." Yes, me- 
 thinks he who surrenders without an effort, our towns 
 "o pillage, our grave -yards to the polluting touch of 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THL SOUTH. 8i 
 
 vandals, and our fair countrywomen to outrage, de 
 serves to be expunged from the works of nature, 
 cursed and abhorred by all good men. 
 
 |C7* Since the above was written, a peace, an 
 honorable peace, has descended to bless our country. 
 Time can never obliterate the sense of gratitude to 
 the gallant spirits who have won it for us. As to the 
 proud and arrogant nation, with whom we have been 
 contending, we" shall be ready to litt the sword, when 
 she repeats, if ever she dares repeat her aggressions. 
 We may forgive the enormities which she nas prac 
 tised during the war : we can never forget them 
 
 letter of the seventh instant has been receiv 
 ed from New Orleans. All our prisoners had beeri 
 exchanged, except about one hundred seamen, who 
 hud i)@gn iiftt to .lauiaicti. The lii i uh ihips Wire 
 filled with wounded, and the troops were on two- 
 thirds allowance, they expecting an easy prey and a 
 copious booty in provisions at New Orleans, 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 3r 
 
 CHAPTER X. 
 
 GEXEE1L J 
 
 WHEN a man has been eminently useful, some 
 notice of his life and character becomes desiiu 
 The post General Jackson .occupies, the honorable 
 manner in which he has brought the Creek war to a 
 termination, the unexampled enthusiasm which he 
 has instilled into his army in defence of the nation, 
 the confidence which as a soldier and patriot he has 
 every where obtained through this vast country, has 
 excited a curiosity on the part of the public to become 
 more intimately acquainted with him. His career 
 marks an important epoch in the history of his coun 
 try. Andrew Jackson was bora in South Carolina, of 
 Irish parents; he lost a brother in the revolutionary 
 war, and himself was wounded and taken prisoner 
 by the British, in the first contest between Gixat 
 Britain and the United States. His attachment to 
 free government and the country of his birth was 
 early and ardent, and endeared by personal sufter- 
 in^s and the misfortunes of his family. He received 
 a liberal education, and early in life commenced the 
 practice of the law. He was esteemed eminent in 
 his profession. His speeches at the bar, were consi 
 dered nervous, and admired for the perspicuity of the 
 style. If he did not stand at the head of his pro- 
 
88 NOTES ON THfc WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 fession in range of thought and brilliancy of ex 
 pression, he at least acquired the reputation of a good 
 lawyer. In early life he was poor: his industry soon 
 made him rich, generous, gay and sanguine in his 
 temper : his influence became extensive ; he was 
 elected a member of the Tennessee convention, and 
 had some share in the formation of the constitution 
 of that state. On the admission of Tennessee into 
 the Union as a sister state, he was elected to the 
 houge of representatives, from which he was trans- 
 feried to the senate of the United States. 
 
 This station he occupied till he was appointed a 
 judge of the superior court of law and equity of 
 Tennessee, which last nailed office he held for se 
 veral years. On giving up this appointment he 
 turned his attention to the military art, arid soon 
 rose to the rank of major-general of militia. As an 
 officer at the head of an army, comment is unnecessa 
 ry; he has appeared covered with glory: the laurels 
 with which he has decked his country s standards will 
 bloom for a^es. His person remains to be noticed. 
 He is tall, tuin and spare, but muscular and hardy, 
 with an eye quick ami penetrating. On beholding 
 General Jackson, you teel disposed to say he is a man 
 of iron. Adversity can make no impression on a 
 frame braced by sue!; decision and firmness as is 
 visible in his face and person. Let not the reader 
 conclude from this that the personal appearance of 
 Gen. Jackson is disagreeable ; on the contrary, a 
 face will always be admired that might pass for the 
 emblem of winter. A regard to truth will compel 
 all who attempt to draw the character of this gentle 
 man to say that he is communicative and pleasant in 
 conversation. To the poor, liberal; to the unfortun 
 ate, charitable; to the humblest private in the ranks, 
 miid and tender; at home and in retirement, hospi 
 table and friendly. He is now at least sixty, but a 
 quickness of step, a si intrepidity of expression, 
 
30TES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 89 
 
 would denote that he was ten years younger. The 
 general is married, but has no children. 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 91 
 
 CHAPTER XI. 
 
 GOrERXOR CLJIIEOEXE. 
 
 ON the twenty-third of November, 1817, "William 
 Charles Cole Claiborne, late governor of New Or 
 leans, departed this life, of a liver complaint. Few 
 men have ever occupied a larger space in public es 
 timation than he did; the time of no man was ever 
 more uniformly devoted to the service of his country, 
 or rose to greater eminence, triumphing over more 
 numerous difficulties. Though his earthly career 
 was stopped by death when little turned of forty 
 years old, he had already participated largely in 
 giving to a state now flourishing, and respectable, 
 and warlike, a republican constitution ; he had by 
 his firmness and perseverance contributed to achieve 
 a republican administration to the United States, 
 which still continues ;and had occupied almost every 
 office of high trust of ..which a man would be ambi 
 tious, who desired to be useful in his day, and had 
 discharged his engagements to the public in such a 
 way that he has secured the approbation of the good 
 and virtuous part of the community and the ap 
 plause of posterity. 
 
