  THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS If the telegraph had been in existence a century ago, the battle of New Orleans would not have taken place. It was unique in history as a battle fought after a war was over. And it was the only real victory won by the land forces of America in the War of 1812. It was one of the most conclusive battles in history, and a brilliant demonstration of the military ability of Andrew Jackson. General Jackson believed in preparedness. During the second year of the War of 1812 he learned that the British planned to invade Louisiana, so he concentrated troops four miles below New Orleans in a line of entrenchments a mile in length, extending from the Mississippi River far into the swamp, making both ends impassable. Jackson had 3,500 expert marksmen at his command. They were a strange mixture of men, including long-limbed, hard-faced backwoodsmen, Portuguese and Norwegian seamen, dark-skinned Spaniards and swarthy Frenchmen, besides about 1,000 militiamen selected from the Creoles of Louisiana. They were a rough and violent lot. Theodore Roosevelt characterizes them as: "Soldiers who, under an ordinary commander, would have been fully as dangerous to themselves and their leaders as to their foes. But," he adds, "Andrew Jackson was of all men the one best fitted to manage such troops. Even their fierce natures quailed before the ungovernable fury of a spirit greater than their own; and their sullen, stubborn wills were bent before his unyielding temper and iron hand." On the morning of the 8th of January, 1815, General Pakenham advanced upon New Orleans with a force of about 6,000 trained and experienced fighting men. Jackson knew that the British would have to cross his entrenchments before entering the city. So he placed his force of fierce and deadly fighters within the trenches and opened upon the enemy with volley after volley. The mortality on the British side was frightful. The lines wavered and General Pakenham fell in front of his troops. Utterly demoralized by the withering blast of the American muskets, these hardy British veterans hurried to their camp and escaped to ships. The British lost about 2,000 men killed, wounded and prisoners, while in the American lines there were only about seventy casualties. So weak and ineffective had been the showing of the American forces in several of the battles of this war that they had incurred the contempt of the enemy. In one final, brilliant blow General Jackson restored the prestige of American arms. Signature Editor The Mentor Association ESTABLISHED FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF A POPULAR INTEREST IN ART, LITERATURE, SCIENCE, HISTORY, NATURE, AND TRAVEL THE ADVISORY BOARD The purpose of The Mentor Association is to give its members, in an interesting and attractive way, the information in various fields of knowledge which everybody wants to have. The information is imparted by interesting reading matter, prepared under the direction of leading authorities, and by beautiful pictures, produced by the most highly perfected modern processes. THE MENTOR IS PUBLISHED TWICE A MONTH SUBSCRIPTION, THREE DOLLARS A YEAR. FOREIGN POSTAGE 75 CENTS EXTRA. CANADIAN POSTAGE 50 CENTS EXTRA. SINGLE COPIES FIFTEEN CENTS. PRESIDENT, THOMAS H. BECK; VICE-PRESIDENT, WALTER P. TEN EYCK; SECRETARY, W.D. MOFFAT; TREASURER, ROBERT M. DONALDSON; ASST. TREASURER AND ASST. SECRETARY, J.S. CAMPBELL COMPLETE YOUR MENTOR LIBRARY Subscriptions always begin with the current issue. The following numbers of The Mentor Course, already issued, will be sent postpaid at the rate of fifteen cents each.
NUMBERS TO FOLLOW April 1. GREAT ART GALLERIES OF THE WORLD—THE NATIONAL GALLERY, LONDON. By Professor John C. Van Dyke. April 15. MASTERS OF THE VIOLIN—Joachim, Paganini, Ole Bull, Maud Powell, Ysaye, Kreisler, and others. By Henry T. Finck, Author and Music Critic. THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, Inc. 52 EAST 19th STREET, NEW YORK, N.Y. THE MENTOR AS A REFERENCE LIBRARY Every Number of The Mentor is valuable. The back numbers are as useful and entertaining at any time as on the date of publication. Therefore, many members wish to own a complete file of back numbers. For those who own a complete set and desire to use The Mentor as a reference library, we have provided a simple and convenient method of filing and cataloguing The Mentor. In a booklet which we have especially provided for our members, the various Mentors are grouped under headings which link similar numbers together in sets. 