NBC: Battle of New Orleans, Lonnie Donegan
Jack Drake
connection with a creditable cover of Johnny Horton's 'Battle of New
Orleans' which he charted with in around 1959. It's a barely known episode
in British history.... probably due to the fact that we lost. The lyrics had
always confused me so I looked up the history... it starts (from hazy
memory)
'In 1814 we took a little trip,
along with Colonel Packenham down the mighty Mississip,
dah de dah...beans,
and we fought the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.'
And the next verse runs, 'Packenham said we can take em by surprise,
if we didn't fire our muskets till we looked em in the eyes,
etc. ..............'
In fact, this is the wrong way round. Sir Edward Packenham commanded the
British troops - a force of more than 10,000 who had been battle hardened in
the war against Napoleon whilst 'Old Hickory', Andrew Jackson, led the
American defence with a hotch-potch army of 4000, comprising of New Orleans
militia, a sizeable contingent of former Haitian slaves fighting alongside
Kentucky and Tennessee frontiersmen and a colourful band of Jean Lafitte's
outlaws.
This must be just about the most inglorious episode in British military
history - the Charge of the Light Brigade was a stroll in the park by
comparison. In a complete and baffling reversal of British tactics against
the French in Spain and Portugal, Packenham made a frontal assault -
marching in precision across open ground against an almost impregnable
American position. Redcoats fell in droves with Packenham himself being
fatally wounded. Over 2000 British men lay dead or injured against 8
American dead and 13 wounded.
Ironically, all the dying was for nothing. The battle came after the war had
ended. A treaty had been signed in Europe weeks before.
If anybody on the list has read this far and is still wondering where the
blues content is... well, there isn't any. But, in the context of some of
the discussions on the list about heritage........... I've visited many
far-flung battlefields and felt the chill of death and been moved to wonder
whether hapless JDs of former generations suffered or fell there. It's
impossible to imagine how tough life must have been, for Englishmen to have
left their homes to face the misery and deprivation of army life and war in
those times.
The battle was fought at the Chalmette Plantation on the banks of the
Rodriguez Canal. Anyone (Sal:-)?)know if it's commemorated there? I'd like
to pay a visit when we're in NO next month.
I believe Lonnie is here in Nottingham on a Van Morrison bill soon.... if I
haven't already missed it. His 'Tom Dooley' was the first record I bought...
must make the pilgrimage:).
JD
Tom Freeland
> Lonnie Donegan's name came up in conversation a couple of weeks ago in
> connection with a creditable cover of Johnny Horton's 'Battle of New
> Orleans' which he charted with in around 1959. It's a barely known episode
> in British history.... probably due to the fact that we lost. The lyrics
> had always confused me so I looked up the history... it starts (from hazy
> memory) 'In 1814 we took a little trip, along with Colonel Packenham down
> the mighty Mississip, dah de dah...beans, and we fought the bloody British
> in the town of New Orleans.'
Packenham?? Maybe in Donegan's version, but not in the original, where it's
"Jackson." Packenham doesn't even make sense of the song-- it's clearly from
the perspective of the Americans. You note elsewhere its wrong; in the Horton
version, and in the original by Jimmie Driftwood, it was Jackson. Driftwood wrote
the song while a high school history teacher, to illustrate this event for his class
(so i've heard).
The song was a hit when I was 4 or 5, and I learned all the words. I can still do
most of 'em.
> The battle was fought at the Chalmette Plantation on the banks of the
> Rodriguez Canal. Anyone (Sal:-)?)know if it's commemorated there? I'd like
> to pay a visit when we're in NO next month.
Yes. There's a national park there, and you can take a nice boat ride from the
French Quarter to the battlefield. I HIGHLY recommend you check with the
national park service office in the French Market by the river at the French
Quarter. There you can learn about free walking tours of the Quarter and a tour of
the Garden District, plus how to get to and tour the park at Chalmette. A lot of
the half-baked (and full of inaccurate information) tours you can purchase are
avaiable free and conducted by actual historians if you check with the Park
Service.
This event is NOT a small thing in American history; here, its schoolboy-level
history. I would think any American on this list who stayed awake through tenth
grade history heard about it. It's importance is political, not mililtary: It made
Andrew Jackson as a political figure, and he went on as a leader in Indian wars
and then to be elected president. His election lead to the coalition that became
the Democratic Party, among other important changes. The Battle of New
Orleans also was an important one for the way this country saw itself, and
became central in the development of frontier (and frontierman) as myth or legend.
The stories about Lafitte's pirates and the frontiersharpshooter are good
examples of that. BTW, the stories about Davy Crockett and his political role
were in large part a response by the opposing political forces to Jackson; the
Whigs ran Crockett for Congress (like Jackson, from Middle Tennessee) and tried
to make him their answer to Jackson. It didn't work out.
You'll find this an interesting sideline to your New Orleans visit, I think.
Tom Freeland
Rory McQuillan
rock band to include it in their repertoire. They also feature a trombone
player, Uncle Al, who doubles on fiddle. BONO was a fiddle tune.
William A. Morgan
page this morning. You can find it at
http://www.neworleans.net/t-p/national/9909100384.html .
Bill Morgan
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