The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 2: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session Page: 59
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Jan. 1844.
APPENDIX TO THE CONGRESSIONAL GLQBB.
59
28th Cons 1st Sess.
Fine on General Jackson—Mr. Dean.
H. of Reps.
the West; and if I mistake not, there is scarcely a
State in this Union which has not spoken through
her Legislature on this subject. Sir, their resolu-
tions are now on your table, instructing their Sen-
ators and requesting their Representatives to take up
the subject of this fine, and see that justice is done
to General Jackson. This, sir, I should think,
would be a satisfactory answer to the gentleman, and
to the opponents to this bill, why the question is
brought up now, and why we are anxious to
press it to a speedy termination. I have heard it
remarked that this is not a party question; and some
gentlemen have deprecated, in a beautiful strain, the
intermixture of party feeling in this matter. I be-
lieve that some State Legislatures, in the passage of
resolutions on this subject, have done so irrespective
of party. But the gentlemen on the other side have
made it a party question; and I confess that I am
inclined to believe that it is a party question:
I could have wished that it was not so; but from
My soul I believe it is, and that it distinctly marks
the lines between the Democrats and the Wliigs,
as, in 1812, '14, and '15, the lines were drawn be-
tween the Democrats and the Federalists. Sir, let
us go back for a few moments, and review the his-
tory of the times and the parties which existed in
our country when this transaction took place, and
see who then were arrayed upon the side of oui
country, and fighting her battles; and who were
opposed to our country, giving aid and coun-
tenance to the public enemy, and plotting the
separation of this Union and the dissolution of
our Government. It is known to all, that the famous
Hartford convention was in session about this time;
and it is as well known that they were planning and
plotting ways and means to paralyze the energies of
the Government, and to throw every obstacle that
lay in their power against a successful prosecution
of the war. In fact, sir, if we are to believe the his-
tory of those times, they had gone so far in their
treasonable purpose^ as to determine oil making a
separate peace with the public enemy, and-—if ne-
cessary to effect their design-—a separation of the
Union. They had gone so far as to appoint com-
missioners to make known their intention to the
Federal Government, and had instructed them to
call on the President of the United States to put an
end to the war, or to resign his station. Yes, sir,
and these commissioners—ripe, it is to be presumed,
for a separation of this Union, and an alliance with
their British friends, the common enemy of our coun-
try—were on their way to the city of Washington;
some of them had already reached this city
when the glorious news of the victory at New Or-
leans reached them, and put a stop to their wicked
and mad career; and neither they nor their posterity
can ever forget or forgive the old hero for having
defeated their friends and broken up and prostrated
their party. Sir, the whole Federal party were then,
and the whole Whig party are now, the enemies of
General Jackson. Sir, this victory may well be
called a glorious victory; for its results were far
freater to this country than saving the "beauty and
ooty" of New Orleans from the grasp of a licen-
tious and mercenary soldiery. It not only put an
end to the ravages of a foreign enemy, but'it broke
up and annihilated a band of domestic traitors, who
were in the very heart of our country, secretly
plotting its destruction. Sir, if we will but examine
the history of the times, wc shall find that the old
Federal, but now Whig party, ever have been and
still are, the deadly enemies of General Jackson; and
I have no doubt but that they will pursue him with
their enmity and their vcngeance to his very grave.
