November 2020 The Battle of New Orleans

 The Ballad of the Battle of New Orleans

Was Tom just a good at telling stories, or did he really believe that he had been in the Battle of New Orleans? Either is possible, of course the third possibility is that he really was there, though of course that would mean that at the time I met him he was about 200 years old, which is, of course, completely impossible. Isn't it?

There were some historical inaccuracies in his story. Chiefly, 'Stonewall' Jackson was a General in the Civil War some 50 years later. General Andrew Jackson was the General in the Battle of New Orleans, his usual nick-name was 'Old Hickory', and he went on to become the seventh President of the United States. On the other hand, he was still a young military commander in the Battle of New Orleans, several contemporary records refer to him not as 'General' but as 'Colonel'. It's understandable that young local recruits might have called him 'General' even if he wasn't, and also, if at this stage he was known as 'Stonewall' it is not beyond reason that the Civil War General Jackson might have been called 'Stonewall' by men who remembered the earlier General having that nick-name.

Modern searches for 'The Ballad of the Battle of New Orleans' over-ridingly give it as a song written in the 1950s by Jimmy Driftwood and sung by Johnny Horton. The version I sing owes much to a later recording by Lonnie Donnegan. There is evidence however that the song is based on a much older, and much longer song which is more descriptive of the historical facts of the battle; the tune is certainly much older and has Irish origins.

The version of the song below is longer than the popular version, but still 'modern' in style.

The strongest evidence that Tom McCabe really was at the Battle of New Orleans comes from the script at the top of the search page that I found soon after meeting him. It says this;

Perhaps the greatest tragedy for the American soldiers came late in the evening of the Battle when one of their number, presumably addled with whiskey threw a half-full ammunition box onto a campfire. It exploded, killing nine men and wounding another five. Strangely, it was claimed that although nine men perished in the accident, only eight bodies were ever found. The body of the man standing closest to the fire, a young soldier named Tom McCabe was never found. In the pocket of his jacket was found a piece of paper on which were scribbled the words of a song which Tom and his friend Billy, who also perished in the accident, had been singing all evening.

The soldiers sang the song at the funeral and for a short while it was popular with the regiment, but then it faded into obscurity and there is no remaining record of the tune, though the words are recorded below.,

Of course, Tom could have read about this somewhere and simply remembered it to weave into his story, but since he disappeared from the Residential home soon after I met him, we'll never be able to find out.

The Ballad of the Battle of New Orleans

Well, in 18 and 14, we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Missisip
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we met the bloody British in the town of New Orleans

We fired our guns and the British kept a comin'
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more and they began a running
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Well, I seed Marse Jackson come a-walkin' down the street
And a-talkin' to a pirate by the name of Jean Lafitte;
He gave Jean a drink that he brung from Tennessee,
And the pirate said he'd help us drive the British to the sea.

Well the French told Andrew, "You had better run
For Packenham's a-comin' with a bullet in his gun."
Old Hickory said he didn't give a damn
He's a-gonna whup the britches off of Colonel Packenham.

Well, we looked down the river and we seed the British come
And there must have been a hundred of them beating on the drum
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring

While we stood behind our cotton bales and didn't say a thing

Old Hickory said we could take em by surprise
If we didn't fire a musket till we looked em in the eyes
We held our fire till we seed their face well
Then we opened up our squirrel guns and really gave em well..

Well they ran through the briars and they ran through the brambles
And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go
They ran so fast the hounds couldn't catch em
Down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico

Well we fired our cannons till the barrels melted down
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round

We filled his head with minie balls and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the 'gator lost his mind

They lost their pants and their pretty shiny coats
And their tails was all a-showin' like a bunch of billy goats.
They ran down the river with their tongues a-hanging out
And they said they got a lickin', which there wasn't any doubt.

Well we marched back to town in our dirty ragged pants
And we danced all night with the pretty girls from France;
We couldn't understand 'em, but they had the sweetest charms
And we understood 'em better when we got 'em in our arms.

Well, the guide who brung the British from the sea
Come a-limping into camp just as sick as he could be,
He said the dying words of Colonel Packenham
Was, "You better quit your foolin' with your cousin Uncle Sam."

Well, we'll march back home, but we'll never be content
Till we make Old Hick'ry the people's president.
And every time we think about the bacon and the beans
We'll think about the fun we had way down in New Orleans.