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When our members desire to refer to a picture or look up a fact, it is only necessary for them to consult the booklet, finding there in which Mentor the information may be sought. The price of all back numbers of The Mentor is fifteen cents each. Write and let us explain the plan more fully. THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION, INC. 52 East Nineteenth Street-New York City, N.Y. COMMODORE STEPHEN DECATUR COMMODORE STEPHEN DECATUR FROM THE PAINTING BY REMBRANDT PEALE IN THE POSSESSION OF THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY STEPHEN DECATUR Monograph Number Three in The Mentor Reading Course The father of Stephen Decatur, also named Stephen, was a native of Newport, Rhode Island, and a captain in the United States navy. Stephen Decatur, Jr., was born at Sinnepuxent, Maryland, on January 5, 1779. He entered the American navy as a midshipman in 1798 on board the frigate United States. A year later he was promoted to lieutenant and in that rank saw a little service in the short war with France. In 1801 Decatur sailed as first lieutenant of the Essex, one of Commodore Dale's squadron, to the Mediterranean. As a result of a duel with a British Officer—which resulted fatally for the Englishman—Decatur was sent home for a time. In 1803 he was back in the Mediterranean in command of the Enterprise. He distinguished himself almost immediately. Conceiving the daring idea of recapturing or destroying the frigate Philadelphia, which had been captured by the pirates and lay in the harbor of Tripoli, on February 31, 1804, he manned a little boat called the Intrepid, with seventy volunteers, and, braving the enemy, he reached the Philadelphia, set it afire and got away, with the loss of only one man. For this gallant achievement Congress voted Decatur thanks and a sword. He was also promoted to captain. Following this, Decatur was engaged in all the attacks on Tripoli from 1804 to 1805. In the War of 1812 the ship which he commanded, the United States, captured the British vessel, the Macedonian, after a desperate struggle. In 1813 he was appointed commodore to command a squadron in New York Harbor, which was blockaded by the British. In 1813 he attempted to get to sea to break the blockade with the United States, the Hornet, and the Macedonian, which had been by this time converted into an American ship. A superior British squadron forced Decatur to run into the Thames, and he lay off New London for several months. He sent a challenge to the commander of the blockading squadron to come on and fight, but the challenge was not accepted. At length, unable to get to sea, two of the ships were dismantled, and Decatur returned to New York, where he took command of a squadron destined for the East Indies. In the frigate President he put to sea on the 14th of January, 1815. The blockading British squadron pursued the ship, and after a desperate running fight forced Decatur to surrender. Soon afterward Decatur returned to the United States, peace between England and America was declared. But the Barbary pirates were once more giving trouble. Decatur took a command in the Mediterranean. He arrived before Algiers on June 22, 1815, and immediately demanded a treaty from the Dey. His terms were very brief: no more annual tribute or ransom for prisoners; all enslaved Americans to be released; and no American ever again to be held as a slave. The question of tribute was the most difficult to settle. The Dey feared that other European powers would demand the same terms. "Even a little powder," said the Dey, "might prove satisfactory." "If," replied Decatur, "you insist upon receiving powder as tribute, you must expect to receive the balls with it." In forty-eight hours the treaty was negotiated, giving to the United States privileges and immunities never before granted by a Barbary state to a Christian power. In 1819 a quarrel arose between Commodore James Barron and Decatur. They met at Bladensburg, Maryland, on March 22, 1820. At the first shots Barron was dangerously wounded. Decatur was also hit, and he died the same evening. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION WILLIAM BAINBRIDGE Monograph Number Two in The Mentor Reading Course William Bainbridge was born at Princeton, New Jersey, on May 7, 1774. He was a son of Dr. Absalom Bainbridge, a Physician of the town. He received comparatively little education; for he went to sea in a merchant vessel at the age of fourteen. A few years after this, while he was the mate of the ship Hope, on a voyage to Holland he saved the life of his captain, who had been seized by a mutinous crew with the intention of throwing him overboard. On his return home, because of his good conduct and abilities, he was promoted to the command of a ship in the Dutch trade. He continued in command of various ships until 1798. During this time the war between France and Great Britain made it difficult for neutrals to carry on trade. Therefore as master of a ship Bainbridge had to elude, or beat off a great deal of interference on the part of French and British ships alike. In 1798, when war was about to break out between France and the United States and the American navy was organized, Bainbridge was appointed commander of the United States Schooner Retaliation, of fourteen guns, with the rank of lieutenant. In November his ship was captured by two French frigates—but it was released shortly afterward. Bainbridge sailed for the West Indies as master commandant of the brig Norfolk. During this cruise he gave protection to the merchant trade of the United States and captured several of the enemy's merchantmen. In 1800 Bainbridge was promoted to the rink of captain. On the frigate George Washington he sailed to the Dey of Algiers with presents. These "presents" were bribes which the United States paid to the Algerian pirates to secure exemption from capture for its merchant ships in the Mediterranean. Bainbridge was disgusted at having to pay the tributes. While his ship was at Algiers war was declared by the pirates against France, and the