Part 3

On March 14, word finally reached Jackson that the war was officially over. He thereupon released the Tennesseans from duty and instructed Generals Coffee and Carroll to return them home immediately. Traveling over the famed Natchez Trace, there was ample time for them to reflect upon the momentous events of the past five months, and they may have wondered what the result at New Orleans would have been had Tennessee not been represented there. But there was one thing certain! No group connected with New Orleans marched any harder, fought more relentlessly, or endured hardship as long as did the Tennesseans. This being the case, one could not blame them for musing a bit, and occasionally stroking their long rifles, which had etched for each of them an honored place in the golden annals of their country’s history.

It is a long trail leading from the plain of Chalmette to January 8, 1965, but nothing that has happened over these years lessens the modern Tennessean’s appreciation for the warriors who represented their state so well at New Orleans. History has observed that of the approximately 5,000 Tennesseans in the vicinity almost 1,500 were on the line during the battle.

With the exception of the 700 United States regulars, no group connected with the campaign on the American side had the military training and leadership which the Tennesseans already possessed by virtue of their participation in the Creek War. If the British attack on the American left, held by Coffee’s Tennesseans, had succeeded, the battle’s outcome might well have been a different story.

The several groups comprising Jackson’s army performed capably. Each had its unique talents and accomplished much of what was expected of it. When considering the entire New Orleans campaign, however, one is immediately impressed with the fact that no phase can be studied without finding evidence of Tennessee’s participation. It is clear in retrospect, as it was in 1815, that the role of Tennessee at New Orleans was highly significant, perhaps the dominant force, in bringing the campaign to a successful conclusion.

NOTES

1. O. P. Chitwood, F. L. Owsley, and H. C. Nixon. _The United States from Colony to World Power_, (New York, 1954), 218. Delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire met at Hartford, Connecticut, December 15, 1814, to declare their opposition to the war. Declaring that a state could interpose its authority against unconstitutional acts of the Federal Government, the Convention also proposed seven constitutional amendments and appointed a committee to go to Washington to negotiate with the Government. Shortly after the committee’s arrival, however, word came of the overwhelming American victory at New Orleans, so that the representatives retired without revealing the purpose of their trip.

2. The northern states were more concerned with the infamous “Orders of Council” passed by the British Government permitting that nation’s navy to search any United States ship on the pretense of looking for English deserters, and forbidding any intercourse between France and America. The firing on the American frigate _Chesapeake_ in the summer of 1807 by the British warship _Leopard_ for the former vessel’s refusal to be searched, brought the two countries dangerously close to war, and Federalist apathy was almost swept away by an aroused public opinion.

3. Charles B. Brooks, _The Siege of New Orleans_. (Seattle, 1961), 12. Jackson assumed command of the Military District on May 28.

4. Enroute to Mobile, Jackson on August 10 concluded a peace treaty with the Creeks, requiring that tribe to reside on lands bordered by the Coosa River to the west, the Chattahoochee in the east, and to the south, by a line running east and west. It was thought that the Creeks and Seminoles would thus be separated, and contact broken with British agents. John H. DeWitt, “General James Winchester, 1752-1826,” in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_ I (1915), 183.

5. Coffee was born in Prince Edward County, Virginia, June 2, 1772, and died at his home “Hickory Hill” near Florence, Alabama, July 7, 1833. Migrating to Tennessee in 1798 with his widowed mother, Coffee became a successful merchant and surveyor. In 1809 he married Mary Donelson. Their farm on Stone’s River in Rutherford County was 10 miles from the Hermitage. “Letters of General John Coffee to His Wife, 1813-1815,” in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_, II, (1916), 264-65. Coffee’s granddaughter, Eliza Croom Coffee, described him as possessing a commanding appearance with brilliant black eyes and a dark skin. “His expression,” she wrote, “was quiet and serious, but not sad, and showed deep thought. His manners were courteous and gentle.” Eliza Croom Coffee, “Sketch of the Life of General John Coffee,” Florence, Alabama, 1897 (Script in Manuscript Collection, Tennessee Historical Society, Tennessee State Library and Archives.)

6. Nashville _Whig_, September 21, 1814, p. 3.

7. John Coffee to Mary Donelson Coffee, Camp Gaines, October 22, 1814, in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_, II (1916), 285-86.

