The information is obtained from the MS. official returns of that date; and those shown as “on board ship” were those who had not landed in time for the engagement on the 23rd December. They were landed immediately after the arrival of Colonel Dickson on the 25th December, which is mentioned hereafter.

Officers.N.-C. O.
and
men.
Effective present14224
Effective Rocket Brigade296
Total present16320
On board ship1114
General Total17434
Officers.N.-C. O.
and
men.
Effective Rocket Brigade262
Total present262
On board ship0184
General Total2246

Nominal List of Officers, Royal Artillery.

Major Alex. Munro.
Major J. Michell.
Captain L. Carmichael.
Captain H. B. Lane.
Captain Charles Deacon.
Captain Adam Crawford.
Captain W. C. Lemprière.
1st Lieutenant John Crawley.
1st Lieutenant Charles Ford.
1st Lieutenant R. A. Speer.
1st Lieutenant Francis Weston.
1st Lieutenant Benson E. Hill.
1st Lieutenant Alexander Ramsay.
1st Lieutenant Frederick Bayley.
1st Lieutenant James Christie.
1st Lieutenant Henry Palliser.
2nd Lieutenant T. G. Williams.
2nd Lieutenant B. L. Poynter.
2nd Lieutenant Henry Williams.

The fleet sailed from Jamaica on the 27th November, 1814, General Keane and the Admiral, Sir A. Cochrane, having preceded the others to make the necessary arrangements.

Sir A. Dickson’s MSS.

On the 24th December, a frigate from England joined the fleet, having brought out Major-General Sir Edward Pakenham, as Commander of the Forces, accompanied by Colonel Dickson and Colonel Burgoyne, as commanding officers, respectively, of Artillery and Engineers. On their arrival they learnt that—certain difficulties in the way of a passage to New Orleans through the lakes having been removed—the army had landed at a creek at the head of Lake Borgne on the 24th December. Being very anxious to join them, Sir Edward Pakenham and his staff pushed on in a boat without delay, for a distance of forty miles, through a number of dismal reed-covered islands, reaching the ‘Britannia’ transport at 10 P.M. Here they learnt that General Keane had landed on the morning of the 23rd with 2000 men at the upper part of a creek called Bayou Catalan, at the head of Lake Borgne;—that he had advanced to the bank of the Mississippi, and on the evening of the same day had been attacked by a strong force of the enemy, which he had repulsed, but not without considerable loss;—that the army had not yet moved farther forward, but was waiting for more troops to join,—only 2000 having been landed at first, and the remainder having gone up the creek in schooners, many of which had gone aground. By rowing all night, and adding thirty miles to the journey already made, Sir Edward Pakenham and his staff reached the head-quarters of Sir Alexander Cochrane, which were established in a few fishermen’s huts,—the only habitations that existed for miles round in that most melancholy and unhealthy district. By 11 A.M. on the 25th December, they succeeded in reaching the landing-place at the head of the creek; and ascertaining that the army head-quarters were only 2½ miles farther on, they proceeded to join them. The road which they traversed was merely a wretched marshy footpath along the bank of a little canal or bayou, which extended from the creek almost to the Mississippi, and was navigable for canoes to within 1000 yards of that river. On arriving at headquarters, they found the army on the ground on which they had fought on the 23rd; the number of men landed having been increased to 3500. The Artillery, which had been landed and equipped, was as follows:—

29-prs. with 110 rounds per gun.
46-prs. with 120 rounds per gun.
1heavy 5½-inch howitzer, with 60 rounds.
1light 5½-inch howitzer, with 60 rounds.
4light 3-prs. with 150 rounds per gun.
Total12guns.

Captain Lane’s rocket equipment, with 150 field rockets.
Three 5½-inch mortars (brass) under Captain Lawrence, of the Marine Artillery, with 20 rounds each.