256 Naval War of 1812 



either side, it was that of the British, 50 and Paken- 

 ham left nothing undone to accomplish his aim, and 

 made no movements that his experience in European 

 war did not justify his making. There is not the 

 slightest reason for supposing that any other British 

 general would have accomplished more or have 

 fared better than he did. 57 Of course Jackson owed 



Cole in his "Memoirs of British Generals," ii, p. 364): "Sir 

 Edward Pakenham fell, not after an utter and disastrous 

 defeat, but at the very moment when the arms of victory 

 were extended toward him"; and by James, who says (ii, 

 388): "The premature fall of a British general saved an 

 American city." These assertions are just on a par with 

 those made by American writers, that only the fall of Law- 

 rence prevented the Chesapeake from capturing the Shannon. 



British writers have always attributed the defeat largely 

 to the fact that the 44th regiment, which was to have led the 

 attack with fascines and ladders, did not act well. I doubt 

 if this had any effect on the result. Some few of the men 

 with ladders did reach the ditch, but were shot down at 

 once, and their fate would have been shared by any others 

 who had been with them ; the bulk of the column was never 

 able to advance through the fire up to the breastwork, and 

 all the ladders and fascines in Christendom would not have 

 helped it. There will always be innumerable excuses offered 

 for any defeat; but on this occasion the truth is simply that 

 the British regulars found they could not advance in the open 

 against a fire more deadly than they ever before encountered. 



56 E. g.: The unexpected frost made the swamps firm for 

 them to advance through: the river being so low when the 

 levee was cut, the bayous were filled, instead of the British 

 being drowned out ; the Carolina was only blown up because 

 the wind happened to fail her; bad weather delayed the ad- 

 vance of arms and reinforcements, etc. , etc. 



51 "He was the next man to look to after Lord Wellington" 

 (Codrington, i, 339). 



