Chapter VII

On January 21, 1815, Tennessee was “revered, and General Jackson idolized” by appreciative citizens of New Orleans who filled the city’s streets to cheer the army during its victory march through the city. Included in the festive occasion, arranged as an outpouring of the city’s gratitude, was a “triumphal arch, adorned with wreaths, supported by eighteen pillars (one for each state) and eighteen damsels, the fairest in the city, bearing a motto emblematic of the state she represented.”[38] Flowers were scattered in abundance along the entire route. While the period of rejoicing was still in progress, Mrs. Jackson arrived in the city on February 19th in time for a grand ball given in the general’s honor on Washington’s birthday.

Praise was showered upon the Tennesseans, particularly the Coffee militiamen who, from the inception of the campaign, had carried the heaviest burden of battle among the American troops. From the time they departed Fayetteville in early October, they had been almost constantly in the saddle or on foot, often wading through muck, and stoically enduring privation. This patient endurance of any test they were called upon to face, drew from Robert Butler, Adjutant General, Seventh Military District, this comment:

To the Tennessee mounted gunmen, to their gallant leader,
brigadier-general Coffee, the general presents his warmest
thanks, not only for their uniform good conduct in action,
but for the wonderful patience with which they have borne
the fatigue, and the perseverance with which they surmounted
the difficulties of a most painful march, in order to meet
the enemy—a diligence and zeal to which we probably owe the
salvation of the country. Ordinary activity would have
brought them too late to act the brilliant part they have
performed in the defeat of our invaders.[39]

Resolutions of thanks and gratitude were also tendered the Tennesseans by the Louisiana Legislature which, however, failed to include any recognition of Jackson. In a note to that body, Coffee courteously thanked them for the recognition, but added that the highest honors given to anyone connected with the defense of New Orleans rightfully belonged to General Jackson.

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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.

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Jackson’s visit to New Orleans.

General Jackson received a gala welcome in New Orleans when he
returned victorious from the Plains of Chalmette.]

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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.

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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.

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