"THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS"
Was the most brilliant event of the War of 1814 and
'15. It created a deep sensation at the time, and the vast political
consequences which have resulted from it, have engraved it deeply and
indelibly upon the minds of the American people.
The overthrow of Napoleon in 1814, had rendered
disposable a large part of that veteran British force which had marched
under Wellington through six campaigns of uninterrupted victory in Spain.
At the close of 1814, a force from eight to twelve
thousand veterans and incomparable British troops, was placed under the
command of Sir Edward Packenham, the brother-in-law of Wellington, and an
officer who, in a subordinate station, had brilliantly distinguished
himself at the battle of Salamanca. His orders were to sieze[sic] New
Orleans, and in pursuance of that object, he effected a landing at the
mouth of the Mississippi on the twenty-second day of December, after
destroying a flotilla of six gunboats which attempted to prevent the
disembarkation of this might armament.
Such was the principal maritime force which the
American Government had prepared to resist this invasion. The American
land forces were upon a similar beggarly scale. A division of Kentucky
militia was descending the Mississippi River to aid in the defence, and
when it arrived at New Orleans, was almost entirely without arms or
ammunition, nor were there any adequate magazines in the city from which
they could be supplied. Several boat loads of arms had been shipped at
Pittsburg, and were then struggling through the shoals of the Ohio, and
such was Jackson's preparation for defense. General Thomas' Division of
Kentucky Militia arrived in the early part of January, but could not at
first muster over five hundred muskets. Immense exertions were made to arm
them, and even on the day of battle, there were six hundred ready and
anxious to fight, who could not procure a musket or shotgun, with which to
defend their country.
HENDERSON SOLDIERS.
Early in December, Captain Robert Smith, of Henderson
County, and father of the present County Clerk, embarked with his company
on board a flatboat en route to join the other Kentuckians, who were
moving down the river to reinforce Jackson's little army. Henderson was
represented in this command by Captain Robert Smith; First Lieutenant,
Morton Rucker; Asa Tuner, Ensign; Thomas Kilgour, Payne Dixon, Joel
Lambert, John McGraw, William Lambert, William Sandefur, Charles M. Brown,
William Arnett, John Mayho, Strother Berry, John Vickers, William Tupin,
Dan. Powell, Philip McNamar, Thomas Skillet, Eneas Hardin Obediah
Keach, John Fuquay, Jesse Stephens, Samuel Butler, Daniel Bromley, John
Slayden, Stephen Rouse, Captain Holmes, Handley Harmon, Captain J. B.
Anthony, and many others.
In this boat they proceeded as far as Smithland, at the
mouth of Cumberland River, where they were transferred to an ordinary
horse-boat. This was a miserable, rickety affair, and absolutely filthy,
so much so, many of the men were taken sick, and seven of them died before
reaching Natchez. This sickness and death was attributed to the unhealthy
condition of the horse-boat, and upon arriving at Natchez, another boat
was provided, and in this they floated to their landing place, at the bank
in front of the city, arriving on the evening of the fourth of January,
1815.
Thus we find Captain Smith and his little band of
patriots landed at the City of New Orleans. They arrived there late in the
evening of the fourth, eveny man eager to be assigned a place directly in
front of a Red Coat or, if needs be, on the picket line.
More than one of them had promised friends and
relatives, whom they had left behind, a red coat, as a memento of the
great battle to by fought, and actuated more by this, perhaps, than any
other incentive, they were almost uncontrolable[sic]. They fumed and
fretted, they complained, and yet it seemed as though they were destined
to be left behind. The company had no arms, and for a time it looked as
though they would never be supplied. This enraged many of them, and all
the camp guards and strict military regulations were hardly sufficient to
restrain these determined fellows and keep them within bounds. Several of
them, disregarding all rules of discipline, secretly abandoned camp, and
before morning returned with a gun apiece which they had purchased or
purloined. On January 7, their great anxiety was satisfied by the arrival
of guns and ammunition, and they, with the other Kentucky troops, were
assigned a most important place in the line of battle.
THE MORNING OF THE EIGHTH.
Was cloudy and misty, and about daybreak General
Packenham presented his compliments, by the firing of two rockets in the
air, which were the signals to move forward. The Kentuckians little
dreamed, while floating down the Mississippi unarmed, and suffering the
privations incident to those early times, that they were so soon to stand
face to face in front of the Duke of Wellington's trained soldiers;
soldiers who mad met and defeated the great Napoleon only a short time
previous; soldiers who had been taught to know no fear, to respect no
danger; but these were the men whom the militia had volunteered to drive
from Louisiana soil. About eleven hundred Kentucky militia, and a
Tennessee brigade, formed the center of Jackson's army behind breast
works.
