CHAPTER XVII.

LOUISIANA.

PROCLAMATIONS OF GENERAL JACKSON - FREE COLORED VETERANS -
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS - JORDAN B. NOBLE, THE DRUMMER -
JOHN JULIUS - EXTRACT FROM A SPEECH OF HON. ROBERT C.
WINTHROP - COTTON BALE BARRICADE - GEN. PECKENHAM -
ANTHONY GILL - DOCUMENTARY FACTS -
MIXED POPULATION OF NEW ORLEANS.

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     IN 1814, when New Orleans was in danger, and the proud and criminal distinctions of caste were again demolished by one of those emergencies in which Nature puts to silence, for the moment, the base partialities of art, the gree colored people were called into the field in common with the whites; and the importance of their services was thus acknowledged by General Jackson: -

"HEAD QUARTERS, SEVENTH MILITARY DISTRICT
MOBILE, SEPTEMBER, 21, 1814}

"To the Free Colored Inhabitants of Louisiana:

     "Through a mistaken policy, you have heretofore been deprived of a participation in the glorious struggle for national rights, in which our country is engaged.  This no longer shall exist.
     "As sons of freedom, you are now called upon to defend our most inestimable blessings.  As Americans, your country looks with confidence to her adopted children for a valorous support, as a faithful
 

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return for the advantages enjoyed under her mild and equitable government.  As fathers, husbands, and brothers, you are summoned to rally around the standard of the Eagle, to defend all which is dear in existence.

     "Your country, although calling for your exertions, does not wish you to engage in her cause without remunerating you for the services rendered.  Your intelligent minds are not to be led away by false representations — your love of honor would cause you to despise the man who should attempt to deceive you.  With the sincerity of a soldier, and in the language of truth, I address you.
     "To every noble-hearted free man of color, volunteering to serve during the present contest with Great Britain, and no longer, there will be paid the same bounty, in money and lands, now received by the white soldiers of the United States, namely — one hundred and twenty-four dollars in money, and one hundred and sixty acres of land.  The non-commissioned officers and privates will also be entitled to the same monthly pay, daily rations, and clothes, furnished to any American soldier.    
     "On enrolling yourselves in companies, the Major-General commanding will select officers for your government, from your white fellow-citizens.  Your non-commissioned officers will be appointed from among yourselves.
     "Due regard will be paid to the feelings of freemen and soldiers.  You will not, by being associated with white men, in the same corps, be exposed to improper comparisons, or unjust sarcasm.  As a distinct independent battalion or regiment, pursuing the path of glory, you will, undivided, receive the applause and gratitude of your countrymen.
     "To assure you of the sincerity of my intentions, and my anxiety to engage your invaluable services to our country, I have communicated my wishes to the Governor of Louisiana, who is fully informed

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     The New Orleans Picayune, in an account of the celebration of the Battle of New Orleans, in that city, in 1851, says: —
     "Not the least interesting, although the most novel feature of the procession yesterday, was the presence of ninety of the colored veterans who bore a conspicuous part in the dangers of the day they were now for the first time called to assist in celebrating, and who, by their good conduct in presence of the enemy, deserved and received the approbation of their illustrious commander-in-chief.  During the thirty-six years that have passed away since they assisted to repel the invaders from our shores, these faithful men have never before participated in the annual rejoicings for the victory which their valor contributed to gain.  Their good deeds have been consecrated only in their memories, or lived but to claim a passing notice on the page of the historian.  Yet, who more than they deserve the thanks of the country, and the gratitude of succeeding generations?  Who rallied with more alacrity in response to the summons of danger?  Who endured more cheerfully the hardships of the camp, or faced with greater courage the perils of the fight?  If, in that hazardous hour, when our homes were menaced with the horrors of war, we did not disdain to call upon the colored population to assist in repelling the invading horde, we should not, when the danger is past, refuse to permit them to unite with us in celebrating the glorious event, which they helped to make so memorable an epoch in our history.  We were not too exalted to mingle with

