work; his right by the river Mississippi, and his left by a deep swamp. The enemy in full view at about a mile distance, had thrown up ample defences. In the intervening plain some sanguinary conflicts took place before the final discomfiture of the British.

In

On the 28th of December the British advanced some columns with a show of storming the American lines. These were met by General Carroll with his command, who compelled them to retire within their works. In this affair, the loss of the British was very considerable, while that of Carroll's was 12 killed and 20 wounded. On the 1st and 6th of January, 1815, the British made similar attempts on the American lines, with like ill success. On the morning of the 8th, General Packenham determined to put his strength at final issue. A Lieutenant-General in rank, the brother-in-law of the famous Wellington, with veteran troops inured to service on the Hesperian peninsula, Packenham was sure of success. fact so certain was the British government of the issue of this expedition, that in its equipment, it was accompanied by the entire intended civil de partinent of the expected conquered province; but, alas! the frailty of all human calculations the fates had otherwise decreed; and instead of spreading desolation and. distress with his well trained myrmidons, graced with the garlands of victorious infamy, the plumed warrior was des tined to bite the dust. The evening preceding the attack, Packenham, by a deserter, was made acquainted with Carroll's position in the centre of the American line of defences, and advised of the certainty of their giving way at the first attack, determined to make them sustain the heaviest

of the battle. With his best and heaviest column, next morning, he advanced against Carroll's division. Within seventy-five yards of the American lines, he boldly displayed his columns, amidst a very heavy and incessant fire of artillery from the American batteries. The enemy advanced with slow and regular step to the attack. Carroll had given positive orders to his troops to reserve their fire until the near approach of the enemy rendered the work of death certain and inevitable. The enemy reached the ditch-Carroll gave the word "fire," the enemy, strewing the ground with the dead and dying, the living fled in confusion. Thrice their officers rallied and led to the charge with like success. Although the attack was general, the treachery of a deserter, led the brunt of the attack against the Tennesseans. A retreat took place the proud conquerors of Talavera fled before the raw yeomanry of the American forests and their brethren in arms. The Americans lost about 6 killed and 12 wounded, while the loss of the British in killed, wounded, and prisoners, was 2500, a parallel scarcely to be found in any period of history. Among the killed, was the British Commander-inchief, Sir Edward Packenham, and Major-General Gibbs: Major-General Keane was severely wounded, and a number of field, and platoon officers, and only 400 privates out of the 2500, were made prisoners.

General Morgan in this action, having been driven from his position by the enemy, on the west bank of the Mississippi, General Jackson, who commanded personally in chief on the whole American lines, directed General Carroll to pass the river, take command of Morgan's detachment and dislodge the enemy from their recent con

quest. In obedience to orders, he passed the river and took command-He harangued the lately discomfited troops who greeted him with applause, while he promised to lead them to death or victory. As they advanced to the attack in regular order, the enemy retreated precipitately from their new position-he replaced them at their former posts, repassed the river and resumed the command of his own division.

The British having been totally defeated before New-Orleans, with unparalleled disparity of loss, retreated to their shipping, and relinquished any farther thoughts of subjugating that section of the United States. Peace was soon after proclaimed-General Carroll, according to orders, marched his men home, and discharged them. On this march he measured his way home with his troops on foot, sharing equal fatigue with the lowest of his soldiers. To his troops he was kind and affectionate, bestowing particular care on the sick, and attentive to the health and welfare of the whole. On his arrival at home, he was greeted with unbounded applause by his fellow citizens. In the short space of his military career, no one marched to the goal of renown with more rapid strides than himself; and no man in his sphere appeared more deserving. Of a form athletic, sanguine, and zealous in his disposition and undertaking, he seems capable of surmount ing the greatest fatigue and hardships. Beloved by his troops, they parted from him with regret, and the calumet of peace now suffers each to repose under his own vine and fig-tree, to enjoy domestic repose under the banners of freedom.

MAJOR-GENERAL

JACOB BROWN.

THE ancestors of General Brown emigrated from England with William Penn, in the first settlement of the colony of Pennsylvania, and for successive generations, have been respectable members of the society of Friends, improperly called Quakers. The General was born in Buck's county, Pennsylvania, a few miles below Trenton in New Jersey. He received a plain country education, taught a country school in his early years, according to report; and acquired a knowledge of surveying, the practice of which art led him to emigrate, at the age of 23, to the state of New-York, where he became acquainted with an agent who had the direction of a large landed concern in the vicinity of the waters of Lake Ontario. With this man he contracted for a tract of several thousand acres of land not far from Sackett's Harbour, and began its settlement in 1799. Here he resided in the laudable pursuits of agricultural improvement, beloved and respected. In 1808 he was elected a member of the New-York Agricultural and Philosophical Society. His acceptance, in 1809, of a colonelcy (the first military office he ever held) in the New-York militia, proclaimed him no longer a member of that religious fraternity to which his family had been for ages attached. In consequence of the rage of party spirit, the appointments made by the NewYork Council of Appointment, particularly in times of peace, are governed often more by the consideration of political influence of the person to be commissioned, than by his capacity to dis

charge the duties annexed to the station they design him to fill. Considerations of this nature, no doubt, induced Colonel Brown's promotion to the rank of Brigadier-General, in 1811, as he was not led to this important station by gradation or singular military services. Practices of this kind, while they reflect no dishonour on persons thus appointed, deserve the highest censure, because while the elevation is not derived from conspicuous talents, it tramples on the rights of seniority: in commission.

It is thus accounted for, that, at the commencement of hostilities on the part of the United States against Great Britain, an important frontier of the state of New-York was found under the military command of General Jacob Brown. Of the first detachment of New-York militia, called into actual service of the United States, one brigade was committed to his charge. That the subsequent developement of General Brown's military character cannot be ascribed to the wisdom and foresight of that body to whom he owed his commission, the preceding observations will amply warrant; hence it is but fair to infer, that his subsequent military career is ascribable alone to his prowess and talents, perhaps not unaided with Executive favour.

The general's first command embraced the whole line of frontier from Oswego to St. Regis, a distance of more than three hundred miles.Within this line was included the important post of Sackett's Harbour, the security of which, being essential to the success of ulterior operations, constituted the first object of his attention. Having fortified this in the best manner his time and scanty means would allow, he reconnoitered in person the shores of the St. Lawrence, and, pro