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CHAPTER FIVE.
THE BATTLE OF THE GUN BOATS.
(December 14. 1S14)
?A storm on the 9th of December,-1814, greeted the first appearance of the British fleet off the coast of the Gulf of Mexico,? writes Judge Alexander Walker in his entertaining ?Jackson and New Orleans.?
?To minds less buoyant and confident than those of the sanguine and hitherto irresistible veterans of that gallant array of naval and military power this occurrence might have appeared as an evil augury. Soon, however, the storm lulled, the clouds passed quickly away and the bright sun came forth to cheer the hearts of the crowded crews. A favorable wind bears the squadron rapidly onward in the direction of the entrance of Lake Borgne. The huge Tonnant, the same which w'as captured at Abouquir in Nelson?s great fight, after the gallant Dupetit Thouars had flooded her decks with his noble blood that flowed from a dozen wounds, now commanded by the white-haired British Vice-Admiral, and the gallant Sea-horse, with her corklegged Captain, lead the van. Behind follow the long train of every variety of sailing craft, from the great ships of war, with their frowning batteries, to the little trim sloops and schooners of fifteen or twenty ton, designed to penetrate the bays and inlets of the coast.
?The pilots, wrho have accompanied the fleets from the West Indies, have announced that the land is not far off and all parties are on deck, eagerly straining their eyes for a view of the desired shore. There, in the distance, they soon discover a long, shingling white line, which sparkles ?n the sun like an island of fire. Presently it becomes more distinct and substantial and the man at the look-out proclaims ?land ahead?. The leading ships approach as near as is prudent and their crewrs, especially the land troops, experience no little disappointment at the bleak and forbidding aspect of Dauphine island, with its long, sandy beach, its dreary, stunted pines, and the entire absence of
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