to a well-chosen position between the swamp and the river. Here he intrenched himself. A demonstration made by the enemy on the 28th was successfully repulsed, and after ten days of further preparation the final attack was made, January 8, 1815, Pakenham leading the main assault, and Colonel Thornton at the same time attacking a small work which had been thrown up on the opposite side of the river. The latter movement was successful, but the main column, advancing to storm Jackson's position, after

capturing a small detached work on his right, was twice thrown back in confusion. General Pakenham was killed and General Gibbs mortally wounded; and General Lambert, who succeeded to the command, finding that the protracted struggle was of no avail, retreated after the loss of over 2,000 in killed and wounded. The Americans, according to Jackson's official report, lost sixty-two. The British army fell back to Lake Borgne, where it reëmbarked, and the expedition was abandoned.

In the mean time the American commissioners at Ghent had agreed upon a treaty of peace, which was immediately ratified by the British govern* From an engraving in the Analectic Mag. (Dec., 1815), vol. vi., made by Goodman after a picture by Wood. There is a picture in Independence Hall. The medal with profile likeness, given to him for his capture of the "Cyane" and "Levant" in the "Constitution," is in Loubat, no. 48; in Frost's Book of the Commodores; and in Lossing, 986, who also gives a likeness taken in 1864 (p. 987). Cf. Democratic Rev., xxviii. 449.

ment, and in February peace was declared in America. The whole country was so thoroughly tired of the contest that it was ready for peace at almost any price. The finances were in a desperate condition, and although, under the alarm caused by the recent invasions, great numbers of militia had been organized and armed, the military administration was in a state of worse confusion than ever, and the exposed States were generally taking their own measures for protection, without much reference to the Federal government, which was powerless to help them.

The navy, which had covered itself with credit during the war, was now in a high state of efficiency, and ready for successful employment in any quarter. Several naval engagements had taken place after the commissioners had concluded their negotiations at Ghent. The "President" was captured just outside of New York, by the blockading squadron, on January 15th. In February, the "Constitution," under Stewart, in one of the prettiest actions of the war, took the "Cyane" and the "Levant," the latter being afterwards recaptured; the "Hornet," Captain James Biddle, took the "Penguin" in March; and, last of all, the "Peacock," Captain Warrington, took the East India Company's sloop "Nautilus" in June.

Before the return of these vessels, the government resolved to send a squadron to the Mediter

ranean, where the Dey of Algiers, taking advantage of the withdrawal of United States cruisers, had resumed his old trade of piracy. The new ships, constructed in the latter part of the war, were rapidly completed and equipped, and in May Commodore Decatur, with a powerful squadron of eleven ships, sailed for the Mediterranean. The Algerines, supposing that the naval power of the United States had been crushed by the war with England, had no expectation of meeting an enemy. Before they could learn of his setting out, Decatur

had surprised and captured two of their cruisers at sea, and, suddenly * From an engraving in the Analectic Mag. (Nov., 1815), vol. vi., made by Gimbrede after a painting by Wood. Thos. Sully's picture of Biddle is owned by Craig Biddle, Esq., of Philad. (Philad. Loan Exhib. Catal., no. 32). There is a profile likeness on the medal (Loubat, no. 49; Frost's Commodores; Lossing, 991, who reproduces also, p. 990, another portrait) given to him for the capture of the "Penguin" in the "Hornet."

appearing before the city, he frightened the Dey into setting free his American prisoners without ransom, and signing a treaty abolishing the tribute.1 Indemnity was next recovered from Tunis and Tripoli for violations of their neutrality during the war, in permitting the capture of American vessels within the territorial waters. The effect of Decatur's presence was increased by the arrival soon after of a new fleet under Commodore Bainbridge, whose flagship, the "Independence," 74, was the first American line-of-battle ship in the Mediterranean. Since that time there have been no serious difficulties with the Barbary powers.

The United States now entered upon a long period of peace, which, during thirty years, was only broken by Indian campaigns and by operations against pirates. The army now numbered about 10,000 men. The first of the Indian wars occurred in 1817-18, and was occasioned by outrages alleged to have been committed by the Seminoles upon settlers on the borders of Florida, which was still a Spanish possession. General Jackson took the field at the head of an army of regulars, friendly Creeks, and volunteers from Georgia and Tennessee. The "war" was a mere foray into Florida, little resistance being made by the Seminoles, who were the ostensible object of attack; while considerable disturbance was caused by Jackson's highhanded proceedings in seizing the Spanish posts of St. Mark's and Pensacola, and in executing two English subjects who were accused of aiding and inciting the Indians.

During the years 1821-1825, the navy was actively employed in the suppression of piracy in the West Indies, the squadrons being commanded successively by Henley, Biddle, Porter, and Warrington. The service was arduous and difficult, but it was carried out successfully, and, after four years of determined resistance, the gangs of pirates which infested the coasts of Cuba and the neighboring islands were completely broken up.

In 1832, the Sacs and Foxes, led by their restless chief Black Hawk, at this time sixty-five years old, crossed the Mississippi to recover the lands formerly held by them east of the river. General Scott was to have conducted the campaign against them, but before his arrival they were twice defeated, first by Colonel Dodge, and finally and completely at Bad Axe, early in August, by General Henry Atkinson. Black Hawk soon after surrendered.

