reinforced by the second division landed on the night of the battle,
giving five thousand fresh veteran troops in bivouac at Villere's, with
which to march upon the city. It was but seven miles distant, with a
broad, level highway leading to it. Jackson could have opposed to this
army not over two thousand men in the open field, where every advantage
would have been with the enemy. With the bravery and discipline the
latter showed in the surprise-battle at night, they would have made an
irresistible march to victory against the city, had not the invincible
Jackson paralyzed them with this first blow. It was a master-stroke,
worthy the genius of a great commander.

The valor of the English soldiers was rarely, if ever, surpassed on a
bloody field of contest. There was no panic, no rout, no cowering under
the murderous fire of the ship's guns, or when the blaze of musketry
encircled them in the darkness of the night. Although the ranks were
broken and little order prevailed, the men rallied to the calls of the
nearest officers, and plunged into the thickest of the strife. Only this
veteran discipline and stubborn British courage saved the enemy from
rout and worse disaster. Colonel Thornton, the bravest and most skillful
of the officers of the English army, as he repeatedly proved himself,
commanded on this occasion. General Keene had not yet come up.

The American forces engaged were: United States regulars, Seventh
Regiment, Major Peire, four hundred and sixty-five men, and Forty-fourth
Regiment, Captain Baker, three hundred and thirty-one men; marines,
Lieutenant Bellevue, sixty-six; artillery, McRae, twenty-two; Major
Plauche's battalion, two hundred and eighty-seven; Major Daquin's
battalion of St. Domingo men of color, two hundred and ten; Choctaws,
Captain Jugeant, eighteen; Coffee's Tennessee Brigade, five hundred and
sixty-three; Orleans Rifles, Captain Beale, sixty-two; and Mississippi
Dragoons, Major Hinds, one hundred and seven; in all, twenty-one hundred
and thirty-one men.

JACKSON ENTRENCHES AT RODRIQUE'S OLD CANAL SITE.

As mentioned, Jackson occupied the line of Rodrique's Canal, two miles
above the British camp at Villere's, and five miles below the city. The
space from the river here back to the swamp was but seventeen hundred
yards, making it an admirable line for defense. Early on the
twenty-fourth every available man was put to work throwing up a
breastwork on the upper side of the canal, while