Confederate John Singleton Mosby and two other scouts,
riding behind Union lines along Virginia's Pamunkey River in the area
of Hanover and King William counties, came upon a Union supply wagon,
which they promptly captured. Mosby left one man to guard the
wagon and its team, and rode on with the other. Further
upriver, after discovering two Union supply schooners at dock, he
sent the other scout back to inform Gen. J.E.B. Stuart, and rode on
alone.
Mosby
soon came upon a company of Pennsylvania cavalry, mounted and drawn
up in a line across the road.
Evening
was drawing nigh and Mosby's horse had tired from the daylong ride.
He knew if he turned to flee, the Union riders could overtake him
with their fresh mounts. He pulled up at the crest of a hill,
made a show of drawing his saber and turned in the saddle, waving it
in the air as if beckoning followers. "Come on, boys!"
he shouted, "Come on!"
The
Pennsylvania troopers executed a smart wheel-around and vanished in a
cloud of dust down the road.
Battle of New Orleans
ReplyDeleteMusic and lyrics by Jimmy Driftwood
Well, in eighteen and fourteen 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 near 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 to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well, I see'd Mars Jackson walkin down the street
talkin' to a pirate by the name of Jean Lafitte (pronounced "Zhahn La-feet")
He gave Jean a drink that he brung from Tennessee
and the pirate said he'd help us drive the British in the sea.
The French said Andrew, you'd better run,
for Packingham's a comin' with a bullet in his gun.
Old Hickory said he didn't give a dang,
he's gonna whip the britches off of Colonel Packingham.
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 to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well, we looked down the river and we see'd the British come,
and there must have been a hundred of 'em beatin' on the drum.
They stepped so high and they made their bugles ring
while we stood by 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 til we looked 'em in the eyes.
We held our fire til we see'd their faces well,
then we opened up with squirrel guns and really gave a yell.
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 to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
Well, 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 they tetched the powder off, the gator lost his mind.
We'll march back home but we'll never be content
till we make Old Hickory 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.
We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin,
But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
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.
We fired our guns and the British kept a'comin.
But there wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico.
(Nothing to do with your post, but I always liked this.)
I love the cadence.
ReplyDelete