New Orleans, April 2, 1848   Tendrils of morning fog drifted through the live oaks of St. Anthony’s Garden. Nestled behind St. Louis Cathedral's towering spires, the garden was an Old World masterpiece transplanted to the New World. Brick pathways formed a cross that met at a gurgling fountain filled with water lilies. Manicured hedges of boxwood created intimate alcoves. Magnolia trees joined the oaks overhead, their white blossoms hanging like faint ornaments in the pre-daw

“Insane? I was perfectly sane. I knew that the best place for a genius philosopher to hide out was an asylum. Switzerland, no less. Cool...

It was an ambush! John Ware and his South Carolina militia men had successfully defeated the well-armed redcoats at the bridge. But...