But it was the remarks of the gentleman from New
York, which induced me to express my views at all
upon this subject. I intended to let it pass by, con-
scious that the thing would be done, and done cor-
rectly. But when that gentleman demanded why
martial law had not been declared at this plate, and
at Baltimore, for the purpose of protecting those
cities during the war, I could not but reply, that
the cases were entirely different. At Baltimore
these was no internal foe—no secret traitors lurking
in the camp, as there were at New Orleans; that
brave and chivalrous people were animated with a
patriotism which brought them forth as one man,
ready and willing to sacrifice their lives in the de-
fence of their country. They required no martial
law to urge them on to their duty; no sir, they ral-
lied to the rescue, animated alone by their love of
country; and by their gallantry in battle, m beating
back the foe, and driving him^diseomfitted from their
shores, proved that every man was a soldier, and
wery ipidier a hero. But we will survey the dis-
astrous fields of Bladensburg—your Capitol wrapped
in flames—your army defeated, and your city sack-
ed, and that," too, by a mere handful of soldiers, in
comparison with the vast multitude of citizens who
were in this metropolis, and who might have been
marshalled and brought forth in the defence of the
capital of our country, and have saved us the morti-
fication and national disgrace of having our Capitol
burnt, and the trophies and archives of the nation
destroyed. Sir, this disaster to our country might
have been avoided, if there had been here some
man of sufficient nerve and firmness to have taken
upon himself the responsibility, and to have met
the crisis of the times in a manner becoming * an
American patriot and a military commander. But,
sir, more clearly to demonstrate the spirit that was
abroad in the country at that time: I recollect very
well to have seen in your public newspapers an
account of a certain Eastern man of some note—an
old Federalist, and a modern Whig, who hailed
with joy the intelligence of the destruction of your
Capitol; and I have no doubt but that there were
many among us who would have rejoiced to have seen
New Orleans in the situation of the City of Wash-
ington. What a contrast does the conduct of that
Federal party then, as well asiioio, present between
the Democrats and Federalists of this country! the
former standing by and defending their country and
her patriots who have perilled their lives in her de-
fence—the latter attempting to paralyze the energies
of the Government, by giving aid and counsel to her
enemies in war, and seizing every favorable oppor-
tunity to blast and destroy the fair fame of those
brave men who have gallantly stood by her in the
hour of danger.
Sir, I would have rejoiced—every patriot of this
Union would have rejoiced—had theie been in this
city some man of noble daring, some one equal to
the exigency of the times. Had the hero of New
Orleans been at, Bladensburg, history would have
recorded a very different account of that battle.
You would have seen him, if necessary for the safe-
ty of this city, declaring martial law; you would
have seen him rallying to the contest every man
who was able to bear arms; you would have seen
him marshalling your yeomanry, gathering about
him the chivalry of the country, and leading them
on, as he did his citizen soldiers at New Orleans, to
victory and to glory. Sir, you would have seen him
in the thickest of the fight, in the front of battle;
arid, rather than yield an inch, opposing himself to
the enemy's ranks as long as life remained; and if
the enemy succeeded, it would have been only by
forcing their way over his lifeless body. Sir, it is
much to be regretted that, no man like General Jack-
son was here at that time, to have defended the
capital of this country from the ravages of an inva-
ding army.
1 was gratified at the remaik of the gentleman
from Louisiana, [Mr. Slijjell,] on a former day,
that all those who had skulked mgloriously from the
field of battle at New Orleans were found to be op-
posed to the restoration of the fine to Genera] Jack-
son, and justified the conduct of Judge Hall. I was
gratified to hear this fact stated by the gentleman in
language which I believe carried conviction to the
mind of every man; and which satisfied me that the
opponents of this bill were actuated by other and
different motives than merely to recue the name of
Judge Hall from censure, or to save inviolate our
Constitution. But, sir, 1 will pass on to the consider-
ation of other facts in this affair; and let it be kept
in mind that the British army—that army which
had sacked the capital—that army which had dis-
graced our arms, as far as defeat is disgrace,—that
army swelled by a large accession of strength, and
flushed with victory, was drawn up on the plains of
New Orleans before the city. I care nothing about
dates or particulars. I will not go into the history
of that transaction minutely, nor would it be desi-
rable. It is known already, to every man, woman,
and child m the Union. 1 will not presume that
any one is a stranger to it; notwithstanding we
heard it asserted on this floor, at the last session,
that the Legislature of Virginia must have been ig-
norant of the fact that the ladies of New Orleans
had once paid this fine, or they would never have
instructed their Senators, and requested their Repre-
sentatives, to go for the restoring of it to General
Jackson, i believe that all who are able to read or
hear are tolerably well acquainted with the leading
facts connected with this transaction. Let us
then, for a moment, contemplate the situation
of affairs when that army was drawn up
before the city of New Orleans:. See General
Jackson arraying and marshalling his citi-
zen-soldiers to meet the enemy. See mm bringing
order out of confusion; and, in the place of military
discipline, substituting patriotism^and inspiriting his
raw troops with a boldness and a daring that could
not be appalled by fear, or made to shrink from
danger. See how he diffused his own master-spirit
among his soldiers, and stamped the impress of his
own mighty genius upon the whole transaction.
