Fayetteville observer. [volume] (Fayetteville, Tenn.) 1850-1966, 1852-11-04
9art aII1 Gantll.
An Incl dent Of the Battle Of New
Orleans,

iHGluehI VI Ihiitlilio StrdilSenesS, ana
one very descriptive of theIvesterh
hunter, many Of whom marched to
the defence Of New Orleans, as vol
unteers under the renowned Andrew
Jackson;
ave marched said the officer,
SIN solid column of twelve thou
sand men, in direct liue upon the
American defences. l belonged to
the staff; and, as we advanced we
watched through our glasses the pc
sitiol and arrangements of our enc
my, With that intensity an officer only
feels while marching into the Jaws of
death, with the assurance that, while
he th US offers himself a sacrifice to
the demands Of his country, every
acdoh, to be successful or otherwise,
will be judged With the most heart
less scrutiny.
ut was Il stra nge sight, that long
range of cotton bales-a new mate
rial for breast works, with the crowd
of beings behind, their heads only
visible above the line of defence. We
could distinctly see their long rifles
lying over,the bales, and the battery
Of General Coffee directly in front,
with its great m outh gaping towards
I us, as if it waited to devour US, and
rlle position Of Gen. jackson, with
his staff around him. But what at
itracted our attention most, was the
fsbre-of tall man, standing on the
Observation-Disclosures in linsey WOODEN,
with buckskia leggins, and broad
brimmed Eel bat, that fell around the
face, almost .eoncealing his features
He was Standing in one of those pic
turesque and graeeiul attitudes, pc
caliar to those natural men, dwellers
il forests. The body rested on the
left leg, and swa yed with a curved
line upwards, the arm was extended,
the hand graphing the rifle near the
muzzie, the butt Of which rested near
the toe Of his right foot, while with
his left hand he rttised the rim Of bis
That from his eyes, and seemed gazing
from beneath intensely upon our adj
vancipg column. The cannon Of
j Gen Coffee had opened upon Us, and
: tore through eur ranks with dreadful
slaughter; but " continued to ad-
vance unwaveringIantl cool, as if moth
ing threatened our progress,
"The roar Of cannon seemed to
have no effect upon the figure stand
ling upon the cotton bales,s but he
seemed fixed and motionless as a
statue. At last he moved, threw
back the hat rim over the crown, with
his left hand raised the rifle to his
shoulder and took aim at our group.
Our eyes were riv ited upon him; at
whom bad he leyeled his piece? But
the distance was 50 great, that we
looked at each other and smiled. l.
We saw the rifle flash, and my right
hand companion, as noble fellow as
ever rode at the head Of a regiment,
Ilfell from his saddle. The hunter
paused few moments, without Imoy-
ing the gun from bis shoulder, then
reloaded and assulh ned his former at
: titude Throwing tile hat rim over
his eyes, and again holding it up
with his left hand, he fix ed his pierre
ing gaze upon us; as # hunting ont
another victiml Once more the hat
rim was thrown ba cki the gun raised
to the shouldef. This time we did
not smile, but ca st short glances at
each other to dee which of Us must
die; and when agaih the rifle flashed
another Of us suddenly dropped to
the earth. There was something
most awful in thus marching on to
certain death.
"Gen. Co1'e{'s battery, and thou
sands of muskPt balls played upon
our ranks, butt We cared not, for
there was a cha nce of escaping I'M
iscathed; most d US had walked up to
batteries hundred times more de-
istructiye without qaailing; but to
know that every time that rifle was
!leyeled towards Us and its bullet
| sprang from the barrel, one of us
must surely fall: to see the cleaning
| sun flash as the deadly iron came
down, and see it rest, motionless, as
Tic poised upon rock, and know
when the hammer struck, and the
spark flew to the full .primed pan,
that a messenger Of death drove I'M
9rringly to lis g0al-to know this,
and still march on, was awful. /
could see nothing but the tall figure
standing on the bFeastworks; hel
seemed to grow, pbantem-like, high
er and higher, assuming through thel
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