Andrew Jackson: The Course of American Empire, 1767-1821. Vol. 1 by Prof Robert V. Remini

Author:Prof Robert V. Remini [Remini, Robert V.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780801859113
Publisher: The Johns Hopkins University Press
Published: 1998-04-10T05:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 17

The Invasion Begins

NEARLY TWO WEEKS AFTER JACKSON arrived in New Orleans—on December 13, 1814, to be exact—the British armada was sighted off Cat Island at the entrance to Lake Borgne. As the British advanced westward into the lake, soundings warned against further penetration by the deep-draft vessels. But before landing troops it was imperative to clear the lake of the small force of American gunboats commanded by Lieutenant Jones that hovered ahead of them, trying to coax them toward the Rigolets.

Admiral Cochrane ordered an expedition of barges commanded by Captain Lockyer to pursue the American vessels. There were 45 boats in this expedition; they carried 42 cannons and were manned by 1,000 sailors and marines picked from the crews of the other ships. With the barges aimed toward him, Jones and his gunboats tried to retreat to the straits as Patterson had ordered, but during the night the gunboats were becalmed and the strong current at the western end of the lake drew them toward Malheureux Island (a prophetic name), where several of them got stuck in the mud.1

On the morning of December 14, after resting from their severe rowing and after breakfasting, the British bore down on Jones’s squadron, forming a line abreast extending nearly from the mainland to Malheureux Island. It was quite a sight: An unbroken front of barges, six oars on each side dipping into the water with metronomic regularity, the red shirts of the sailors, the shining muskets of the marines, and the stubby noses of the short-range cannons protruding over the bows—a picture of supreme naval power about to blow five American gunboats right out of the water. Cornered and unable to maneuver, the Americans put up a barrage of gunfire but were clearly outnumbered and outgunned. The enemy soon clambered up the sides of the flagship, captured her, and turned her guns on the other ships. Shortly after noon all the American gunboats had been captured. Both Jones and Lockyer were badly wounded; on the American side 6 were killed, 35 wounded, and 86 captured; on the British, 19 were killed and 75 wounded.2 The lake was now free of any American force.

The British victory was an American disaster. It extinguished Jackson’s watch on the lakes and prepared the way for the invasion of the mainland.3 Yet it did have one salutary aspect. The American sailors taken prisoner all swore that Jackson’s army in New Orleans numbered four times its actual size.4 That gave the British pause. Consequently Cochrane decided, as a preliminary and precautionary action, to move all troops to Pea Island, just to the east of the Rigolets, at the mouth of the Pearl River as it flows into Lake Borgne. Once the soldiers were safely transferred to the island they could be moved to the mainland. So, because of the shallow water, a gigantic ferrying operation began. Day after day the barges rowed back and forth, from the anchorage at the western end of the lake to the island.5

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