228 Naval War of 1812 



was so low that the cutting of the levee instead of 

 flooding the plain 19 merely filled the shrunken 

 bayous, and rendered it easy for the British to 

 bring up their heavy guns; and on the same day 

 their trusted leader, Sir Edward Pakenham, ar 

 rived to take command in person, and his presence 

 gave new life to the whole army. A battery was 

 thrown up during the two succeeding nights on the 

 brink of the river opposite to where the Carolina 

 lay; and at dawn a heavy cannonade of red-hot 

 shot and shell was opened upon her from eleven 

 guns and a mortar. 20 She responded briskly, but 

 very soon caught fire and blew up, to the vengeful 

 joy of the troops whose bane she had been for the 

 past few days. Her destruction removed the last 

 obstacle to the immediate advance of the army ; but 

 that night her place was partly taken by the mounted 

 riflemen, who rode down to the British lines, shot 

 the sentries, engaged the outposts, and kept the 

 whole camp in a constant state of alarm. 21 



In the morning Sir Edward Pakenham put his 

 army in motion, and marched on New Orleans. 

 When he had gone nearly three miles he suddenly, 

 and to his great surprise, stumbled on the American 



" Latour, 113. 



20 Gleig, 307. The Americans thought the battery con 

 sisted of 5 18 and i2-pounders; Gleig says 9 field-pieces (9 

 and 6-pounders), 2 howitzers, and a mortar. 



*' Gleig, 310. 