8. C. S. Forester, “Victory of New Orleans,” in _American Heritage_ VIII, (1957), 8.

9. N. Floyd McGowin, “Some Aspects of Waning British Influence in the Middle Gulf Region,” in _The Alabama Review_, IX (1956), 166-67.

10. Born near Pittsburg, Pennsylvania, March 3, 1788, Carroll came to Nashville in 1810 to open a mercantile store. His fondness for studying military tactics endeared him to Andrew Jackson, then Major General of the Second Tennessee Division encompassing West (now Middle) Tennessee. When Jackson resigned in 1813 to command the United States Army in defense of the Southern frontier, Carroll received the appointment. Later, as Governor of Tennessee, Carroll distinguished himself for his frugality and business acumen.

11. _Nashville Clarion_, November 1, 1814, p. 3.

12. _The Clarion and Tennessee State Gazette_, November 22, 1814, p. 3.

13. Nashville _Whig_, November 16, 1814, p. 3.

14. Nashville _Daily Gazette_, November 10, 1858, p. 2. As the story goes, all of the Tennessee troops, including those of Coffee, were fully armed by December 21. The second keelboat, however, did not arrive until some time after the battle of January 8, leaving the Kentuckians, who arrived January 4, only partially armed.

15. John Coffee to Mary Donelson Coffee, Sandy Creek, December 15, 1814, in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_, II (1916), 289. The line of march was almost parallel to the sea coast, about 40 or 50 miles from the Gulf.

16. Edward Larocque Tinker, _Creole City, Its Past and Its People_ (New York, 1953), 45-46. Jackson’s relationship to the legislature was so strained that, after the battle, that body refused to pass a resolution of commendation for the general’s services.

17. John Coffee to Mary Donelson Coffee, December 15, 1814, in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_, II (1916).

18. John Coffee to Andrew Jackson, December 17, 1814, Andrew Jackson MSS., Manuscript Division, Tennessee State Library and Archives.

19. McGowin, _op. cit._, 167.

20. Major A. Lacarriere Latour, _Historical Memoir of the War in West Florida and Louisiana_ (Philadelphia, 1816), 88; Eliza Croom Coffee.

21. Benson L. Lossing, _The Pictorial Field-Book of the War of 1812_ (New York, 1869).

22. Latour, _op. cit._, 99.

23. John Coffee to Mary Donelson Coffee, New Orleans, January 20, 1815, in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_, II (1916), 289-90. See also J. A. Trousdale, “A History of the Life of General William Trousdale,” in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_, II (1916), 123-24.

24. Nashville, _Whig_, January 11, 1815, p. 3. Of interest is the fact that Lauderdale County, Alabama, where John Coffee later made his home, is named after Colonel James Lauderdale.

25. _Ibid._

26. Latour, _op. cit._, 107.

27. Going down the river the following six plantations comprised the principal theater of action: Macarty, Chalmette, Bienvenu, De la Ronde, Lacoste, and Villere.

28. John Spencer Bassett, (ed.), _Major Howell Tatum’s Journal_ (Northampton, Massachusetts, 1921), 115-16. One other man, presumed dead, was wounded, but arose three times and endeavored to escape under a heavy discharge of musketry. He was finally rescued by Major John W. Simpson, Captain Barbee Collins, and two privates.

29. Eliza Croom Coffee, _op. cit._

30. _Ibid._

31. _Ibid._

32. Nashville Whig, January 25, 1815, p. 2. This information was taken from a letter sent by an officer to a Nashville friend and reprinted in the _Whig_.

33. Rossiter Johnson, _A History of the War of 1812-1815_ (New York, 1882), 344.

34. “A Contemporary Account of the Battle of New Orleans by a Soldier in the Ranks,” in _The Louisiana Historical Quarterly_, I (1926), 15.

35. John Coffee to Mary Donelson Coffee, New Orleans, January 20, 1815, in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_, II (1916), 290.

36. _Ibid._

37. Stanley Clisby Arthur, _The Story of the Battle of New Orleans_ (New Orleans, 1915), 247.

38. John Coffee to Mary Donelson Coffee, New Orleans, January 30, 1815, in _Tennessee Historical Magazine_, II (1916), 291.

