Bradford reporter. [volume] (Towanda, Pa.) 1844-1884, 1859-04-14
a Thrilling Incident.

! A British officer, who was in the Battle OF
! New Orleans, mentions the following iu,i Icnt
of thrilling strangeneSS. and very descriptive Of
the Western hunter many of Whom marched
to the defence of New Orleans as volunteers
in the army under the renowned Andrew Jack
son
We marched, said the officer, in solid col.
umn OF twelve thousand men, in a direct line
upos the American defences. | belonged To
the staff, and as we advanced, watched through
our glasses, the position and arrangements of
our enemy with that intensity an officer only
feels when marching into the jaws of death,
with the assurance that while he thus offers
himself as a sacrifice to the demands of his
country, every action, be it successful or other
wise, will be judged with the most heartless
scrutiny.
1t was a strange sight, that long range Of
cotton bales-a new material for breastwork-
with the crowd of human beings behind their
heads only visible above the line of defence
We could distinctly see their long rifles laying
over the bales, and the battery of Gen. Coffee
| directly in front, with its great mouth gaping
! towards US, and the position Of Gen Jackson.
with his staff around him Bnt what attract
ed our Sttention most, was the figure of a tall
man standing on the bgeaStwOrkS, dressed IN
Iinsey wooSey, with buckSkiu eggns. and
broad trimmed felt hat that fell around his face
almost cOncealing his features He was stand
ing in one Of those picturesque and graceful atti-
tudeS peculiar to those natural mend ,ellers of
the forest.
The body rested on the left leg and swayed
with curved line upwards the hand grasp
ing the rife near the muzzIe, the butt of which
rested near the toe of the right foot while
with his hand he raised the rim of the hat
from his eyes, and seemed gazing from beneath
intensely upon our advancing column The can
noa of Gen Coffee had opened upon us. and
tore through our ranks with dreadful slaugh-
ter but We continued 10 advance, unwayer-
ing and cool, as if nothing threatened our pro-
greSs.
The roar of cannon seemed to haze an cf
feet upon the figure standing on the cotton
bales, but he seemed fixed and motoness as
statue. As 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 riycted upon him. At
whom had he lcveled bis piece But the dis
tanCe was so great that We looked at each
other and smiled We saw the rifle flash, and
my right hand companion as noble looking a
fellow as ever rode at the head of his regiment.
fell from his saddle The hunter paused few
minutes, without moving his rifle from his shoul-
der, then reloaded and resumed bis former at
titude. Throwing his hat rim over his eyes
and again holding it up with the left hand, he
fixed his piercing gaze upon Us as if hunting
out another victim. Once more his hat rim
was thrown back, and the gun raised to his
shoulder This time se did not smile, but cast
short gIanceS at each other, to see which of Us
must die and when the rifle again flashed an
other of us dropped SO the earth. There was
something awful II marching on to certain death.
General Cof1ees battery aud thousands OF
masket balls played round our RANKS. We
cared not for them there was not a chance
of escaping unScathed Most of Us had walked
upon batteries a hundred times more destruc-
tive without quang but to know that every
time the rifle was leveed towards Us, and it's
bullet sprang from the barrel, one of us must
surely fall To see the cleaning sun flash as
the iron came down, and see it rest motionless.
as if poised upon a rock, and know, when the
hammer struck and the sparks flew to the full
primed pan that the messenger Of death drove
unerrngly to its goal-to know this, and still
march on. was awful
could see nothing but the tall figure stand
ing on the breastwork He seemed to grow.
phantom like taller and taller assuming,
through the smoke, the supernatural appear.
ance of some giant spirit Again did he re-
load and discharge his rife with the same un-
failing aim and it was with indescribabe
pleasure that | beheld, as we neared the Amer
lean lines, the sulphurouS smoke gathered
around Us and shut the spectral hunter from
my gaze We lost the battle, and to my mi Il
the Kentucky riAcman contributed more to our
defeat than any thing else for while he re-
manned to our sight our attention was drawn
from our duties, and when at last we became
enShrouded iu the smoke, tle work was com
pIete-we were in utter confusion aud unable,
in the extremity, to restore order sufficient to
make any successful attack.
So long as thousands and thousands of rifles
remain in the hands of the people; so long as
men come up from their childhood able, ere the
down appears on the chin, to bic the centre of
a mark, or strike the deer, at one hundred and
fifty yards, in the most vital parts SO long as
there is a great proportion of the Republic
who live as free as the wild Indian, knowing
no law but that of right and the honorable
observance of friendly intercourse, America is
uncouquerable and all tie combned world,
though they may drive them from the sea
coast across the Allegheny mountains, would
not be able to subdue the free souled hunters
, among the mountains and great praries and
mighty rivers of the West
VUrrARTr MEnTCAr Ar DTScOyFRy A fem davS