 The memory of his public course wilt never perish, 
 for it is recorded on the imperishable pages of history. 
 His private character and the means by which he 
 
92 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 rose from a poor and almost friendless boy to a proud 
 eminence among his country s benefactors, might be 
 forgot after the present generation should have pass 
 ed away, but for the friendship which has induced 
 the author to write the following short history of his 
 life= William Charles Cole Claiborne was born in 
 Virginia, of a family who had been settled in that 
 state, for near two hundred years. When the revo 
 lution came on, it is believed, that without an ex 
 ception, his family took the side of the people, against 
 arbitrary government, and continued their efforts in 
 common with their countrymen till the contest even 
 tuated in the establishment of independence. The 
 subject of this memoir was at the close of the revo 
 lutionary war a mere child : arid hence is not sup 
 posed to have been able at the time to have duly 
 appreciated the magnitude of the task our fafheri 
 had accomplished, or the perils through which it was 
 achieved. It was the will of God that his father 
 should be among the number that survived this glo 
 rious contest. It was the practice of my father to 
 recount to his children of winter nights, the exploit* 
 of the American soldiers, the hardships they encoun 
 tered, the dangers they faced, the battles they fought, 
 and the victories they won. In passing along, he 
 would paint in glowing colours, the horrors of the 
 British prison ships, and the brutality of the British 
 soldiery, who on numberless occasions stood con 
 victed of atrocities horrible beyond endurance. ?v3y 
 father had some learning, a fine imagination, and an 
 eloquence bold, figurative and expressive. Unlucki 
 ly, he was destitute of application, or he might 
 easily have gained back that wealth which was given 
 to him by his ancestors, which had been lost by 
 early indiscretions, but principally by an honorable 
 zeal in the service of his country. My father did 
 not like Hamilcar, take his children to the altar to 
 swear hatred to the early oppressors of his country: 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 93 
 
 but by the lectures he gave them, he impressed on 
 their ;nin Is an invincible attachment to free govern 
 ment, a determination wieu necessii-y to lift their 
 arms for its defence, a:ul a detestation beyond de 
 scription for the citizen who would raise his parri 
 cidal hand to destroy the fiir fabric of American 
 libertv. When William was as yet only eight years 
 old, his political principles illicit be said to be fixed. 
 They were then what they were at the day of his 
 death, republican. I shall never forget the enthusi 
 astic admir.ition of that excellent and amiable man 
 Mr. Eldrid^e Harris, the president of the Richmond 
 academy, when he saw for tiie first time, the motto 
 which his scholar William had written in his Latin 
 grammar; it was, " cara patria, carior liberatas. 
 ubiist liberlas, ibi est m?a patria;" the English of 
 which is, " Dear my country, dearer liberty where 
 liberry is, there is my country. 55 In writing this 
 motto William had made one or two mistakes, which 
 Mr. Harris corrected, and as the good man never 
 failed in his life to seize on every fit occasion to im 
 plant in the minds of his pupils correct, honorable 
 and manly notions, he caught on this occurrence 
 and made it the text from which he delivered a long 
 lecture on the beauty of republican government, gave 
 an interesting detail of the dangers the people of 
 these states voluntarily encountered to establish it, 
 and felicitated himself with a hope, that when tha 
 children he was now engaged in instructing, should 
 take their stand among the men of the country, they 
 would show how highly they prized the invaluable 
 boon, and resolve not to part with it, but with their 
 lives. 
 
 If the reader had known Mr. Harris, it would be 
 unnecessary to state, that this lecture made a deep 
 impression" on all who heard it: though destitute of 
 every thing "like imagination and fancy; though his 
 aspect was rough and his manner uncourtir, his voice 
 H 2 
 
94 NOTES ON TOE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 harsh and his style labored, his information was ex 
 tensive, his learning great, his temper mild and 
 philosophic beyond that of any other man 1 ever 
 met with, while a spirit of universal benevolence 
 glowed in his countenance which would have induced 
 me to have taken him for my friend if I had met with 
 him far the first time among the ruins of Palmyra. 
 As an instructor of youth, in my estimation, he had 
 no superiors and but few equals. 
 
 Mr. Harris has paid the debt of nature. About 
 my earliest benefactor I could have said more, 
 less I could not without injustice. Under the direc 
 tion of this amiable gentleman and his assistants, 
 Mr. Claiborne acquired a thorough knowledge of the 
 Latin and Greek languages and some of the most 
 important branches of the mathematics. Before he 
 entered with Mr. Harris he had been sent, along with 
 his brother the lute Gen. Claiborne, to William and 
 Mary, but falling out with one of the ushers, who he 
 thought had treated him generally amiss, he left that 
 seminary the week he entered it, and never returned 
 to it again. "While at school he learned with great 
 facility, and I hazard nothing by asserting that no 
 boy was ever held in more universal estimation by the 
 masters and scholars at any seminary of learning than 
 \vas Mr. Claiborne. I have no recollection of his 
 ever having any misunderstanding with any of his 
 brother students, and if he ever came under the cen 
 sure of any one of the professors, it has escaped my 
 recollection. Having arrived at the age of fifteen, 
 he was apprised that for his future establishment in 
 life, he had to depend entirely on his own exertions; 
 from his father he could expect no assistance : he de 
 termined therefore on his course, and carried it into 
 immediate execution. Extraordinary as it may seem 
 I vouch for its truth. I was several years younger 
 than my brother William, but I have a distinct re 
 collection of what I am about to relate : he told my 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 95 
 
