of
these, being prostrated with illness, the command fell upon General
Adair. He displayed courage and military skill in the disposition of his
troops, and especially in the final contest on the eighth of January,
under difficulties that were seriously embarrassing.

In 1820, he was elected governor of Kentucky, and held this office when
the great questions of relief, and Old Court and New Court, began to
disturb the peace and tranquility of the Commonwealth. In 1831, he was
elected a member of Congress, and in the national house served on the
Committee on Military Affairs. He died on the 19th of May, 1840, and was
buried in the State cemetery at Frankfort, where a monument, erected at
the cost of the State, with proper inscription, stands over his grave. A
fine oil portrait of him hangs on the wall of the capitol, at
Frankfort.

COLONEL GABRIEL SLAUGHTER.

Who commanded a regiment of Kentucky troops in the battle of New
Orleans, was a native of Virginia, but immigrated to Kentucky in pioneer
days and settled in Mercer County, about four miles east of Harrodsburg,
on the turnpike road leading to Lexington. Though a man of ability, and
much esteemed, he seems to have lived in the retirement of private life
until the maturity of middle age. He early became a member of the
Baptist church, in which he led a consistent and zealous life, taking a
prominent part as a layman in the promotion of the interests of religion
and of the denomination with whom he fraternized. His character and
worth made him prominent among the brotherhood. He often represented his
church as its messenger, and was usually called to preside as moderator
over the associations within the jurisdictions of which he lived. His
hospitality was of that warm and generous kind which was characteristic
of pioneer days. His ample and comfortable country mansion, situated
upon a much-frequented highway, came to be known far and wide as the
"Wayfarer's Rest."

Under the call of Governor Shelby, in 1814, he enlisted a regiment of
volunteers for the army of the Southwest from Mercer County and the
counties adjacent, which was one of three regiments accepted for this
service. The gallant and distinguished part taken at New Orleans, in the
great battle of the eighth of January, by Colonel Slaughter and his
regiment, has been set forth in the pages of this book. No troops
engaged on the American side on that day did more fatal execution upon
the enemy's rank and