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Show ~18 LIFE OF GEN. JACKSON. CHAP. sanguinely indulged, that obstinate resistance had ne- ~VII ver been thought of. D1·<ure rent was the rea I'1 ty ,-m. · stead of triumph, they had met defeat. The only 1814. badges of victory they coul d present the o,n· end s, WI't h whom, but a few days before, with flattering promises they had parted, were shattered hulks, that could scarcely keep above the water, and decks covered with dead and wounded. The three vessels that retired were considerably injured, and with difficulty got to sea, lea1'ing Nicholls and Woodbine, witl'i their friends and allies, on the shore, to make good their retreat, as danger and dis· cretion would permit. On the morning of the 14th, J~ckson, fearing, from every thing he had learned, that an attack would be made, had set out, in a boat, from Mobile, to visit Fort Bowyer, examine its situation, and have such ar· rangements made, as should add to its strength, and obtain that security, which its re-establishment had been designed to effect. He had proceeded down the bay, and arrived witl1in a few miles, when he met an express from Lawrence, bringing intelligence of the enemy's arrival, and requesting that assistance might be immediately sent to his relief. The general has· tened back, and reaching Mobile late at night, des· patched a brig, with eighty men, under the co~ma~d of captain Laval. Not being able to reach h1s pomt of destination until the next day, and finding every place of entrance blocked up by the besiegers? h~ ran his brig to the land, determined to wait until 111ght, when, under cover of its darkness, he hoped to sue· eeed in throwing himself into the fort. The battle. LIFE OF GEN. JACKSON. 219 however, having in the mean time commenced, pre- CHAP. sented new diffi cu 1t1 . es, and restr'am. e d t h e executi.O n of ~VII. his purpose:, without encountering greater hazard than 1814_ prudence seemed to sanction. The Hermes, on being driven from her anchorage, had, at the time of her ex-plosion, floated and grounded in a direction that left her immediately in the rear of the fort, from the posi-tion occupied by tl1e brig. This circumstance well accounted for the mistake with which he was impress· ed, and led captain Laval to believe his brave coun-trymen had all perished. Believing they would now attempt to c;an-y his vessel, he set sail for Mobile, and reported to the commanding general the destmction and loss that had happened. Jackson .declared it was impossible; that he had heard the explosion, and was convinced it was on the water, and not on the shore. Perhaps his great anxiety, more than any reality, had constituted this essential difference in sound. If, how-ever, it were as reported, his own situation being thereby rendered precarious, something was to be done, to regain a place, for many reasons too impor-tant to be yielded. His principal fears were, lest the strength of the enemy should be greatly increased, be-fore his expected reinforcements should arrive, who would be thereby enabled to extend his inroads, and paralyze the zeal of the country. It was no time for much deliberation on the course most advisable to be pursued. He determined to retake the fort, at all ha-zards ; and a general order was issued, for tl1e depar-ture of the troops. Every thing was nearly in readi-ness, when a despatch arrived from Lawrence, bear- |
