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Show ,-- " """"" , UlAtl i(D vS fl R A fx , ; ttfi 4r0'9CJ ' (Ti jj f .'Ar ac ? fcJ u ;s not the purpose of thla fl M?) H '' y&i&tf V( J I M nrtl(''e to try to twist the Brit- 8 ffC&i V ff V'ilWVV H I F lsh ,lon,s AH this Is ancient H W 1 JXi&XriJ VVy t'll Ot " hlStry- British statesmen ly f JK V- w 'SWWyjyyy nowadays are publicly admit- if f H t (Q) f3 fJ-O ltfi t!ng thut 1(9 cnurse with Its UCCT X''V f' f l l M j I I American colonies was a mls- uynt'fW fill Ai 'i Vj n take- The two natlons are nw l- -.tV. cohesion of the English-speak- --T ' - I? ssR ln5 peoples depends the safety FM rtrl 1 I fivt of the world. ; T'-V X'-"$VJ Nevertheless, this "If Is In- V.s pirm tensely Interesting. Was Jack- 1 Ar V :-.'y-SN son right In his Interpretation? I Jt ' ff $S An3 lf he was rlSnt anc' lf ne j -m-iS ft 8 had been defeated, would Brit- I ' ill VJ- , V I la aln have heM on t0 New 0r" j V1 lx ' R J4f Ieans-or let go? Figure out "H 3 'V ljtPV V T'JI the answer for yourself, j - , 1 V X t In any event the Battle of j . : ' : : V'V3 J&x'.jTllfa New Orleans was an extraor- j ( 1 - "lfc. y x t" Pl dinary affair. Word of the V S J "aik. ' ''- ' t r f V British expedition reached i yji v -i"' t rVU Washington early in December 1 i,U At'IY v XT B V4 of 1914. President Madison or- I -t.W kWfJ' 1-V dered the mlllta of Kentucky fx " . ll (Y$'tJ$f '-h &r f$' and Tennessee to join Jack- S,v s 1 J ; rlrvM JAGKSQN ' '( W amved there December 12. He j i1 " .V-iJH i V " organized a force of about 3,- I &X fJl 4 000, composed of about 1000 1 s" -x'v - 'r0 X regulars, local volunteers, free I K x - 1 "S A ! !. men of color and "Barataria 1 li t V 1 vv-1 Jr i Pirates" under Jean Lafltte. I V J sJ fV';N?,VV ,,J7 fah , , rf,V T1- British entered L.ke 3 V-r : f i x t C "r' L flyl r t Borgne, nine miles from New M f 1 nt' ' V -HNj ' l - ' ! W 0,'leacs. December 23. They 1-1 f I i - t VCv AZSxV J Lil 'j ?D were 10,000 strong, largely :j rj Vf'l J madeP of vetera of Enroll Enro-ll II 11 J:? ri ?;K 4-7! Pean wars and were considered m ' - ' V-'i rx'" " : .V ' I nlrl -KWM Me. Preliminary skirm-I skirm-I U t X"A , f ' j w ishea took place, Jackson -- A f i I'l ( -1 killing time In anxious waiting v n V n1'1" vx l x' " f H.nl for the Kentucky and Tennes- XV x x xxn "'xN x? x1 'x . Ifll? -j S see riflemen. They arrive at io-t 1 - vrmi If x 7 U7A,r "rtj xi v ycl 11 IS Id W. y "DecUi-Oe "Battle JJCfAW' ( TV i)JrJC By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN " '" S . I I f j-SV ll lAXUAItY 8, 1S15, one hundred and ten "E"511. - tkh' 1 ff 1 ,! 5"' f'51 '8 II If years ago, Americans under Gen An- - SrTL , -T f 'll 5 I f f ' i TV i 1 8 drew Jackson defeated British under TAivl 4l& A ' " L T, fx " . g General Pakenham at the Battle of New A-S'1) - . L C T-Vx5 ' (S S OTl Orleans. It was one of the most extra- W VM fe, Y'riZ I I ordinary victories m all railitaiy his- SSI L -Vf' I 4 torv. B'rom one viewDoint it was a "De- ' - i5 f . I'M C By JOHN DICKINSON SHERMAN JANUARY 8, 1S15, one hundred and ten 1! ! ' years ago, Americans under Gen. An-if An-if drew Jackson defeated British under 4ftilli General Pakenham at the Battle of New Orleans. It was one of the most extra-b extra-b ordinary victories m all military his-4 his-4 torv. B'rom one viewpoint it was a "De cisive Battle" for America and for all the world. "Old Hickory" so regarded it. "If the British had won " is one of the fascinating "Ifs" of our history. Following is a chronology of events having a more or less direct bearing on the Battle of New Orleans: 1759 Victory of Wolfe over Montcalm at Quebec Que-bec closes century struggle between French and British for possession of America. 1762 France bilks Britain by secretly ceding to Spain Louisiana west of Mississippi River and Island Is-land of New Orleans. 1763 Treaty of Paris, giving French America to Britain. 1763 George III bilks American Colonies by Quebec Act, making Alleghanies-Mississippl country coun-try crown lands. 1775 Fighting begins In Revolution. 1778 George Rogers Clark captures Illinois Country and Virginia takes possession. 1783 Treaty of Versailles, making the Mississippi Missis-sippi Western boundary of new nation. 17S9 Constitution takes effect, United States Is born, Washington inaugurated first President. 