The gator lost his mind

I grew up listening to music that pretty much none of my peers did. This is what happens when you have a parent from New York City with a penchant for country music. Among the songs I heard a lot, or was subjected to, depending on your particular musical tastes, was a little ditty called "The Battle of New Orleans" by Johnny Horton. This was one of the battles in the War of 1812.

It had a catchy melody based on an American fiddle tune called "The 8th of January" and told a version of the battle written by a school principal in Arkansas who hoped to stimulate an interest in history in his students. 

The part I remember best is the chorus:

"Well, we fired our guns, and the British kept a-comin'
There wasn't nigh as many as there was a while ago.
We fired once more and they began to runnin'
On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico."

Perhaps the most colorful verse describes an unusual -- and fictional -- fighting technique:

"We fired our cannon till the barrel melted down,
So we grabbed an alligator and we fought another round.
We filled his head with cannonballs and powdered his behind,
And when we touched the powder off, the gator lost his mind."

Why do I bring this up? In this post we switch back to Sharon's heritage, following the branches of the tree related to her maternal grandmother, Betty Womble. I found her fourth great-grandfather, Redding Womble, or Wumble, as he is listed on his service record.

Redding belonged to Dyer's Regiment, Calvary and Mountain Gunman, of the Tennessee Volunteers, whose name lives on in a college football team. Dyer's Regiment, commanded by Col. Robert Dyer, was part of General John Coffee's brigade during the Creek War, in which U.S. forces defeated the Creek Indians who had allied with the British during the War of 1812. This unit also provided a number of spies and companies of calvary that performed reconnaissance and took the lead in the line of march. 

On Dec. 23, 1814, Coffee's troops joined a number of other units under the command of "Old Hickory," future president Andrew Jackson, in a surprise attack on British forces attempting to close on New Orleans.. They managed to capture the commanding officer and about 50 soldiers of one British unit and briefly drove another unit back from its position. Fighting took place mostly in the dark, which may have contributed to mistakes Coffee made that ended with the unit's withdrawal to its original position. 

The British considered themselves victors because they withstood the assault, but the Americans, and particularly their leader, gained confidence from having postponed the British advance toward New Orleans.

Redding's outfit had also participated in the capture of Pensacola, Fla., from the Spanish the previous month. I did not find the date of his discharge, but his information on Family Search indicates he had attained the rank of sergeant before leaving the service.