Letter from admiral Cochrane to general Jackson. H. B. M. ship Tonnant, off Mobile Bay, 12th February, 1815: SIR, In consequence of the style which captain Patterson thought proper to adopt in a letter that he addressed to me on the 23d January (a copy of which I beg leave to inclose) with some remarks upon the margin, I find myself precluded from making him any reply thereto, or of holding with that officer any further correspondence. But to prevent our respective prisoners suffering any unnecessary detention, I do myself the honour to communicate to you, that in order to fulfil the agreement for an exchange of prisoners, entered into by major Smith (aid-de-camp to major general Lambert) upon the 27th ultimo, I sent his majesty's ship Nymphe to the Havanna, to receive from his majesty's ship Ramilies one hundred of the American prisoners taken in the gun-vessels, which she had carried to sea. These, with five seamen, who, for the purpose of being examined in the vice-admiralty court respecting the capture of the gun-vessels, I have been obliged to send to Bermuda, but who are to be returned the moment the legal forms have been complied with, will complete the number of American prisoners which have to be accounted for by the British forces under the agreement of the 17th ultimo, and they shall be forwarded to you without any delay so soon as they arrive in the squadron. As it has been found very inconvenient, the sending of vessels to the Rigolets (those last sent not having yet returned, and are reported to be on shore) colonel Livingston and myself have agreed that the prisoners expected in the Nymphe shall proceed to the mouth of the Mississippi, and be delivered to the officer commanding at Plaquemines. Having by this arrangement fulfilled the stipulations of our before-mentioned treaty, in which we agreed to the restoration of all the prisoners that our forces had made before we received from you any British prisoners, it is but just that you should follow the same principle with respect to the prisoners who have fallen into our hands by the surrender of Fort Bowyer, all of whom major general Lambert and myself are ready to exchange as they stand upon the lists (copies of which are inclosed) for such British prisoners as you may cause to be delivered at the mouth of the Mississippi, after the first account has been finally settled. And on my part, I will engage to send to the same place an equivalent of American prisoners, so soon as I am informed of the number and qualities of the British prisoners received. I have the honour to be, sir, &c. (Signed) ALEX. COCHRANE. Letter from admiral Cochrane to general Jackson. H. B. M ship Tonnant, off Mobile Bay, 13th February, 1815. SIR, I HAVE exceeding satisfaction in sending to you a copy of a bulletin that I have this moment received from Jamaica, proclaiming that a treaty of peace was signed between our respective plenipotentiaries at Ghent, on the 24th December, 1814, upon which I beg leave to offer you my sincere congratulations. SIR, I have the honour to be, sir, &c. (Signed) ALEX. COCHRANE. Letter from general John Lambert to general Jackson. Head-Quarters, British Army, February 19th, 1815. I AM just informed by admiral Malcolm that the American prisoners made on the 14th of December are arrived in the fleet, and that they will sail immediately for the Mississippi, as it was settled with colonel Livingston, aid-de-camp. I confidently trust there will be now no impediment to an equal number of British prisoners being immediately returned to us. I beg leave to congratulate you on the prospect of peace, and hope I shall soon have to communicate to you the notice of the ratification being exchanged. I have the honour to be, sir, &c. (Signed) JOHN LAMBERT. SIR, Letter from general Jackson to admiral Cochrane. Head-Quarters, 7th Military District, New Orleans, February 20th, 1815. I AM honoured by your letter of the 12th instant, by the return of my flag, inclosing a copy of commodore Patterson's to you, with some marginal strictures on its contents. The navy and military departments in our service being totally independent, I am not permitted to defend, still less to censure the conduct or correspondence of that officer at the head of the former; his distinguished merit, and general correctness of conduct, make it presumable that he will be able to justify his proceedings to the government, to whom alone he is accountable. On the subject of the exchange, your assurance that the one hundred men sent off in the Ramilies, as well as the five detained for the condemnation of the gun-boats, will be delivered on their return, is satisfactory to myself and to commodore Patterson; and I now despatch all the prisoners in a situation to be removed as by the enclosed list: the residue, to the amount of now at Natchez, are sent for, and will be forwarded to the Balize as soon as they shall arrive. You will perceive by this, sir, that I