1812neworleans

ORLEANS RIFLEMEN

AT THE BATTLE OF NEW ORLEANS, LOUISIANA 1814-15

ROSTER OF CAPTAIN THOMAS BEALE'S COMPANY

DEDICATED TO WILLIAM CARR WITHERS , OUR FAMILY'S "UNSUNG HERO"

Who Participated in the Conflicts on Chalmette Field Click to read the Battle History

Date: 8 Jan 1901; Newspaper: Times-Picayune

As everything pertaining to the battle of New Orleans is of interest, more especially on the recurrent of the anniversary of that great fight, the following extract from the scrapbook of Mrs Mary Clement Luzenberg copied from a clipping published in New Orleans some years ago, is reproduced:

"BATTLES NEAR NEW ORLEANS

"We are indebted to our old friend, COLONEL PALFREY, for the following list of the killed, wounded and prisoners of Captain THOMAS BEALE'S COMPANY OF ORLEANS RIFLEMEN, on the night of the 23d of December, 1814, when General Jackson surprised the British forces, after they had debouched from the swamp and encamped near the river bank. In the confusion that followed CAPTAIN BEALE'S company got entangled amid superior forces of the enemy and a large number were taken prisoners.

"To-day readers find such reminiscences interesting.

"Killed on the field of Battle-PARMLEE, CUMMINGS Prisoners Wounded-NATHANIEL COX, BENJAMIN STORY, WILLIAM FLOWER, PETER MCGILVERRY

Prisoners Unhurt, Sent to the fleet - G.M. OGDEN, JOHN MCILVAIN, P. POWELL, T. BICKLE, C. PATTERSON, C. COMPTON, J. COWARD, ROBERT MONTGOMERY, JOHN LYND, GEORGE POLLOCK, SEAMAN FIELD, W. PHELAN, KENNY LAVERTY, ROBESON DE HART, J. BRANDEGEE, LIEUTENANT BENSON, JOHN RANDOLPH

Returned in safety to the lines-CAPTAIN THOMAS BEALE, LIEUTENANT J. LEWIS, LIEUTENANT W. A. DEPEYSTER, B. CHEW, J. LEE, HAMBERSON, W. ROSS, PORTER, F. S. TURNER, P. GEORGE, W. SAUL, JOHN SAUL, H. BROWN, A. H. SMITH, MITCHELL, H. CLEMENT (slightly wounded), Fort, J. BERNARD, A. MCILVAIN, JAMES WRAY, W. C. WITHERS , J. RANDOLPH, JR, T. P. WILLARD, J. W. SMITH, ABIJAH WOODWARD, EBEN WOODWARD, DEJOHN, PARMER, J. K. WEST, T. BANKS, H. COLLINS, FLETCHER, DENIS PRIEUR, BOREE, GRAS, A. W. GORDON, JOHN MCCONOUGH.

Mrs Mary Clement Luzenberg, deceased, was the daughter of Henry Clement, who was wounded in the fight preliminary to the great battle. She married Dr. Chalres Aloysius Luzenberg, the father of the late Judge C. H. Luzenberg, who was the father of Mr. Chandler C Luzenberg, the well known attorney, and William H. Luzenberg, stenographer in section A of the criminal district court.

Mrs. Mary Clement Luzenberg has often said that her father, Henry Clement, wounded in the battle of the night of 23d December, 1814, while lying on the field, captured two British Grenadiers, and making one carry him on his back, drove both into the American lines as prisoners. It is a coincidence that at the battle of Chickamauga Charles H Luzenberg was wounded in the thigh severely, just as his grandfather, Henry Clement, was on the night of Dec. 23, 1814.

Henry Clement and his wife, Elizabeth Clement, were among the earliest Americans who settled in Louisiana. Mr. Clement was one of the most respectable merchants in New orleans, and at the first notice of the landing of the English in 1814 flew to the defense of his country, where he was severely wounded. He was a wealthy New York merchant, who moved to New Orleans in the beginning of the century.

Mrs. Elizabeth Clement, wife of Henry Clement, was for many years an active manager of the Female Orphan Asylum here.

NOTE: William Carr Withers, a native of Fauquier Co. Virginia, was the only son of Revolutionary War Soldier, Benjamin Withers and his wife, Nancy Robinson. His parents had settled in Bullitt Co. Kentucky prior to him settling in New Orleans as a merchant around 1806. His first wife was Mary Andrus and his 2nd wife was Margaret Delia Kennedy Withers Allain (2nd husband was Sosthene Allain of Australian plantation in West Baton Rouge), daughter of William Seilles Kennedy and Sophia Meisson. William S Kennedy was the personal secretary to William Charles Cole Claiborne, Governor of Louisiana. William C. Withers was given credit for mortally wounding British Officer, Colonel Robert Rennie.

The Battle of New Orleans By Robert Vincent Remini pg 142

".. New Orleans Rifles under Captain Beale

The three slain soldiers were dragged from the ditch and taken behind the lines. Almost immediately a contest broke out among the New Orleans Company as to who would claim the honor of having dispatched the British Colonel. A man named Withers, a merchant in town and recognized by all as the best shot in the group, settled the argument with the simple statement "If he isn't hit above the eyebrows, it wasn't my shot."

The others rolled Rennie's body over, and sure enough the fatal shot had caught the officer just over the eyebrows. Withers was therefore granted the recognition of having killed the colonel but also given the responsibility of returning Rennie's watch, purse, and other valuables to the officer's widow, who was among the wives stationed in the fleet off Lake Borgne."

William Withers died in New Orleans on 14 Sept 1829, leaving no children. His sisters, Sarah Ann Withers, wife of Joseph Meisson Kennedy (brother of Margaret Delia Kennedy), and Elizabeth Williams Withers, wife of Edward Duplessis, survived to inherit his estate and died there, along with his widow. His sisters Maria (wife of David Shain); Sophia (wife of Henry Crist), and Matilda Withers, (wife of Maxwell Huston) all stayed in Kentucky. Sister Martha "Patsey" Withers, wife of Richard (killed 1811 at Battle of Tippecanoe) and John Mason, lived and died in Harrison Co. Indiana.