Editing Battle of New Orleans (section)

=== The role played by riflemen of Jackson's army ===
"[[The Hunters of Kentucky]]" was a song written to commemorate Jackson's victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans.{{sfnp|Stoltz|2017|p=15}} In both 1824 and 1828 Jackson used the song as his campaign song during his presidential campaigns.{{sfnp|Hickey|2006|p=347}}

"Hunters of Kentucky" propagated various beliefs about the war. One of them was calling the Pennsylvania Rifle the [[long rifle|Kentucky Rifle]].  Another was crediting the riflemen with the victory of the Battle of New Orleans, when it could be said it was Jackson's artillery that was actually responsible for the win. Finally, one stanza said that the British planned to ransack New Orleans, which was unlikely to happen.{{sfnp|Hickey|2006|p=348}}

In keeping with the idea of the conflict as a "second war of independence" against [[John Bull]], the narrative of the skilled rifleman in the militia had parallels with the myth of the [[Minuteman]] as the key factor in winning against the British.{{sfnp|Stoltz|2017|p=27}}{{NoteTag|<!--Wordsmithed from [[Minutemen]] Wikipedia article-->This plays into a common, now debunked, myth of both Minutemen and the organized colonial militias of New England that frequently portray them as untrained farmers who brought their own weapons to battle. As Gen. Galvin and other historians have proven, the Minutemen tended to get more training in line tactics and drill than the regular militia with some, through the efforts of their commanders ensuring their companies were well-armed. For example, Captain [[Isaac Davis (soldier)|Isaac Davis]], a gunsmith, trained his men in musketry and drill on his farm, also making sure that every man had a good musket, cartridge box, canteen, and bayonet.{{sfnp|Galvin|1989|p=149}}}}

The Kentucky militiamen were the worst equipped of Jackson's forces. Only a third were armed, lamented Jackson to Monroe.{{sfnp|Davis|2019|p=197}} On top of this, they were poorly clothed, and were weakened from the long journey. (This explains their poor performance against Thornton's troops on the Right Bank, where they were quickly routed. A court of inquiry cleared Colonel Davis of blame. The outcome was not to the satisfaction of the Kentuckians. Two years later, an account was published in the ''Kentucky Reporter'', that grossly exaggerated the Kentucky militia's resistance, whilst bringing into question the behavior of the Louisiana Militia and its commander.{{sfnp|Reilly|1976|p=321}}) Upon learning this, Jackson was purported to have quipped 'I never in my life seen a Kentuckian without a gun, a pack of cards, and a jug of whiskey.'{{sfnp|Buell|1904|p=423}}

The author [[Augustus Caesar Buell]] had a book about Jackson published posthumously. It contains his argument that the effect of the artillery, relative to riflemen, was negligible. He "provides the most authentic solution" by claiming to quote from a primary source document from a fictitious department of the British Army. He declared there were 3,000 men wounded or killed by rifle munitions, 326 by musket or artillery.{{sfnp|Buell|1904|p=40-42}} The numbers provided run counter to those in primary sources with known provenance.{{sfnp|Remini|1999|p=195}} Although there are contemporary secondary sources that champion the riflemen as the cause of this victory,{{sfnp|Remini|1999|p=146}} Ritchie notes the British reserve was 650 yards away from the American line, so never came within rifle range, yet suffered 182 casualties.{{sfnp|Ritchie|1969|p=13}} Owsley estimates that between 800 and 1200 privately owned rifles were used, with the majority of Jackson's men equipped with the musket.{{sfnp|Owsley|2000|pp=163-164}}

Histories of the battle, in particular those directed towards a popular audience, have continued to emphasize the part played by the riflemen.{{sfnp|Stoltz|2017|p=viii}}{{sfnp|NPS ''Americans Celebrate an Idealized Version of Their Militia''|2015}} In more recent years, starting with Brown in 1969, scholarship has revealed that the militia played a smaller role, and that most British casualties were attributed to artillery fire.{{sfnmp|Davis|2019|1p=316|Reilly|1976|2p=307|Stoltz|2017|3p=25}} The engineers who oversaw the erection of the ramparts, the enslaved persons of color who built them, and the trained gunners who manned the cannons have seen their contributions understated as a consequence of these popular histories that have been written since the [[Era of Good Feelings]].{{sfnp|Stoltz|2017|p=27}} Popular memory's omissions of the numerous artillery batteries, professionally designed earthworks, and the negligible effect of aimed rifle fire during that battle lulled those inhabitants of the South into believing that war against the North would be much easier than it really would be.{{sfnp|Stoltz|2017|p=47}} Owsley notes that De Tousard was adamant that the artillery fire broke the British, many of its gunners being of French extraction.{{sfnp|Owsley|2000|pp=163-164}}

Until fairly recently, "the supremacy of Kentucky and Tennessee rifles in deciding the battle was undisputed."{{sfnp|Ritchie|1969|p=8}} Whilst this is recognised in some contemporary sources as folklore,{{sfnp|NPS ''Americans Celebrate an Idealized Version of Their Militia''|2015}}{{sfnp|History Channel ''6 Myths About the Battle of New Orleans''|2015}}{{sfnp|Davis|2019|pp=316-320}} it is seen as an emblem of a bygone era in Kentucky. Yet, a bronze statue was dedicated in 2015 in honor of the local Soldier - Ephraim McLean Brank - who, as legend has it, was the "Kentucky rifleman" at the Battle of New Orleans. It is situated at Muhlenburg County Courthouse in Greenville, Kentucky.{{sfnp|KYANG, ''The Legend of Kentucky's Lone Marksman''|2019}} There are still those who are happy to cling to accounts of forefathers from their state, and how the "long riflemen killed all of the officers ranked Captain and above in this battle,"{{sfnp|Markgraf|2015}} and "Victory was made possible by an unlikely combination of oddly disparate forces, British logistic oversights and tactical caution, and superior American backwoods marksmanship."{{sfnp|Cummings|2023}}