The Rhode Island Republican

From the Louisiana Gazette.

ADDRESS

Directed by Maj. Gen. JACKSON to be read at the head of each of the corps composing the line below New-Orleans, January 21, 1815.

Citizens and Fellow Soldiers,

The enemy has retreated, and your general has now leisure to proclaim to the world what he has noticed with admiration and pride- your undaunted courage, your patriotism, and patience under hardships and fatigues. Natives of different states acting together for the first time in the camp--differing in habits and in language, instead of viewing in these circumstances the germ of distrust and division, you have made them the source of an honorable emulation, and from the seeds of discord itself have reaped the fruits of an honorable union. This day completes the fourth week since fifteen hundred of you attacked treble your number of men who had boasted of their discipline, and their services under a celebrated leader in a long and eventful war --attacked them in their camp the moment they had profaned the soil of freedom with their hostile tread, and inflicted a blow which was a prelude to the final result of their attempt to conquer, or their poor contrivances to divide us. A few hours was sufficient to unite the gallant band, though at the moment they received the welcome order to march they were separated many leagues in different directions from the City. "The gay rapidity of the march, the cheerful countenances of the officers and men, would have induced a belief that some festive entertainment, not the strife of battle, was the object to which they hastened with so much eagerness and hilarity. In the conflict that ensued the same spirit was supported and my communications to the executive of the United States have testified the sense I entertain of the merits of the corps and officers that were engaged. Resting on the field of battle, they retired in perfect order on the next morning to these lines destined to become the scene of future victories, which they were to share with the rest of you, my brave companions in arms. Scarcely were your lines a protection against musket shot, when on the 28th a disposition was made to attack them with all the pomp and parade of military tactics, as improved by those veterans of the Spanish war.

Their batteries of heavy cannon kept up an incessant fire; their rockets illuminated the air, and under their cover two strong columns threatened our flanks. The foe insolently thought that this spectacle was too imposing to be resisted, and in the intoxication of his pride he already saw our lines abandoned without a contest. How were those menacing appearances met?

By shouts of defiance, by a manly courage not to be shaken by the roar of his cannon, by the glare of his firework rockets; by an artillery, served with superior skill and with deadly effect. Never, my brave friends, can your general forget the testimonials of attachment to our glorious cause, of indignant hatred to our foe, of affectionate confidence in your chief, that resounded from every rank as he passed along your line. This animated and unexpected scene damped the courage of the enemy; he dropped his scaling ladders and fascines, and the threatened attack dwindled into a demonstration, which served only to shew the emptiness of his parade, and to inspire you with just confidence in yourselves.

The new year was ushered in with the most tremendous fire his whole artillery could produce : a few hours only, however were necessary for the brave and skilful men who directed our own to dismount his cannon, destroy his batteries and effectually silence his fire.

Hitherto my brave friends, in the contest on our lines, your courage had been passive only ; you stood with calmness a fire that would have tried the firmness of a veteran; and you anticipated a nearer contest with an eagerness which was soon to be gratified.

On the 8th of January the final effort was made. At the dawn of day the batteries opened, and the columns advanced. Knowing that the volunteers from Tennessee and the militia from Kentucky were stationed on your left, it was here they directed their chief attack.

Reasoning always from false principles, they expected no opposition from men whose officers even were not in uniform, who were ignorant of the rules of dress, and who had never been called into discipline fatal mistake! A fire incessantly kept up, directed with calmness, and with unerring aim, strewed the ground with the bravest officers and men of the column which slowly advanced according to the most approved rules of Europe- an tactics, and was cut down by the untutored courage of American militia. Unable to sustain this galling fire, some hundreds nearest the entrenchments called for quarters, which was granted--the rest retreating, were rallied, at some distance, but only to make them a surer mark for the grape and cannister shot of our artillery, which, without exaggeration, mowed down whole ranks at every discharge ; and at length they precipitately retired from the field.

Our right had only a short contest to sustain with a few rash men who fatally for themselves forced their entrance into the unfinished redoubt on the river. They were quickly dispossessed, and this glorious day terminated with the loss to the enemy of their commander in chief and one major general killed, another major general wounded, the most experienced and bravest of their officers, and more than three thousand men killed, wounded and missing, while our ranks, my friends were thinned only by the loss of six of our brave companions killed and seven disabled by wounds, Wonderful interposition of heaven! unexampled event in the history of war!

Let us be grateful to the God of Battles, who has directed the arrow of indignation against our invaders, while he covered with his protecting shield the brave defenders of their country.

After this unsuccessful and disastrous attempt, their spirits were broken, their force was destroyed, and their whole attention was employed in providing the means of escape. This they have effected, leaving their heavy artillery in our power, and many of their wounded to our clemency. The consequence of this short, but decisive campaign, are incalculably important. The pride of our arrogant enemy humbled, his forces broken, his leaders killed, his insolent hopes of our disunion frustrated-his expectation of rioting in our spoils and wasting our country, changed into ignominious defeat, shameful flight, and a reluctant acknowledgement of the humanity and kindness of those whom he had doomed to all the horrors and humiliation of a conquered state,

On the other side, unanimity established, disaffection crushed, confidence restored, your country saved from conquest, your property from pillage, your wives and daughters from insult and violation--the union preserved from dismemberment, and perhaps a period put by this decisive stroke to a bloody and savage war: These, my brave friends; are the consequences of the efforts you have made, and the success with which they have been crowned by Heaven.

These important results have been effected by the united courage and perseverance of the army; which tho different corps as well as the individuals that compose it, have vied with each other in their exertions to produce: The gratitude, the admiration of their country, offers a fairer reward than that which any praises of the general can bestow, and the best is that of which they can never be deprived, the consciousness of having done their duty, and of meriting the applause they will receive.