1800 Treaty of St. Ildefonso; Spain cedes Louisiana Louisi-ana to France. 1803 Louisiana Purchase by America from France. 1804 American Flag replaces Spanish and French flags and Clark Expedition to Pacific. 1812 War against Britain; Louisiana admitted to Union. 1814, Dec. 24 Peace Treaty of Ghent. 1815. Jan. 8 Battle of New Orleans. Comment on chronology: At the end of the Franco-British struggle for America Spain was stronger than France, so Louis XV secretly ceded the territory west of the Mississippi to his ally. In 1800 Spain was decadent and France was the France of Napoleon, who apparently had the world at his feet. Moreover, Napoleon was planning a new French empire along the Mississippi to take the place of the one lost on the Plains of Abraham. Abra-ham. So Napoleon took back from Spain the territory ter-ritory ceded in 17G2. The United States found the mouth of the Mississippi closed to Its shipping ship-ping by French-Spanish interests. Thereupon Jefferson Jef-ferson sent Livingston end Monroe to Napoleon with $2,000,000 with which to buy the mouth. Napoleon Na-poleon kept them twiddling their thumbs while he went on with his preparations. Confronted in 1S03 with the necessity of choosing between colonizing col-onizing and fighting Britain, he chose to tight. He then literally forced upon the American envoys the Louisiana Purchase for $15,000,000. Jefferson was aghast. The East stormed in protest. There was but about $25,000,000 in circulation in the whole country. But the West was pleased. Congress ratified the purchase. In the War of 1812, while the peace negotiations which led up to the Treaty of Ghent were under .way, the secret expedition against New Orleans was crossing the Atlantic. The Treaty of Ghent was signed December 24, 1814. both parties being uninformed of course as to the success or failure of the expedition against New Orleans. 'I he treaty contained a provision for the restoration of all territory ter-ritory taken by either nation during the war. Presumably Pre-sumably the Americans assumed that this provision pro-vision covered the possible taking of New Orleans. What had the British in mind? Representative James O'Connor of the first congressional con-gressional district of Louisiana, In which lie the battlefield, read Into the Congressional l.rcord January 8, 1923, an excerpt from the writing or William Allen (1S06-79), representative and senator sen-ator from Ohio and later governor of Ohio -n it Allen tells of a conversation with Presideni .lack-son .lack-son in the White House, shortly after the admission admis-sion In 1830 of Arkansas, the second of ihe m states to be made in whole or In part from the Louisiana Purchase. The first thing of course was a drink. The toast proposed by Jackson was t lie new star In our Flag-Arkansas." Thereupon Jackson said to Allen: . "Do you know. Mr. Allen, that this new state which has just become a part of our vast KepuD-11c KepuD-11c Is one of the first substantially large fruits ot ay victory at New Orleans?" Allen was surprised and said so, remarking that the Treaty of Ghent was signed 15 days before the battle was fought and adding: "General, I am familiar .with that treaty and It provided for the restoration of all territory, places and possession taken by either nation during the war, with certain unimportant exceptions." Following are the high points of the ensuing conversation, con-versation, Jackson doing most of the talking: '"Technically you are quite correct," replied General Gen-eral Jackson, and his smile was more triumphant and proud than before. "But, my dear Allen," said the old hero, "those very words would have been used to defeat the purpose of the American commissioners at Ghent, because the Battle of New Orleans was fought after the war; 15 days after the war technically ceased by treaty. "If General Pakenham with his 10,000 veterans, could have annihilated my little army and captured cap-tured New Orleans .xnd all the contiguous territory, terri-tory, technically after the war, Great Britain would have held that territory, abrogated that treaty, and utterly Ignored Thomas Jefferoon's great deal in real estate with Napoleon. Moreover," he continued, contin-ued, "Great Britain had other cards up her sleeve. "Here are the transcripts from the Department of State concerning the famous treaty of Ghent. Hera are the