NO. XI.

Militia general orders, head-quarters,

Vew Orleans, September 8th, 1814.

THE governor and commander-in-chief directs that the several companies of militia, within the city and suburbs of New Orleans, muster for inspection and exercise twice, and those in the interior counties of the state, once in each and every week, at such times and places as the captains or officers commanding companies shall designate. He recommends also to all fathers of families and others who, by their stations or age, are exempted from militia service, to afford at this eventful crisis a laudable example; he invites them to the formation of military associations; to choose their officers; to procure arms, and to assemble occasionally for military exercise.

The commander-in-chief would be sorry unnecessarily to draw his fellow citizens from their private pursuits and subject them to useless fatigues, but in his judgment their safety demands that they be trained to the use of arms, and holden in readiness to turn out at a moment's warning in defence of their families and homes; he does not wish to excite alarm, and trusts none will exist; but it is his duty to declare that the state is menaced with dangers which require all our union, zeal, and activity to avert, A hape is still cherished that the pending negociation between the United States and Great Britain may eventuate in a peace honourable to both parties; but there is too much reason to apprehend that the enemy feeling power may forget right. Indeed from the information before us, we shall act wisely in preparing for the worst. At this moment a fleet of the enemy is hovering on our coast, and he is assembling a force at Apalachicola, Pensacola, and elsewhere, avowedly for the invasion of Louisiana. We must be prepared to meet him; to dispute every inch of ground; harass him on his march; make a stand at every favourable position, and finally to triumph or lose with our country, our lives. Every individual, therefore, attached to the militia will be in constant readiness for active service officers of every grade at all times be prepared to repair to their posts, and assume the command which may be assigned them--non-commissioned officers and privates will put their arms, whether muskets, rifles, or shot-guns in the best possible condition,

furnish themselves with six flints each, as much powder and ball as can conveniently be carried, and pack in their knapsacks one blanket, one shirt, and one pair of shoes, being the necessary clothing on a march. The greatest vigilance will be observed, and every precaution taken to guard against surprise. Captains and subalterns will keep their field officers advised of every occurrence which interests the public safety, and colonels or officers commanding regiments will communicate the same to the generals of their respective brigades and division, and the general officers to the commander-in-chief. Strong patroles will be ordered on every night, particularly within the city and suburbs of New Orleans and the adjacent counties. The strictest discipline will be maintained among the slaves, and every person of suspicious conduct or character, will be arrested and carried before a judge, or justice of the peace, for examination. If the enemy should enter the state, the several colonels of militia nearest the point of attack, will immediately order into the field their respective regiments, and (after detailing a suitable guard for the protection of the women and children, and the maintenance of a proper police on the plantations) will advance without waiting for further orders to the scene of danger. Of the skill and courage of the regular troops of the United States in our vicinity, we are fully assured; we will unite our efforts with theirs against the common enemy, and if called to act with our gallant countrymen of the western states, vie with them also in deeds of valour.

The commander-in-chief persuades himself that no efforts which have or may be made to divide us, will prove successful. The intrigues, the means of corruption by which in other countries our enemy has so much profited, will doubtless be attempted here. But his character is well understood, and it is hoped, that his arts will not avail him. In defence of our homes and families there surely will be but one opinion--one sentiment. The American citizen, on contrasting his situation with that of the citizen or subject of any other country on earth, will see abundant cause to be content with his destiny. He must be aware how little he can gain, and how much he must lose by a revolution, or change of government.

If there be a citizen who believes that his rights and property would be respected by an invading foe, the weakness of his head should excite pity. If there be an individual who supposes the kind of force with which we are menaced could be restrained from acts of violence, he knows little of the character of those allies of Great Britain, who committed the massacre at fort Mims.

In these evil days, small indeed is the portion of affliction which has hitherto befallen Louisiana: when a hostile army breaks into the territory of a nation, its course is marked with scenes of desolation, which centuries of industry cannot repair. With what union, with what zeal, should all our energies be exerted to defend our country against like misfortunes!

(Signed)

WM. C. C. CLAIBORNE.

NO. XII.

Head-quarters, Pensacola, August 26, 1814.

