5901. NEW ORLEANS, Battle of.—[continued].
Peace was indeed desirable;
yet it would not have been as welcome
without the successes of New Orleans. These
last have established truths too important not
to be valued; that the people of Louisiana are
sincerely attached to the Union; that their city
can be defended; that the Western States
make its defence their peculiar concern; that
the militia are brave; that their deadly aim
countervails the manœuvring skill of the
enemy; that we have officers of natural genius
now starting forward from the mass; and that
putting together all our conflicts, we can beat
the British by sea and by land, with equal numbers.—
To General Dearborn. Washington ed. vi, 450.
(M.
1815)