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them in the affray; they were not too humble to join in our rejoicings.
     "Such, we think, is the universal opinion of our citizens.  We conversed with many yesterday, and, without exception, they expressed approval of the invitation which had been extended to the colored veterans to take part in the ceremonies of the day, and gratification at seeing them in a conspicuous place in the procession.
     "The respectability of their appearance, and the modesty of their demeanor, made an impression on every observer, and elicited unqualified approbation. Indeed, though in saying so we do not mean disrespect to any one else, we think that they constituted decidedly the most interesting portion of the pageant, as they certainly attracted the most attention."
     The editor, after further remarks upon the procession, and adding of its colored members, "We reflected, that beneath their dark bosoms were sheltered faithful hearts, susceptible of the noblest impulses," thus alludes to the free colored population of New Orleans: —
     "As a class, they are peaceable, orderly, and respectable people, and many of them own large amounts of property among us.  Their interests, their homes, and their affections, are here, and such strong ties are not easily broken by the force of theoretical philanthropy, or imaginative sentimentality.  They have been true hitherto, and we will not do them the injustice to doubt a continuance of their fidelity.  While they may be certain that insubordination

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will be promptly punished, deserving actions will always meet with their due reward in the esteem and gratitude of the community."
     Yet, if five, even of these veterans, should at any time be seen talking together, they are liable to be arrested for conspiracy, according to the laws of Louisiana!
     Hon. Robert C. Winthrop, in his speech in Congress, on the Imprisonment of Colored Seamen, September, 1850, bore this testimony to the gallant conduct of the colored soldiers at New Orleans: — "I have an impression that, not, indeed, in these piping times of peace, but in the time
of war, when quite a boy, I have seen black soldiers enlisted, who did faithful and excellent service.  But, however it may have been in the Northern States, I can tell the Senator what happened in the Southern States at this period.  I believe that I shall be borne out in saying, that no regiments
did better service, at New Orleans, than did the black regiments, which were organized under the direction of General Jackson himself, after a most glorious appeal to the patriotism and honor of the people of color of that region; and which, after they came out of the war, received the thanks
of General Jackson, in a proclamation, which has been thought worthy of being inscribed on the pages of history."
     Chalmette Plains, the scene of the famous Battle of New Orleans, are five miles below that city, on the left bank of the Mississippi.  There is an elaborate engraving of this battle, eighteen by twenty inches, executed by M. Hyacinth Laclotte, the correctness of which was certified to by eleven

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of the superior officers residing in New Orleans, July 15, 1815, when the drawing was completed.
     The report "No. 8," from the American Army, corroborates the following interesting statements, which have been kindly furnished me by WM. H. DAY, Esq., of Cleveland: -

     "From an authenticated chart, belonging to a soldier friend, (writes Mr. Day,) I find that, in the Battle of New Orleans, Major-General Andrew Jackson, Cmomander-in-Chief, and his staff, were just at the right of the advancing left column of the British, and that very near him were stationed the colored soldiers.  He is numbered 6, and the position of the colored soldiers, 8.  Captains Dominique and Bluche, two wr pounders; Major Lacoste's battalion, formed of the men of color of New Orleans, and Major Daquin's battalion, formed of the men of color of St. Domingo, under Major Savary, second in command.'
     "They occupied no mean place, and did no mean service.
     "From other documents in my possession, I am able to state the number of the 'battalion of St. Domingo men of color' to have been one hundred and fifty; and of 'Major Lacoste's battalion of Louisiana men of color,' two hundred and eight.
     "Thus there were over four hundred 'men of color' in that battle.  When it is remembered that the whole number of soldiers claimed by Americans to have been in that bat-

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tle reached only 3,600, it will be seen that the 'men of color' were present in much larger proportion than their numbers in the country warranted.
     "Neither was there colophobia then.  Major Planche's battalion of uninformed volunteer companies, and Major Lacoste's 'men of color,' and the 44th, under Captain Baker.
     "Great Britain had her colored soldiers in that battle: the United States had hers.  Great Britain's became freemen and citizens: those of the United States continued only half-free and slaves."
     It has long been well known, that to the colored soldiers belonged the honor of first erecting the cotton-bale defences which so signally contributed to General Jackson's victory.  We have no means now of confirming the statement, but the following letter contains some very significant historical reminiscences: -

