Pine Bluff daily graphic., 1897-03-03
THEIR DEADLY FIRE.
THE AMERICAN RlFtEMEN AT THE
 BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS.

A Description of tho Engagement by Gen
 eral Jachson-A Letter From "Old Hio,..
 ory'-How Packenham,s Veterans Were
 Defeated by Frontiersmen.
 In The Century William Hugh Rob. arts has an article entitled "Napoleon, ,s Interest h the Battle of New Orleans ; in this is quoted a hitherto unpublished letter written by General Jackson to Mr James Monroe. A portion of the letter follows: ''N-
 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 Nos. l and 2. No. l was to fire first. then step back and lot No. 3 shoot while he reloaded. About 600 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 thls canal the British formed, under the ire of the few artillery pieces I ha9 near enough to them to get their range. But tho instant I saw them I said to Coffee whom l directed to hurry to his line, WhiGh was to be first attacked i;
 fly -, we have got them They are oursi3 Coffee dashed forward, and, rid. ing along his line, called out, Don't shoot till you can see their belt bucklesp' The British were formed in mass. well closed mp, and about two companies front.
 The British, thus formed, moved on at Q quick step, without firing shot, to within 100 yards of the kneeling rifle men, who were holding their fire till they could see the belt buckles of their enemies. The British advance was exc. euted as though they had been on pa- rade. They marched shoulder to shouI- der, with the step of veterans, as they were. At 100 yards distance from our line the order WAS given: Extend col umn frontl Double quick, marehl Chargel" With bayonets at the charge. they came on us at run. I owr 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- law and had successfully held off the ablest of Napoleon's s marshals in the Spanish campaign. My rifemen 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 usp' [ muttered, watching the rapidly advancing line. Seventy, 60, 90, finally 40 yards, were they from the silent kneeling rifemen. All of my men that I 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 aNow, men, aim for the center of the cross beltsl Firel'' A second after the order a 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. called Tom Overton and Abner Duncan of my staff, and we galloped toward Coffee's line In few seconds after the first fire there came another sharp, ringing volley. As I came within 150 yards of Coffee the smoke lifted enough for me to make out what was happening.
 The British were falling back in Q confused, disorderly mass, and the en- tire first ranks of their column were blown away. For 00yards 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 lantly mounted and riding as though he was on parade. Just before he got within range of Coffee's line I heard single rife shot from group of country carts we had been using, about 175 yards dis tant, and moment thereafter 1 saw Pakenham reel and pitch out of his sad dle have always believed he fell from the bullet of 0 freeman of color who was famous rife shot and came from tho Atakappas region of Louisiana. The second advance was precisely like the first in it's ending. In five yolleys the 1,500 or more rifemen killed and wounded 2,117 British soldiers, two- thirds of them killed dead or mortally wounded. I did not know where Gen. eral Pakenham was lying, or I should have sent to him or gone ill person to offer any service in my power tc rnndcr
 was told he lived tive heg.s after he was hit His wound was directly through the liver aIa bowels. General Keene, l Rec. As Anled. They sent haq to l4c, asking leave to gather up t.,eir wounded and bury their dead, wh!, h, of course, granted. was told by wounded officer that the rank and Ao oly iN1