39. Latour, _op. cit._, Appendix, clxxxv.

APPENDIX

Jackson Reports On Battle

Letter from Major-General Jackson to the Secretary of War.

Camp, four miles below Orleans, 9th January, 1815.

Sir:

During the days of the 6th and 7th, the enemy had been actively employed in making preparations for an attack on my lines. With infinite labour they had succeeded on the night of the 7th in getting their boats across from the lake to the river, by widening and deepening the canal on which they had effected their disembarkation. It had not been in my power to impede these operations by a general attack—added to other reasons, the nature of the troops under my command, mostly militia, rendered it too hazardous to attempt extensive offensive movements in an open country, against a numerous and well-disciplined army. Although my forces, as to number, had been increased by the arrival of the Kentucky division, my strength had received very little addition; a small portion only of that detachment being provided with arms. Compelled thus to wait the attack of the enemy, I took every measure to repel it when it should be made, and to defeat the object he had in view. General Morgan with the Orleans contingent, the Louisiana militia, and a strong detachment of the Kentucky troops, occupied an intrenched camp on the opposite side of the river, protected by strong batteries on the bank, erected and superintended by commodore Patterson.

In my encampment every thing was ready for action, when early on the morning of the 8th the enemy, after throwing a heavy shower of bombs and congreve rockets, advanced their columns on my right and left, to storm my intrenchments. I cannot speak sufficiently in praise of the firmness and deliberation with which my whole line received their approach. More could not have been expected from veterans inured to war.—For an hour the fire of the small arms was as incessant and severe as can be imagined. The artillery, too, directed by officers who displayed equal skill and courage, did great execution. Yet the columns of the enemy continued to advance with a firmness which reflects upon them the greatest credit. Twice the column which approached me on my left, was repulsed by the troops of general Carroll, those of general Coffee and a division of the Kentucky militia, and twice they formed again and renewed the assault. At length, however, cut to pieces, they fled in confusion from the field, leaving it covered with their dead and wounded. The loss which the enemy sustained on this occasion, cannot be estimated at less than fifteen hundred in killed, wounded, and prisoners. Upwards of three hundred have already been delivered over for burial; and my men are still engaged in picking them up within my lines, and carrying them to the point where the enemy are to receive them. This is in addition to the dead and wounded whom the enemy have been enabled to carry from the field during and since the action, and to those who have since died of the wounds they received. We have taken about five hundred prisoners, upwards of three hundred of whom are wounded, and a great part of them mortally. My loss has not exceeded, and I believe has not amounted to ten killed and as many wounded. The entire destruction of the enemy’s army was now inevitable, had it not been for an unfortunate occurrence, which at this moment took place on the other side of the river. Simultaneously with his advance upon my lines, he had thrown over in his boats a considerable force to the other side of the river. These having landed, were hardy enough to advance against the works of general Morgan; and, what is strange and difficult to account for, at the very moment when their entire discomfiture was looked for with a confidence approaching to certainty, the Kentucky re-enforcements, in whom so much reliance had been placed, ingloriously fled, drawing after them, by their example, the remainder of the forces; and thus yielding to the enemy that most formidable position. The batteries which had rendered me, for many days, the most important service, though bravely defended, were, of course, now abandoned; not however until the guns had been spiked.

This unfortunate rout had totally changed the aspect of affairs. The enemy now occupied a position from which they might annoy us without hazard, and by means of which they might have been able to defeat, in a great measure, the effects of our success on this side the river. It became therefore an object of the first consequence to dislodge him as soon as possible. For this object, all the means in my power, which I could with any safety use, were immediately put in preparation. Perhaps, however, it was owing somewhat to another cause that I succeeded even beyond my expectations. In negotiating the terms of a temporary suspension of hostilities, to enable the enemy to bury their dead and provide for their wounded, I had required certain propositions to be acceded to as a basis, among which this was one—that, although hostilities should cease on this side the river until twelve o’clock of this day, yet it was not to be understood that they should cease on the other side; but that no re-enforcements should be sent across by either army until the expiration of that day. His excellency major-general Lambert begged time to consider of those propositions until ten o’clock of to-day, and in the meantime re-crossed his troops. I need not tell you with how much eagerness I immediately regained possession of the position he had thus happily quitted.

