Show 0 id NeW vina 6 I 1 av A 56 e ej y N at alz ilz 4 4 I 1 41 A i A I 1 A ott 7 Z v 4 ELMO SCOTT WATSON 8 Is a date in american his 40 tory that is full of paradox cele I 1 berated as the battle of new orleans ij it was not fought there but at least 12 miles aay amity so the battle of chalmette would be the more acau tr rate name for it IL 1 it was a battle fought between the arm es of amo nations who were A technically at leace bace because the treaty baty ending the war betteen them had been signed ned two weeks previously so it would seem that it the 13 americans and the british who were killed as well as those of the 39 american and d the 1262 british wounded who died later perished dished in vain and that this might properly be called the most useless battle in history yet it was not even though it was a brilliant victory tory from the strictly military point of view it had no value insofar as it had no influence 14 0 on the i bace treaty ending the war but from the i diplomatic angle it was tremendously imbor 1 I danl it during the time the american and british 4 I 1 aa I 1 peace commissioners at ghent were wrangling ir 1 over er the terms of that treaty the re presenta 4 tives es of england were mere holding an ace up their k U sleeves eves they I 1 new that general pakenham with 4 L his i 10 veterans was mas on his way to capture new orleans and ti ey were confident that he would do it tl TI ey w m ere thinking of this and of louisiana territory which jefferson had pur chased from napoleon 12 years earlier when they emphatically declared to the american commbs signers we do i ot admit bonaparte s construe tion of the laws of the nations we cannot ac capt it in relation to any matter before us so so if pakenham hain had been successful it if he had defeated old hid hiel ory jackson who was defending new orleans and captured that city great britain basing her claim upon the dec la caration lar atlon ration of her cammi that napoleon had no right to sell louisiana to the united states would haye declared thit that the treaty of ghent did not apply to louis ana and with Pd Lenham hain in control of new orleans would mould probably have made her claim good so perhaps those frontiers men who mho lost their lives at chalmette did not die dle in vain besides being celebrated in louisiana as new orleans day january 8 Is also observed in other parts of the country as jackson day a rallying rall yin time tor for members of the political party pledged to the principles of jacksonian Jacks onlan democracy it would seem more appropriate if the democrats had made march 15 their hero heros s birthday jack son day or they might have selected NON november ember 3 1829 as a date to commemorate comme morite for it was on that day that the principles of jacksonian Jacks onlan democracy first triumphed and sent old hid ory to the white house so the observance of the date of a military victory for a political purpose Is something of a paradox and there are those who mho would declare that the departure of the democratic party of today from those historic principles makes it all the more para I 1 another paradox connected with this historic event which occurred just years ago has to do with its immediate results As might have been expected jackson s victory made him the hero of the hour in ne nev v orleans of the recep tion which awaited him when he returned there from the battlefield of chalmette marquis james in his anbrew jackson the border captain published last sear by the bobbs verrall corn com pany says the city gave him a latin welcome pierre favrot seated by a window overcool overl ool in the place d darmes armes undertook to describe it to his wife at this moment ta biere ere are more than 2500 people in the place amai awaiting ting the arrival of the general at least 1000 women momen ladie 1 I 1 young girls new orleans gave itself over to feting the heroes and ir tr favrot wrote no more that day the rigors of the s ege w m ere for gotten jackson suspended the nine clock cur few and the galety lasted into the night in the morning favrot I 1 dished his letter S 8 A al never my dear have hane I 1 seen such a crowd all the troops arriving to the strains of military music of the cannons more than 12 people of whom 8 were armed tomorrow lo morron they will crown the general twelve young girls will strew his path with flowers ills Is they did on the morrow and much more at the door of the church he was received by the abbe dubourg in I 1 Us Is robes of office and attended by a college of priests the choir began to chant the majestic lines of the te deum the people in the church took up the hymn it spread aspre id to the lips of the throng that th filled tl ti e square as all new orleans poured forth its gratitude for deliverance but tl stat at gratitude ferati tude was short lived and tie I 1 leio ei 0 of yesterday N wis is in their minds a tyrant the nest next day when new orleans awake awakened somewhat amazed to find itself to all intents once more in a state of sie e the t eions of martial law w ere re imposed milita i companies w N aich I 1 ad 1001 ed forward to kroml t disbandment were mere marched into camps and set to drilling I 1 deserve companies not under arms before because were mere no arms to give them were mere called out the dilatory cargo of war de apartment part ment rifles having arrived andrew jackson L v all pictures from marquis james andrew jackson the border captain courtesy the bobbs merrill company 6 1 A participants conception OF THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS an excellent tac representation pa anted in water colors in 1815 by hyacinthe laclotte Lac fotte an eng neer in gen eral jackson s army the whereabouts of the original of this unusual paint ng is not known the reproduction is from a contemporary and rare engraving made in france by philibert lou s debacourt Debu court and now in the collection of albert lieutaud of new orleans 2 A presentation PORTRAIT OF JACK SON A miniature on ivory done at new orleans by jean francois vallee a frenchman under the spell of the napoleon c trad t on the cepro is from an engraving in the private col lect elect on of emil edward hurja of new york city 3 PORTRAIT OF JACKSON BY RALPH E W EARLE painted at the herm tage in 1820 expected his victory to have bearing on the bedl ous negotiations he ed to be in progress at ghent but he took no chances he knew the tenacity