Southern Argus. [volume] (Columbus, Miss.) 1834-1842, 1841-05-26
MISC ELL ECU s.
Extract from the London Magazine
rue FIRST BATTLE NEAR NEW
ORLEANS

hnding was made, and the army march
Inward to the attack in the dead of n;cbt
s,,b battle then ensued as the annals of moi
'~ rarfare canlhardly match;all order and d;s
~ lrne was lost Each officer, as he was ob NE,
e.olect twenty or thirty men around b;Do
T3s.nced in to the middle of the enar,,,
w. i was fought, hand to hand. bavonS,
~ bayonet and sword to sword, with the
,%,,Uu, and terocity of one Of Homer's con-
bats Ia AZ. r -.
.,nbat shall, (says the narrator,) detail tb1
grsDtnres ola friend of mine, who cbancod 1' =.
.ompany one Of the frs. parties that se, ~
n'sbing through the bivouac, under a boO u..
g.cbarSe from the vessels, his party rea cIoy
~ nc. which they forded, and advanco5si e y
y, az the house where General Kean bsJ C. &c
~ his head quarters. The moon had bv a. 80
Sme made her way through the clouds and
though only in her first quarter, gave l;gh,
soonSh to permit their seeing, though not S;s
snety. Having gone fare enough TO the r;-J,,
mo marty pushed on to the front, and erfercd =
.l,oing field Of stubble, at the upper en5 20 e
whchthey could distinguish dark line of men.
but whether they were friends or foes II was
impossible 70 determine. Unwilling to fire.
Iest he should kill any one of our own peonls
nv friend led on the volunteers whom he had
al around him, till they reached some niles ~
ssseis, about twenty yards from the object ~
heir notice. Here they are saluted bv :
,barp yoTey, and being now confident ib,t
sywcre enemies, he commanded his men 10
fire.
But brother officer, who accompanied him
who was not convinced, ISSUED him that thew
v,re soldiers Of the 95th; upon which thew
agreed to divide the force; that he who
doubted should remain with one part where
he was, while my friend, with the rest
should 90 around upon the flank ofthis line
and discover certainly to which army il be-
IOnged.
taking with him about fourteen men, he ac.
eordingy moved off to the right, when, falling
inwith some other stragglers, he attached them
likewise TO his 9arty, and advanced. Sprino-
mo high rail fence, they came down upon the
left ofthose Of whom the doubt had existed
and found them TO be, as my friend Rad suppos.
cd, Americans Not moment was lost n
attacking but having got unperceived within a
foot Of where they stood, they DISCHARGED tbe;r
pieces and rushed on TO the charge. Some col
dertavng lost their bayonets, laid about tben,
with The butt end Of their firelocks. while
many sword, which, till to night, had NO,
drank blood, became in few minutes Grim, q y :
,denough. ' :"
The English and Americans were so min
Eed, that they scarcely knew friends from foes.
md more feats Of individual gallantrv were
reformed in the course ofthe NIGHT tfat ma.
ny campaigns might be afforded. We losr
more than 500 men, and the field of battle was
ieadh. | have frequently beheld a great
number ofdead bodies in as small compass
aough these, indeed, were numerous enough.
but wounds wore disfiguring or more horrible.
certainly never witnessed. A man, shot
through the head or heart, lies as If he was in
deep slumber; insomuch, that when YOU raze
upon him, you experience little less than pity.
BIT tot these, many had men their deaths from
hyonet wounds, sabre cuts, or heavy blows
nn the butt ends Of the muskets; THE conse-
ounce was, that not only were the wounds ex-
;eedingy frightful, but the early. countenances
Of the dead exhibited the most savage and
ghastly expressions. Friends and foes Law to-
getber in email groups, Ur fUuI IL s;,, ,,e- wac
td.ficult to tell almost the very hand by which
some Of them had fallen. Nay, such had
becn the deadly closeness Of the strife, that in
one or two places, an English and American
odier might be seen with the bayonet of each
'her fastened in the others body.