direction, and just as its
enemy on that side was driven back, it would be attacked from the
opposite quarter. Coffee's men were armed with squirrel rifles, which,
of course, had no bayonets; but the men had their long hunting-knives,
and with no better weapons than these they did not hesitate to make
charge after charge upon the lines of gleaming bayonets.

The British suffered terribly from the first, but their steadiness was
never lost for a moment. The mad onset of the Americans broke their
lines, and in the darkness it was impossible to form them again
promptly; but still the men kept up the fight, while the officers, as
rapidly as they could, directed their detached columns towards protected
positions.

Retreating slowly and in as good order as they could, the British got
beyond the range of the _Carolina's_ guns by nine o'clock, and, finding
a position where a bank of earth served for a breastwork, they made a
final stand there. It was impossible to drive them from such a position,
and so, little by little, the Americans withdrew, and at ten o'clock
the Battle in the Dark was at an end.

Now let us see what Jackson had gained or lost by this hasty attack. The
British were still in a position to threaten New Orleans. They had not
been driven away, and the rest of their large army, which had not yet
come up, was hurrying forward to help them. They had lost a great many
more men than Jackson had, but they could spare men better than he
could, and they were not whipped by any means. Still, the attack was
equal to a victory for the Americans. It is almost certain that if
Jackson had waited another day before fighting he would have lost New
Orleans, and the whole Southwest would have been overrun.

But, by making this night attack, he showed the British that he could
and would fight; and they, finding what kind of a defence he meant to
make, made up their minds to move slowly and cautiously. They waited for
the rest of their force to come up, and while they were waiting and
getting ready Jackson had more than two weeks' time in which to collect
troops from the country north of him, to get arms and ammunition, and to
throw up strong fortifications. When the British made their grand attack
on the 8th of January, 1815, they found Jackson ready for them. His army
was increased, his men were full of confidence, and, best of all, he had
a line of strong earth-works to fight behind. It is commonly said that
his fortificat