The Bossier banner. [volume] (Bellevue, Bossier Parish, La.) 1859-1952, 1880-01-08
Jacks0n's Eighth of January.

1916. 1t is forever rendered memo
rablc by Andrew Jacksen's victory
at New Orleans. In all military his
tory there is nothing like that battle.
Its salient points were these: Behind
some banks of mud hastily thrown
up from the lcvces of the Mississip
pl were four thousand raw militia,
mainly from Tennessee and Ken
lucky. Despite the popular tradi-
ton to that effect there were no
cotton bales there. Undisciplined
as these troops were, they were ex-
cellent rifemen. They were brought
up in the wilds of the West and
South. They belonged to that class
of men who could, from long prac
ticc, shoot the head of a squirrel from
the top of the tallest tree of the
forest. Before them were twelve
thousand British regulars. They
were the flower of the Spanish PENN,
sula-vetrans of Wellington. They
had never turned their backs to all
enemy. AS the sun rose On the
morning of the Sth a rocket ascend
ed the sky from the British camp
1t was the signal of the attack. A
British officer, years after, III de-
scribing the battle, spoke OF it as
''The rocket-the ever fatal rocket
Gen. Jackson's rit1emen were placed
in two lines. Those in the rear load.
ed for those in the front, so that
there could be a ceaseless and never
ending fire. There could be nothing
more gallant than the British as.
sault. Its dangerous character was
recognized by the officers. There
was foreboding stiffness in Jack
sons lines. 1t was the stiffness that
precedes the tempest. The Forty
third British Regiment was assigned
the honor of leading the ADVANCE
Its commander, Col. Mullens, show
ed his appreciation of it when he re-
marked, my regiment has been or
dered to execution" Supporting the
advance, but in reserve, was the
splendid Ninety-fifth Regiment of
Highlanders, each of whom was over
six feet high. 1t numbered nine
hundred and fifty strong. It's COM
mander, Colonel Dale, being asked
what he thought of it previous to
the action, handed the questioner his
watch and a letter to his wife with
the simple remark: "Deliyer than.
| shall fall at the head of my regi-
ment." The sequel justified the fore
boding. The British Generals, Pack
enham, the COMMANDMENT Chief,
Gibbs and Keene, nobly led the adj
vance. BY example and gesticula.
ton they encouraged their men to
advance to the front. When within
a few yards. of the American line
there burst forth a sudden sheet of
fame. Platoons and regiments went
down before it. Packenham, while
CALAMITY inspiring his men by waiv-
ing his cap in his right hand, had
his right arm shot off. With I'M
daunted courage he changed it to
the left. Speedily his horse was
shot under him. This was quickly
followed by mortal wounds in the
thigh and groin. His second in
command, General Gibbs, was NOR
tally wounded. The third in com
mand, General Keene, was severely
wounded. General Lambert, the
fourth officer, then ordered a retreat.
The battle only lasted twenty five
minutes. In that brief period $500
British troops fell, 100 a minute. Of
the Highland Ninty fifty Regiment
544 were killed and wounded. This
loss was unprecedented. Yet on the
American side there were but Z men
killed and 6 wounded. In no other
action was there any such dispropor-
ton. The decisiveness and terrible