In the earlier wars of the nation
this soldier was known as a "rifleman." It was with this class that
General Jackson fought his campaigns against the Indians and the
British, and at New Orleans "the bone and sinew of his force were the
riflemen of Tennessee and Kentucky."
Against Jackson, England had sent the flower of Wellington's army,
distinguished for famous campaigns on the Spanish peninsula against the
marshals of Napoleon. Wellington said of these men in his "Military
Memoirs": "It was an army that could go anywhere and do anything."
Late in life when General Jackson had grown old, had twice been
President, and was spending his declining days at the "Hermitage," his
home near Nashville, as calmly and peacefully as it was possible for the
fiery old warrior to live, he was shown this appreciation by Wellington.
"Well," he said, "I never pretended I had an army that 'could go
anywhere and do anything!' but at New Orleans I had a lot of fellows
that could fight more ways and kill more times than any other fellows on
the face of the earth."
Returning from the Indian wars and from the War of 1812, the
mountaineers and backwoodsmen, who were then rapidly settling up the
valley of the Mississippi, hung their rifles over their open fireplaces,
or between the rafters of their cabin homes and turned to the enjoyment
of the peace they had won.
Pages:
45
46
47
48
49
50
51
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
59
60
61
62
63
64
65
66
67
68
69