Semi=weekly graphic., 1897-10-30
THEIR DEADLY FIRE.
THE AMERICAN RlFLeMeN AT THE
 BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

Interest In the Battle of New Orleans. ' In this is quoted a hitherto unpublished letter writer. by General Jackson to Mir James Monroe. 4 portion of the lettU follows:
 There was a very heavy fog on tle river that morning, and the British had formed and were moving before I knew 1t. The disposition of the rihemen was
 geTy simple. They were told off in Nos
 and 2. No was to fire first, thea step back and let No. 2 shoot while h reloaded. About GOO yards from the rife men there was a great drainage canal cunning back from the Mississippi tiye9 to the swamp in the rear of the titled land on which we were operating. Along this canal the British formed. under ths &re Of the few artillery pieces l had psar enough to them to get their range.
 But the instant l saw them said Co Coffee, whom directed to hurry to his
 liue. which WAS to Do first attacked,
 By -, we have got thelnl They ars
 sursr' Coffee dashed forward, and, lid
 Ing along Us liue, called out, 'Don'4
 shoot till yon ran sec their belt bucklesP
 Enc British 5, ere formed in mass, well elosed up md about two companiss fsont.
 The El sh thus formed, moved Ca
 ss quick atep, without firing a shot, to
 8itAiD 100 yurds of the kneeling rife
 mep, who were holding their fire till
 ahey could sec the belt buckles of theii
 enemies. The British advance was exc
 outed as though they had been on pa
 raGe. They marched shoulder 10 shout
 der with the step of veterans, as they
 Ws1D. At 100 yards distance from ouG line the order was given: Extend cot
 nmh front Double quick. marohi Ghssgei" With bayOnets as the charge
 they came on us at run. own it was
 an anxious moment. l well knew the
 changing column WAS made up of ths pichod troops of the British army, They
 had been trained by the duke himself
 were commanded hy bis brother.in-laW and tad successfully held off the ablest of NapoleOn's marshals in the Spanish campaign. My riaemSp had never seer
 suoh an attack. nor had they ever before 1 fought white men. The morning, toe
 was damp Their powder might noi burn Eali. God heip nsl' muttered,
 watching the rapidly advancing line 1 Seventy, 60, 60, finally 40 yards. were l they fIom the silent kneeling riflemen 1 All of Iny men that could sec was their ] long rifles rested on the logs before
 sbem. They obeyed their orders well
 Not shot was fired aatil the redCoata
 were within 40 yards, l heard CoRee'a
 voice as he reared out "Now, man, aim ] for the center Of the cross beltsi Firel9 1 A second after the order n cracking, blazing fash ran all along our line, The
 smoke hung 30 heavily in the mistg
 morning air that I could not gee Whai had happened. ] called Tom Overton and Abne5 Duncan of my staff, and ws galloped toward Coffe9's line. In fey
 seconds after tho first fire there cant
 another sharp, ringing volley As
 came within 150 yards of Coffee th' smoke lifted enough for me to make ou. what was happening.
 The British were falling back in
 confused, disorderly mass, and the CD tire first ranks of their column were
 blown away. For 900 yards in eur from
 the ground VAS covered with q mass o3 writhing, wounded, dead and dying red coats. By the time the rifles were wiped
 she British line was reformed, and ol tt came again. This time they were lee by General Pagenham in person. gas lantiy mounted and riding as though he was on parade. Just before he got within, range of Coffee E line l heard a single rife shot from group of country cart. wo had been using, about l75 yards die sant, and a nom ent thereafter l saw Pakeuham reel an1 pitch out of his sad de. ! have always believed he fell from che bullet of freeman of color wht was famous rife Jhot and came from tho Atakappas 'egitm of Louisiana. The l seeond advance waA precisely like the first in i6s ending In five yolleys the i,500 Or more riuemen killed and wounded 2,1l7 British soldiers, two thirds of them killed dead or mortally wounded. [ did not know where Gen eral Pakenhnm was lying, or l should 1 have sent to him or gone in person tc offer any service in my power to render was tOAu hS AAFeb two l0Ff9 after ne was hit His wound was directly
 through the liver and bowels. General Eeene, l hear, was killed. They sent
 Bag to me. asking loave to gather
 0p their wounded and bury their dead. which, of course, I granted. was told
 by wounded officer that the rank and age absolutely refused to make a third charge. We have no chance with such
 shooting as these Americans do. they said.