Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1893-1920, 1897-03-19
THEIR DEADLY FIRE.
THE AMERICAN RiFLEMEN At THE
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

THE AMERICAN RiFLEMEN At THE
BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.
Description of the EngAgement ~ Gen.
ersl Jaekson-A Letter From 'S0la Hlok.
ery"1How Packenham's veseraas Were
Defeated By Frontisrsmsa
In The Century william HUGH Rob.
arts has an article entitled sNapoleon's
Interest In the Battle Of New Orleans /"
In this is quoted a hitherto unpublished
letter written by General Jackson to Mr..
James Monroe A portion At the letter
follows: -
There was . very heavy fog On tho
river that morning, and the British had
formed and were moving before knew
Il. The disposition Of the rifemen was
very simple. They were told OF in Noa.
and Q. No was to fire first, then
step back and let No Q shoot while be
reloaded. About 600 yards from the rife
men there was . great drainage canal
running back from the Mississippi river
to the swamp in the rear Of the titled
land I'm which We were operating. Along
this canal the British formed, under the
fire Of the few artillery pieces had
near enough to them to get their range.
But the instant I saw them / said 10
Coffee, whom / directed 10 hurry to his
line, which was to be first attacked:
by - we have got themi They are
oursl" Coffee dashed forward, and, rid
ing along his line, called out, s.Don't
shoot till you can sec their belt bucklesi''
The British were formed in mass, we'll
closed up. and about two companies
front.
The British, thus formed, moved On
ct o quick step, without firing q shot, 70
within 100 yards Of the kneeling rifIe-
men, who were holding their FIRE till
they could see the belt buckles Of their
enemies. The British advance was exc.
cuted a. though they had been on pa
rnde. They marched shoulder to shoul-
der. with tho step Of veterans, as they
were. At 100 yards distance from our
line the order was given: Extend col
umn 'front.' Double quick, marchl
Charged With bayonets at the charge,
they came on us at Q run. I own it was
an anxious moment we'll 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-law
and had successfully held of the ablest
OF Napoleon's marshals in the Spanish
campaign. My rif1emen had never seen
such an attack, nor had they ever before
fought white men. The, morning, too,
was damp Their powder might moi
burn well. "God help usi' I muttered,
watching the rapidly advancing line.
Seventy. GO. 80. finally 40 yards. were
they from the silent kneeling riflemeu.
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 fred until the redcoats
were within 40 yards heard Ooffee's
voice as he roared out: CHOW. men, aim
for the center Of the Cross beltsi Firer'
A second after the order q cracking.
blazing fash ran all along our line. The
smoke hung 80 heavily in the misty
morning air that ! could not see what
had happened. I called Tom Overton
and Abner Duncan Of my staff, and we
galloped toward Coffee's line. In q few
seconds after the first fire there came
another sharp. ringing volley. As
came within 100 yards Of Coffee the
smoke lifted enough for me to make out
what was happening.
The British were falling back In q
confused, disorderly mass, and the en-.
tire first ranks Of their column were
blown away. For 200 yards in our front
tho ground was covered with q mass Of
writhing. wounded. dead and dying red.
coats. BY the time tho 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 be got within
range Of Coffee's line heard o single
rifle shot from group Of country carts
we had been using, about 175 yards dis.
tant, and moment thereafter I saw
Pakenham reel and pitch out Of his sad.
die. have always believed he fell from
the bullet Of o freeman of color who
was a famous rifle shot and came from
the Atakappas region Of Louisiana. The
second advance WIS precisely like the
first in its ending. In five volleys the
1000 or moro riflemen killed and
wounded a,1l7 British soldiers, two
thirds OF them killed Gead or mortally
wounded. / did not know where Cen
eral Pakenham was lying, or I should
have sent to him or gone in person to
offer any service in my power to render.
wos told he lived two hours after
he was hit. His wound was directly
through the liver and bowels General
Keene, / hear. was killed. They sent
flag to me. asking leave to gather
up their wounded and bury their dead.
which. Of course. I granted. Twas told
by wounded officer that the rank and
file absolutely refused 10 make a third
charge. I'VE have no chance with such
shooting ID these Americans dc" they
said.
a 0feat Oppoetunity.