MR. WILLIAM C. NELL:
     MY DEAR SIR, ,- The fact to which I alluded in our brief conversation respecting the interesting memorials you have collected of the service of colored citizens in the Revolutionary War, and other wars, was, that some thirty years ago, I was informed by a colored man from Louisiana, that the idea of erecting a bulwark of cotton-bags at the battle of New Orleans, was suggested by a colored man, a native of Africa.  Whether that statement is true, I am unable to say, and in all probability it would be very difficult to ascertain.  The Commander on that occasion, a man of the fiercest prejudices, and all persons around him, would have an obvious

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interest and pride in concealing any agency which a poor and despised negro may have had in causing the adoption of that happy expedient.  It was celebrated as a stroke of genius in Gen. Jackson.  It strikes me as strange that no account of the first flash of the thought, whoseever it was, has been given.  There cannot be a doubt that it saved the city of New Orleans and some thousands of lives, and raised the spirit of the whole country from the depression consequent upon a war of doubtful necessity and more than doubtful success; a war waged upon more plausible pretexts than the Mexican, but, in reality, for objects no less sectional and criminal.
     I think the story derives some countenance from a passage in an old Portuguese writer, of which the following is a literal translation: —
     "On the following day, which was great Thursday of the year 1546, when morning came, it was found that a breastwork composed of earth, with its embrasures and heavy ordnance, had been raised near to our fortress, having its walls topped by a great quantity of cotton-bays, sheathed with rawhides to resist our fire.  Our people were astonished at the silence and suddenness with which it had been erected.  It was evidently no contrivance of a barbarous and disorderly multitude, for during the whole conflict, our enemies showed equal valor and discipline. Immediately they opened upon our fortress with decided effect, silencing four of our guns, which were doing them most harm.
     " The good success of this day guided their conduct for succeeding ones, and during five nights, they built five forts, at proportionate distances, so as to be prepared for a general assault by several breaches."
     The army of the Sultan of Cambay, employed against the Portuguese in this, the siege of Diu, was composed of various races inhabiting the cotton-growing zone of Asia and Africa.  Two Aby-

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sinnians of high rank and distinguished valor are specially mentioned.  It is probable that this mode of fortification was familiar to the natives of those countries, and has remained so to the present day. In the interior of Africa, it would be peculiarly convenient and important, subject, as the dwellers are, to sudden incursions for the capture of their wives and children, to supply the Christian and Arab markets of human flesh.
     The work to which I have referred is "The Life of Don John de Castro, Fourth Vice-Roy of India, by Jacinto Freire de Andrade," first published at Lisbon, 1651.  It has passed through several editions, and been translated into different languages.
     I was also informed by the same person, a fugitive from Louisiana, that the slaves who took the field in compliance with Jackson's invitation, and fought for the country, were promised, before the battle, that they should have their freedom; that after it was over, they sent a committee to the General to claim the fulfilment of this promise, and that he made no reply, except to bid them "go home and mind their masters."
     It is well known that a large number of slaves did fight bravely in that battle, and that they neither received their freedom nor any other mark of the gratitude of this false and degenerate republic.  Two thousand years ago, when the opinion was universal, that ninetenths of the men, and all the women, were made for slaves, and the small remnant of males for masters, the Athenians, and even the Spartans, set at liberty the slaves who had helped them win their victories and shared their glorious daring and dangers.  They seem to have thought thus much due to their honor and self-respect as gentlemen, the doctrines of equal rights and reciprocal duties being yet undeveloped in the dark void of ages.  But we, a nation calling ourselves Christian as well as republican, have actually fallen below the low standard of humanity and magnanimity preached by Aristotle and practised by the cruel and treacherous Spartans two thou-

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gand years ago.  In the name of Heaven, how is it that we are cursed with a callousness as impenetrable as the Thugs of India or the father-eaters of Sumatra? 
     Wishing you success and satisfaction in your useful labors, I remain,

     Among the colored veterans was Jordan B. Noble, who was a drummer in the seventh regiment of infantry, which led on the attack of the British army on the night of December 23d, 1814.  The two armies lay within gun shot of each other from that night until the 12th of January, 1815.  It is Mr. Noble's custom to issue, every New Year's day, the following card: —

