Denny In Captain Allen's Company

Invalid Pension File (Source - Fold3)

William Denny/Dennie was a member of Captain Allen's company of Mounted gunmen in General Coffee's Brigade.

William's last term of enlistment was in the Company of Bethel Allen and he was a member of John Coffee's Brigade. Often forgotten in the discussion of the Battle of New Orleans, General Jackson was not content to wait on the British to attack his rather weak fortifications near the City. He sent out many companies to fell trees and sink small boats in an attempt to clog passages and slow the progress of the British advance. [Source]

Misfiled certificate? (Fold3)

Affidavit taken by resident in Smith County, Tennessee stated that he was wounded by cannonball on or about December 23, 1814, "at the battle below New Orleans..." as well as a musket ball wound.

A Man Of Force

From the Reminiscences of Colonel Robert Chester:

I asked about General Jackson's displays of temper. Colonel Chester replied that he was a man of  force, and used his temper to gain his ends, but was not of bad or ungovernable temper. " His manners were courtly, and the expression used about him at the time was that he was as able in the cock-pit as in the battle-field, as capable in small as in great things. He was a believer in predestination, and trusted and believed in special Providence, considering the battle of New Orleans as an evidence of Divine favor vouchsafed him."

I served under Jackson at New Orleans," Colonel Chester went on, " and he once said to me that the battle was won by Coffee's repulse of the night attack of the British. Had that attack succeeded there were not Americans enough to hold the line. This was in December, before the arrival of Carroll. Cotton bales were undoubtedly used in the fortifications. [Source]

Jackson's Main Army At Horseshoe

Source

General Coffee At Tallaseehatchee

General Coffee's Portrait At Pope Tavern

As the army advanced down the Coosa the Creeks retired to Tallaseehatchee, on the creek of the same name, near the present Jacksonville, Calhoun county, Alabama. One thousand men under General Coffee, together with a company of Cherokee under Captain Richard Brown and some few Creeks, were sent against them. The Indian auxiliaries wore headdresses of white feathers and deertails. The attack was made at daybreak of November 3, 1813, and the town was taken after a desperate resistance, from which not one of the defenders escaped alive, the Creeks having been completely surrounded on all sides. [Source]


The blog, Blue Alabama, has additional details.

New Year's Day Artillery Fire At New Orleans

Chalmette Battlefield (New Orleans)

...the surprising losses of the British were commonly due to artillery and musketry fire.  At New Orleans the artillery was chiefly engaged. The artillery battle of January 1, according to British accounts, amply proved the superiority of American gunnery on that occasion, which was probably the fairest test during the war. From: The History of the United States...

Source

General Jackson's Army In Huntsville

Davy Crockett was part of Colonel Coffee's expedition:

....on 26 September, Col. John Coffee and 500 men  moved south to Huntsville. General Jackson and about 3500 men joined Col. Coffee at  Huntsville on 11 October.

A cavern between Tennessee and Huntsville, Alabama -- were Jackson's forces ever here?

On 3 November 1813, the entire force surrounded  and  destroyed the Indian village of Tallushatchee, killing all the men and capturing the  women and children. On 9 November, the force surrounded the 1000 hostile Creeks  that had the friendly Indian village of Talledega under siege. With the intention of destroying the hostiles, General Jackson pushed forward his attack, but due to the lack of vigor on the part of one unit, 700 Indians broke through a gap in the circle and escaped.  Because of the poor condition of his men, the lack of provisions for a prolonged campaign and the fact  that only wounded men were holding the fort, he returned to Fort Strother.

PHILIP PIPKIN - A TENNESSEE MILITIAMAN, source of above, was also the source of the David Hunt, mutineer, story.

Artifacts In New Orleans

The Historic New Orleans Collection includes the William C. Cook collection, described as:

This extensive collection of manuscript documents, rare prints and publications, artifacts, and ephemera was gathered over a period of forty years by private collector William C. Cook of Nashville; it was the largest collection of such materials in private hands... . Preferred Citation: "The William C. Cook Collection: The War of 1812 in the South, The Williams Research Center, The Historic New Orleans Collection."

There are 5 phases to the collection.  An example is:

PHASE II--Defense of the Lower Country
These materials relate principally to the abortive Natchez expedition of the Tennessee Militia under command of Maj. Andrew Jackson.
Materials include general orders, requisitions, provision returns, Col. John Coffee's orderly book, and other related documents.

From The Hardeman Papers In Tennessee

From the Hardeman Papers at the Tennessee State Library and Archives:



Hardeman, John (3) to Peter Hardeman, 1810-1818, re: forwarding propositions for sale of land on Harpeth [River]; believes that offer for land is inadequate; Battle of New Orleans; capture of their brothers preferred to that of being killed; would rather die than become a subject of the British king; business matters; had written to General Coffee re: Peter’s whereabouts; ...

John Clendenin, first husband of my ancestor, Mrs. Fanny Trousdale, was awarded land on the Harpeth River for his services in the Revolutionary War.  Were the Hardemans neighbors?  Did they buy the Clendenin property?  What would the papers reveal?

Genealogical Abstracts in Revolutionary War Pension Files by Virgil White:
Clendennan, John or John Clendenan or Clandennan, BLW #1803-200, NC Line, sold in 1787 at "Big Harpeth" in Sumner Cty, TN... .