 father with great frankness, that he knew very well 
 that lie could do nothing more for his children than 
 educate them; that he had determined on his course, 
 and with his permission would take it forthwith " I" 
 said he, ."have some little acquaintance with Mr. 
 Beckley, clerk to congress ; I will go on to New 
 York and endeavor to get employment in his office ; 
 if I succeed, my fortune is made ; if I fail of success 
 with him, my education will recommend me else where; 
 in as commercial a town as New York I can surely 
 get into business that will support me, and once in, 
 I consider that I am established for life; ail I ask is 
 a small addition to my stock of clothes and my passage 
 paid to New York." " "Congress," my brother added, 
 " is about to move to Philadelphia, it is therefore 
 desirable that I go on forthwith, that if I fail, I may 
 have a chance of otherwise providing for myself, but 
 with Mr. Beckley I will not fail." The manly 
 firmness with which he addressed these words to my 
 father, the confidence which the address expressed 
 in his abilities, his virtues, and the character which 
 he expected to establish by an honorable and moral 
 course, excited the old man s admiration, and as he 
 gazed with rapture on his enterprising son, the tear 
 of sensibility softened his weatherbeaten cheek. The 
 temper of my father was sanguine, and he caught 
 with avidity at the most eventful speculations. The 
 plan of my brother was acceded to, and every effort 
 made to carry it into speedy executiou. Being now 
 fixed in his future course, he quitted school, having 
 first delivered to the professors and students a valedic 
 tory address which he had prepared for the occasion. 
 How well qualified he was to step forward on the 
 theatre of life at tliis eurly age, may be judged of by 
 a circumstance attending this address that is too im 
 portant to be overlooked. Having prepared it he sub 
 mitted it to the inspection of a learned Virginia judge, 
 whose corrections he solicited. The next day it was 
 
96 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 returned with one or two immaterial alterations, and 
 a note from the judge which told his young friend to 
 continue moral and industrious and he MOM id become 
 useful and celebrated ; his path with the blessing of 
 God would be strewed v/ith roses and lighted by the 
 sun of true glory. Before we proceed further, it 
 may not be improper to state, that Mr. Claibornc hud 
 paid for twelve months preceding the. time of which 
 we have been speaking, great attention to the New 
 Testament, he had devoted a portion of every Satur 
 day to reading it, and had become rationally convinc 
 ed of its divine -authority. He attended church re 
 gularly every Sunday, and declared it made him 
 better, and he avowed without the fear of ridicule 
 from those whose morals v;cre more loose, that his 
 hopes for happiness here and hereafter were bottomed 
 on the mercy of Cod : he \vas gay :ind pleasant in 
 Conversation ; he would not swear, for he considered 
 it rude as ".veil as immoral, and for removed from the 
 vindictive spirit of a monk ; he looked with respect 
 on all who, acknowledging the divinity of the Chris 
 tian system, professed a wish to square their con 
 duct by its precepts, 1 or regretted their aberations 
 from its injunctions. Thus fortified by a religious 
 education, with a mind already richly embellished 
 with stores of Grecian and Roman literature, with 
 manners urbane, a form erect and manly, and a face 
 so exquisitely bc&utiful that it might have been mis 
 taken for the emblem of spring, this enterprising lad, 
 not yet sixteen, with fifty dollars and the necessary 
 addition to his clothing, took his departure from 
 Richmond in a sloop bound to New York. The 
 voyage was unusually tedious, but what made it pe 
 culiarly so to Mr. Chiiberne. was, that before the 
 vessel cleared the capes of Virginia, he was taken ill 
 with the measles. The captain, who acted as physi 
 cian to the crew, treated the complaint in the old 
 fashioned way, keeping his patient in bed and 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 97 
 
 administering sudorifics with a lavish hand ; a high 
 foyer supervening, the lite of the patient was df$- 
 pairedof. These seamen are kind creatures: if their 
 ranks are occasionally dishonored by a Cockburn, 
 who would throw even PanclLuoniam in the shade, 
 under every flag reposes a Howard in benevolence 
 and Christian charity. The attention of this excellent 
 captain was assiduous and friendly : by degrees the 
 fever abated and the patient recovered, but so weak 
 and so languid was the state in which it left Mr. 
 Claiborne that the vessel remained at the wharf ia 
 New York two days before he could venture out. 
 His strength somev/hat regained, its first efforts were 
 exerted to visit Mr. Beckley. I have passed over in 
 -silence the affecting farewell he took of his father ! 
 family, nor &h;ill I attempt to describe his interview 
 with Mr. Beckley ; it is sufficient to say, it eventuated 
 kappily. A birth was vacant in Mr. Beckley s office, 
 r was soon effected, he therefore gave Mr. Claiborne 
 immediate employment. The business which de 
 volved on my brother consisted in copying bills and 
 resolutions of congress, and drawing original bills 
 for members and c:mimittees of congress. These du 
 ties gave occupation to the half of his time, and no 
 more : a portion of each day was devoted to reading 
 political works of merit, attending to the debates in 
 eongj-ess, and learning the French language; his even 
 ing, a! nost invariably to the society of the ladies, t* 
 whose conversation and company through life he was 
 most passionately devoted. The wages he received 
 were sufficient to maintain him, and left a small 
 unexpended residuum. To Mr. Beckley he gave en 
 tire satisfaction, and subsequently repaid him for 
 every favor conferred on him. Congress soon re 
 moved to Philadelphia, and thither "Mr. Claiborne 
 went. Soon after his arrival in Philadelphia he be 
 came acquainted with vice-president Adams and Mr 
 Jefferson, then secretary of state. Mr. Adams ton- 
 
