a battery on the margin of the morass, for the purpose of turning the left wing of our army. They had much confidence in the successful result of this plan of operation; but the sun, which dissipated the fog the following morning, discovered to them, also, the futility of their hopes.. To their astonishment, they found the American intrenchment completed three hundred yards beyond their battery in the morass, and General Coffee, with his brave Tennesseans, ready to give them an unwelcome reception. They opened upon our troops with their eighteen pounders, but the return fire from our lines, poured upon them with a most destructive effect. The battle raged till the enemy, no longer able to sustain the fire of our batteries, discontinued the contest in much confusion.

On the following morning, General Jackson ordered a sortie of four hundred men, two hundred of whom were mounted, to reconnoitre their camp; and by them it was ascertained, that their artillery had been dismounted by our guns; that they had been carried off; that they had razed their redoubts, and had retreated on their first lines towards Lake Bienvenue.

These repeatedly unsuccessful attempts of Sir Edward Packenham, to storm the American lines, and reduce the city of New Orleans by a coup de main, brought at length to his mind the unwelcome conviction, that to meet and vanquish our armies in the field; to capture our cities; to plunder them of their "beauty and booty," for the gratification of the avarice and licentiousness of his soldiers; to plant there the standard of his nation, and extend over our countrymen the sceptre of its power, were matters that could not be performed as the pastime of an idle hour; not things that could be done or left undone, as the good will and pleasure of him or his sovereign master should dictate. He was, however, a brave man, and resolved not to despair, but concentrate his forces,

and by one powerful effort to accomplish the object of his expedition, by defeating the American army, and destroying New Orleans; thus fulfilling the expectations of his countrymen, and winning for himself another and a greener wreath of laurel. Of the success of his operations, we shall soon have occasion to remark.

CHAPTER IX.

Belligerent preparations—Arrival of Kentucky reinforcements-Operations of General PakenhamAdvances upon the American works-BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS-Result of the battle-Retreat of the army-Fort St. Philips-Major Overton's gallant defence of it-Consequences of the victory of New Orleans-General Jackson addresses his soldiers.

THE notes of preparation were now every where heard along the lines of the belligerent armies, which indicated the approach of a bloody encounter. Sir Edward Pakenham, the commander-in-chief of the British forces at New Orleans, had many powerful motives that urged him to risk a decisive battle. It is true, he was not upon his own native soil, struggling for the preservation of his country's liberty and honor; for the safety of his family, his friends, his fireside, and home; his arm was not raised to check high-handed oppression, or crush a tyrant who trampled with impunity upon the lives and privileges of his subjects; but he was a veteran who had acquired much reputation by his prowess on the bloody battlefields of Europe; he was a favorite and distinguished officer under Wellington, and shared in the honors which were lavished upon those who had been instrumental in completing the wreck of the fallen fortunes of the most consummate general that the world ever saw: he knew that for these considerations his government had placed

an army of fifteen thousand of the best disciplined troops, most of whom had been his former companions in glory, under his command, and intrusted to him the care of this expedition against New Orleans, and that they were sanguine in their expectations of his success. He therefore determined to strike a decisive blow, and meet the anticipations of his countrymen. General Jackson, on the

other hand, though impelled by widely different motives from those of his distinguished rival, was nevertheless determined to repel with firmness every aggression of the enemy.

On the fourth of January, the Kentucky militia, to the amount of two thousand five hundred, under the command of General Adair, arrived at New Orleans, and joined the army of General Jackson. Their arms were in very bad order on their arrival, in consequence of which, and the scarcity of good muskets with bayonets, four companies of regulars gave up their arms to the newly arrived troops, and armed themselves with fowling pieces and pikes in their stead. The American force consisted of about six thousand, chiefly composed of inexperienced militia, many of them unarmed, in consequence of the delay in forwarding munitions, which were expected, as they were known to be in the Mississippi. The enemy's force consisted of more than fourteen thousand of the best disciplined troops, and commanded by officers of acknowledged skill and courage.

General Pakenham was prepared for a serious attempt upon the American works. During the days of the sixth and seventh, he employed himself with much activity in making preparations for battle. With infinite labor he was enabled, on the night of the canal from the swamp to the Mississippi, by means of which he succeeded in transporting his boats, in which his disembarkation had been effected, from the lake to the

seventh, to complete a

river. His intentions were to make a simultaneous attack on the main force of General Jackson on the left bank, and crossing the river to attack the batteries on the right. The works of General Jackson were now completed, his front was a straight line of one thousand yards, defended by upwards of three thousand infantry and artillerists. The ditch contained five feet water; and his front, from having been flooded by opening the levees, and frequent rains, was rendered slippery and muddy. Eight distinct batteries were judiciously disposed, amounting in all to twelve guns of different calibers.

On the opposite side of the river, there was a strong battery of fifteen guns, erected and superintended by Commodore Patterson; and the intrenchments were occupied by General Morgan, with the Louisiana militia, and a strong detachment of Kentucky troops. To guard against an attack from any other source, Colonel Kemper, with a few men, encountering great difficulties, had explored every pass and bayou, and on this subject had placed at ease the mind of the American commander.

It had not been in the power of General Jackson to impede the operations of the enemy by a general attack, on account of the nature of his troops, they being composed mostly of militia, mere novices in the science of war, and wholly unused to military tactics. To have attempted extensive offensive movements, in an open country, against an army of double his numbers, and superior in every respect in point of arms and discipline, would have been extremely hazardous and doubtful policy. His forces had been increased in number, it is true, by the arrival of the Kentucky division, but his effective strength had received no important addition; a small portion only of that detachment being provided with arms or munitions, that could render them of much service in the approaching contest. He was thus compelled to wait