Edition 2. Issue 1.
HOW THE STATE OF TENNESSEE GOT ITS NICKNAME, SAVED THE COUNTRY, AND GOT A NUMBER ONE COUNTRY SONG
On October 16, 2020, the Tennessee Volunteer Statue was unveiled and dedicated at the Camp
Blount Historic site in Fayetteville Tennessee. For those that do not know how to speak
southern, Fay’-et-vul is the correct pronunciation. Fayetteville is about one hundred miles from
Stephens Valley, south down interstate 65 and then east on highway 64. My sweet wife and I
went to the dedication. You can see a picture of the statue below. It is in honor of and represents
the volunteers from Tennessee that fought in the War of 1812. The dedication was held at the
time of the COVID scare and was not well attended even though it was outdoors. You can watch
the event on YOUTUBE. I found the event to be incredibly refreshing to have a statue of
Tennesseans that fought in the War of 1812 being unveiled and dedicated at a time when other
statues of heroes were being defaced and torn down by mobs of lawless people who have no
sense of history. As a native Tennessean, I am proud of all my relatives who fought for
Tennessee including my Tennessee relative that fought in the War of 1812.
I expect that most folks today know more about King Charles III of England (the current king)
and his children, William and Harry, and their spouses than they know about the War of 1812.
In some regard it is easy to understand, since the United States has saved the English, and their
Royals, at least twice since 1914. However, in 1812 there was no love between us. So, after some
time of abuse, the new country declared war on the mother country. The United States then
called for volunteers to fight the British. The new state of Tennessee (admitted to the country as
a state in 1796) answered the call. Governor Willie Blount called for 3500 volunteers to fight the
British and their Indian Allies. The response by the Tennesseans to the Governor’s request was
immediate and enthusiastic. The response by the men in Tennessee was the beginning of the
nickname, the Volunteer state (and it was renewed in the war with Mexico).
The Volunteer Statue, photo courtesy of Bobby Lanier and Paul Henry per campblount.com
1814 WE TOOK A LITTLE TRIP ALONG WITH GENERAL JACKSON DOWN THE
MIGHTY MISSISSIP
The war was not going well for the new country (constitution ratified 1789 and consisted of 18
states by 1812). The army and militia in the northwest had suffered more defeats than victories,
there were a few naval victories by single ships but nothing to threaten the British fleet. The
British were fighting Napoleon at the same time and finally forced his abdication and first exile
in 1814. Francis Scott Key wrote the song, in 1814, that became our national anthem, The Star
Spangled Banner, but at the same time the British burned The Capital and several other
government buildings in Washington. On their way out, the British sacked and burned Hampton
Roads, Virginia killing and raping civilians in the area. Those British forces and some others
were then headed to New Orleans. New Orleans became part of the United States as part of
Louisiana Purchase in 1803. It was still very much French, and Louisiana had only become a
state in 1814. The British, led by General Pakenham (General Wellington’s brother-in-law),
planned on taking New Orleans, shutting the Mississippi River to the U.S., and keeping it, since
the British did not recognize Napoleon’s right to sell it. The British were bringing 6,800
professional soldiers led by professional officers who were veterans of the Napoleonic
wars to the fight. The United States had General Andrew Jackson leading 4700 men to stop him.
Of that total 1352 were Tennesseans leaving from Camp Blount. The others were around 200
U.S. regulars, Kentucky and Louisiana militia, some pirates, and a few Choctaws. While the
entire campaign lasted a few months, the big day of the battle of New Orleans was January 8,
1815.
WE CAUGHT THE BLOODY BRITISH IN THE TOWN OF NEW ORLEANS
General Jackson had no military training. He was a lawyer and a farmer. What he had was an
indomitable will, unbelievable energy, and a hatred for the British from the time of the
Revolution where he was hacked and scarred by a British officer, lost a brother in fighting, and
lost his mother to disease while she was nursing wounded and captured patriots. He also had the
courage to stand ten paces from someone holding a pistol and wanting to kill him. Jackson did
not know the enemy’s plan, so he worked tirelessly to prepare for the invasion and battle. He
took a defensive position to defend the city, and after some preliminary skirmishes, the day of
battle arrived on January eighth.
WE FIRED OUR GUNS AND THE BRITISH KEPT ACOMING
The British held Jackson and the Americans in utter contempt. They called the Tennesseans
“dirty shirts “. No one can question the courage of the British. They came marching to the
American defensive earthworks thinking they would run over the dirty shirts and drive into the
city.
WE FIRED ONCE MORE AND THEY BEGAN TO RUNNING DOWN THE MISSISSIPPI
TO THE GULF OF MEXICO
The battle was over relatively quickly. The heaviest attack was against the area defended by the
Tennesseans. The British were devastated. The British lost 700 killed, 1400 wounded and 500
captured. The Americans lost 13 killed and 39 wounded. (Some accounts give U.S. casualties as
70 total.) This huge difference in casualties caused many Americans to see the hand of God in
this affair. In fact, January 8 was celebrated like the Fourth of July for many years following the
battle.
Shortly after the battle some northern minstrel wrote a song to commemorate the battle
wrongfully giving some Kentuckians more credit than they were due. In fact, a goodly number of
the Kentuckians arrived without arms. Jackson, at first, found this incredible and remarked that
he had never before met a man from Kentucky that did not have a rifle, a deck of cards, and a
bottle of whiskey on his person at all times.
In 1958 Johnny Horton recorded “THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS “. It became the number
one country hit for the year. You can ask your Alexa to play it, if you have forgotten the words
or never knew them. The song was written by Jimmy Driftwood who also gave us, “THE
TENNESSEE STUD”. [Not related to the War of 1812]. The best version is by Doc Watson on
the Nitty Gritty Band album “WILL THE CIRCLE BE UNBROKEN “.
For those that have heard that Jackson’s great victory was after a treaty was signed,
you need to know, that by its terms the treaty signed by the British government had not been
ratified by the United States, which was required. Moreover, by its terms, the treaty stated that
each party kept whatever was in that party’s possession at the time of ratification. So, the British
would have kept New Orleans if they had won the battle. The combatants on the day of battle
believed the war was still on, because it was.
As for me and my house, we will celebrate January eighth as I find it to be the most important
day to celebrate in January. I intend to listen to Johnny Horton sing, toast Jackson and the
Tennessee volunteers and try to get my wife to make shrimp gumbo. I will sit by sipping some
good Tennessee whiskey.
Footnotes:
1. Two good books have been published recently that give good accounts of the entire
campaign. Glorious Victory by Donald R. Hickey and Patriotic Fire by Winston Groom.
2. If you want to watch a movie on the battle, there are two by the same name, The
Buccaneer. The second is a remake of the first that Cecil B. Demille directed. Lots of
historical inaccuracies though. The President’s Lady is good from Rachel Jackson’s
point of view, starring Susan Hayward as Rachael and Charlton Heston as Andrew
Jackson.
John Whitfield, Esquire (ret.)
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