98 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 versed with him several times, gave him once or 
 twice excellent advice, and Mr. Jefferson invited him 
 to dine with him, and after dinner offered him the use 
 of such books as he then had in Philadelphia. To 
 both these gentlemen he has since shewn his gra 
 titude, liib veneration for Mr. Adams, does Mr. 
 Ciaiborne, I humbly conceive, the highest credit. 
 Although he disapproved of the tenor of Mr. Adams*s 
 administration, he invariably spoke of that gentle 
 man with respect, and when the venerable patriarch 
 had retired to private life, he visited him at Brain- 
 tre . Hitherto Mr. Claiborne had not fixed on anj 
 profession on which to depend for future establish 
 ment, in life; he had thought of the navy, the army ; 
 his dreams were sometimes golden, and had even 
 thought that he might rise to the rank of secretary 
 to some American embassy. The law had not yet 
 entered his head. Inconsiderable circumstances 
 sometimes have decisive influence on the destiny of 
 man, and so it happened with Mr. Claiborne, he had 
 for some time been a member of a polemic society, 
 at which was discussed such questions as from time 
 to time agitated the public mind. At last a question 
 was proposed for discussion which Mr. C. had deeply 
 reflected on ; he determined therefore to enter the 
 lists and try his hand at a public speech. He had now 
 entered his eighteenth year : I have told the reader 
 that his person was fine, his pronunciation distinct, 
 accurate and well disciplined, and the tones of voice 
 admirably adapted to public disputation : to these 
 advantages he had superadded, without being himself 
 conscious of it, that grace of gesture which always 
 belongs to the devotion of beauty and innocence. 
 The success of the effort he made on this occasion 
 was surprising, it illicited from a crowded audience 
 reiterated bursts of approbation, nor could it well be 
 otherwise, for an enlightened member of congress 
 who was present, declared it shivered to atoms the 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 99 
 
 arguments of his opponents and bore off the uncon- 
 tested prize of superior eloquence. The success of 
 this effort gave an additional elevation to his rising 
 hopes and he determined to enter on the practice of 
 the law. I ought to have mentioned before, that Mr. 
 C. had become most intimately acquainted with Gen. 
 John Sevier, a delegate in congress from the territory 
 south-west the river Ohio, now state of Tennessee ; 
 that a friendship grew up between them which con 
 tinued unimpaired during their lives, and that of all 
 the benefactors Mr. Claiborne met with in his journey 
 through life there was none like Gen. Sevier in the 
 number and greatness of his favors, and what made 
 them the more estimable was that they were totally 
 disinterested. How deplorable is the state of lite 
 rature in our country; in other words, how little 
 pains are taken to preserve the memory of the lives 
 of useful men. In no book is any further informa 
 tion of John Sevier to be met with, save that of his 
 commanding one of the four regiments that defended 
 Ferguson during the revolutionary war at .King s 
 Mountain. While our bookshops are inundated with 
 the "Thinks I to myself," of that miserable punster 
 George Canning, and descriptions without number 
 f the dogs, and horses, and oxen of my lord, forge t- 
 ing the element (a barber s shop) to which they should 
 be confined, are occupying the shelves of the learned. 
 When this is the case I shall be excused in a short 
 digression, when the object is to make the reader 
 the better acquainted with a noble of nature. John 
 Sevier was born in the state of Virginia, he had little 
 or no education, but nature had given him a mind of 
 such astonishing powers, that he could analyze with 
 ease the most complex subjects, and all who knew 
 him, put confidence in his judgment. Most men, who 
 (like John Sevier) have raised themselves to eminence 
 by their personal exertions, without the aid of a liberal 
 education, look with a prejudiced eye on learned 
 
100 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 accomplishments ; but not so with Sevier, he admired 
 and patronized every enterprising, well informed and 
 virtuous youth who sought his acquaintance, and con 
 tented with the share of public honors his country 
 had bestowed on him, has frequently retired from 
 political canvass to give a fairer chance of suc 
 cess to young men of merit. In private life he was 
 to the last degree mild and forbearing ; in the field 
 of battle fertile and expedient, and rapid in execu 
 tion, lie had early in life moved to the frontiers of 
 North Carolina, and in the wars with the Indians 
 kad become conspicuous for his valor and military 
 genius. He commanded a regiment at the battle of 
 King s Mountain, and I have lieard it frequently as 
 serted, that he wa.3 among the very first who gained 
 the summit of the hill on that eventful day. He had 
 filled many offices of honor and trust, and shortly 
 after his acquaintance with Mr. C. commenced, the 
 veteran was raised to the chief magistracy of the 
 new state of Tennessee. General Sevier had fre 
 quently advised Mr. C. to settle in the territory south 
 west the liver Ohio: he stated the great opening that 
 existed there for a lawyer, and augured that his 
 success would be great. He tendered his assistance 
 and friendship, and he afterwards fulfilled his pro 
 mises. These flattering assurances, and the eclat 
 which atttended the delivery of the speech in the 
 polemic society, determined my brother to choose 
 the profession of the law. He gave Mr. Beckley 
 notice that he intended to leave him as soon as another 
 clerk could be got, and in a short time thereafter, 
 took an affectionate leave of his kind and truly ^ood 
 friend and repaired to Richmond, where he remained 
 three months. During this stay in Richmond he was 
 devoted almost entirely to the society ef the ladies, 
 and I have heard him repeatedly say he had in that 
 time been enabled only to read through the revised 
 code and a chapter er two in the first volume of 
 