He displayed, as has been well said, tact, genius,
skill, and a daring boldness unequalled in the annals
of any country. Look at the manner of defence—-
how he substituted inanimatesubstances for soldiers.
What, sir, can be said in commendation Of the .dis-
tinguished hero, which he does not merit? I will
leave his fame where it is—for I can add nothing to
it by anything which I can say hete—and proceed to
some of the facts, and the law arising upon them,
by which this unjust and iniquitous fine was im-
posed upon the unoffending hero.
The gentleman from New York had argued that
any court in this country possessed the power to
punish for contempt. No one denied it; no one,
for a moment, called it in question. But the gentle-
man has drawn a distinction between the common
law and the power inherent in a court—a distinction
too fine and subtle for me to understand—a distinc-
tion, I think, without a difference.
If, however, the gentleman on the other side
claim an inherent power m the courts to punish for
contempt, arising from necessity above the law
and the Constitution, in order to protect their dig-
nity in the discharge of their official duty, how can
they deny the same great principles of inherent
power arising from the universal law of' nature—
that of self-protection—to the commander of an
army, when the sacred soil of our country is in-
vaded by a ruthless foe, and the lives and the fortunes
and the honor of our country are at stake? Sir, if
these be good reasons why this inherent power
should exist in our courts, simply to protect them
in their civil duties, there are surely much stronger
reasons why it should exist in the power of a mil-
itary commander, who h as in his keeping not only
the safety of the courts, the laws, and the Constitu-
tion of our country, but the lives and fortune of our
citizens, and the very existence of Government
itself. It has been said that there is no authority
for martial law recognised by the Constitution and
laws of this country. I grant, sir, that it is not
found in any of our written codes of laws; but I
assert that it is an inherent power, (as the gentleman
from New York claims for the judiciary,) existing in
every military commander in time of war ana in
the presence of the enemy, within the limits of his
camp; and whenever it becomes necessary for a
military commander to take a position, in order to
defend his country, no matter whether it be a town
or city, all within the limits of his camp must be
subject to his orders, and obedient to his command.
This power is absolutely necessary for the safety of
his army and the protection of his country: without
it, sir, he could not even suppress intelligence
that evil-disposed persons might carry from his camp
to the enemy; for, if he cannot control the persons
within his camp, he cannot, if they feel disposed,
prevent them from serving the enemy. A doctrine
so absurd as this can never be sanctioned by any
American. This power, I admit, must be exercised
by a sound discretion, and used only when de-
manded by necessity; and if an individual be injured
in his person or his property, he has his redress
against the Government, and not against the com-
manding general, unless it can be shown that there
was no necessity for the act. Sir, I do not believe
that the proclamation of martial law gave any addi-
tional power to the commanding^ general; it only
served to put the citizens on their guard, and ap-
prise them of their duty. Sir, all other laws must
give way to martial law in a besieged camp, or on
the field of battle; the necessity of the case, and the
duty of the commanding general to himself, his ar-
my, and his country, require it; and, were he to
shrink from the responsibility of this duty in the
hour of danger, he would be unfit for the station,
and unworthy to be an American commander. It is,
sir, the law of self-defence and self-preservation; and
a military commander who neglects to avail himself
of it when the safety of his army and his country re-
quires its exereise, would be deserving not only of
censure, but should be disgraced and driven from the
service of his country. If, then, sir, this necessity ex-
isted, which gave to Gen. Jackson the right to exer-
cise martial law, it puts an end to the pretence that
Judge Hall had any right to interfere, by interposing
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United States. Congress. The Congressional Globe, Volume 13, Part 2: Twenty-Eighth Congress, First Session, book, 1844; Washington D.C.. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth2368/m1/69/: accessed April 25, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting UNT Libraries Government Documents Department.