The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1885-01-22
gha Battle 81 i .NeWs ss.0i5rlaal .0i5rrleaalns.

Gen. Harney has exploded one tradi'
tion thSe was alohg conhecteds siwith the
fjg6ts hich' i'Nssa that tie Americans
foueht iftonri bghfnd breast ffsesas wbrss of cot.
ton bales. s asked Ger ] acEson. ~ Gen
Adair and Gen. Coffee, tile Jatler having
the immediate command of o brigadesoi
the, ,TeppeHee and KentuckYesharpshoot'
Ga. MEosB = lonng rifles mainly did the
work ofIeRth, If there were any cotton
ib6feS dsed ataM, and they all answered
that the only works the Americans had
were Of earEAA shout sSoi shd one.bsl
feet high. rndelY constructed Of fence
rails and logs laid twenty -four inches
apart and. .thaS aSpaee between ifhem<flled
with searths aud isi There 1had4been any
works constructed from Cotton! bales they
must have known it. In 1925 + was
ppil6n6ted ;:tJ Captain in the. First Infaa.
itEIs sIs and aent Is Nashville, Tenn.,a to re-
crnit for my regiment. While there ]
met Gems. jackson n.and3 Coffee yerypoften
ands9obtained from the, former many
Z. details Of. The. battle of 'Chalmette that
are not in print" ,s.':.' ,.,.'.,1,. !, ~.
~ g. There1Was heavy fog on the river
on tie morning of the fght,,s'' said Gen
jackson, and the British troops were
actuaAyformed aud moving before;I had
mYsafsadgsme ade. sBhEthe Instant
/ saw their information, I said to Coffee,
by G., they are ours?' Coffee's part Of
our line was on the flank, which extend.
ed into the swamp. About q quarter Of
armile frorS it there was g. huge plarita.
tion ,draiaage canal isuchla are common
In the Louisiana. lowlands. Here Gen.
Packenhanr formed his first attacking
eolumn.,a His formation was column id
mass of about fifty-fve files front. This
was formed under the FIRE of the few
regular artillerists ] had ina little re-
doubt in Coifee's front, and that Of some
cannon taken from q man of war, placed
ina battery ON the river and served by
sailors, Coffee, seeing the direction OF
TIE attack, which was intended to turn
his flank, dashed forward and said to his
men: Hold your fire, until you can see
theii belt:buckles." The rifemen were
formed ;ine tWoi ranks behind the works
mentioned, and when the first rank fired
the second was ready. There were about
eighteen hundred men behind this frail
cover, all of whom were dead shots, and
each had one hundred bullets in his
pouch and necessary powder in his horn.
The British troops came up to within
100 yards of our works without firing a
musket. It was a beautiful sight to see.
They marched as steadily shoulder to
Shoulder Is though they we're on review.
At, 100 yards, distance the order was
given them to charge. With cheer and
aefldouble hqaick they came forward.
They: were about sixty yards distant
when long blazing fash ran all along
our line. It was as pretty volley firing
as,I ever heard or saw"
THE smoke hung so heavy that for
the moment / could not make out just
what had happened said Gen. Jackson.
In another instant there was another
sharp ringing volley that proved it came
from the TiHemen. I called Tom Over,
ton and Duncan, of my staff, and We
pslloped over to Coffee's line. Just then
the smoke rose, and / saw that the head
of the British column had literally melt
ed away. In front of our lines lay one
writhing, ghastly mass of dead and dying
red.coats. The column recoiled and fell
back to the canal, where they had started
from. and were then reformed. This
time the charge was led by Gen. Packen.
ham in person, gallantly mounted and
riding as coolly and gracefully as if be
were on parade. Just as he came within
range of my riaemen ! saw him rec! and
topple out of his saddle mortally wound.
ed.i Iahavel always believed he fell BY
the bullet of. a free man of color in the
fight who was celebrated rifle. shot from
theAttakapas County of Louisiana" "