The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1875-01-21
A STRANGE STORY.
One Of La1ltte's Men Describes the Bat
tie OF New Orleans. Aaron Rurr's
Daughter Captured by Pirates ana
Buried ON Galveston Island.
r1.T-

/
bay by the scoop of the dredgeboat.
In the same paper you give several con
| jectural histories of the piece of ord
uanee, none of which, as I happen co
| know, have any degree of truth, eNsspt
! that the cannon IN question once formed
4 part of the armament OF the feet of
| Lafbte-the brave and good Lafitte.
/ From the cut and description given of
it in your paper recognize it as an old
acquaintance.
And, sirs, it has history, and most
eventful, but brief one, and could it but
! speak would tell its own tale in language
| far more eloquent than L can. I am an
! old man now IN the sefe and yellow
leaf" I was many, years ago the men,
/ Der Of the company of the bravo La
| titte; I am old now, close on to ninety
| years, and though some weak Of limb
and dim of sight, yet have remembrance
/ % persOus anu events Of long ago re-
mRrkably 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. I
well remember the day, when a small
vessel-a acknowledgement off the
| bar of what is now called Galveston ISL
and. She displayed the American flag,
! fired a gun and then lowering her na-
| tional flag, ran white flag TO her peak.
| That meant a parley. Lsfitte scanned
| the new conner closely with his glass for
some minutes, and then ordering his
| four cared gig, pulled to the schooner.
was then young and lusty, and ac-
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-descended into the cabin. There
they remained an hour or more, and
| then they came out. As Lafitte 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
I" John Hancock" and a neat clipper
| she was. We pulled back to the fort,
| Laftte saying not a word, but pulling
| in his quick, nervous way his mustache
! proved to MS he was planning some dea-
perate work. That night the schooner
weighed and left. The next morning
there was a grand council held at the
| fort. All this occurred a long, long
| time ago-nearly sixty years agol Mon
DielSy how time does fly! 1t seems but
! yesterday. Well, sirs, I 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, a 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 Packenham ap-
/
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 Lafitte in person, manned them.
On the 9Th day of January the Brit
| ish opened a 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 Lafitte 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 a red coat Les AngJaiS per-
fdes! Jackson, tall and gaunt, was
moving his men, occasionally observing
the British line with his glass, and
turning anon to encourage bis TenDes-
seeans and Kentuckians. How impa-
tient those rifeman appeared But
Jackson's orders were, g Reserve your
fire, men, for close quarters
Pretty soon the cannOnadiDg ceased,
and then we could see the long and
solid line of British advancing, first al
a slow, steady pace, then a double
quick. When they were within three
hundred hundred yards of our works
Lafitte, springing upon gun carriage
thundered out, q" FIRE -
Sdcre 6IeUg What a sheet of flame
leaps forth from our guns Ther
Jackson, with clear ringing voice thai
could be heard above the roar of bat
tie, cried out '' Make every shot tell
Fiie low, my boys !" Crack crack
! k1,s va nr1v.
roared. Grape, canister and round
, shot went crashing through the advanc
! ing ranks. The foe reeled under tn,
fire. For an instant they faltered-fo
an instant Only-then with closed rank
) they again advanced, under a most with
ering and deadly fire. A general Office
leads them. He mounts the parapet
waving his sword and cheering on hi
l men. Lafitte springs toward him
j pistol in hand. A hash-Packenha
falls shot through the heart. TIL
waveF, and then retreat, in great con
j fusion and disorder, to the shelter G
! their war vessels. Laftte was 70
! charging them, but Jackson, cool an
I collected, said "no." Our forces wer
too small, and bayonets were scarce S
we remained behind our breast-work
and poured volleys of grape into theI
I until they we're ont of range. no
? Die,ty how my old blood is stirred q
these remembrances.
} Well, about the gun Patienee
messieurs, / am coming to the CUR
Well, sir, after the British feet had sail G
! down the river, we went over the battle
! field, picking up the plunder. Anon
: many other things left ip their hast
{ departure the British left a six-poundel
I a feld-T iece, stuck in the mire, wit
one wheel shattered. It was a beauty
: almost new. The date of its castin
was in-1S13.
After remaining in New Orleans 8 fe
! days, we prepared for our departur,
4 AmeDg other things given Lafitte b
{ Gen. Jackson was this six-pOunder (tf
. identical cannon described IN yoT
. paper of 25th December), to replaS
one of ours that
had BURST IN THE RATTLE.
= . It was placed on our bridge, the We
p geance, and ever after formed part
= / Na-