s fire.

[Illustration: WEATHERSFORD AND GENERAL JACKSON.]

Before the outburst of flame the British dissolved like snow in the sun,
but the survivors with unsurpassable heroism persisted until it was
apparent that not a man would be left alive if they maintained their
ground. Then they fell back to decide upon some other method of attack.

Angered by his repulse, Pakenham ran to the head of a regiment bearing
scaling ladders and called upon his men to follow him. Only a few
succeeded in piercing the American lines. Pakenham fell, mortally
wounded; his successor was killed, and the third in command was so badly
injured that he could give no orders. "All that were left of them"
retreated. From the opening to the close of the battle was less than
half an hour, during which the British lost 2,500 in killed, wounded,
and prisoners, one-third being killed. On the American side eight were
killed and thirteen wounded. A few days later the British withdrew to
their ships and sailed for the West Indies, where they learned of the
signing of the treaty of peace.

WORK OF THE AMERICAN NAVY.

It will be noticed that as the war progressed the principal fighting
changed from the ocean to the land. Several encounters took place on the
sea, but they were mostly unimportant, and did not always result
favorably for us. In September, 1814, Captain Samuel C. Reid, in command
of the privateer _Armstrong_, while lying in the harbor of Fayal, one of
the Azores, was attacked by a fleet of boats from three British
frigates. He fought all through the night, and, although outnumbered
twenty to one, made one of the most remarkable defenses in naval annals.

On the 16th of January following, the _President_ was captured by the
British ship _Endymion_. On the 20th of February, while Captain Charles
Stewart was cruising off Cape St. Vincent, in the _Constitution_, with
no thought that peace had been declared, he fell in with two British
brigs, the _Cyane_ and the _Levant_. It was a bright moonlight night,
and, after a brief engagement, in which Stewart displayed consummate
seamanship, he captured both vessels.

But peace had come and was joyfully welcomed everywhere. The war had
cost us heavily in men, ships, and property; the New England factories
were idle, commerce at a standstill, and the whole country in a
deplorable state. But everything now seemed to spring into life under
the glad tidings. The shipping in New England was decked with b