1814-1815: New Orleans
When Andrew Jackson arrived in New Orleans (Dec. 1, 1814), he was worried about the attitudes of the local population toward the war. According to an early source, Jackson feared that the country was "filled with traitors and spies" (Eaton 1827 247). In addition, he worried that there were elements in the New Orleans population who might surrender to the enemy (Eaton 1827 291). Jackson asked the state legislature, whom he distrusted, to suspend the writ of habeas corpus, but when the legislature procrastinated, Jackson intervened and declared a state of martial law in New Orleans and vicinity. The rules required people leaving the city to get permission from the adjutant general's office and those entering the city to register with that office. A nine o'clock evening curfew was set and those out in the streets after that hour were assumed to be spies and were subject to arrest (Eaton 1827 251). These very unpopular restrictions were maintained even after the defeat of the British.
In March 1815, before the news of the end of the War of 1812 reached the United States, a French-speaking member of the Louisiana legislature wrote an essay for a local French newspaper. According to one source, the story criticized the curfew (Lurie 1989 135). A source closer to the event said the story reported that a peace treaty had been signed. Jackson feared that this false rumor would encourage the disintegration of discipline and a lack of vigilance (Eaton 1827 352). Jackson worried about his troops' dedication because many of them were of French ancestry and citizenship. He ordered the editor to withdraw the story and issued orders to arrest the author of the article, Louis Louailler, on the grounds that he was trying to incite a mutiny and that he was a spy. Although Louailler was a civilian, a court martial was convened. Because civilian courts were in operation, a federal judge, Dominick A. Hall, issued a writ of habeas corpus in behalf of Louailler. Jackson then ordered Judge Hall to be arrested and put into prison because he was "aiding, abetting and exciting mutiny within my camp" (Lurie 1989 137). At his trial Louailler maintained that the court had no jurisdiction in his case because he was a civilian and not a member of the military. Therefore he should not be subject to military law. He also argued that if he were a spy he would not write his views in a generally circulated newspaper. Although Louailler did not respond to the charge of trying to start a mutiny, the court dismissed the case. Jackson, displeased with the verdict, intervened and ordered Louailler to be returned to prison (Lurie 1989 137). In the matter of Hall, Jackson reasoned that the judge probably could not be convicted. Therefore he ordered Hall to be taken beyond the lines surrounding New Orleans and released. On the day after this exile, word came that a peace treaty had been signed. Louailler was released from prison and Hall was allowed to return to the city on March 13, 1815 (Lurie 1989 138).
Jackson rationalized his actions during wartime with a statement that foreshadows Lincoln in the Civil War. Jackson said that when a country is threatened with invasion the commander should adopt a "course that should be efficient, even if it partially endangered the rights and privileges of the citizen" (Eaton 1827 251). He added that at a time like that "constitutional forms should be suspended, for the preservation of constitutional rights; … it (was) better to depart, for a moment, from the enjoyment of our dearest privileges, or ... have them wrested from us forever" (Eaton 1827 252). "Is it wise…to sacrifice 'the spirit of the laws to the letter (and) lose the substance forever in order that we may ... preserve the shadow'". He invoked the Cicero statement "Laws must sometimes be silent when necessity speaks" (Lurie 1989 138).
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