Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-06-15
THEIR DEADLY FIRE.
THE AMERICAN RlFLENsN Ar rs,s
 BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS

<A A-elIer From ssOld HioIr
 ory'-How Paekenham's Veterans WeFs
 Defeated by Frontiersmen.
 ln The Century William Huah Roh aSts has an article entitled .fNapoleou,s interest h tne Battle of New Orleans ;. In this is quoted hitherto unpublished letter written by General Jackson to Mr James Monroe. 4 portion of the lettaa follows:
 There was very heavy fog on tina fiver that morning, and the British had formed and were moving before knew It. The disposition of the rifemen was very simple They were told off in Nos l anu Z. No. l was to fire first then step back and let No. ) shoot while ba reloaded About 600 yards from, the rif,a. men there was a great drainage canal running back from the Mississippi river 10 the swamp in the rear of the filled 2and on which we were operating. A Aloup thls canal the British formed. under tha ure of the few artillery pieces I had near enough to them to get their range. 1 But the instant I saw them ! said fo Coffee, whom directed to hurry to fis iine' which was to be first attacked,
 by -, we have got theml They are 9ufsF Coffee dashed forward, and. ri6 Ing along bis line, called out. "Don'f shoot tll! you can sec their belt buckles!' The British were formed in mass. well closed up, and about two companies front.
 The British, thus formed, moved on at quick step without firing shot to within 100 wards of the kneeling rifle. men, who were holding their fire till they could see the belt buckles of their enemies The British advance was eye. eated as tEergh they had been on pa- tade. They marched shoulder 10 shaul. der, with the step of veterans, as they were. At 100 yards distance from our Inc the order was given: "Extend col umn front Double quick, marehi Gharge!o With bayoHets at the charge, they came en LIS at a rEn. I own 1t WAS an anxious moment 1 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 s marshals in the Spanish campaign. Ny riaemen Tad never seen such an attack, nor had they ever before fought white men The morning, too. was damp. Their powder might not bum well. God help usl' mntterad, watching the rapidly advancing line Seventy, 60, 50, finally 40 yards, were they from the silent kneeling rinemen All of my men that could see was their :ong rifles rested OH the logs befdfd .eem. They obeyed their orders we'll Not a shot was fired until the redcoats were within 40 yards. l heard Gofiee'a voice as he roared out; Now. men, aim for the center of the cross belts! Firel" A second after the order q cracking, blazing flash ran all along our line The smoke hung so heavily iii tho misty morning air that l could not see what had happened. I called Tom Oyerton and Abner Duncan Of my staff, and we gGlloped toward Gotfee's line In few seconds after the first fire there came another sharp, ringing volley As l came within 150 yards of Coffee the smoke lifted enough for me to make ou! what was happening
 The British were falling hack in q confused, disordcrly mass and the CT. tire first ranks of their column were blown away For 200 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 iii person, gal antly mounted and riding as though he was on parade Just before he got within range of Goffees line l heard single rife shot from group of country carts we lad been using, about lf5 yards dis tant and a moment thereafter saw Pakenham reel and pitch out of his sad dle. have always believed he fell from the bullet of freeman of color who was q famous rife shot and came from the Atakappas .egion of Louisiana. The second advance was precisely like the first ill it's ending. In five yoleys the I.500 or more riflemen killed and wounded 2,1l7 British soldiers, two thirds of them killed dead or mortally wounded. ! did not know where Gen eral Pakenham was lying, or should have sent to him or gone in person to offer any service in my power to render
 I was told he lived two honrs after he was hit, His wound was directly through the liver and bowels. General Keene, I hear, was killed. They sent . flag to me. asking leaye to gather I'D their wounded and bury thelr dead, which, of course, granted. l was told by 2 wornded officer that tho rank and file absolutely refused to make third charge. "We have no chance with such shooting as these Americans do" they said.
 Hereditary Suicide.
 An extraordinary instance of heredl-