Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-06-09
THEIR DEADLY FIRE.
THE AMERICAN RlFlEMEN AT THIS
 BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS


 Description of the Engagement by Gen
 erai Jachson-A Letter From ssljid IIfoIs-
 ory"-Hon Packenham's Veterans Were
 Defeated by Ersntiersmen.
 h The Ce entury William Hugh Roh, i 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 In this is quoted hitherto unpublished letter written by General Jackson to Mir James Monroe. A portion of the lettes follows:
 There was very heavy fog on the river that morning, and the British had formed and were moving before I knew 1t. The disposition of the rifiemen was very simple They were told off in Nos. 1 and 3. No. 1 was to fire first, then step back and let No 3 shoot while he reloaded. About 600 yards from the rifie- 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, under the fire of the few artillery pieces I had { near enough to them to get their range. But the instant l saw them l said to Coffee, whom directed to hurry to his line, which was to be first attackedI sBy -, we have got them They are oursl' Coffee dashed forward, and, rid' ing along his 1ine, called out, Don't shoot till you can see their belt buckles!' The British " ere formed in mass, well o1r I front
 The British, thus formed, moved on at quick step without firing a shot, to within 100 yards of the kneeling rifle- men, who were holding their fire till they could sec the belt buckles of their enemies. The British advance was exe- cuted IS 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 i line the order was given: Extend col umn frontl Double quick, marcht Chargel" With bayonets at the charge, they came on us at run. own it was an anxious moment I 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-l law and had successfully held off the ablest of Napoleon's marshals in the Spanish campaign. My riflemen had never seen such an attack, nor had they ever before fought white men. The morning, too, was damp. Their powder might not burn we'll "God help us!'' muttered, watching the rapidly advancing line Seventy, 60, 50, finally 40 yards, were they from the silent kneeling rif1emen. All of my men that could see was their long rifles rested on the logs before them. They obeyed their orders well. Not shot was fired until the redeoats were within 40 yards. heard Coffee's voice as he roared out .Now, men, aim for the center of the cross belts! Firel' A second after tie order cracking, blazing flash ran all along our line. The smoke hung so heavily in the misty morning air that l could not see what had happened. I called Tom Oyerton and Abner Duncan of my staff, and we galloped toward Coffee's line In a 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 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 lantiy mounted and riding as though he was on parade. Just before he got within range of Ooffee's line I heard single rifle shot from a group of country carts We had been using, about 175 yards dis tant, and moment thereafter l saw Pakenham reel and pitch out of his sad dle. have always believed he fell from the bullet of freeman of color who was famous rife shot and came from the Atakappas legion of Louisiana. The second advance was precisely like the first in its ending. In five yolleys the l,500 or more rifiemen killed and wounded 2,117 British soldiers, two thirds of them killed Gead or mortally wounded. ! did not know where Gen eral Pakenham was lying, or l should | have sent to him or gone in person to offer any service in my power to render. I was 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 a flag to me. asking leave to gather | mp their wounded and bury their dead, which, of course granted. was told by wounded officer that the rank and file absolutely refused to make third charge. "We have no chance with such 1 shooting as these Americans do, they I said.