Public ledger. [volume] (Memphis, Tenn.) 1865-1893, 1869-01-08

a X.
"Once more we waited coolly behind
our works. Once more We allowed them
10 come fairly within range. Then, great
heavens what o scene ensued Some
of our cannon, loaded to the muzzle with
musket balls, poured their contents right
in the faces of the head column, which
seemed literally to witber away at the
dreadful discharge.
"Packenham and Gibbes were both
MORALLY wounded. The former, q
brother-in-law of the great Wellington,
the Iron Duke" died in few minutes.
Gen. Keane, whom Packenham had su-
perceded, was disabled and borne from
the field.
"But the Highlanders, with obstinate
courage and resolution, would not even
retreat. They were doomed men. At
the very instant when they ought to
have advanced most rapidly, they unac-
countably, madly hesitated and stopped
in full view of CAROLS rifemen, who
shot them down like sheep.
when five hundred and upward Of
their number had fallen, they fed
astounded to the rear
"Such, boys, was the fate of the attack
ON our right. Upon our left we made
quicker work of it. There was re-
doubt standing by itself near our main
defenses, which the British, under COL
Rennie, did manage to capture; but we
soon drove 'em out again, while our gal
liant artilleryman Humphrey, the ever
lasting smoker, smashed the main body
of British troops to pieces in his quarter
of the fight, as Carroll aid our cannon
iers bad done on their side.
"Only three of the English officers
reached the top Of our works by the
river No sooner had they lifted their
heads above the parapet, than volley
burst from Beaps New Orleans sharp
shooters which laid them low. One
proved to be Col Rennie himself.
JENA brave man, Uncle, if he was
an enemyr
Our Uncle" Brave, boys why, bless
your heart, they were all brave as gal.
liant q set of fellows as were ever marched
by idiots into the jaws of death. Pack
enbam died like man, but he acted like
fool beforehand.
AFTER fairly testing the quality Of our
works, to order second assault II not
stupidity, twas sheer madness
"By the way, let me tell You of a
strange thing that happened while Col.
Rennie's men were marching to be killed.
They had a bugler with them, little
chap of thirteen years, who, in the mid
die of the fight, climbed up tree not far
from our lines, where he stayed for hours
after the enemy had reiterated, blowing
upon his bugle furiously. Twas a
miracle how he managed to escape the
thousands of bullets and cannon balls
that whzzed by his lofty perch.
IAN American private, walking over
the field when all was quiet and safe,
espied this little warrior straddlipg
limb, and still sounding the charge as IT
his salvation depended on his never leav-
ing off He was taken into camp and
examined as q curiosity; and queer
account he gave of himself. His name
was Watkins; he was native of Kent
county, England; and, falling in love
with uniforms and band music, had run
away from his parents (shopkeepers) and
crossed the seas to be shot at-luckily in
vain A bright, cunning young rogue,
as sancy as you are, Master Jem, whom
our Creoles coddled and petted, and
stuffed with sugar and corn-bread, until
he ought to have burst, if he didn't T.
Our Uncle pausing here, we asked was
this all had he nothing more to say
about the fght2
very little-we bad beaten the Brit
ish ruined them, in fact, at every point
but one, and that was on the right bank
of the river, where our forces were routed
by the command of tho only British
officer who had the slightest luck that
day, Col. William Thornton But this
luck came too late 1t couldn't be i'm
proved.
In word, this hanghty army, seven
or eight thousand strong before the at
tack, had suffered the most awful defeat
on record.
"All their best officers were dead, and
they lost, in killed, wounded and prison
ers, twenty-six hundred men
Myself" And our loss, think, was
only thirty--wasn't it ?"
Our Uncle" Only twenty-one - re-
member that--twenty-one eight men
killed outright, and thirteen wounded
but alb, boys, boys, It's dreadful
thing. the sight Of any battle field, when
the excitement and strife are over As
for that of New Orleans, the memory of
it sickens me, rough and tough old cam
psigner as am The plain looked like
huge shambles. Bodies lay piled on one
another three or four deep, end where
our thirty-two-pounder had done its work,
whole platoons were stretched out just as
they had fallen The air quivered with
the groans of the poor wounded, made
frantic by pain and thirst. Twas shock
ing to see great masses of them, wrig-
Cling about and resembling coils of gi-
yautie wofm ms. From inc midst OF these,
hundreds OF men, perfectly uuharmed,
but who had thrown themselves on the
ground to escape the shot, would slowly
rise, come forward. and yield themselves
prisoners The effect of the living we
had thought dead rising in this manner
from among those really slain, was
strange, solemn spectacle.
jackson used to say it gave him q
vivid idea Of the resurrection. If q great
painter could only have been there to
see It'll
"And now, my patient children, to
close this yer true tale, as the Scotch
would say, I've but two more facts to
uerrate: one of them very wonderful,
the other very sad thing:
First. The battle of New Orleans was
fought and won in twenty five minutes
and three-quarters Of a minute, counting
from the discharge of our first gun to the
last visible flicker of red coats and white
belts in the smoky distance.
Second The battle of New Orleans
ought never TO have been fought at all.