The Battle of New Orleans

Andrew Jackson's life and presidency were our topics in Tapestry of Grace this week.

As I was reading through the teacher's notes, I was reminded of an old song that I know from my childhood called The Battle of New Orleans. That battle made Jackson a famous war hero, and he is referenced a couple of times in the lyrics: first as Colonel Jackson, and then later as Old Hickory, a nickname earned due to his tough manner. I remember loving the song as a child since it referenced the Mississippi River; we lived in a town on the Mississippi for a while when I was young, and for some reason I was fascinated by that river.

A day or two after remembering the song, I was on youtube and ran across a couple of videos of it.

This first video reenacts the battle using Legos. We have enjoyed the animation displayed, and Zachary and Ryan have inundated me with facts on how much time and effort went into filming the action, frame by frame.



NOTE: Why the makers of the videos use a monkey, an elephant, and a dragon in the film is beyond me. I have lived in the South and been around the Mississippi River all my life, and I can assure you that I've never seen any of those in the wild around here.

This next video is one of Johnny Horton singing the song. He made it popular in 1959 and, according to this film, won an award for Best Video. Did they even have video awards back then? I guess they did.



The history of the song and the songwriter, Jimmy Driftwood, are quite interesting. Driftwood was born and raised not far from where I grew up, and not far from where most of my family still lives.

It has been a nice trip down memory lane!