1 01 vi t t rt R I 1 PEI a 00 g Z T el 1 ack sott it AA 1 9 aomar aik AV ok ro i in 1 1 C I 1 t r 40 1 A 1 l officer battle Satt leof of elemr orleans a V A jackson by ELMO SCOTT WATSON V ir 8 Is a date imperishably preserved in the annals of america lu association with the name of andrew jackson for it aas as on january 8 1815 that he won his amazing victory 4 over the british at the battle of new orleans few if any victories in history were more complete more unexpected by the defeated or more contrary to military experience in the first place the victors were outnumbered nearly two to one by the vanquished but what was more important was the fact that in con contrare contra trasE sf tr to t jacksons Jact sons nondescript arm army y of a few regulars and a majority of undisciplined militia and volunteers the british army was composed of trained and toughened troops the divisions which had scattered the americans americana at bladensburg with a volley and a shout kilted gilted highlanders High nigh landers famous regiments which had earned the praise of wellington the iron duke la in the spanish peninsula and brawny brawdy negro detachments ments recruited in the west indies it was such an army as would have been considered fit to withstand the finest troops in europe in command was one of En glands most brilliant soldiers gen sir edward pakenham bam of whom wellington had said sly partiality for him does not lead me astray when I 1 tell you that he la Is one of the best we have lie ile was the idol of ills his officers who agreed that they had never served under a man whose good opinion they were so desirous of having and to fall in his estimation would have been worse than death so by all the accepted rules of warfare as ag it was waged in those times it was the british who should hould have won at new orleans instead of the americans the only trouble with that theory la Is that the americans were led by a great general with the rare attribute of reading correctly the mind of an opponent and divining his bis course of action endowed with an unyielding temper and an iron hand band a relentless purpose and nd the faculty of inspiring troops to follow obey and trust him in the last extremity he was one of them typifying their passions and prejudices their faults and their virtues sharing their hardships as if he were a common private never grudging them the credit in success note the foregoing quotations are from ralph D paines the fight for a free sea in the yale tale university press chronicles of america so when old hickory jackson told his bis kentucky and tennessee riflemen his louisiana volunteers his yankee sailors his bara tarla pirates led by jean lafitte and all the other heterogeneous elements in his army that they could lick their weight in wildcats it never occurred to them but that they could also lick their weight in british regulars as well so that did it As for a description of the battle itself what could be better than one given by the victorious general on that famous field so here Is the story of the battle of new orleans as jackson himself reported it to james monroe then secretary of war the battle commenced at a very little before 7 a m january 8 1815 and as far as the infantry was concerned it was over by 9 a tn my force was wag very much mixed I 1 had portions of the seventh and forty fourth regular infantry regiments kentucky and tennessee riflemen creoles cheoles Cr eoles united states marines and sailors bara tartan tarlan men one of them capt dominique you commanded part of my artillery and a famous gunner he be was and two battalions of free negroes I 1 had bad in the action about men the british strength was almost the same as mine but vastly superior in drill and discipline of their force my riflemen killed and wounded 2117 in less than an hour including two general officers both died on the field each a division commander seven full colonels with 75 line and staff officers I 1 lost six killed and seven wounded As aa to tactics there were very little in use on either side we had some works of earth fronting the river but the kentucky and tennessee riflemen who sustained the main attack had protected themselves by a work about two and a half feet high made of logs placed two feet apart and the space between filled in with earth this work began at the mississippi river and ended in the swamp being at a right angle with the river thinking this the weakest portion of our line and seeing men behind the trifling defenses general pakenham bam thought it the best thing to begin his bis attack by carrying tills this part of my line with the bayonet there was wag a very heavy tog fog on the river that morning and the british had formed and were moving before I 1 knew it it the disposition or of the riflemen was wai very simple they were told oft off 1611 maj gen sir E M packenham Pan kenham in numbers one and two number one was to fire first then step back and let number two fire while he reloaded about yards from the riflemen there was a great drainage canal running back from the mississippi river to the swamp in the rear of the tilled land on which we were operating along this canal the british formed under the fire of the few artillery pieces I 1 had near dear enough to them to get their range but the instant I 1 saw raw them I 1 said to coffee whom I 1 directed to hurry to his line which was to be first attacked by we have got them they are ours I 1 coffee dashed forward and riding along his bis line called out dont shoot until you can see their belt buckles the british were formed in mass well closed up and about two companies front the british thus formed moved on at a quick step without firing a shot to within yards of the kneeling riflemen who were holding 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 to shoulder with the step of veterans as they were at yards distance from our line the order was given extend column front double quick marchl march charge with bayonets at the charge they came on us at a run 1 I own it was an anxious moment I 1 well knew the charging column was made up of the picked troops of the british army seventy sixty fifty finally forty yards were they from the silent kneeling knee linc riflemen all of my men I 1 could see was their long rifles rested on the logs before them they obeyed their orders well not a shot was fired until the redcoats were within forty yards I 1 heard coffees voice as he roared out now men aim tor for the center of the cross belts 1 fire 1 A second after the order a crackling blazing flash rang all along our line the smoke hung so heavily in the misty morning air that I 1 could not what happened I 1 called tom overton and abner duncan of my staff and we galloped toward coffees coffee line the british were falling back in a confused disorderly mass and the entire first ranks of their column were blown away for yards in our front the ground was covered with a mass of writhing wounded dead and dying redcoats the second advance was precisely like the first in its ending in five