The Press., 1897-12-02
THEIR DEADLY FIRE.
The fM-f..ckN E;FLeMEN AT THE
 BATTLE C= FEW ORLEANS.

fshf --is- ~F'tN 'ai'
 BATTLE e FEW ORLEANS. 4 Description of the Engagement by Gen.
 eral J..ckson-AL Letter From '+Old Hick-
 ory'-How TsekcnhaIn's Veterans Were
 Defeated by ErontiCraIneu.
 In The Century William Hugh Rob- arts has an ar;iclo entitled 'Napoleon's Interest In the Battle of New Orleans. In this is GEnted a bit. erto unpublished letter written by General Jackson to MT. James Monroe. A portion of the letter follows:
 There was a very heavy fog on the river that morning, and the British had formed and were moving before l knew it. The disposition of the rifiemen was very simple. They were told of in Nos. 1 and 9. No. was to fire first, then step back and let No. 3 shoot while be reloaded. About 600 yards from the rifle men there was a great drainage canal running back from the Mississippi river to the swamp in the rear of the titled land on which we were operating. Along this canal the British formed, under the fire of the few artillery pieces l had near enough to them to get their range. But the instant I saw them l said to Coffee, whom directed to hurry to his line, which was to be first attacked {: By -, we have got themi They are oursI' Coffee dashed forward, and, rid ing along his line, called out, Don't shoot till you can see their belt bucklesP The British were formed in mass, we'll closed up, and about two companies front.
 The British, thus formed, moved on at 0 quick step, without firing a shot, to within 100 yards of tho kneeling rife men, who were holding their fire till they could see the belt buckles of their enemies. The British advance was exe- cuted as though they had been on pa- rade. They marched shoulder to shoul- der, with the step of veterans, as they were. At 100 yards distance from our line the order was given: Extend col umn fronti Double quick, marchi Charger" With bayonets at the charge, they came on us at @ run. I own it was an anxious moment. well knew the charging column was made up of the picked troops of the British army. They had been trained by the duke himself, were commanded by his brother-in-la and had successfully held off the ablest of Napoleon's marshals in the Spanish campaign. My riflemen had never seen such un attack, nor had they ever before fought white men. The morning, too, was damp. Their powder might not burn well. "God help usp' I muttered, watching the rapidly advancing line
 
 they from the silent knceling riflemen All of my men that could see was their long rifles rested on the logs before them. They obeyed their orders we'll Not shot was fired until the redcoats were within 40 yards. 1 heard Coffee $ voice as he roared out: "Now. men, aim for the center of the cross belts! FireP' A second after the order a cracking, blazing flash ran all along our line. The smoke hung so heavily in the misty morning air that I could not see what had happened. I called Tom Oyerton and Abner Duncan of my staff, and we galloped toward Coffee's line. In few seconds after the first fire there came another sharp, ringing volley As came within 150 yards of Coffee the smoke lifted enough for me to make out what was happening.
 The British were falling back in a confused, disorderly mass, and the en. tire first ranks of their column were blown away. For 900 yards in our front the ground was covered with a mass of writhing, wounded, dead and dying red coats. By the time the rifles were wiped the British line was reformed, and on it came again. This time they were led by General Pakenham in person. gal. lantly mounted and riding as though he was on parade. Just before he got within range of Coffee's line l heard single rife shot from a group of country carts we had been using, about 175 yards dis tant, and a moment thereafter l saw | Pakeuham reel and pitch out of his sad dle. I have always believed he fell from the bullet of a freeman of color who was famous rife shot and came from the Atakappas region of Louisiana. Int second advance was precisely like thu first in it's ending. In five volleys tn, l,500 or more rihemen killed anc wounded 2,117 British soldiers, two thirds of them killed dead or mortally wounded. l did not know where Gen | oAaA oh0hh"'h VI os AJ'hS1 OA enouAs have sent to him or gone in person tt offer any service in my lower to render
 was told he lived two hours afte he was hit. His wound was directl, through the liver and bowels. Genera Keene, hear. was killed. They sen a flag to me, asking leave to gathe up their wounded and bury their dead which, of course, I granted. was tolt by wounded officer that the rank ant file absolutely refused to make thirt charge. We have no chance with sucl shooting as these Americans do," the, said.
 The population of the earth at the time of the Emperor Augustus is esti. mated at 54,G0O, 900. It is estimated l ..a.-. 1. nnn