minutes of the conference which were kept by Mr. Gallatin, who records: "'The British commissioners emphatically de-olared: de-olared: "We do not admit Bonaparte's construction of the laws of the nations. We cannot accept it In relation to any matter before us." ' "At that moment not one of our American commissioners com-missioners comprehended the awfully deep significance signifi-cance of those fow words. But every one of the commissioners of Great Britain knew that General Pakenham was on the way to New Orleans with upward of 10,000 veteran soldiers. In their judgment judg-ment and it was a wise judgment, too 10,000 British soldiers should, and would, clean up and wipe out an army which America could muster, for the Pakenham invasion was to be a triumphant military coup and surprise. "Now I can tell you. Mr. Allen, that I did not know and my boys behind those bales did not know what a prize the British were after nor what a service we were rendering our country. We were simply typical American soldiers, fighting for our country as American soldiers always do; ready and willing to dare, do and die. "But since I have been President I have ascertained ascer-tained from diplomatic sources of unquestionable authority that the British ministry did not Intend to permit the treaty of Ghent to apply to the Louisiana Purchase at all. The whole body, Lord Liverpool, the Duke of Portland, Greenville, Perci-val Perci-val and Castlereagh. all of them, utterly and emphatically em-phatically denied the right of Napoleon to sell Louisiana. Therefore, their commissioners declared de-clared 'We cannot accept Napoleon's Interpreta- . tions of irternatlonal law In relation to any mat- "No'w ryoUu' see, Mr. Allen," said the proud old hero "the British ministry In London held most vehemently that this country had- no right to that Irnmenso territory-no right at all. They Intended to hold that It was entirely extraneous to the terms of the treaty of Ghent And, if General Pakenham had been successful at New Orleans as, under all of the ordinary rules of war he ought to have been with his tremendously overwhelming force of veterans-lf he had defeated my little, thin line of riflemen, if he had killed or captured me, lf he had won that battle as Great Britain had every reason Tr. MDect of him, he would have held his ground. Moreover he would have fortified his positions, (reat Britain would have sent other veterans Enough tc forever hold that great prize, the Louisi- an''BuPtU myTear sir, British diplomacy and British uftar'y power combined knew nothing o my Ten-military Ten-military poe rmemen. The will of the neSSm6v was strong and Intelligent; but the will of enemy was st" lt aU. Providence willed that GL,d Uon should live grow, and be the cradle of tyD o "h -,d.; Then Gene.l .acon rrr.oausWwiykHlsVwonders to perform.' and con C' "Tfe a"unterd?p!omats. the trained commissioners f ?reat Britain cheerfully found it easy to throw of Great B" honest commissioners at sand m o the "BS r could not ward off the cold Ghent; but Allen, thej c riflemen sprinkled !ead which my fVcoated veterans at New into the fa fthlXngIed web that British dlplo-Orleans. dlplo-Orleans. All ot tne " ,d weave about our macy and EngHsh cunnl g c mexper.enced ls! e he never.mia. soaked in blood in half an nou r3 c.f tn9 s,ng rill., of my s ,uml J oU B frQm KST'STcV i-raMe bales of cotton." It is not the purpose of thla article to try to twist the British Brit-ish lion's tail. Ail this Is ancient history. British statesmen nowadays are publicly admitting admit-ting that Its course with Its American colonies was a mistake. mis-take. The two nations are now probably closer together than ever before. Possibly on the cohesion of the English-speaking peoples depends the safety of the world. Nevertheless, this "If" Is Intensely In-tensely Interesting. Was Jackson Jack-son right In his Interpretation? And If he was right and if he had been defeated, would Britain Brit-ain have held on to New Orleansor Or-leansor let go? Figure out the answer for yourself. In any event the Battle of New Orleans was an extraordinary extraor-dinary affair. Word of the British expedition reached Washington early in December of 1914. President Madison or-' or-' dered the mlllta of Kentucky and Tennessee to join Jackson Jack-son at New Orleans. Jackson arrived there