I I Forgotten EROES t ELMO SCOTT WATSON A He Saved New O Orleans lean A A SK S the average rage American Who ed sa New V Orleans In the War lIr of IS 7 and he will probably un answer Why Andrew Andre Jackson of course e That ThaI answer Is correct but It would be equally correct to say Capt Samuel Sam uel Chester Held And what Is more surprising Is the fact that ed that historic city city by a battle en NI the sea en s thousand mill miles mile's milesa a nay During the War of ot 1812 Held was commander of an American the Armstrong On tile the night of September G G. G 1814 his ship hip lay ut hor In In the harbor harbur of In the of In Inthe the Azores 1 Du- Du the fact that Horta was a neutral neu mu port a 1 large Brit ish squadron commanded II by Commodore came cameto cameto to attack tile the little American ship It Il nas as n II bright moonlight night when d sent his fir first t attacking I party of more than men In III Tour Cour large launches Into the harbor The enemy opened ll tire lIre as ns th they approached and Held Immediately replied ofT the launches with wilh heavy y Mss loss Another An other attack mill made at midnight with 14 launches and aDd WO HH men who succeeded In III boarding the General Armstrong but bul wIre were driven out by the desperate resistance of the the- Americans a u loss lols of 10 killed und and 1 0 wounded At rt another attack wn made by the British brig the Carnation Car nation but she was beaten off olT that he could rould not nol resist mother attack and Uniting Ills his ship shill badly damaged I told scuttled his bis vessel ves fes sel and safely convened con nil all of his men ashore lie had har lost his ship but hul be he bewon hewon won a that was more Important tant than thull be he realized The rhe British lost 1051 o er killed and wounded while the Americans lost 1051 b but t two killed and seven fe wounded Hut the Important fact was this this squadron was part of oC the expedition then thell gathering at Jamaica for the pUrpose purpose of of seizing New V Orleans and they had bad attacked the General Armstrong to capture her ber herand and use Ube vei vessel 11 Hut t the squadron was 90 GO crippled did no reu h J Jamaica Jamaican n l later t i Jb llon eX tt Jf l lJ J U erti expedition waited or e l' l l that delay delay Its W eXle expected led results For Tor b bythe the time It arrived l In Lo Louisiana General Jackson bad completed his defenses ls t f for i thai city and th wt knO 9 the r result MultI of the haU e which he fought there thereon on JanuaryS January 8 Forgotten Forgotten Forgotten-By By His Own Choice ChoiceS S U on the morning of Decem December ber 4 4 tn In the sleepy little littletown town of In tn the The town Is held by 84 men of Company n of the Thirty third United States volunteer vol Infantry operating against the Insurgent General Also It II Is 18 a a supply depot where are stored COXX rations for the campaign and a hospital hos pital In which lie some 10 sick am arid disabled soldiers rs TIDO has a force of 0 men He lIe will steal the town under cov cover er of T le sounds and the th American soldiers tu lun n nI I out arms s. s to answer d 11 they will be met with a h hall from the rillEs But t plan doesn't quite work No 5 of C Company mp Di B ers discovers the FilIpinos Filipinos Fil Fil- stealing Into the town and opens Ire fire Immediately the fight Is ts on CupL Charles Van Way rushes forth and takes command At one place he stations Private Joe I and Private Smith His orders are Dont lunt let them thlU get across across here Hold l ld them d n d-n n It II If they ever er get et In In they're e got me cut off olT And Private Epps and Smith held them The were repulsed but snipers lingered and from time to time poured In a galling tire fire upon the Americans One group behind a churchard wall was especially an to Private Epps Finally he went to Captain Van un WilY Way and saidI said suld I want to go and get those fellows behind that wall All right replied replied re re- plied the Take the men you need and get 11 them out I As It turned out all the force Private IrI ute vate Epps wanted 1 wa Va one man Irl Private ute vate W W. O. O Trafton n bl bis Texan Creeping along cautiously the located lIt ed d their quarry the enemy knew what had happened Epps was wason on top loP of the wall and nud shouting down at them In Spanish and English both to throw down their rilles and get their hand up In the air To IM I'M ate Trafton he shouted orders as that Individual was a whole company ao and the Texan TIan let lei loose a 8 I Texas whoop The dropped their guns and hoisted their hands Th Th-e were 17 riflemen and four others armed with bolos os all of whom Epps herded herdd Into ramp as pris liners Eight American over ion were killed at the Ibl battle I of If ISDn Ther were 40 prisoners tak taken en more In more than half of them by man Epps was voted he Congressional Medal of Honor for his flat feat Hut wh n nhe he gut ju Kirk to 10 this country he hI lj dropped out of sight nil II 21 jears later he was discovered In ef Okla Okill and there at nl a great gathering In a hall ball park purk the medal was pinned on his coat roat coata a l l I ro r Union