Show I 1 by ELMO SCOTT WATSON 8 Is a date imperishably preserved in the annal of america lu association with the name of andrew jackson for it was 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 snore complete more unexpected by the defeated or more contrary to military experience in the first place the victors were putnum bared nearly two to one by the vanquished but what was more important was the fact that in contrast to jacksons nondescript army 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 at Bladen eburg with a volley and a shout gilted kilted highlanders High landers famous regiments which had earned the praise of wellington the iron duke in the spanish peninsula and brawny negro detach recruited in the west indies it was such fan army as would have been considered fit to withstand the finest troops in europe in corn imand was one of england s most brilliant soldiers gen sir edward pakenham of whom wellington had sald my partiality for him does not lead me astray when I 1 tell you that he Is one of the best we have lie was the idol of 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 it was waged in those times it was the british who should have won at new orleans hastead of the americans the only trouble with that theory Is that the americans were led by a great general with the rare attribute of reading correctly the mind of an opponent and divining Is course of action endowed with an ing temper and an iron hand a relentless pur pose and 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 charing their hardships as if he were a common private never grudging them the credit in sue cess note the foregoing quotations are from ralph D balnes the fight for a free sea in the yale university press chronicles of america so when old hickory jackson told ahls kentucky and tennessee riflemen his ana volunteers his yankee sailors his bara ataria pirates led by jean lafatte and all the other heterogeneous elements in his army that chev could lick their weight in wildcat it never occurred to them but that they could also 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 etory 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 ja a m january 8 1815 and as far as the in fantry was concerned it was over by 9 a m sly force was very much mixed I 1 had portions of the seventh and forty fourth regular infantry regiments kentucky and tennessee riflemen cheoles creoles united states marines and sailors bara men one of them capt you commanded part of my artillery and a famous gunner he was and two battalions of free negroes I 1 had 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 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 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 0 thinking this the weakest portion of our line and seeing men behind the trifling defenses general pakenham thought it the best thing to begin his attack by carrying this part of my line with the bayonet there was a very heavy fog on the river that morning and the british had formed and were moving before I 1 knew it the disposition of the riflemen was very simple they were fold on f t maj gen sir E packenham Pan kenham in numbers one and two Is umber one was to fire first then step back and let number two fire while he reloaded about GOO yards from the riflemen there was a great drainage canal running back from the mississippi river to the ecamp 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 enough to them to get their range but the instant I 1 saw 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 oural coffee dashed forward and riding along his line called out don t shoot uehl 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 march charge I 1 with bayonets at the charge they came on us at a run I 1 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 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 coffee s voice as he roared out now men aim for the center of the cross belts I 1 fire 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 billed tom overton and abnar duncan of my staff and we galloped toward coffee 8 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 was lying or I 1 should have sent to him or gone in person to offer any service in my power to render I 1 was told he lived two hours after he was hit general keene I 1 hear was killed dead they sent a 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 oali that the rank and file absolutely refused to make a third charge we have no chance with such shooting as these american do they said one of the factors which makes the battle ol 01 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 bel fought a major military engagement when officially they were at peace that fact 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 vie tory but since it waa vion after the war was over it was really not very important therein they are wrong quite aside from the fact that it had 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 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 could have known that he was fighting a battle with the british when we were at peace with them but later be realized ane full of his victory as his own words chow those words were spoken while he was dent arkansas the second of the 13 states to be made in whole or in part from the louisiana purchase had lust been admitted to tho union one day in one of the callers at the white house was william alien a congressman from ohio jackson and alien were discussing the admission of arkansas their conversation Is reported in aliens writings as follows do you know mr alien that this new state which has just become a part of our vast lie 13 one of the first substantially large fruits of my victory at fiew orleans asked the president alien was surprised and said so remarking that the treaty of ghent was signed 15 days before the battle nas 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 ex copt lons technically you are quite correct replied general jaclson and his smile was more atrium and proud than before but my dear alien said the old hero those very words would have been used to defeat the purpose of the american commissioners at ghent because the battle ot new orleans was fought after the war 15 days after the war technically ceased by treaty if general pakenham with his 10 veterans could have annihilated my little army and captured new orleans and all the ons territory technically after the war great britain would have held that territory abrogated that treaty and utterly ignored thomas jeffer sons great deal in real estate with napoleon moreover he continued great britain had other cards up her sleeve 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 gallaton ln who records the british commissioners emphatically declared we do not admit bonaparte s construe alon of the laws of the nations we cannot accept it in relation to any matter before us at that moment not one of our american corn comprehended the awfully deep alg 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 an army which america could muster for the pakenham invasion was to be a triumphant military coup and surprise now I 1 can tell you mr 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 fight ing for our country as american soldiers always do ready and willing to dare do and die but since I 1 have been president I 1 have ascer 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 I 1 ord Ilver pool the duke of portland greenville perceval val and castlereagh Castle reagh all of them utterly and emphatically denied the right of napoleon to sell louisiana therefore their commission era declared we cannot accept napoleons interpretations of international law in relation to any matter before us now you see mr alien said the proud old hero the british ministry in london held most vehemently that this country had 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 gen era pakenham had 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 de feinted my little thin line of riflemen if he had killed or captured me if he had won that bittle as great britain had ever reason to expect of him he would have held his ground moreover he would have fortified his positions and great britain would have sent other veterans enough to forever hold that great arlye the louisiana purchase but my dear sir british diplomacy and brit ish military power combined knew nothing of my 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 moves in a mysterious way his wonders to perform and concluded his narration the astute diplomats the trained commissioners of great britain cheerfully found it easy to throw sand into the eyes of our honest corn at ghent but alien they could not ward oft the cold lead which my rough and ready riflemen sprinkled into the faces of their red coated veterans at new orleans all of the tan aled cb that british diplomacy and english cun nang could weave about our inexperienced corn was torn to alecca and soaked lr blood in half an hour by the never missing of my squirrel shooting pioneers of the moun bains as they carefully took their aim from behind those ate bales of cotton by n ettern union f |