Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 36.djvu/150

134 its bravery and patriotism during the invasion of Louisiana by the English Army in 1814 and 1815, participated in all the skirmishes and in the final battle, and by its discipline and the promptness of the maneuvers turned the tide of fortune in favor of the American arms, in the bloody fight of the 28th to 30th December, 1814, and the combats of Jan. 1 and 8, and aided in the entire defeat of that powerful and numerous British Army that had dreamed, in advance, the conquest of this country and the acquisition of the wealth it possessed. "That splendid body of Volunteers of Orleans, clad in brilliant uniforms, and perfectly disciplined, was composed, for the most part, of men who had seen war in Europe as French soldiers. The noble conduct of those brave strangers was the more commendable for the reason that they were not compelled to take arms in defense of Louisiana, notwithstanding the proclamation of martial law by General Jackson, December 14th. It was, therefore, with generous spontaneity that these French warriors offered their services to General Jackson in spite of the French Consul, who would have resorted to the plea of neutrality, his government being at that time at peace with Great Britain." (Note by the translator: This statement of the narrator is greatly at variance with the account given by Martin in his "History of Louisiana," which shows the French Consul in an entirely different light, and instead of speaking of him as a quasi-enemy, states that he had taken part in the Revolutionary War on the side of the Americans. Martin says: "There were in the city a very great number of French subjects, who, from their national character, could not have been compelled to perform military duty; these men, however, with hardly any exception, volunteered their services. The Chevalier de Touzac, the Consul of France, who had distinguished himself and lost an arm in the service of the United States during the Revolutionary War, lamenting that the neutrality of his nation did not allow him to lead his countrymen in New Orleans to the field, encouraged them to flock to Jackson's standard.")

"The battalion of free colored men from San Domingo, which was under command of Major Louis D'Aquin, subject to the