The Battle of New Orleans 249 



the guns of his water-battery and marched off with 

 his sailors, unmolested. The American loss had 

 been slight, and that of their opponents not heavy, 

 though among their dangerously wounded was Col- 

 onel Thornton. 



This success, though a brilliant one, and a dis- 

 grace to the American arms, had no effect on the 

 battle. Jackson at once sent over reinforcements 

 under the famous French general, Humbert, and 

 preparations were forthwith made to retake the lost 

 position. But it was already abandoned, and the 

 force that had captured it had been recalled by Lam- 

 bert, when he found that the place could not be 

 held without additional troops. 51 



The total British loss on both sides of the river 

 amounted to over two thousand men, the vast ma- 

 jority of whom had fallen in the attack on the 

 Tennesseeans, and most of the remainder in the 

 attack made by Colonel Rennie. The Americans 

 had lost but seventy men, of whom but thirteen fell 



Of course, it was physically impossible for the water-battery 

 to take part in the defence ; so there were but 3 guns, and by 

 halving the force on one side and trebling it on the other, 

 he makes the relative strength of the Americans just sixfold 

 what it was and is faithfully followed by other British 

 writers. 



61 The British Col. Dickson, who had been sent over to in- 

 spect, reported that 2,000 men would be needed to hold the 

 battery; so Lambert ordered the British to retire. (Lam- 

 bert's letter, Jan. loth.) 



