The new dominion. [volume] (Morgantown, W. Va.) 1876-1904, 1897-01-23


hitherto unpublished letter written
By General jackson to Mr.. James
Monroe. A portion of the letter fol
lows:
There was a very heavy fog on the
river that morning, and the British
had formed and were moving before
/ knew it. The disposition of the
rifiemen was very simple. They were
told off in numbers one and two
Number one was to fire first, then,
step back and let number two shoot
while he reloaded. About 600 yards
from the riflemen there was a great
DRAWINGS canal running back frtjni
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
was near enough to them to get their
range. But the instant saw them
/ said to Coffee, whom / directed. to
hurry to his line, which was to be
first attacked. by. we have
got them; they are oursw Coffee
dashed forward, and, riding along
his line, called out: Don't shoot
till you can see their belt buckles.
The British were formed In mass,
well closed up, and about two com
panies front.
The British, thus formed, moved
on at quick step; without firing a
shot, To within one hundred yards of
the kneeling rifiemen, who were hold
ing their fire till they could see the
belt buckles of their enemies. The
British advance was executed as
though they had been on parade.
They marched shoulder 70 shoulder,
with the step of veterans, as they
were. At one hundred yards dis
lance from our line the order was
given. Extend column front"
Double quick. march: Charged
With bayonet at the charge, they
came on us at 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 success
fully held of the ablest Of Napo-
Icons marshals in the Spanish cam
paign. My rifemen had never seen
such an attack, nor had they ever
before fought white men. The morn
ing, too, was damp; their powder
might not burn we'll "65d help usn
| muttered, watching the rapidly ad
vaneing line. Seventy, sixty, fifty,
finally forty yards, were they from
the silent kneeling riflmen.
All of my men could see was
their long rifles rested ON the logs
before them. They obeyed their or
ders well, not shot was fired until
the redcoats were within forty yards.
| heard Coffee's voice as he reared
out: ''Now, men, aim for the centre
of the cross-belts Fire. A second
after the order cracking, blazing
flash ran all along our line. The
smoke hung SO heavily In the misty
morning air that | could not see
what had happened. / called Tom
Overton and Abner Duncan, of my
staff, and we galloped toward Cohee's
line. In few seconds after the first
fire there came another sharp. ring
ing volley, As ] came within one
hundred and fifty yards of Coffee
the smoke lifted enough for me to
make out what was happening.
The British were falling in con
fused, disorderly mass, and the en-
tire first ranks Of their column were
blown away. For two hundred yards
in our front the ground was covered
with a mass of writhing, wounded,
dead and dying redcoats. By the
time the rifles were wiped the Brit
ish 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 be-
fore he got within range OF Coffee's
line / heard single rifle shot from
group of country carts we had been
using, about one hundred and sew
enty-five yards distant, and mo-
ment thereafter / saw Pakenham
reel and pitch out of his saddle.
have always believed that he fell
from the bullet of free man of col
or, who was famous rife shot, and |
came from the Atakappas region of
Louisiana. The second advance was |
precisely like the first in it's ending
In five yolleys the 800 or more rifle
men killed and wounded 2,1l7 Brit |
ish soldiers, two-thirds of them
killed dead or mortally wounded. l
did not know where General Paken-
ham was lying, orI should have sent
to him, or gone in person, to offer
any service in my power to render.
| was told he lived two hours af-
ter he was hit. His wound was di-
rectly through the liver and bowels.
General Keene, l hear, was killed.
They sent flag to me, asking leave
to gather up their wounded and bury
their dead, which, of course, / grant
ed. was told by wounded off
Ger that the rank and file absolutely
refused to make third charge 'We
have no chance with such shooting
as these Americans do they said.