NOTES ON TILE WAR IN TII SOUTH, 101 
 
 Blackstone s Commentaries With this dispreparation 
 us he humourously called it, he was an applicant for a 
 license, and strange as it may seem, he passed with 
 great credit, as 1 have been assured by a gentleman 
 who was examined and licensed at the same time. 
 This Mr.C. ascribed to the Polemic society in Phila 
 delphia, which he considered at the time one of the 
 best law schools in the Union. Here he had acquired 
 that general and enlarged view of natural, national 
 and municipal law, without labour and without ex 
 pense, which years of study could not have afforded. 
 The object in getting a license in Virginia was to 
 enable him the more readily to obtain admittance to 
 the territorial bar; without licence in another state, a 
 probationary residence was required. And now, 
 bidding adieu to the scenes of his youth and the 
 charais of large cities, he directed his steps to Sulli 
 van county in the now state of Tennessee, and en 
 tered on the practice of the law. Fate had decreed 
 that he should continue at the bar but a short time, 
 in all not more than two years. His success in this 
 short period was equal to that of any lawyer who 
 ever went before him. No cause of moment and 
 expectation occurred ia a court where he practised, 
 while at the bar, in which he was not employed. He 
 was frequently sent for to the neighboring court in 
 Virginia, and at oae time received live hundred dol 
 lars and had his expenses paid for coming to Virginia 
 to defend a man charged with murder ; at another 
 tune he went two hundred miles to argue a case of 
 great magnitude, in the decision pf, which was involved 
 property to an immense amount, on a promise of a 
 fee so great that Mr. C. refused, although the cause 
 was gained, to receive it, a-td took only an elegant 
 horse estimated at two hundred and fifty dollars, ia 
 lieu thereof. Instead of devoting as heretofore, 
 much of Iris time to gay amusseuier.ts, he was now oc 
 cupied with his bookrj, "and had already raised himself 
 i 
 
102 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 to an equality with the first of the profession as a 
 lawyer : as an advocate in a criminal case, I hazard 
 nothing by saying that he stood unrivalled. Juries 
 have frequently been dissolved in tears while listen 
 ing to his pathetic descriptions of human woe ; and 
 enlightened tribunals of justice have wept under the 
 influence of his touching eloquence, lie now deter 
 mined to move back to Richmond, and enter on the 
 practice of the law there. My brother had a quick 
 ness of comprehension, a goodness of heart, and a, 
 laudable ambition to be distinguished to a degree we 
 rarely meet with. But unfortunately he was consti 
 tutionally lazy; and when we see him inarching with 
 giant strides to eminence in his profession, we are 
 constrained to acknowledge, that he was pushed on 
 by the joint influence of virtuous ambition and hard 
 necessity. Mr. Claiborne was attached to Virginia, 
 and had left it with regret. The very trees tkat 
 had shaded him from a summer s heat, were with 
 him objects of veneration: there were the beautiful 
 seats of his early ancestors: they have long since 
 passed into other hands, but the everlasting marble 
 records the names of the first proprietors. There he 
 had received his earliest instruction, and enjoyed 
 the society of friends who loved him. This determi 
 nation of my brother was heard by the family with 
 enthusiastic pleasure, and as the pressure on him for 
 exertion would be greater, those who knew the 
 astonishing powers of his mind were convinced that 
 he must succeed. He had before he left Richmond,, 
 delivered an oration in the hail of the house of dele 
 gates, to a crowded assembly of citizens and public 
 characters, which was considered among the luckiest 
 efforts of genius, for it was calculated to extort ap 
 probation and to command respect. 
 
 An occurrence now took place which caused the re 
 solution to remove to Richmond to be abandoned. The 
 population of the territory having been ascertained to 
 
ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 103 
 
 amount to seventy-five thousand, they demanded ad 
 mission as un independent state into the Union, and 
 a convention was called to form a state constitution. 
 Mr. Ciaiborne was proposed and elected one of the 
 live members for Sullivan county. 
 
 In the convention which sooa after assembled, he 
 appeared to great advantage. Few more enlightened 
 bodies could be met with than was this convention. 
 The constitution that issued from their hands breathes 
 and secures liberty ; and in the formation t this 
 constitution, William C. C. Ciaiborne had a principal 
 agency. The education he had received, the books 
 he had read, the political circles in which he had 
 passed so much of his time, all conspired to give 
 him an imposing stand. He now stood for the first 
 time before a whole state ; the goodness of his heart, 
 the magnitude of the task, conspired to bring into 
 action all the powers of mind. His merit was uni 
 versally acknowledged. Governor Biount declared, 
 that making the necessary allowance for his youth, he 
 was the most extraordinary man he had ever met 
 with, and that if he lived to attain the age of fifty, 
 nothing but local prejudices could prevent his bej 
 coming one of the most distinguished political charac 
 ters in America. In the convention of Tennessee 
 he began his political career, and without intermission 
 he was thereafter in public life. General Sevier was 
 elected governor of the new state of Tennessee, and 
 among his first acts was the appointment of Mr. 
 Ciaiborne a judge of the supreme court of law and 
 equity of the state. Mr. Ciaiborne was urged bv his 
 friends not to accept ; but in vain. " My motto,* 
 said he, " is honor and not money ; governor Sevier 
 is my friend, and if I can, 1 am bound to aid his 
 administration." At the time of his appointment to 
 a jud^eship, and that too in the highest tribunal in 
 the state, he was not twenty -two years old. His ap 
 pointment met with general approbation; he con- 
 
