Curiously, the war had been technically over since the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on the 24th of December. The British having achieved an initial tactical victory failed to exploit it, instead waiting for reinforcements. Despite the mythology to the contrary, highlighted in this song, it was the British that launched the attack on American lines, and everything that could go wrong did. Launched at dawn in heavy fog, the fog lifted just as the attacking forces came within range of American artillery. The British commander of the 44th Regiment had, believe it or not, forgotten the ladders and bridging equipment necessary for the assault on the earthwork American lines. and in one of the main assaults, the British, having lost their officers, stood in the open and were mowed down by American fire. The end result was over 2000 British casualties to 74 American, in a battle that should have been easily won, and a really fun song.
Tuesday, January 8, 2013
A Little History for Today: 1812
Curiously, the war had been technically over since the signing of the Treaty of Ghent on the 24th of December. The British having achieved an initial tactical victory failed to exploit it, instead waiting for reinforcements. Despite the mythology to the contrary, highlighted in this song, it was the British that launched the attack on American lines, and everything that could go wrong did. Launched at dawn in heavy fog, the fog lifted just as the attacking forces came within range of American artillery. The British commander of the 44th Regiment had, believe it or not, forgotten the ladders and bridging equipment necessary for the assault on the earthwork American lines. and in one of the main assaults, the British, having lost their officers, stood in the open and were mowed down by American fire. The end result was over 2000 British casualties to 74 American, in a battle that should have been easily won, and a really fun song.
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Johnny Horton's "The Battle of New Orleans"! I love it!
I remember when this song was all the rage on my local radio station. In fact, "The Battle of New Orleans" was the first 45 rpm I ever bought.
Those old "Napoleonic Tactics" were deadly to troops, but that was before there were rifled muskets that could actually shoot straight. They had to mass their fire so that their lead balls might actually hit something. That meant exposing oneself to return fire in the open field. (I was a reenactor for several years.)
Love the catchy toon and the trek back in history. This was a proud day for America, thank you for sharing.
Andrew Jackson was brutal, sadistic, backwoods lout. we ought to be ashamed of the dirty son-of-a-bitch. He was our first "peasant" president, and it's been mostly downhill since he got in.
The Trail of Tears marked him -- for me -- as one of history's great villains.
Sorry to spoil everyone's fun, but all the carnage we've caused and endured should never have been necessary.
Perhaps not as deadly as the Pennsylvania and Kentucky long rifles used by the American scouts, which actually were rifled and the bane of the British officer corp. The first gun boring mill was built in PA in 1719 and there were quite a few operating by the 1750's. The original 1719 Meylin Gun Shop still stands in Lancaster County, PA.
There were 10 rifle units commissioned by the Continental Congress, the most famous being Morgan's Rifles, led by General Daniel Morgan of Virginia. Morgan harassed Howe in his retreat through New Jersey with 500 riflemen and was instrumental at both Sarasota and Cowpens.
I'm not a reenactor, but I'm a big fan of the Pennsylvania Long Rifle.
Cheers!
That's interesting, but Napoleonic tactics (i.e. marching and firing formations of soldiers) were devised to make the most efficient use of smooth bore muskets, and were still in wide use up to and including the American Civil War. The tactics were obsolete because of the advent of the rifled musket, and required troops standing in long lines, shoulder to shoulder, which made them easy targets. That's what I was referring to as "deadly" to the British troops who were using them at the Battle of New Orleans -- they had to expose themselves. Actually, rifled muskets were still fairly rare in 1814, because a rifled musket took a much longer time to load than a smooth bore. This ended with the invention of the minie ball in 1849, making rifled muskets far more practical than previously.
I still have a vinyl copy of the Johnny Horton album this song appeared on.
"If I had known that Jackson would drive us from our homes, I would have killed him that day at the Horseshoe." - Chief Junaluska of the Tsalagi (Cherokee), reflecting on his saving Jackson's life at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend (Tallapoosa River, southern Alabama), 1814
My dad still has the vinyl album. I have the cd. Full of good music. Jim Bridger, Comanche..., Sink the Bismarck is my favorite.
Oh, I'm not disputing the use of open field mass volley, just that the use of sniping with rifles was one of the few advantages the Continental Army had. The practice of assassinating officers was considered barbaric by the British, but was a significant contributing factor in difficulties faced by the British in getting decent field officers in service in America... seems they had a high incidence of getting shot at the onset of battle.
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