Through mistake in the execution of the order, the enraged lawmakers were kept outside of the assembly hall instead of in it, and the session was broken up.
At break of dawn that memorable day of January 8th, 1815, the British were prepared to attack.
Jackson and his valorous volunteers were ready. A pygmy force were they against a mighty one! Raw recruits contending against the trained veterans of Wellington’s army, led by the gallant Pakenham!
The signal rocket went up.
The long red lines advanced over the field.
But to what a fate!
“Don’t shoot till you can see the whites of their eyes!”—Jackson had instructed.
“Fire!”
When the smoke cleared, British soldiers, dead and dying, thickly strewed the ground.