$4 NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH,, 
 
 tinued but a short time in this office, when a vacancy 
 occurringin the house oi representatives of the United 
 States, by the appointment of Gen. Jackson to the 
 senate, at the solicitation of. several gentlemen who 
 had served with him in the convention, he resigned 
 his seat on the bench and became a candidate for 
 congress, and was elected by an immense majority 
 over his opponent, who was a man of fine talents, of 
 great wealth and extensive connexions. A few days 
 after his election to congress, Mr. Claiborne entered 
 his twenty-third year. This astonishing and rapid 
 promotion becomes still more Surprising when we are 
 told that Mr. Claiborne had but recently come into 
 the district, that he was poor and had not the ad 
 vantage of any kindred blood even in the inost remote 
 degree in the state of Tennessee. While his oppo 
 nent, on the contrary, along with the advantages be 
 fore enumerated, had for ten years been a leading 
 character in that country. During the first congress 
 that Mr. Claiborne satin, he participated but little in 
 debate, but enough to show that he was an acquisition 
 to the republican party, and in that light wa& uni 
 versally considered. On the bill providing, for the 
 military establishment, however, the talents of the 
 house was brought out and the strength of parties 
 put to trial. On this occasion Mr.Ctaiborne delivered 
 his sentiments; his speech (the skeleton of which 
 lias been preserved) was atioiiied with the most 
 . choice, fiowers of ancient as weil as modern literature; 
 it shewed a heart deeply convinced and earnestly en 
 gaged in convincing otheis, and if it discovered on 
 the face of it less labour than other speeches bespoke, 
 it was exempt from the venom \\hich conflicting poli 
 tical prejudices bad on this occasion developed, ard 
 the spirit of benevolence which it breathed, alor.g 
 with the classic purity of the style, recommended it 
 to general attention. A listener thus described it : 
 It seemed to be a spontaneous effort. The object was 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 105 
 
 to convince and persuade, not to surprise ; it had 
 passion and feeling in every sentence, but it was the 
 passion of" the heart ; satisfied he was right, he was 
 bent on the conviction of others. So earnest was 
 Mr. C. that he forced himself on the affection of the 
 most indifferent, and excited the enthusiastic admi 
 ration of his friends : though he was zealous, it was 
 without bustle; he was ardent but not acrimonious, 
 and if he fell short of some of the veterans who pre 
 ceded him, von were loth to make the admission, while 
 you reflected that he was the youngest man who had 
 ever appeared on the floor of congress, and that his 
 election was the result of his personal merit. Mr. 
 Ciaiborne was re-elected to congress. The constitu 
 tion had not required that the electors should desig 
 nate in their tickets the person they voted for as 
 president and the person voted for as vice-president, 
 but simply that they should give their votes for two 
 persons ; that the one having the highest number of 
 votes should be president, and the one having the 
 next highest number should be vice-president. Now 
 it had so happened that Mr. Jefferson and Mr. Burr 
 had an equal number ot votes, and it devolved on 
 the house of representatives to say who should be 
 president, the choice to be made by ballot, and each 
 state in the union to have but one vote. The govern 
 ment of the United States had for some time been 
 in federal hands: taxes unnecessarily imposed, a 
 lavish expenditure ef public money, the creation of 
 a multitude of officers on whom was bestowed hih 
 salaries, all served to shew a fixed determination in 
 the dominant party to give a pomp and pagentry to 
 the administration, incompatible with the spirit of 
 our political institutions, and to assimulate our go 
 vernment to the corrupt governments of Europe. 
 The doctrine had been openly advanced that the 
 worst enemy of the people was the people themselves: 
 that to render the country tranquil and the inhabic- 
 
 ~ 
 
106 NOTES ON THE WAT* IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 auts happy, the government must be strong, and ad 
 ministered in such a way that it did not draw to it 
 the love of the citizen : it must find a support in the 
 awe and fear that it created. This abominable doc 
 trine had many admirers, and from the nature of 
 things, it will always have some. I say abominable, it 
 has drenched some countiies in blood, and where it 
 has predominated, it has invited the chains of op 
 pression and tyranny. The open declarations that 
 the people was incompetent to self-government alarm 
 ed the republican party, and luckily excited the fears 
 of many who had hitherto been ranged under federal 
 leaders. The contest for the presidency was un 
 usually animated ; it eventuated in the election on 
 the part of the people of the two gentlemen before 
 named. It was clear that Jefferson was voted for as 
 president, and Burr vice-president. They had been 
 so nominated before the election commenced, and in 
 every vote given for the two, Jefferson was first 
 named ; when therefore it was understood that they 
 came presented to the house of representatives with 
 an equal number of votes, it was supposed as a 
 matter of course, that the public voice would be 
 obeyed, that Jefferson would be made president ; but 
 not so, Burr was younger than Jefferson, he was to 
 the last degree ambitious ; at intrigue unrivalled : 
 though small in body, he was a giant in understanding; 
 of a military turn he possed a courage no dangers 
 could daunt, no difficulties could deter ; he saw his 
 object, and calculating on the means by which it was 
 to be reached, he marched strait forward with the 
 firm step of a soldier. He has been accused of com 
 bining with the federal party to secure his election to 
 the presidency, but the fact has never been estab 
 lished. A Mr. Ogden was deputed by the federalists 
 to sound him, but it is certain he declined with him 
 every thing in the shape of arrangement. He had, 
 it is true, dined with a federal pnrty just before the 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 1*7 
 