JORDAN B. NOBLE,
THE VETERAN DRUMMER,

Who had the pride and satisfaction of beating to arms the American Army, on the 23d of December, 1814, and on the 8th of January, 1815, and the members of his Band, Adolph Brooks and William Savage, who served with him in Mexico, in the First Regiment of Louisiana Volunteers, Col. J. B. Walton, Commander, under Gen. Taylor, in 1846, beg to present their congratulations of the season and best wishes to the officers of the regular and militia service, under whom they had the honor to serve; wishing them long lives, increased honors, and that the National Flag of our great country may ever be sustained by their faithful arms and gallant hearts.

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     In proof of the estimation in which this colored veteran is held by his fellow-citizens, the New Orleans Daily Delta mentions the following "happy incident" as having occurred at the celebration of the "Eighth," at the St. Charles Theatre: —
     "The bill announced that old Jordan, the matchless drummer, would appear and beat the drum as he beat it on the morning of the battle to reveille the Americans to action, and as he beat it again at night to soothe them to repose, after the arduous duties of the victorious day were past.  Full one-third of the audience visited the St. Charles for no other purpose than to pay a tribute of respect to old Jordan; and as the old veteran appeared, a loud and long cheer welled up from the audience, and was borne far beyond the precincts of the building; again and again was he called out, and it seemed as if the audience would never tire of his music.  The old veteran bowed his acknowledgments, and apparently felt more proud of the enthusiastic applause bestowed upon him than he would to have been seated on the imperial throne of Hayti.  "When the tattoo was beat, we were forcibly struck with the remarkable coincidence, that at the same hour, on the same day and date, thirty-nine years ago, he beat the same tune upon the battle-field of Chalmette."
     A benefit was also tendered him, at the same theatre, on the evening of April 24th, 1854; and at the Fourth of July celebration following, Jordan B. Noble was complimented, and, according to the Delta, "no speech or toast produced a finer effect than his."
     JOHN JULIUS was a member of the gallant colored regiment.  He is a tall, good-looking, brown-skinned Creole of

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Louisiana, now about sixty-five years of age.  He still bears the terrible gashes of the bayonet conspicuously on his neck.  He was one of those who encountered the British hand-to-hand on the top of the breastworks.  Julius Bennoit (for that is his name, though commonly called John Julius) is a man of strict integrity of character, having all the delicate sensibility of a Frenchman; and he laments more at the injustice done him in the neglect of the authorities to grant him his claim of money and lands, according to the promises set forth in the proclamation, than any reverse of fortune he has ever met.
     He is enthusiastic on the subject of the battle scenes of Chalmette Plains, and anxious that all who converse with him should know of his position in the conflict with Sir Edward Packenham.  He exhibits the complete draught of the battle, and explains with lively satisfaction all its points of interest.
     At a private dinner-party in New Orleans, some years after the battle, a relative of Gen. Packenham happened to be present, when the colored servant in waiting improved a chance moment to say, —  "I saved General Packenham's life on the battle-ground."  He was overheard by his master, who reprimanded him, admitting, however, that he was at the battle-ground, and did good service.
     Many of the slaves who engaged in the battle were induced to do so from promises of freedom; but the sequel proved that a false hope had been held out to them, numbers being ordered to the cotton-fields to resume their unre-

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quited toil, for the benefit of those for whom their own lives had been jeoparded on the bloody field of battle.  The British took advantage of these violated pledges, and induced many colored Americans, panting for the freedom which, theirs as a birthright, had been confirmed by deeds of valor and patriotism, to accept free homes under the banner of England.
     ANTHONY GILL was one of the soldiers remanded to work again for his master, when he was accosted by General Packenham, who, learning that he was a slave, told him to put down his hoe, follow him, and become a free man.  He did so; and is now undisputed owner of fifty-two acres of free soil, in St. Johns, N. B.  His son resides in Boston, Mass.
     This is but one of numerous instances, of which there are abundant testimonies.
     "When the British evacuated Charleston, in 1782, (says Ramsay, in his History of South Carolina,) Governor Matthews demanded the restoration of some thousands of negroes who were within their lines. These, however, were but a small part of the whole taken away at the evacuation, but that number is very inconsiderable when compared with the thousands that were lost from the first to the last of the war.  It has been computed by good judges, that, between the years 1775 and 1783, the State of South Carolina lost TWENTY-FIVE THOUSAND NEGROES." [At least a fifth part of all the slaves in the State at the beginning of the war.]