perfectly acquiesce in the propriety of your remark, that justice requires me to follow the example of confidence given by yourself and general Lambert, in the delivery of the prisoners belonging to my army previous to the receipt of those taken from you, a confidence always mutually due from enemies who respect each other, and peculiarly proper between those who, in the probable course of events, may soon cease to be such. There is another subject, on which a passage in general Lambert's last letter renders it necessary for me to address you; I mean that of the negroe slaves belonging to several inhabitants. on the Mississippi, now in your fleet. I had written to general Lambert on this head two successive letters, in consequence of his informing me that these persons would be delivered to their masters on their application. To the first I received no answer, to the last I am informed that general Lambert "has nothing to do with it." Mr. White, to whom an order was given to receive such as were willing to return to their masters, having reported to me that he found several who were ready to accompany him, but that he was not permitted to take them; I am now obliged, sir, explicitly to ask whether the property thus taken is intended to be restored, and if it be, that a time and place may be appointed for its delivery. The prisoners from Natchez will arrive in less than ten days; they will immediately sail for the Balize, and it is hoped that the prisoners taken at fort Bowyer may meet them there, to be conveyed back in the same vessels. SIR, I have the honour to be, sir, &c. (Signed) ANDREW JACKSON. Letter from general Jackson to admiral Cochrane, Head-Quarters, 7th Military District, New Orleans, 21st February, 1815. I HAVE the honour to acknowledge the receipt of your letter of the 13th instant. It came to hand only this day by the way of the Balize, though purporting to have been sent by my aid-de-camp, Mr. Livingston, who arrived two days since from your fleet, and who, from a conversation he had with you, was disappointed in not finding it inclosed in the despatch he brought. I sincerely reciprocate your congratulations on the important event you announced to me, that a treaty of peace has been signed between our two countries. This communication, connected with an expression in the bulletin you inclose, that captain Stirling of his majesty's ship Brazen was charged with despatches announcing the termination of hostilities between Great Britain and America, naturally leads to an inquiry, how far you consider this event as authorizing and requiring a cessation of hostilities between the military and naval forces of Great Britain and those of the United States in this district. The prisoners in my possession at this place will sail for the Balize at eight o'clock on the morning of to-morrow. Those at Natchez, upwards of a hundred in number, will be forwarded to the same place as soon as they arrive here. They have been ordered down, and are expected shortly. I have the honour to be, &c. (Signed) ANDREW JACKSON. NO. XXXIX. Letter from brigadier general Winchester to the secretary at War. SIR, Mobile, February 17th, 1815. It becomes my duty to communicate to you the unpleasant news of the loss of Fort Bowyer. It was closely invested by land, as well as water, on the 8th inst. On the 10th and 11th, passed a detachment over the bay with a view to divert the enemy from his object: but it arrived about twenty-four hours too late, though time enough to capture one of the enemy's barges with seventeen seamen, who say the garrison capitulated on the 12th; that the besiegers had advanced their works on the land side to within certain musket shot of the fort; that the loss on either side in killed is inconsiderable. I am in possession of no other account but that which comes from the prisoners. About thirty of the enemy's vessels, besides boats and barges, are lying within the bar, and above Mobile Point, and several ships of the line on the south and west of Dauphin island. The wind is fair, and I expect the honour of seeing them here every night; if I do, I have great confidence my next will be on a pleasanter subject. I have the honour to be, &c. J. WINCHESTER, Brig. Gen. Com. E. Sec. 7th Mil. Dis. P. S. The garrison consisted of about-three hundred and sixty men, including officers. Three small schooners, in which the detachment was transported over the bay, were captured by the enemy's barges after the troops had landed. Letter from lieutenant colonel Lawrence to general Jackson. Fort Bowyer, February 12th, 1815. SIR, Imperious necessity has compelled me to enter into articles of capitulation with major general John Lambert, commanding his Britannic majesty's forces in front of Fort Bowyer, a copy of which I forward you for the purpose of effecting an immediate exchange of prisoners. Nothing but the want of provisions, and finding myself completely surrounded by thousands-batteries |