9. On the 9th and 10th of August the village of Stonington, Connecticut, was bombarded by Commodore Hardy; but the British, attempting to land, were driven back. The fisheries of New England were broken up. The salt-works at Cape Cod escaped by the payment of heavy ransoms. All the harbors from Maine to Delaware were blockaded. The foreign commerce of the Eastern States was totally destroyed. [Sidenote: The Hartford Convention.] 10. From the beginning, many of the people of New England had opposed the war. The members of the Federal party cried out against it. The legislature of Massachusetts advised the calling of a convention. The other Eastern States responded to the call; and on the 14th of December the delegates assembled at Hartford. The leaders of the Democratic party did not hesitate to say that the purposes of the assembly were disloyal and treasonable. After remaining in session, with closed doors, for nearly three weeks, the delegates published an address, and then adjourned. The political prospects of those who participated in the convention were ruined. [Sidenote: Affairs in the South.] 11. During the progress of the war the Spanish authorities of Florida sympathized with the British. In August of 1814 a British fleet was allowed by the commandant of Pensacola to use that post for the purpose of fitting out an expedition against Fort Bowyer, on the bay of Mobile. General Jackson, who commanded in the South, remonstrated with the Spaniards, but received no satisfaction. He thereupon marched a force against Pensacola, stormed the town, and drove the British out of Florida. 12. General Jackson next learned that the British were making preparations for the conquest of Louisiana. Repairing to New Orleans, he declared martial law, mustered the militia, and adopted measures for repelling the invasion. The British army, numbering twelve thousand, came from Jamaica, under Sir Edward Pakenham. On the 10th of December the squadron entered Lake Borgne, sixty miles northeast of New Orleans. [Illustration: The Battle of New Orleans.] 13. On the 22d of the month Pakenham's advance reached the Mississippi, nine miles below the city. On the night of the 23d Generals Jackson and Coffee advanced with two thousand Tennessee riflemen to attack the British camp. After a bloody assault, Jackson was obliged to fall back to a strong position on the canal, four miles below the city. Pakenham advanced, and on the 28th cannonaded the American position. On New Year's day the attack was renewed, and the enemy was driven back. Pakenham now made arrangements for a general battle. [Sidenote: The Battle of New Orleans.]