of the english and their reputation fo for loang los ng every battle except the last one X 94 it must be remembered that news of the sign ing of the treaty of ghent had not yet arrived in iberica and that although jackson had smashed pakenham s amy there was still a strong force under beane leane and thornton on board the british fleet at the mouth of lake borgne there was no assurance that they would not try again to capture tew new orleans so jackson was wise to take no chances of bein caught unprepared so his state of readiness was maintained at a sacrifice ce of much popularity the lower house of the louisiana legislature voted jackson a sword but the proposal was killed in the sen ate eite A lengthy resolution of thanks how ever was adopted it was mas studded with names captains majors color colonels els generals the auchoi must have written with a roster of the army before him but in this long I 1 st of the con and the obscure nowhere appeared the name of andrew jaci jacl son As rumors that a treaty of peace had andeel I 1 I 1 een signed began to dritt into the city the d s satisfaction batis faction with jackson s restrictions on the citizens of new orleans and the resentment of the volunteers and the mil tall tia against being kept inder i arms increased chere vere frequent de sert lons and finally open mutiny to deal with both jackson use I 1 tl e same iron hand with which he had ruled his soldiers during the cam 1 1 itan against the creek creel indians this brought lim I 1 im into a collision with ith the civil chil authorities aich had a curious aftermath and one not generally known finally on march 13 a thrill ng cry swei t through tl e city le pila I 1 le pais paix I 1 official notice of the ratification of peace had reached new orleans with the same paralyzing with which he had gathered them into his hands the commander laid aside his nary powers martial law was revoked and mill tary prisoners released the mississippi kentuck and tennessee troops were told to make ready for home and the remainder of the louisiana mil tia was dismissed the volatile city surrendered to the emotions of jubilee an about face in which self congratulation assumed the mer form of hero p ahing crowds enveloped the royal roy il street headquarters coffee houses that two days before had rumbled with denunciation rang now with toasts to old hickory but even though jackson was aga n the hero of the hour his tro I 1 les were not yet over there still remi rema ne I 1 tl at matter of his conflict with the civil autt aties I 1 ederae judge dominick A hall was mas determined to establish the fact tint that a writ of habeas corpus issued in his court should not be superseded by the rules of martial law jackson bad had not only dared to disregard such a writ but had arrested hall for aiding abetting and exciting mutiny within my camp and locking him up freed when martial law was revoked at the receipt of the news of the peace treaty hall had mounted the bench again issuing a summons directing jackson to show cause why he should not be held in contempt of court for his refusal to recognize the writ of habeas corpus so it came to pass that late in march 1815 the hero of new orleans stood before the bar of civil justice and heard judge hall impose upon him a fine of one thousand dollars and costs but refrain from including imprisonment in the sentence because it was impossible to forget the important services of the defendant to the country after that jaci jacl son walked out of the court room the idol of the cheering crowd they unhitched the horses and dragged his car ariage to the exchange coffee house the idol of new orleans he remained until his departure in may for his home in fennessee that departure was taken in triumph public farewells private leave tal ings exchanges of costly gifts A purse was raised to discharge the fine imposed by dominick hall but andrew jackson waved it as de requesting that the money be distributed among the families of sol d ers who had fallen in bittle battle later they renamed the place d armes and called it jackson square a name which it bears to this day in the center of it stands a per letual reminder of the man who delivered their city from the danger of capture by the british a replica of clark mills famous rocking horse statue of old hickory the nal of that statue stands in washington near the white house where the hero of new orleans capped the climax of his career by ruling for two terms as president of the united states but this is not the only reminder of jackson and the historic events culminating in the victory of january 8 that may be found in the new or leans of today in tl e st charles hotel tor for more than 50 ears has hung T a painting by V W A C pape called the night battle it shows jack son riding to tl it e rescue of tl e guns in the night battle which raged below new orleans two days before christmas in 1814 an important prelude to the greater battle a little over two weeks liter later when the ne vs was brought to jal janson son that a force of 2 british was marching mir ching to make a surprise attack on his uncompleted defenses of the city he made the most daring and most tar far reaching decision of his career ahen hen on the instant he concluded to athael I 1 will smash them so help me god I 1 the result of that decision was mas a victory in which the americans lost 24 killed wounded and 74 pilson ers as compared to british losses of 46 killed wounded and 64 04 pilson ers but more important was as the fact that this reverse to the enemy gave jackson much needed time to perfect his de tenses of the city and or organize anize his forces both of which paved the way to the victory of janu jana ary 8 of this battla jimes james says jackson had displayed unusual generalship in his instantaneous decision to attack turning a 8 into a counter counters s a phenomenon so rare that it has no name in the glossary glos siry of mil tary terms in the new orleans c ty hall Is the portrait painted by ralph I 1 W earle which jackson I 1 itself cl el as a more correct lit eness if f myself thin than perhaps you have eer seen it shows him mounted on his cl arger holding his three cornered mil tary hat in h s hand as though I 1 e were al acl no v lodging the plaudits of the crowd just as he did years ago when I 1 he returned to new orleans from the battlefield of chalmetta the hero of the hour 0 by western newspaper balea |