Photos courtesy of Amazing Travel Photos
We fired our guns, and the British kept a-coming
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to running,
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
-The Battle of New Orleans
The final major battle of The War of 1812 was the Battle of New Orleans, which took place on January 8, 1815. The American army, under Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated the invading British army. The goal of the British was to take New Orleans and the vast territory of the Lousiana Purchase.
Today’s youtube is The Battle of New Orleans sung by Johnny Horton. The song was written by Jimmy Driftwood.
Here is an amazing LEGO animation of The Battle of New Orleans.
Here is a performance by Johnny Horton on a television show from 1959
Johnny Horton: THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS lyrics
In 1814, we took a little trip
Along with Colonel Jackson down the mighty Mississip’
We took a little bacon and we took a little beans
And we caught the bloody British in the town of New Orleans.
CHORUS:
We fired our guns and the British kept a-coming
There wasn’t nigh as many as there was a while ago
We fired once more, and they began to running
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
We looked down the river and we see’d the British come
And there musta’ been a hundred of ‘em beating on the drum
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring
We stood beside our cotton bales and didn’t say a thing
CHORUS
Ole Hickory said we could take ‘em by surprise
If we didn’t fire our muskets ’till we look ‘em in the eyes
We held our fire ’til we seen their faces well
Then we opened up our squirrel guns and really gave ‘em… Well..
CHORUS
Yeah, 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 that the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
We fired our cannon ’til the barrel melted down
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round
We filled his head with cannon balls and powdered his behind
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind
CHORUS
Yeah, 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 that the hounds couldn’t catch ‘em
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico
Hup, two, three, four.
Sound, off, three, four.
Hup, two, three, four.
Chords
Intro
C / F /
G / C /
C / F /
G / C /
Chorus:
C / / /
C / G C
C / / /
C / G C
Chords
Intro
G / C /
D / G /
C / C /
D / G /
Chorus:
G / / /
G / D G
G / / /
G / D G