French consul and citizens were ordered to leave the country in forty-eight hours. Captain Bainbridge received them all on his ship and landed them safely. When the United States found that bribes to the pirates did not protect their commerce, they decided to use force. Captain Bainbridge was given command of the frigate Philadelphia, and sailing to Algiers, blockaded Tripoli. Being driven from his cruising grounds, Bainbridge pursued a strange ship that was trying to break the blockade. He gave chase, but ran upon a reef on the morning of October 31, 1803. The pirates immediately attacked, and when the ship could no longer be defended they captured and scuttled her, imprisoning the officers and crew. After a treaty of peace between the Dey and the United States had been concluded, the Americans were released on February 3, 1805. Captain Bainbridge returned for a time to the merchant service, but when the War of 1812 broke out, he was appointed to command the United States frigate Constitution. In this ship he captured two British frigates and many merchantmen. On his return he was received with an enthusiastic welcome by his countrymen. The Constitution became an object of national pride, and because of the little damage it sustained in the numerous encounters in which it engaged, received the popular name of "Old Ironsides." After the conclusion of the War of 1812, Bainbridge once more served against the Barbary pirates. Later he served on the board of navy commissioners. Commodore Bainbridge died in Philadelphia on July 28, 1833. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION COMMODORE OLIVER HAZARD PERRY COMMODORE OLIVER HAZARD PERRY FROM THE PAINTING BY REMBRANDT PEALE IN THE POSSESSION Of THE NEW YORK HISTORICAL SOCIETY OLIVER HAZARD PERRY Monograph Number Five in The Mentor Reading Course Oliver Hazard Perry was born at South Kensington, Rhode Island, on August 23, 1785. His father was Christopher Raymond Perry, captain in the navy. His first position was that of a midshipman on the sloop of war General Greene, in 1798. The first action that he saw was against the Barbary pirates. In this war he secured the affection and respect of the officers and men in the squadron. In 1810 he was a lieutenant-commandant in the schooner Revenge. This vessel was attached to the squadron under Commodore Rodgers, and was employed in Long Island Sound to uphold the embargo which the United States had at that time put upon trade with England and France. Shortly after, the war with England began. Perry was placed in command of a flotilla at Newport, but was not pleased with this commission, and begged to be ordered to Lake Ontario. His wish was granted, and he and his men—who eagerly volunteered to go with him—re-inforced Commodore Chauncey on the Great Lakes. When he arrived at Lake Ontario, however, Chauncey ordered Perry to Lake Erie to superintend the building of vessels. The English had a powerful force on the Great Lakes and the United States wanted to build sufficient ships to meet them. Perry worked hard, and on August 4, 1813, he got his squadron into the deep waters of Lake Erie. This squadron consisted of three brigs, five schooners, and one sloop. On the 10th of September Perry met the British fleet with Captain Robert H. Barclay in command in the Battle of Put-in Bay. This was the great fight of Perry's life, and he fought it with skill, bravery and perseverance. The effects of this victory were felt all over the United States. National pride was kindled and the people celebrated the victory with enthusiasm. In reward Perry was made a captain in the navy and received the thanks of Congress. However, the gallant officer did not rest upon his laurels, and, seeing no more hostile fleets to conquer, offered himself as aid to General Harrison, who was then pursuing the British, and took part in the Battle of Moravian Town on October 5th. When Virginia and Maryland were invaded by the English, under General Ross and Admiral Cockburn, Perry had a command on the Potomac. At the end of the War of 1812 Captain Perry took command of the Java, a frigate of the first class, and sailed with Commodore Stephen Decatur to punish the Dey of Algiers, who had plundered the commerce of the United States when this country was busy during the war of 1812. This expedition, which reached the Mediterranean in June, 1815, was successful, and Perry returned to the United States. While the Java was lying at Newport in mid-winter, he received information that a merchant vessel was on a reef about five or six miles from that place, and that the crew were in danger. Leaping into his barge he turned to his oarsmen and said, "Come, my boys, we are going to the relief of shipwrecked seamen; pull away!" The eleven men of the crew were rescued. In 1819 Perry was sent in the John Adams to the West Indies with sealed orders. Pirates had swarmed in that vicinity, and his commission was to drive them from the sea. He executed his orders with diligence, but unfortunately caught yellow fever and died on August 23, 1819, at Port of Spain, in Trinidad. Every tribute of national grief was paid to his memory, and he was buried with military honors. PREPARED BY THE EDITORIAL STAFF OF THE MENTOR ASSOCIATION | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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