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     "The forces under the command of General Provost marched through the richest settlements of the State, where are the fewest white inhabitants in proportion to the number of slaves.  The hapless Africans, allured with the hope of freedom, forsook their owners, and repaired in great numbers to the Royal Army.  They endeavored to recommend themselves to their new masters by discovering where their owners had concealed their property, and were assisting in carrying it off."
     And the same candid historian, describing the invasion of next year says: — "The slaves a second time flocked to the British Army."
     Dr. Ramsay, being a native and resident of Charleston, enjoyed every facility for ascertaining the facts in the case; but his testimony does not stand alone; Col. Lee, of Virginia, in his "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department," confirms the statement.
     "Lord Dunmore, Governor of Virginia, (says Burke, in his History of Virginia,) after escaping from Williamsburg, in 1775, to a vessel in James River, offered liberty to those slaves who would join him.  It appears, from the history, that one hundred of them were soon after enumerated among his forces.  How many more joined him does not appear."
     Mr. Jefferson, then Secretary of State, in a letter to Mr. Hammond, Minister of Great Britain, dated Philadelphia, December 15, 1791, says: — "On withdrawing the troops from New York, a large embarkation of negroes, the prop-

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erty of the inhabitants of the United States, took place.  A very great number was carried off in private vessels, without admitting the inspection of the American Commissioners." 
     In the Secret Journal of the Continental Congress, under date of March 29, 1799, we find the following: — "The Committee, appointed to take into consideration the circumstances of the Southern States, and the ways and means for their safety and defence, report that the State of South Carolina (as represented by the Delegates of the said State, and by Mr. Huger, who has come here at the request of the Governor of the said State, on purpose to explain the circumstances thereof) is unable to make any effectual efforts with militia, by reason of the great proportion of citizens necessary to remain at home, to prevent insurrection among the negroes, and to prevent the desertion of them to the enemy; — that the state of the country, and the great number of these people among them, expose the inhabitants to great danger, from the endeavors of the enemy to excite them to revolt or desert."
     Hon. John Quincy Adams, in a letter to Lord Castlereagh, dated February 17, 1816, says: — "In his letter of the fifth of September, the undersigned had the honor of enclosing a list of seven hundred and two slaves carried away, after the ratification of the .treaty of peace, from Cumberland Island, and the waters adjacent A number perhaps still greater was carried away from Tangier Island, in the State of Virginia, and from other places."
     The same important admission was made in debate, on

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the floor of Congress, 30th March, 1790, some time after the war, by Mr. Burke, a Representative from South Carolina.  "There is not a gentleman," said he, "on this floor, who is a stranger to the feeble situation of our State, when we entered into the war to oppose the British power.  We were not only without money, without an army or military stores, but were few in number, and likely to be entangled with our domestics, in case the enemy invaded us."
     Similar testimony to the weakness engendered by slavery was also borne by Mr. Madison, in debate in Congress.  "Every addition," said that distinguished gentleman, "they (Georgia and South Carolina) receive to their number of slaves, tends to weaken them, and render them less capable of self-defence."
     And at a still later day, Mr. Justice Johnson, of the Supreme Court of the United States, and a citizen of South Carolina, in his elaborate life of General Green, speaking of negro slaves, makes the same admission.  He says: — "But the number dispersed through these (Southern) States was very great; so great as to render it impossible for the citizens to muster freemen enough to withstand the pressure of the British arms."
     Hon. Wm. Jay says: — "We find at the South no one element of military strength. Slavery, as we have seen, checks the progress of population, of the arts, of enterprise, and of industry. But, above all, the laboring class, which in other countries affords the materials of which armies are composed, is regarded at the South as the most deadly foe

