The Carolina’s fire was the signal to attack. Coffee, guided by Colonel Pierre Denis de la Ronde, whose plantation was near that of Villere, skirted the edge of a swamp to attack the enemy’s right flank while Jackson and Carroll struck from the front. Coffee’s powerful thrust sent the British 85th regiment reeling backward, permitting the Tennesseans to get behind the faltering line. Then by a “sudden movement Coffee was able to penetrate almost to the very heart of the British camp.”[[21]] The engagement quickly became one of great confusion. Coffee’s riflemen were so determined in pressing their advantage that they became somewhat disorganized, but never lost their poise. The invaders, on the other hand, could not regain the initiative against the surprise attack. Much of the battle was fought hand-to-hand.
A decided advantage to the Tennesseans was their use of long rifles against the shorter weapons of the British. Jackson’s men kept up a brisk, punishing fire for over two hours. Their excellent marksmanship drew praise from Major Latour, who noted in one spot a half dozen marks made by their rifle balls within a diameter of only four inches.[[22]] Little, if any, random shooting was done by the deliberate riflemen, who had been carefully schooled to take careful aim before firing.
The battlefield confusion became more pronounced when a heavy fog settled over the area and soldiers of both armies were captured after being separated from their comrades. The British gained some respite from their punishment when their Second Division arrived from Bayou Bienvenue and slipped behind Coffee’s rear. This advantage, however, was lost when a British commander failed to extend his line for fear of being cut off from the lake and boats. Finally, the Redcoats slowly retired from the battlefield to shelter under a river levee. By this time the fog was so heavy that pursuit would have entailed serious hazards to the Americans, including exposure to the Carolina’s fire which had continued intermittently throughout the fight. Accordingly, Coffee also left the field, withdrawing about a mile and a quarter to De la Ronde’s garden to await the dawn.
Although the result could be regarded as indecisive, the Americans considered the outcome a victory since only 1,600 of their men had been pitted against some 3,000 British. There was also a considerable difference in the number of casualties: American losses totaled 95 killed and wounded and 75 taken prisoner, while the British lost 400 killed and wounded and 100 captured.
The significance of the night action of December 23 was the indication that a numerically inferior American force could hold its own against British invaders. The Americans, many of whom lacked formal military training, had faced British military might and had given no quarter. They felt strongly that they possessed the mental and physical equipment to withstand and, indeed, to hurl back almost any onslaught which might be thrown against them. The only question remaining in their minds was when their victory might come.
On the other hand, the outcome of the night struggle dismayed the British forces to the extent that they became overly cautious, and permitted Jackson valuable time in which to prepare his New Orleans defenses.[[23]] They could, however, take some satisfaction from the fact that they were not dislodged from their positions.
Some of the Tennessee casualties included Colonels Robert H. Dyer and John H. Gibson, who were wounded, and the capture of Majors David Hubbard and Charles Kavennaugh. The deaths of Colonel James Lauderdale and Lieutenant Samuel T. Brooks were serious losses to Coffee. Lauderdale, who had fought with unusual courage in the Creek War and was wounded at Horseshoe Bend, was still recovering from his wounds when he returned to active service with the Tennessee Mounted Volunteers. During the engagement which took his life, Lauderdale customarily overexposed himself in leading his men forward. But he fought to the last with the instinctive skill of a battle-tested soldier. Many were the eulogies expressed for Colonel Lauderdale, by none was more appropriate than that which appeared in the Nashville Whig:
With such examples as that of Lauderdale, which by their splendor and their number will soon constitute for us a national character capable of the sublimest efforts of steady fortitude and masculine courage, tho’ the enemy were to land a hundred thousand men on our shores we need not tremble—they would but serve to illustrate the invincible rigor of our free constitution, and the irresistible energy of our spirit.[[24]]