 contest came on in the house of representatives, and 
 given as a toast, "The union of all honest men." 
 This was subject to various interpretations, and might 
 IK> construed fairly as a satire on the company. The 
 strongest and most forcible evidence that he had a 
 loii"-ing eve to the presidency, is that he quarrelled 
 with Gen. Hamilton, who was bitterly opposed to 
 his promotion. What governed the federal party I 
 cannot say : they however came to a determination 
 to support him. They kn w very well the political 
 sentiments of every member of the house of repre 
 sentatives, and as each state had but one vote, they 
 early ascertained that the election depended on the 
 vote" of Mr. Claiborne, the sole representative from 
 the state of Tennessee. Mr. Claiborne was young 
 and aspiring. The federal party knew too that lie 
 v/as poor. They flattered themselves that his vote 
 might be secured. It was insinuated that nature de 
 signed him for the army; to what command had he 
 not a right to aspire? It has been stated that direct 
 overtures were made ; but it is not true: if they had, 
 they would have been repelled properly. Mr. Clai 
 borne, thank God, was too firm to be brought over : 
 he knew the public voice, and thought it honorable 
 and proper to obey it. The day was approaching 
 when this great question of who was to be president 
 was to be decided. It is believed that no subject ever 
 more deeply agitated the public mind. The cloud 
 was risen above the horizon, and from the elements 
 that composed it, it seemed fraught with civil war. 
 The day at last arrived, and the states were equally 
 divided on the first ballot; several other ballots took 
 place, and the result was the same, when the house 
 adjourned : each party took the necessary precautions 
 to prevent the other from entering into the house and 
 juggling in the man who was not their choice. The 
 commotion which was now brewing; among the people 
 1 was to the last degree alarming, ihe news that the 
 
108 NOTES ON THE WAli IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 states were equally divided, spread through the union 
 like wild fire, and "every where produced the liveliest 
 sensation. The importance of Mr. Claibornc s vote 
 was so well understood, that he went armed to the 
 house, and other members carried arms also; for what 
 might occur from the extraordinary agitation that pre 
 vailed, no one could foresee: rumours were even afloat 
 that the parties in the country were beginning to arm. 
 General Hamilton, who on this occasion left the federal 
 party and espoused (he election of Mr. Jefferson, 
 declared that Tennessee would abandon Mr. Jeffersoiv 
 and vote for Colonel Burr. This opinion General 
 Hamilton afterwards found to be erroneous, and he 
 honorably confessed that it was a mere speculative 
 opinion and no more. 
 
 For several days congress and the country round 
 about them was a scene of terrible confusion: thirty- 
 six ballots had been had and the result was the same, 
 an equality of rotes both for Mr. Jefferson and Col. 
 Burr. On every ballot Mr. Claiborne had voted for 
 Jefferson, and declared that as he felt satisfied, that 
 that gentleman was the choice of the people, he was 
 bound to adhere to him, let the consequences be what 
 they would. The thirty-seventh ballot, the state of 
 Vermont, that hitherto voted for Col. Burr, threw in a 
 blank ballot and Jefferson was elected. I shall not 
 stop to eulogise the conduct of Mr. C. he did his duty; 
 he deserved esteem for his firmness, and he got it. 
 Mr. Claiborne remained but a short time after this 
 in congress. A serious misunderstanding having 
 arisen between the people of the Mississippi territory 
 and their then governor, I state on the best authority 
 that many distinguished individuals then signified a 
 wish for the appointment of Mr. C. as their governor, 
 and in conformity therewith he received and accepted 
 
 that office. This was sometime in the year , 
 
 I have hitherto been careless of dates, not having 
 the necessary public documents ; I am constrained 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 109 
 
 in sonic particulars to rely altogether on memory. 
 No man, it is believed, past his time more happily 
 than Mr. C. did while governor of the Mississippi 
 territory. He had lately married Miss Eliza W. 
 Lewis, of Nashville : she was tall and graceful, and 
 possessed a perfect symmetry of features: her indul 
 gent parents had early procured for her the best in 
 structors, and her mind was stored with those literary 
 accomplishments which give lustre to the female cha 
 racter. 
 
 Blessed with the affections of an amiable wife, iu 
 possession of the confidence of the people, without 
 (as he declared in his confidential letters to his rela 
 tions) an enemy on earth, and possessed of a clear for 
 tune to the value of twenty hundred pounds, with a 
 salary that supported him most comfortably; penetrat 
 ed with a belief that it was his duty to obey the pub 
 lic voice and contribute all in his power to advance 
 the interest and honor of his country, he suffered 
 fcimself to be -withdrawn from a society he loved, 
 an office in which lie gave general satisfaction, ta 
 fill a station the most important in the gift of the ge 
 neral government, and to discharge which required 
 an energy, prudence and a depth of understanding, 
 beyond, far beyond, the lot of ordinary politicians. 
 I have already told the reader, that though fond of 
 ease, Mr. Claibome possessed the faculty of labour 
 and exertion to a most astonishing degree, when a 
 necessity for exertion occurred. The oflice of gover 
 nor of Louisiana, newly acquired by purchase from 
 the French, without solicitation on his part, being 
 offered him, he accepted the same, and repairir 
 New Orleans, he received from Monsier Lausat the 
 necessary transfer, and proceeded to the administra 
 tion of the government. A minute detail of events, 
 in which he now had an a^ncy, is nnnd-ccs-iary; 
 they may be met with in a thousand vt-i-:me.s and 
 most men of information are familiarly aaruaint-.-d. 
 
