The overwhelming cyclone which had burst forth with such fury upon the heads of the Louisiana Whigs, in the congressional elections that occurred in the summer of the year 1843, was destined to produce a bitterness of feeling seldom displayed in previous times and, as a natural result, a series of personal difficulties followed throughout the State. RECALLING A DRAMATIC AND FATAL ENCOUNTER UNDER THE OAKS. Should I succeed, even partially, in this endeavor, I shall issue, I hope, at no remote time the "Unwritten History” of Louisiana, than which no subject can be more grand and soul-stirring. To revive and to perpetuate these recollections, which may be termed the “Unwritten History” of New Orleans, has been my aim and sole ambition. To my mother and grandmother, also, have I been greatly indebted for many particulars related to me in my boyhood’s days, of which they were eye-witnesses. Having reached a period of life which has made me, in some measure, a connecting link between the present and a generation long extinct, I have enjoyed the rare opportunity of knowing and hearing some of the men who once conspicuously figured upon the shifting scenes of life’s drama. I have drawn many of my facts not only from old records and disused archives, but from oral recitals and traditions. Some of these incidents are so startling, romantic and improbable that, were they not authenticated by undeniable proof, they might be taken as the vaporings of an exuberant imagination. As far as the compass of the work has permitted, I have omitted none of the salient episodes which constitute the charm of this unique metropolis of the South. Under proper headings in the index column the reader will readily discover the information he seeks upon that branch of the subject. I have stated facts and left the reader to his own conclusions.Ī peculiar feature of the work is the descriptive history of the city’s buildings, monuments and customs since its foundation to within a short time before the year 1860. The subject is an interesting one, not only to our Northern brothers, but to the friends of humanity at large, and is presented in unprejudiced and truthful language. Under the form of narratives I have, among other matters, attempted to illustrate the various phases of slavery that obtained in our State before the war of secession. Conscious of their many defects and imperfections, I still hope that the students of our old-time institutions will find in them matter for instruction as well as entertainment.
The following pages were mostly written during a long spell of sickness, not only with the view of whiling away the tedium of convalescence, but of contributing my mite to a neglected branch of the literature of Louisiana. Ī preface is generally expected by the reader without it, a book may be likened to a sermon with the text omitted.