The enemy having concentrated his forces, may again attempt to drive me from my position by storm. Whenever he does, I have no doubt my men will act with their usual firmness, and sustain a character now become dear to them.

I have the honour to be, &c.

ANDREW JACKSON.

* * * * *

Letter from Major-General Jackson to the Secretary of War.

Camp, four miles below Orleans, January 13, 1815.

Sir:

At such a crisis I conceive it my duty to keep you constantly advised of my situation.

On the 10th instant I forwarded you an account of the bold attempt made by the enemy on the morning of the 8th, to take possession of my works by storm, and of the severe repulse which he met with. That report having been sent by the mail which crosses the lake, may possibly have miscarried; for which reason I think it the more necessary briefly to repeat the substance of it.

Early on the morning of the 8th, the enemy having been actively employed the two preceding days in making preparations for a storm, advanced in two strong columns on my right and left. They were received however, with a firmness which it seems they little expected, and which defeated all their hopes. My men, undisturbed by their approach, which indeed they had long anxiously wished for, opened upon them a fire so deliberate and certain, as rendered their scaling ladders and fascines, as their more direct implements of warfare, perfectly useless. For upwards of an hour it was continued with a briskness of which there has been but few instances, perhaps, in any country. In justice to the enemy it must be said, they withstood it as long as could have been expected from the most determined bravery. At length, however, when all prospects of success became hopeless, they fled in confusion from the field—leaving it covered with their dead and wounded. Their loss was immense. I had first computed it at fifteen hundred; it is since ascertained to have been much greater. Upon information which is believed to be correct, colonel Hayne, the inspector-general, reports it to be in the total two thousand six hundred. His report I enclose you. My loss was inconsiderable being only seven killed and six wounded. Such a disproportion in loss, when we consider the number and the kind of troops engaged, must, I know, excite astonishment, and may not every where, be fully credited; yet I am perfectly satisfied that the account is not exaggerated on the one part, nor underrated on the other.

The enemy having hastily quitted a post which they had gained possession of on the other side of the river, and we having immediately returned to it, both armies at present occupy their former positions. Whether, after the severe loss he has sustained, he is preparing to return to his shipping or to make still mightier efforts to attain his first object, I do not pretend to determine—it becomes me to act as though the latter were his intention. One thing, however, seems certain, that if he still calculates on effecting what he has hitherto been unable to accomplish, he must expect considerable re-enforcements; as the force with which he landed must undoubtedly be diminished by at least three thousand. Besides the loss which he sustained on the night of the 23d ult. which is estimated at four hundred, he cannot have suffered less between that period and the morning of the 8th inst. than three hundred—having, within that time, been repulsed in two general attempts to drive us from our position, and there having been continual cannonading and skirmishing during the whole of it. Yet he is still able to show a very formidable force.

There is little doubt that the commanding general, sir Edward Packenham, was killed in the action of the 8th, and that major-generals Kean and Gibbs were badly wounded.

Whenever a more leisure moment shall occur, I will take the liberty to make out and forward you a more circumstantial account of the several actions, and particularly that of the 8th; in doing which my chief motive will be to render justice to those brave men I have the honour to command, and who have so remarkably distinguished themselves. I have the honour to be, &c.

ANDREW JACKSON.

TRANSCRIBER’S NOTE

Punctuation, and spacing in abbreviations and initials, were normalized.

Variations in hyphenation were maintained.

The placement of the advertising material was re-ordered to occur after the title page.

Spelling has been maintained, with the exception of the following typographical or printers’ errors:

Page 5: “resistence” was changed to “resistance”.

Page 11: “collossus” was changed to “colossus”.

Page 12: “occurrance” was changed to “occurrence”.

Page 17: “or untanned deer-skin” was changed to “of untanned deer-skin”.

Pages 17, 20: “Bayou Bienvenu” was changed to “Bayou Bienvenue”.

Page 19: “prise” was changed to “praise”.

Page 21: “individuals” was changed to “individual”.

Page 23: “Jqckson” was changed to “Jackson”.

Page 26: “and further possibility” was changed to “any further possibility”.

Page 33: “striken” was changed to “stricken”.

A variation in the spelling of McCarty or Macarty was maintained.

Italicized words and phrases are presented by surrounding the text with _underscores_.