110 NOTES N THE WAR I^ T THE SOUTH. 
 
 with them. The difficulty of introducing a repub 
 lican government in a country for near two centuries 
 accustomed only to the trappings of royalty; of 
 introducing the common law and the trial by jury, 
 in lieu of the civil law; of breaking the seal, which 
 corruption had put on the administration of justice, 
 which kept causes undecided for thirty and forty 
 years, can easily be anticipated ; yet the whole was 
 effected in spite of the renegadoes from the Atlantic 
 states, who repairing in shoals to New Orleans, more 
 greedy than the locusts of Kgynt, expecting and so 
 liciting all the cilices in the gift of the new govern 
 ment, and when disappointed, setting up and sup 
 porting venal and corrupt presses to vilify and abuse 
 him, and to exhibit in an odious point of view every 
 act of his public life that envy and malice could 
 seize on as the subject of accusation. Mr. Clai borne 
 was resolved, and uniformly acted up to the resolu 
 tion, that the greater part of the ofiices should be 
 filled by the natives ot the country. To treat the 
 people as a conquered province was in his view 
 odious. By attaching the natives to him, the preju 
 dices in favor of the ancient regimen were subverted, 
 and the most necessary innovations were effected, 
 and after a series of years, when the state of Louisi 
 ana formed a constitution, it was found to be through 
 out republican, recognising and establishing all the 
 innovations the governor had introduced. If any 
 additional evidence of the wisdom of Mr. C s ad 
 ministration w r as required, it is found in the gratitude 
 of the people of Louisiana. Notwithstanding all the 
 efforts of the renegado malcontents, the people at 
 large, by an immense plurality of votes, elected him 
 their first governor after the adoption of the consti 
 tution. I shall pass over without comment, his ofli- 
 cial conduct, after his election by the people ; it is 
 before the world in various publications, and lias met 
 with the approbation of every patriot. While history 
 
NOTES ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH, 111 
 
 exists, the energy of Governor Claiborne, and the 
 bravery and patriotism of the people of Louisiana, 
 will never be forgot; gliding down the current of 
 time to the most remote ages, receiving the appro 
 bation as they pass of renewing generations, the go 
 vernor and the brave Louisianians will never cease 
 to be hailed as the benefactors of mankind. 
 
 With the commencement of the year 1817, his 
 time as governor of Lowisiana expired, and immedi 
 ately thereupon he was elected to the senate of the 
 United Statt-s ; but fate had decreed that he should 
 not be longer tossed on the tempestuous sea of public 
 life. On the twenty-third of November, 1817, he 
 breathed his last. All ranks attended his corpse to the 
 grave : the municipal authorities on the day of his 
 interment decreed a public mourning, and appropriat 
 ed a large sum of money to erect a marble monument 
 to his memory. Before closing this sketch of Mr. 
 Claiborne s life, it may be necessary to state, his first 
 wife, mentioned before, and his daughter, the only 
 ehildby her, died at New Orleans of the yellow fever; 
 that sometime after, he married Mademoiselle Cla 
 rissa Duralde, a French lady of great beauty, who 
 he had the misfortune to lose by the same fatal fever 
 that deprived him of his first ; and subsequently he 
 married Miss Bosque, a Spanish lady of fortune, by 
 whom he is survived. By his second wife he has a 
 son still living, and by his widow two children, both 
 sons. It is some consolation to know that his widow 
 and children have the prospect of comfortable provi 
 sion. I cannot conclude this biography of William 
 (>. C. Claiborne, late governor of Louisiana, without 
 recommending it to the perusal of his sons, and ex 
 pressing a hope, that they will, as far as is in their 
 power, make the life of their father an exampe, by 
 which to regulate their own conduct. He was moral 
 from his cradle to his grave; if lie ever swore an 
 oath in my presence, I have forgot it ; and. to ihis J 
 
112 NOTliS ON THE WAR IN THE SOUTH. 
 
 especially call your attention. It is not my dear 
 nephews in the power of all men to be learned, elo 
 quent and great; but all with the blessing of God 
 may be good. You are young, my dear nephews ; 
 your father died just after passing what is usually 
 called a middle age, and when you stood in need of 
 his advice and assistance. Perhaps it is for the best ; 
 his example may be more striking when endeared by 
 the reflection of the bereavei&ent you have sustained. 
 To my sister and my nephews, I oiler the affectionate 
 regard of a brother and an uncle. 
 
 s. 
 

THIS BOOK IS DUE ON THE LAST DATE 
 STAMPED BELOW 
 
 AN INITIAL FINE OF 25 CENTS 
 
 WILL BE ASSESSED FOR FAILURE TO RETURN 
 THIS BOOK ON THE DATE DUE. THE PENALTY 
 WILL INCREASE TO SO CENTS ON THE FOURTH 
 DAY AND TO $1.OO ON THE SEVENTH DAY 
 OVERDUE. 
 
 FEB 241940 
 
 Mz& 
 
 MAR171971 S7 
 
 FEB 5 iy.4h 
 
 
 REG. CIR. SEP 2 5 
 
 REC D LD 
 
 & 
 
 uh 
 
 It 
 
 \AU 
 
 DAVIS ~ 
 ERUBRAKY LOAM 
 
 LD 21-100m-7, 39(402s) 
 
325669 
 
 UNIVERSITY OF CALIFORNIA LIB