The Kentuckians were commanded by General Adair, who
formed a reserve corps, and were directed to march to the assailed point
and strengthen the line there. It was well understood that an attack would
be made on the eighth, and the Kentucky troops were marched to the lines
before daylight, and halted a few yards from the center until the grand
point of attack should be disclosed. an eminent historian says in his
story of the battle:
"It was intended that the lines should have a depth
of ten files at the point of attack, so that the stream of fire should
be incessant. The front rank alone would fire as fast as the nine ranks
behind could pass forward their loaded muskets, receiving those
discharged in their places.
"When the point of attack had been clearly disclosed,
the Kentuckians were ordered to close up with the Tennesseans, upon whim
it was evident the storm was about to burst.
"In three columns the English veterans of six
glorious campaigns, covered with renown as with a garment, and hitherto
victorious on every field, rushed against an earthen breastwork,
defended by men who had hurried from the plow and the workshop, to meet
the invaders of their country. The fog lay thick and heavy upon the
ground, but the measured step of the center column was heard long before
it became visible, and the artillery opened upon them, directed by the
sound of the mighty host, which bore forward as one man to the assault.
At the first burst of artillery the fog slowly lifted and disclosed the
center column advancing in deep silence, but with a swift and steady
pace.
"The field was level as the surface of the calmest
lake, and the artillery plowed through the column from froat{sic] to
rear without a moment slacking its pace or disordering the beautiful
precisions of its formation.
"Its head was pointed against the center of the
Kentucky and Tennessee line, whose ten ranks of musketry stood ready to
fire, and as soon as it came within one hundred and fifty yards the
musketry opened with destructive effect. Then there was a moment's pause
in the fire. The artillery along the whole line discharged showers of
grape, the roar of musketry was as one deep uninterrupted thunder like
the roar of one hundred waterfalls, and the central breastworks for four
hundred yards was in a bright and long-continued blaze, which dazzled
the eye, yet the heroic British column still bore forward into the very
jaws of death. The head of the column actually reached the American
ditch, and were there killed or taken. The residue paused and seemed
bewildered for a moment, and then retired in disorder under the same
exterminating torrent of fire, which had greeted their advance.
"Their commander, General Packenham, and Generals
Gibbs and Kean, next in command, had fallen. A host of interior officers
had shared the same fate, and their organization for the time was
destroyed."
CAPTAIN PAYNE DIXON,
Who fought with undaunted courage throughout the entire
battle, declared to the write that at times his gun, from extreme heat
produced by rapid firing, became unbearable to the hands. During the
greater part of the firing, so dense was the smoke, the enemy could not be
seen, and when the firing ceased and the British were found to be in full
retreat, several of the Henderson boys mounted the breastworks and were
about to rush out upon the field to secure a red coat, when they were
peremptorily ordered back. The Henderson company fought on both sides of
the Mississippi, having crossed over after the repulse of General
Packenham to reinforce General Morgan, who was engaging the enemy with
about 1,000 milita. On that side the American were repulsed.
After the battle the troops went into camp, and
remained until April, when the Kentucky boys started on their journey home
overland, on foot.
AN OVATION.
In passing through New Orleans, the ladies and citizens
cheered them lustily, the ladies showering upon them bouquest of beautlful
flowers, as an evidence of their high appreciation of the brilliant and
self-sacrificing service rendered in behalf of the safety of their
beautiful Southern home.
The march from New Orleans to Natchez was a terribly
hard one, and by some means the commissary department had been neglected,
and the soldiers were actually suffering from the want of something to
eat. At Natchez, several of the soldiers traded for and purchased horses,
which they rode home.
ARRIVAL HOME..
In the month of May the Henderson soldiers arrived at
their home, and were received with shouts of joy by their friends and
kinsmen. They had performed a noble duty, and won for themselves the
gratulations[sic] of their countrymen. They had been foremost in the
battle, and had been chiefly instrumental in defeating, certainly one of
the grandest armies the sun had ever shown upon.
History of Henderson County, Kentucky
by Edmund L. Starling
p. 142-146
published in 1887
public domain material
