The 9th was spent, under an armistice, in burying the dead and caring for the wounded. General Lambert then determined to withdraw to the shipping and abandon the enterprise, but was ten days about it, during which time his troops were annoyed by incessant cannonading by day and "hunting parties" by night. The British fleet had entered the Mississippi at its mouth, and from the 10th to the 17th bombarded Fort St. Philip, seventy-five miles below New Orleans, but effected nothing, and on the 18th withdrew.
CHAPTER XXI. PEACE.
The Treaty of Ghent—Treatment of Prisoners—Losses and Gains by the War—Conclusion.
Had there been an Atlantic cable, or even a transatlantic steamer, with land telegraphs, in those days, the slaughter before New Orleans might have been prevented; for a treaty of peace had been signed at Ghent on the 24th of December, 1814. It made the usual stipulations for the exchange of prisoners and the return of property, guaranteed peace to the Indians, and provided for a settlement by commissioners of questions as to boundary and the islands in Passamaquoddy Bay,—and it provided for little else. The negotiations had been going on for five months, and more than once were in danger of being broken off on account of the insolent and supercilious bearing of the English Commissioners. So says Adams in his diary.
At the outset, the British Commissioners had insisted that the Indians should have a territory set off to them, as neutral ground between the British and the American possessions, and that the United States should have no armament on the great lakes and no fortifications on their shores, while Canada was not to be restricted. On the other hand, the American Commissioners had insisted on formal abrogation of the right of search and impressment. But all these points were ultimately given up. As early as June the American Commissioners had been instructed by the President that they might omit any stipulation on the subject of impressment, if it was found indispensably necessary to do so in order to terminate the war; and acting under this instruction they yielded to the argument that, as Europe was now at peace, there was no longer any occasion for exercising the right, and therefore no practical necessity for mentioning it.
The treaty was severely criticised and mercilessly ridiculed as a meaningless document. It might have been answered that the Federalists at least had no right to complain, since they had clamored only for peace, and the treaty brought peace. Better than this, it might have been answered that when a point has been practically settled by war, it is of little consequence whether it is conceded on paper; since every nation is likely to heed a lesson taught by force of arms, and equally likely, when interest dictates, to abrogate a treaty; and, whatever might be said of the campaigns on land, it could not be denied that American mariners had abundantly vindicated their right to an unmolested navigation of the high seas—a right which British cruisers have never since interfered with.
There had been no exchange of prisoners during the war, though many had been paroled, and there were bitter complaints of the treatment received by Americans in British prisons. This was especially true of those confined at Dartmoor, the most unhealthful spot in the dreary highlands of Devonshire. These men were not only not released, but were not even informed that peace had been concluded, till three months after the treaty was signed. There seemed to be a special spite against them because they were mostly American sailors, who had audaciously and successfully disputed England's sovereignty of the seas.