squadron 386

Previous occupation of West Florida to the Perdido, by the
United States 387

Pensacola, remaining in Spanish hands, utilized by British 387

Seized by Jackson, and works destroyed 388

Arrival of British expedition in Mississippi Sound 388

Gunboat battle of Lake Borgne 390

British advance corps reaches the bank of the Mississippi 391

Night attack by American Navy and Jackson 391

Sir Edward Pakenham arrives from England 392

His preliminary movements 392

Particular danger of Jackson's position 393

Details of the final day of assault, January 8, 1815 394

The British withdraw after repulse 396

Capture of Fort Bowyer, Mobile Bay 397

Final naval episodes 397

Sailing of the "President." She grounds on the New York bar 398

Overtaken, and is captured, by the British blockading division 398

The "Constitution" captures the "Cyane" and "Levant" 404

Capture of the British sloop "Penguin" by the "Hornet" 407

CHAPTER XVIII

THE PEACE NEGOTIATIONS

Early overtures towards peace by the United States 409

Castlereagh refuses to entertain the project of abandoning
impressment 410

Russia, in 1812, suggests negotiations for peace under mediation
of the Czar 411

United States accepts, but Great Britain refuses 412

Great Britain, through the Czar, offers a direct negotiation,
1813 412

The United States accepts, and names five commissioners 413

The original instructions to the American Commission, 1813 413

Reduced, 1814, through pressure of the war 414

Confident attitude of Great Britain at the opening of the
negotiations 415

Hostile spirit in Great Britain towards the United States 415

The instructions to the British Commission