Evening journal., 1897-02-03
THEIR DEADLY FIRE.
THE AMERICAN RlFLEMEN AT TIE
BATTLE Or NEW ORLEANS.


ory"-Ifow Packenhan.'s Veterans Were
Defeated by Fronticrmen.
In The Century William Hugh Rob
arts has an article entitled ''Napoleon's |
Interest In the Battle of New Orleans.
In this is quoted hitherto unpublished |
letter written by General Jackson to Mr.. |
James Monroe A portion Of the letter
follows:
There was very heavy fog en- tho |
river that morning, and the British had
formed and were moving before knew
st. The disposition Of the rfemen was
very simple. They were told off in Nos.
and 2. No. l,was to fire first, then
step back and LET No. 2 shoot while he
reloaded. About 800 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 ON which we were operating. Along
this canal the British formed, undor the
fire of the few artillery pieces / had
near enough to them to get their range.
But the instant | saw them / said to
Coffee, whom l directed to hurry to his
line, which was to be first attacked
"By -, we have got them They are
oursp' Coffee dashed forward, and, rid
ing along his line, called out, Don't
shoot till you can see their belt bucklesl'
The British were formed in mass, well
closed up, and about two companies
front
The British, thus formed, moved on
at a quick step, without firing "a shot to
within 100 yards of the kneeling rife
men, who were holding their fire till
they could see the belt buckles of their
enemies. The British advance was exc
outed 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 'front.' Double quick, march,
Charge!" With bayonets at the charge
they came on us at a run. 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-law
and had successfully held off the ablest
of Napoleon's marshals in the Spanish
such an attack, nor had they ever before
fought white men. The morning, too,
was damp. Their powder might not
burn well. "God help usr' I muttered,
watching the rapidly advancing line.
Seventy, 60, 80, finally 40 yards were
they from the silent kneeling rihemen
All of my men that could see was their
long rifles rested on the logs before
them. They obeyed their orders we'll
Not a shot was fired until the redcoats
were within 40 yards. / heard Coffee s
voice as he reared out "Now, men, aim
for the center of the cross belts! Fire!'
A second after the order cracking,
blazing fash ran all along our line. The
smoke hung so heavily in the misty
morning air that l could not see whai
had happened. I called Tom Overtor
and Abner Duncan of my staff and we
galloped toward CofIees line In few
seconds after tie first fire there caml
another sharp, ringing volley. As
came within 100 yards of Coffee the
smoke lifted enough for me to make ou
what was happening.
The British were falling back in q
confused, disorderly mass, and the en-
tire first ranks Of their column wer,
blown away For 200 yards ia our from
the ground was covered with mass o
writhing, wounded, dead and dying red
coats. BY the time the rifles were wiped
the British line was reformed, and OF
it came again. This time they were LED
by General Pakenham in person, gal
lantly mounted and riding as though n
srac ~, varaIo T,rct ,ofrro no r,at a. q i,f
range of Coffee's line / heard singl
rife shot from a group Of country cart
we had been using, about l75 yards dis
tant, and moment thereafter l say
Pakenham reel and pitch ont of his sad
die. ] have always believed he fell fror
the bullet of "a freeman Of color VIII
was a famous rife shot and came iron
the Atakappas region Of Louisiana Th
second advance was precisely like tn
first in its ending. In five volleys th
1900 or more riflemen killed an
wounded 2,117 British soldiers, two
thirds of them killed dead or mortal
wounded. l did not know where Gel
eral Pakenham was lying, or / shout
have sent to him or gone in person
offer any service in my power to rende
L was told he lived two hours aft'
he was hit. His wound was directl
through the liver and bowels Generi
Keene, l hear, was killed They sci
flag to me, asking leave TO gathl
up their wounded and bury their deal
which, Of course, | granted. / was TO
by wounded officer that the rank al
file absolutely refused to make a thii
charge. 1--WE have no chance with suS
shooting as these Americans DO" tn,
said.