December 12. He organized a force of about 3,-000, 3,-000, composed of about 1,000 regulars, local volunteers, free men of color and "Barataria Pirates" under Jean Lafltte. The British entered Lake Borgne, nine miles from New Orleans, December 23. They were 10,000 strong, largely made up of veterans of European Euro-pean wars and were considered Invincible. Preliminary skirmishes skirm-ishes took place, Jackson killing time In anxious waiting for the Kentucky and Tennessee Tennes-see riflemen. They arrivctt at the last moment, Jackson then entrenched on tha Plains of Chalmette, about four miles south of the city, using cotton bales for breastworks. January 8 the British veterans marched in solid ranks directly upon the breastworks, scorning the few little cannon that barked at them. At 200 yards they were still marching as If on dress parade. Then the Kentucky and Tennessee riflemen rifle-men opened up. They stood three deep. The first line fired and moved back to give place to the second sec-ond rank. By the time the third line had fired the first line was ready. Always they fired at the officers offi-cers and file leaders. The veterans broke, reformed, re-formed, came again and broke the second time. In less than half an hour the riflemen killed and wounded 2,600 British. General Pakenham was mortally wounded. General Glbbs, second In command, com-mand, shared his fate. General Keane, upon whom command devolved, was shot down. General Lambert Lam-bert then withdrew the British forces and soon sailed away to Mobile, where word of the signing of the peace treaty was received. The veterans went home to whip Napoleon at Waterloo. The American loss was 8 killed and 13 wounded. What a remarkable battle! And a feature of It Is the contrast between the opposing forces. The British veterans, supposedly Invincible, supremely self-confident, disdaining tactics, marching In solid ranks in direct frontal attack upon the breastwork of cotton bales. Behind the breastwork a motley array French and Spanish Creoles (local white residents); free men of color; Lafltte and his pirates; pi-rates; convicts and the Kentucky and Tennessee mountaineers who had come by river In flatbonts. A second feature is that It was the Kentucky rifle vs. the British musket. Both sides withheld their fire until about 200 yards. At that distance "Brown Bess" the British smooth-bore musket, In the hand of a veteran, was usually able to put a bullet somewhere In the ranks of an opposing army. The American rifle in a frontiersman's hands would put its bullet in the head of any specified speci-fied individual In the front ranks of the enemy. European soldiers fired by volleys In the general direction of the enemy. American riflemen picked their target and made every shot count. Looking at the engagement now, the British were simply led up to slaughter. And there was Lafltte and his pirates! At war with the constituted authorities, they were yet Americans when it cnme to resistance against an Invader. Captain Lockyer of the British navy, offered of-fered Lafltte a pardon, a captain's commission and $30,000 to join the British expedition. And as to the American leader surely no more picturesque figure ever enlivened the pages of American history than "Old Hickory." As to -the pictures: The portrait of Jackson represents him in later life as a civilian; as fighting man in uniform he was a different figure altogether. The statue Is the famous "Rocking Horse Statue," which in replica stands in Washington Wash-ington and New Orleans. President Coolidge Is shown placing a wreath on the Washington statue. The New Orleans statue stands In Jackson square, where Jackson drilled his troops. Facing the park Is the famous old Cahlldo (1795) In which the Louisiana Purchase was consummated. In the other picture is shown Admiral Sir William Wil-liam Christopher Pakenham of the British navy placing a wreath on the grave In New Orleans of Gen Sir Edward Michael Pakenhnm. killed In t lie Battle of New Orleans. Admiral1 Pakenham. re-centlv re-centlv retired from command of the British fleet in North Atlantic nnd West Indian waters, lie is a grand nephew of General Pakenham. The Plains oj Chalmette today are hcaiitlful with great live oa& Bills have been Introduced in congress to make the New Orleans battlefield Hie center of a national park. |