The Battle of New Orleans 223 



twilight saw them, with Old Hickory at their head, 

 marching steadily along the river bank toward the 

 camp of their foes. Patterson, meanwhile, in the 

 schooner Carolina, dropped down with the current 

 to try the effect of a flank attack. 



Meanwhile the British had spent the afternoon 

 in leisurely arranging their camp, in posting the 

 pickets, and in foraging among the farmhouses. 

 There was no fear of attack, and as the day ended 

 huge camp-fires were lit, at which the hungry sol 

 diers cooked their suppers undisturbed. One divi 

 sion of the troops had bivouacked on the high levee 

 that kept the waters from flooding the land near by ; 

 and about half-past seven in the evening their atten 

 tion was drawn to a large schooner which had 

 dropped noiselessly down, in the gathering dusk, 

 and had come to anchor a short distance off shore, 

 the force of the stream swinging her broadside to 

 the camp. 13 The soldiers crowded down to the wa 

 ter's edge, and, as the schooner returned no answer 

 to their hails, a couple of musket-shots were fired 

 at her. As if in answer to this challenge, the men 

 on shore heard plainly the harsh voice of her com- 



13 I have taken my account of the night action chiefly from 

 the work of an English soldier who took part in it; Ensign 

 (afterward Chaplain-General) H. R. Gleig's "Narrative of 

 the Campaigns of the British Army at Washington, Balti 

 more, and New Orleans." (New edition, Philadelphia, 1821, 

 pp. 286-300.) 