volleys the 1500 or more riflemen killed and wounded 2117 british soldiers two thirds of them killed dead or mortally wounded 1 I did not know where general pakenham hain was lying or I 1 should have sent to him or gone in person to offer any service in my power to render 1 I was told he be lived two hours after he was hit general keene I 1 hear bear was killed dead they sent a lag flag to me asking leave to gather up their wounded and bury their dead which of course I 1 granted I 1 was told by a wounded officer that the rank and file absolutely refused to make a third charge we have no chance with such shooting as these americans do they said one of the factors which makes the battle ot of new orleans unique Is the fact that it was fought after the treaty of peace had been signed per haps the only time in history when two belligerents lige rents fought a major military nry engagement when officially they were at peace that fact ts Is known to most americans but many probably say of the battle of new orleans oh yes it was a picturesque affair and an astonishing victory but since it was won after the war was over it was really not very important therein they are wrong quite aside from the fact that it had bad something to do with sending andrew jackson to the white house 14 years later its results and its effects on the later history of this country were tar far reaching jackson himself at the time of his victory could not pos ably have realized what those results were to be any more than he be could have known that he was fighting a battle with the british when we were at peace with them but later he realized the full of his victory as his own words bhoj those words were spoken while he was president arkansas the second of the 13 states to be made in whole or in part from the louisiana purchase had bad just been admitted to the union one day in 1836 one of the callers at the white house was william allen alien a congressman from ohio jackson and allen alien wore were discussing the admission of arkansas their conversation Is reported in allens aliens writings as follows do you know mr allen alien that this new state which has just become a part ot of our vast rep republic ab la 13 one of the first substantially large fruits fruit a of my victory at new orleans asked the president allen alien was surprised and said so remarking that the treaty of ghent was signed 15 days before the battle was fought and adding general I 1 am familiar with that treaty and it provided for the restoration of all territory places and possessions taken by either nation during the war with certain unimportant exceptions technically you are quite correct replied general jackson and his smile was more triumphant and proud than before but my dear allen alien said the old hero those very words word 9 would have been used to defeat the purpose 0 of f the american commissioners at ghent because the battle of new orleans was fought after the war 15 lays days after the war technically ceased by treaty if general pakenham with his veterans could have annihilated my little army and captured new orleans and all the contiguous territory technically after the war great britain would have held that territory abrogated that treaty and utterly ignored thomas jeffersons great deal in real estate with napoleon moreover he be continued great britain had other cards up her sleeve hero here are the transcripts from the department of state concerning the famous treaty of ghent here are the minutes of the conference which were kept by mr gallatin who te records cords the british commissioners emphatically declared we do not admit Bona partes construction of the laws of the nations we cannot accept it in relation to any matter before us I 1 at that moment not one of our american commissioners ners comprehended the awfully deep significance ance of those few words but every one of the commissioners of great britain knew that general pakenham was on the way to new orleans with upward of veteran soldiers in their judgment and it was a wise judgment too british soldiers should and would clean up and wipe out tin an army which america could muster for the pakenham harn invasion was to be a triumphant military coup and surprise now I 1 can tell you mr allen alien that I 1 did not know and my boys behind those bales did not know what a prize the british were after nor what a service we were rendering our country we were simply typical american soldiers fighting for our country as american soldiers always do ready and willing to dare do and dle die but since I 1 have been president I 1 have ascertained from diplomatic sources of unquestionable authority that the british ministry did not intend to permit the treaty of ghent to apply to the louisiana purchase at all the whole body lord liverpool the duke of portland greenville percival val and castlereagh Castle reagh all of them utterly and emphatically denied the right of napoleon to tell sell louisiana therefore their commissioners declared we cannot accept napoleons interpretations of international law in relation to any matter before us now you see mr allen alien said the proud old hero the british ministry in london held most vehemently that this country had bad no right to that immense territory no right at all they intended to hold that it was entirely extraneous to the terms of the treaty of ghent and if general pakenham harn had bad been successful at new orleans as under all of the ordinary rules of war he ought to have been with his tremendously overwhelming force of veterans if he had defeated my little thin line of riflemen if he had killed or captured me if he had bad won that battle as great britain had ever reason to expect of him he would have held his ground moreover lie he would have fortified forti fled his positions and great britain would have sent other veterans enough to forever hold that great prize the louisiana purchase but my dear sir british diplomacy and british military power combined knew nothing of my iny tennessee and kentucky riflemen the will of the enemy was strong and intelligent but the will of god was far above it all providence willed that this nation should live grow and be the cradle of the liberty of the world then general jackson quoted a well known hymn god oil moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform and concluded his narration the astute diplomats the trained commissioners of great britain c cheerfully found it easy to throw sand into the eyes of our honest commissioners ners at ghent but allen alien they could not ward oft off the cold lead which my rough and ready riflemen sprinkled into the faces of their red coated veterans at new orleans all of the tangled web that british diplomacy dip louincy and english cunning could weave about our inexperienced com missioners ners was torn to pieces and soaked in blood in half an hour by the never rifles of my squirrel shooting pioneers of the mountains as they carefully took their aim from be hind bind those bales of cotton 0 by western newspaper union