Order of the day for the first colonial battalion of the royal corps of marines. You are called upon to discharge a duty of the utmost danger, of the utmost peril. You will have to perform long and tedious marches through wildernesses, swamps and water-courses; your enemy from long habit inured to the climate, will have great advantages over you. But remember the twenty-one years of toil and glory of your country, and resolve to follow the example of your glorious companions, who have fought and spilt their blood in her service. Be equally faithful and strict in your moral discipline, and this, the last and most perfidious of your enemies, will not long maintain himself before you. A cause so sacred as that which has led you to draw your swords in Europe, will make you unsheath them in America, and I trust you will use them with equal credit and advantage. In Europe, your arms were not employed in defence of your country only, but of all those who groaned in the chains of oppression, and in America they are to have the same direction. The people whom you are now to aid and assist have suffered robberies and murders committed on them by the Americans.

The noble Spanish nation has grieved to see her territories insulted; having been robbed and despoiled of a portion of them while she was overwhelmed with distress and held down by the

chains which a tyrant had imposed on her gloriously struggling for the greatest of all possible blessings (true liberty.) The treacherous Americans, who call themselves free, have attacked her, like assassins, while she was fallen. But the day of retribution is fast approaching. These atrocities will excite horror in the heart of a British soldier, they will stimulate you to avenge them, and you will avenge them like British soldiers. Valour, then, and humanity!

As to the Indians, you are to exhibit to them the most exact discipline, being a pattern to those children of nature. You will have to teach and instruct them; in doing which you will manifest the utmost patience, and you will correct them when they deserve it. But you will regard their affections and antipathies, and never give them just cause of offence. Sobriety, above all things, should be your greatest care--a single instance of drunkenness may be our ruin; and I declare to you, in the most solemn manner, that no consideration whatsoever shall induce me to forgive a drunkard. Apprised of this declaration, if any of you break my orders in this respect, he will consider himself as the just cause of his own chastisement. Sobriety is your first duty; I ask of you the observance of it among your brethren.. Vigilance is our next duty. Nothing is so disgraceful to our army as surprise.--Nothing so destructive

to our cause.

EDWARD NICHOLLS.

NO. XIII.

At a very numerous and respectable meeting of the citizens of New Orleans and its vicinity, assembled pursuant to public notice at Tremoulet's coffee-house, on the 15th day of September, 1814, to consider of the propriety of naming a committee to co-operate with the constituted authorities of the state and general government, in suggesting measures of defence, and calling out the force of the country in the present emergency,

Edward Livingston, Esq. was called to the chair, and Richard Relf, Esq. appointed secretary of the meeting.

The chairman opened the meeting by a speech analogous to the occasion, in which he showed the propriety and necessity of the ત

meeting, and the good effects that would probably result from an expression of public opinion in the present posture of our affairs, and took occasion, from the English assertion of disaffection in this state, to show, that we owed it to ourselves to disavow such unfounded and calumnious insinuations, and by a prompt and cheerful offer of support, to show to the rest of the United States that we are not unworthy of a place among them. After a strong and eloquent invitation to union, he proposed the following resolutions, which were unanimously adopted:

Resolved, That on all important national questions, it is proper, and in urgent emergencies it is necessary, for the citizens of a free government to aid their magistrates and officers by a proffer of their support in the performance of their functions.

Resolved, That in this state such an expression of public opinion is peculiarly proper, because the enemy has dared to allege that we are disaffected to our government, and ready to assist him in his attempts on our independence, an allegation which we declare to be false and insidious, tending to create doubts of our fidelity to the union of which we are a member, and which we repel with the indignation they are calculated to inspire.

Resolved, That an union with the other states is necessary to the prosperity of this, and that while we rely upon them for assistance and protection, we will not be wanting in every exertion proportionate to our strength, in order to maintain internal tran quillity, repel invasion, and preserve to the United States this important accession to its commerce and security.

Resolved, As the sense of this assembly, that the good people of this state are attached to the government of the United States, and that they will repel with indignation every attempt to create disaffection and weaken the force of the country, by exciting dissentions and jealousies at a moment when union is most

necessary.

Resolved, That we consider the present as a crisis scrious but not alarming-that our country is capable of defence-that we do not despair of the republic, and that we will at the risk of our lives and fortunes defend it.

Resolved, That a committee of nine members be appointed to co-operate with the constituted civil and military authorities, in