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and the sight of a thousand negroes with arms in their hands would send a thrill of terror through the stoutest hearts, and excite a panic which no number of the veteran troops of Europe could produce.  Even now, laws are in force to keep arms out of the hands of a population which ought to be a reliance in danger, but which is dreaded by day and night, in peace and war."
     The burning of Washington City was a signal instance of the military weakness of the South, as detailed in Ball's Compilation.  "The city was burnt in the last war with Britain, for which the Americans may thank their pet 'institution' as much as the invading army.  When the British in the Chesapeake evinced their intention to make a descent on Washington or Baltimore, the President ordered all the regular troops to the defence of the latter, and called on the States of Pennsylvania, Maryland and Virginia for volunteers for the protection of the capital.  All know the result.  The city was taken and burnt, while the Americans, lacking numbers to compete with their enemies, were obliged to return, although, had the Virginia troops, which were but a few miles distant, come up, they would have been able to make a stand."
     The cause of their delay is thus explained: — "When the requisition on Virginia reached her Governor, General Madison, who was brother of the President, and at that time commandant of that division of the militia whose services were required, he promptly issued his orders, collected his quota, and commenced his march for the scene of action.

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Scarcely, however, had his force passed from Orange, Culpepper, Madison, and the adjoining counties, from which it had been principally raised, before the slaves in all that section were seen in commotion.  A rumor, the source of which nobody knew, had spread among them, that some powerful foreign prince,—from Africa, we believe they had it,—with a sufficient force to accomplish his purpose, had arrived on the coast, to give freedom to the slaves of Virginia.  This rumor soon became confirmed news with them.  They simultaneously quitted work, and, without manifesting the least disposition to injure the whites, began, in their joy ful excitement, to run from plantation to plantation, collect in bodies, and prepare to go off to meet their expected deliverers.  The white inhabitants, in the mean time, who, as has ever been the case with the whole South, were sensitively alive to the fear of a slave insurrection, and were now thoroughly alarmed by this movement of the blacks, harmless as was the shape it had taken, sent off express after express to General Madison, whose force had made a temporary halt in the vicinity of the Potomac, from which it was on the point of moving on to Washington, and begged him to return with his troops and quell the apprehended insurrection of the slaves.  This at once completely paralyzed the movements of Madison.  He immediately marched back with the principal part of his force, leaving the rest, we believe, to remain on the spot, to await the event, and be in readiness to return if wanted.  Finding, after a few days, that the force with which he had returned was suffi

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cient to overawe the slaves, though he did not dare to withdraw them from the infected district, he finally sent orders for the remnant he had left on the Potomac to march on to Washington, as they then did, but reached the place too late to be of any service."

     A letter from New Orleans, addressed to Le Republicain, has some interesting matter respecting the population of mixed blood in that city.  It alludes to the brilliant feat of arms of Dec. 20, 1814, "when the colored population rivalled in bravery and patriotism the other improvised soldiers," and to the battle of Jan. 8, of the same year, where they figured, and contributed to finish the foreign invasion of our soil, and goes on to say, that it is an error to confound the colored population of Louisiana with that else where.  They constitute, the writer affirms, an elite set, having nothing in common with those of the surrounding States.  "The French and Spanish blood from which they are sprung has not degenerated among us: it has preserved the primitive warmth and generosity which distinguish those two chivalric nations."  Notwithstanding they are not allowed to participate in the public schools, although forced to pay school taxes, they have received an elementary education, and a good number of them shine in science, arts and letters.  There is, we are told, now in Paris, a Creole of Louisiana, who is walking in the steps of Alexander Dumas, and whose dramatic pieces are represented at the Theatre Francais.  There is another in Louisiana, who has

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effected a complete revolution in sugar making, by a refining invention; and yet, this man has not been able to obtain a patent in his own name for the invention which enriches his country.  "Medicine, music, finance, wholesale commerce and farming, have their representatives in this class of society; and there are in Louisiana fortunes honorably acquired by their proprietors, belonging to this class, which would secure for their owners a distinguished rank in Parisian society, were they to settle in that capital.  I will not speak here," says the letter writer," of the native citizens reputed to be Ions blancs.  They are very few, if we may believe an old Creole of the highest respectability, who said upon 'Change, that he knew more than five hundred persons of this sort sprung from maroon negresses, and now enjoying the rights of citizenship."
 

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