On May 9th, 1832, a treaty was signed at Payne's Landing, Fla., by Colonel Gadsden, on the part of the United States, and by the chiefs of the Seminoles, in which the latter consented, upon certain conditions, to a removal to lands west of the Mississippi. Two years elapsed before the treaty was ratified, and the delay had an unfavorable effect; so much so that when preparations were at last made for removal a large number of the chiefs refused to go. The year 1835 was spent in a series of fruitless negotiations, during which occasional outrages, committed by both whites

1 Ann. of Cong., 1st sess. 14th Cong., 1475.

and Indians, increased the bad feeling. At the end of the year the Seminoles divided into two hostile parties, and the chiefs adhering to the treaty, with their followers, were obliged to take refuge near Fort Brooke, while the others, influenced chiefly by the violent half-breed Osceola or Powell, resorted to arms.

Notwithstanding the imminence of the danger and the knowledge of the facts possessed by the government at Washington, very little preparation had been made for hostilities against the Indians. The garrisons of Fort King near the Ocklawaha, and of Fort Brooke at Tampa Bay, between which the enemy lay in the almost inaccessible swamps of the Withlacoochee, comprised altogether less than 450 men. With a part of these, General Clinch, commanding at Fort King, contemplated making an attack, and he sent to Fort Brooke for such men as could be spared. A detachment of 110 men, under Major Dade, was sent to join him; but on the 28th of December, four days after setting out, it was surrounded by the Seminoles, and, after a long struggle, was totally destroyed, only three men escaping with their lives. Three days later, General Clinch's force defeated a detachment of the Indians on the Withlacoochee, after which it withdrew to Fort Drane.

The territory of the United States was at this time divided into two military departments, the eastern under General Scott, and the western under General Gaines; and the present scene of hostilities lay about the dividing line between the two commands. Upon the news of Dade's massacre, and of the Indian raids upon the settlements south of St. Augustine, General Gaines, who was then in Louisiana, got together a body of regulars and volunteers, sailed to Tampa, and, after landing at Fort Brooke, marched to Fort King. Learning that General Scott had been ordered from Washington to take command, and had already arrived in Florida, Gaines, after a short incursion into the Indian territory, withdrew to his department, and soon after Scott took the field with a considerable and well-organized army, the right wing under General Clinch, the centre under Colonel Lindsay, and the left under General Eustis, all of whom advanced in March and April, 1836. No great results followed from this campaign.

In June, 1836, Governor Call took command of the forces in Florida, and in November he defeated the Seminoles on the Withlacoochee River. He was soon after relieved by General Thomas S. Jesup. In the winter campaign of 1836-37, the Indians were driven from their territory about the Withlacoochee, and forced to take refuge in Southern Florida. Negotiations now took place, and in March the chiefs signed a capitulation and agreed to emigrate. The agreement was not carried out; but in October General Jesup succeeded, by a stratagem, in making Osceola a prisoner. The chief was put in confinement, and soon afterwards died, but the war did not come to an end.

In May, 1838, Jesup was relieved by General Taylor, who five months before had defeated the Indians in the battle of Okechobee, on December

25th, 1837. The war now went on for several years in a desultory manner; General Armistead relieving Taylor, and being in turn superseded by General Worth. This last change was in 1841. After an active campaign, in which Worth and his forces penetrated the swamps where the Seminoles had taken refuge, the fragments that still held out were persuaded to surrender, and were removed from Florida to the West. The war came to an end in 1842, after having cost many lives and a large sum of money.

The causes

The next war of the United States was that with Mexico. of the war were intimately connected with the internal politics of the United States. Negotiations had for some time been pending in reference to the Texan question and to certain claims of American citizens against Mexico, the last flicker of which was the ineffectual mission of Slidell in 1845-46. The annexation of Texas, occurring in the summer of 1845, transferred to the United States a dispute between Texas and Mexico, in reference to their common frontier and to the ownership of a strip of territory between the Nueces and the Rio Grande, which each claimed. The occupation of this territory in March, 1846, by the forces of the United States, under General Taylor, was the ostensible ground of war, the first offensive movement on the part of the Mexicans being the passage of the Rio Grande by General Arista.

After throwing up a work opposite Matamoras, called Fort Brown, Taylor marched with the main body of his troops to protect his depot at Point Isabel, which was threatened by the enemy. During his absence, a protracted attack was made on Fort Brown, which held out with difficulty, until, on the 8th of May, the assailants were drawn off by the return of General Taylor. The latter, with about 2,000 men, on the 8th and 9th, engaged Arista's greatly superior force in the battles of Palo Alto and Resaca de la Palma. In the first day's fight the Americans, through the efficiency of their artillery, held their ground and beat off the enemy, inflicting a heavy loss. On the second day, Arista, who had retired to intrenchments previously thrown up at Resaca de la Palma, although in a strong position, was completely routed by the Americans, his batteries being captured by a gallant charge of dragoons under Captain Charles May. The pursuit of the Mexicans extended to the river, and the victory was complete. On the 18th, the American forces crossed the Rio Grande and occupied Matamoras.

The army was now delayed for some time, waiting for reinforcements, supplies, and means of transportation. This delay was of inestimable value to the enemy, enabling him to assemble a new army, an advantage which he could not have obtained had Taylor been able to follow up his first blows. The President's call for 50,000 volunteers received a prompt answer, and as they arrived on the ground they were taken in hand by the very capable officers of the regular army, and trained for war. In the war

of 1812, military operations had failed almost uniformly through the rawness,