Alternate Generals III

Joshua Parker to his mother, Sarah Madsen Parker, aboard General Scott, Norfolk, September 15, 1814

Dearest Mother,

I write to you to hope that you are well. I also enclose a promissory note to Thomas, to pay him eleven thousand dollars out of my share of the prize money and cargoes from the European cruise. I expect that both of us shall survive the coming campaign in the south, I to pay him and he to be paid and to buy the land in Te

You ask how I see the progress of the war. It seems to me that we have gained much in the north, with General Harrison besieging Detroit and Chauncey's victory on Lake Ontario. Neither the Northwest nor New England can have much to fear from British offensives. Indeed, if New England's embodied militia is sufficiently reinforced by regulars and by our victorious Lake Ontario squadron, they may be able to sail down the St. Lawrence and threaten Montreal, as well as the supply line of the British forces in the Lake Champlain country. General Brock will do all that mortal man can do with his men-but that will be little enough if the Richelieu River is closed to reinforcements and supplies.

On the other hand, we may yet lose enough in the South that the British will claim territory there, if not for themselves then for the Spanish or the Indians. We sail for Sava

We are four frigates and five fast-sailing armed merchantmen, carrying among them a thousand men, five thousand stand of arms, and much else by way of military stores. Commodore Rodgers flies his broad pe

I understand that we have Secretary of State Monroe to answer for much of this scheme. I trust his share in the victory at Bladensburg has not given him a folie de grandeur, as I believe those reports you have, that General Smith did the greater part of the work. But we shall do our best, and pray that along with the efforts of those already around Sava

Pray for us, Mother, for it is the hour of our need and our country's, and will be so for some while yet.

Your loving son,

Joshua

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Thomas Parker to Sarah Madsen Parker, Sava

Dear Mam,

I leave this for you in case we don't meet again in this world. Please know that I haven't always honored my mother, still less my father, so my days may not be long. But I loved you both and I am sorry for all the disappointments and heartaches I caused you.

Please, I beg you, don't take my bequest to Caroline Pineraft Bearkiller as another heartache. There is nothing about her you could possibly object to, if she was white. Also, please note that this and all other fair copies of the bequest are signed by both me and Joshua and witnessed by Commodore Decatur. I didn't think this was the time to ask General Jackson to witness that kind of an agreement between one of his officers and a Cherokee woman.

They are beating the Assembly, and the signal guns are firing both to the south and along the river. That means the British are in sight in force in both quarters. God grant that I can soon write of a victory.

With affection,

Your son Thomas

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Thomas Parker to Sarah Madsen Parker, Sava

Dear Mother,

I write in haste, so that this letter may go with the first courier to leave Sava

I write this letter instead of Joshua, because he has a flesh wound in his right arm and ca

But the prayers of us all for a victory have been answered.

Thankfully,

Thomas

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Thomas Parker and Joshua Parker to their respected mother, Sarah Madsen Parker, Sava

Dearest Mother,

We write this letter together, Tom pe

Shoal water made the British cautious about a close blockade of the mouth of the Sava

A thousand men of Maryland and Virginia made a considerable difference to the American strength in Sava

Sava

The British came against Sava

General Jackson and Commodore Decatur were not fast friends, being rather too unlike in temperament. But they both believed that victory meant leaving none of the enemy fit to fight. They were resolved to do this even if we ran out of powder and had to finish the battle with bayonets and boarding pikes.