The herald and mail. [volume] (Columbia, Tenn.) 1873-188?, 1875-01-15
A STRANGE STORY.
One of LRfitte's Men Describes the Bat
tie of New Orleans. Aaron Burr's
Daughter Captured by Pirates ana
Buried ON Galveston Island.

| FROM the dalVeston News.
In your issue of the 25th of Decem
Der appears an account of an old can
non brought up from the bottom of tn
bay by the scoop of the dredgeboat
In the same paper you give several con
jectural histories of the piece of ord
nance, none of which, as I happen tt
know, have any degree of truth, excep
that the cannon in question once formed
part of the armament of the feet O.
Lafitte-the brave and good Laf1tte
From the cut and description given o.
it in your paper recognize it as an ole
acquaintance.
And, sirs, it has a history, and a mos
eventful, but brief one, and could it but
speak would tell its own tale in language
far more eloquent than I can. am an
old man now" in the sere and yellow
leaf" was many, years ago the mem.
ber of the company of the brave La
fitte am old now, close on to ninety
years, and though some weak of limb
and dim of sight, yet have remembrance
of persons and events of long ago re.
markably vivid. An old man lives in
the past entirely; he is fond of talking
of the brave days of his youth, of the
brave men who lived then, of their
deeds of daring, of their generosity,
and of himself. I may, sirs, grow tedi-
GUS and prosy, but permit me to tell
my story in my own way-the story of
the cannon-for, sirs, It has a story,
and one of great interest.
You will remember that short time
before the great battle of New Orleans,
the great and brave Gen. Andrew Jack
son induced our captain, the brave La
| fitte, to help him fight the British. /
we'll remember the day, when a small
vessel-a schooner-appesred off the
bar of what is now called Galveston ISL
and. She displayed the American flag,
fred gun and then lowering her ma
tional flag, ran white flag to her peak.
That meant parley. Lafitte scanned
the new conner closely with his glass for
some minutes, and then ordering his
foRr-oared gig, pulled to the schooner.
was then young and lUsty, and &C.
counted the best stroke in our navy,
and was one of the gigs crew. Lafitte
boarded the schooner, and he and a
young American officer, whose name I
afterwards learned was Donnelson-
Lieut.. Donnelson, of Gen. Jackson's
staff-descende into the cabin. There
they remained an hour or more, and
then they came out. As Lafi tie stepped
over the schooner's side to get into his
his gig, he said to Donnelson, "Tell
Gen. jackson I will be with him. He
may rely on me for at least eighty
skilled artillerists."
The name of the schooner was the
John Hancock" and a neat clipper
she was. We pulled back to the fort,
IIafitte saying not a word, but pulling
in his quick, nervous way his mustache
proved to us he was planning some des-
perate work. That night the schooner
weighed and left. The next morning
there was grand council held at the
fort. All this occurred a long, long
time ago-nearly sixty years agol Non
Dieu! how time does fly! Il seems but
yesterday. Well, sirs, don't want to
be tedious, but an old man is naturally
garrulous. He has so much to live
over in thought So, sirs, bear with
me patiently.
I don't know what happened in the
council, but two days after three of our
best vessels, with the flower of our fill
busters, sailed for New Orleans, under
the command of the
BRAVE LAFTTTE HIMSELF,
Chauvet, his right bower, being with
him. After four days sail we entered
the Mississippi river, and soon anchored
off New Orleans, little below the city.
I was then a gunner on board the ten
gun brig Vengeance, commanded by
Chauvet, brave but cruel man. When
the British forces under P8ckenham ap-
preached the city, in January, 1915, we
ran up and anchored above the city.
All was hustle and preparation. We
took out most of the cannon and placed
them in position in the works General
Jackson had hastily thrown up at
Chalmette, and one hundred and
twenty picked artillerists, or gunners,
with ali our officers, headed by the
brave Laftte in person, manned them.
On the 9Th day of January the Brit
ish opened q terrific fire on as with
their field pieces, but as we were safe
behind our earthworks and cotton bales,
we let them waste their powder. Lafitte
our brave Laftte ah, how grand he
looked how his black eyes flashed
Oh, he was the genius of the fight
How his French blood boiled at the
sight of red coat Les Agglais per-
fde8! Jackson, tall and gaunt, was
moving his men, occasionally observing
the British line with his glass, and
turning anon to encourage his TeDnes-
seeans and Kentuckians. How impa-
tient those rifeman appeared But
Jackson's orders were, "Reserve your
fire, men, for close quarters
Pretty soon the cannonading ceased,
and then we could see the long and
solid line of British advancing, first at
slow, steady pace, then a double
quick. When they were within three
hundred hundred yards of our works,
Laftte, springiDg upon gun carriage,
thundered out, "FIRE "
Sacre 6Jeu! What q sheet of fame
leaps forth from our guns Then
Jackson, with clear ringing voice that
could be heard above the roar of bat
tie, cried out Make every shot tell.
Fire low, my boys I" Crack crack
went the unerring rifles. Our guns
roared. Grape, canister and round
shot went crashing through the advanc-
ing ranks. The foe reeled under the
fire. For an instant they faltered-for
an instant only-then with closed ranks
they again advanced, under most with |
ering and deadly fire. A general officer
leads them. He mounts the parapet,
waving his sword and cheering on his
men. Lafitte springs toward him,
pistol in hand. A fash-Packenham
falls shot through the heart. The |
waver, and then retreat, in great con-
fusion and disorder, to the shelter of |
their war vessels. Laitte was for |
charging them, but Jackson, cool and
collected, said "no." Our forces were |
too small, and bayonets we're scarce /; SO |
we remained behind our breast-works
and poured volleys of grape into them
until they were out of range. Non
Dieu! how my old blood is stirred at
these remembrances.
Well, about the gun Patience,
messieurs, am coming to the gun.
Well, sir, after the British feet had sailed
down the river, we went over the battle
field, picking up the plunder. Among
many other things left in their hasty
departure the British left a six-pounder,
a field, iece, stuck in the mire, with
one wheel shattered. It was beauty
almost new. The date of its casting
was in-18l3.
After remaining in New Orleans few
days, we prepared for our departure.
Among other things given Lafitte by
Gen. Jackson was this six-pounder (the
In,G;ooI oooooy, 5aeorihad IN U0ur