Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 9: "The Ballad of Ephraim Brank"

Ephraim McLean Brank

Even though the British officer evidently took Ephraim Brank to be a man of the frontier, and one used to hard living, Brank actually lived in a very comfortable house in Greenville.

He was promoted to lieutenant after the battle.  The very spot he stood upon at the Battle of New Orleans is not known as Line Jackson was completely dismantled.

"The Ballad of Ephrain Brank" was composed in his honor.

--Brock-Perry

Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 8: That British Killer

As the British soldiers got closer to Line Jackson, the battlefield increasingly became shrouded with smoke and they felt great pleasure in knowing at least they were also could not be seen by Brank.

One of their officers described Ephrain Brank as "...a tall man standing on the breastworks, dressed in linsey-woolsey, with buckskin leggings and a broad-brimmed hat that fell around his face almost concealing his features.

"He was standing in one of those picturesque graceful attitudes peculiar in those natural men dwelling in forests."

--Brock-Perry

Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 7: "Some Great Spirit of Death"

It is not known how many of the British casualties were the result of Ephraim Brank's deadly rifle fire.

After the battle, a British officer said that Brank was clearly visible, standing alone on the American breastworks where, "He seemed to grown, phantom-like, higher and higher, assuming, through the smoke, the supernatural appearance of some great spirit of death.

"Again did he reload and discharge and reload and discharge his rifle, with the same unfailing unfailing aim, and the same unfailing result."

A British Soldiers' Worst Nightmare.  --Brock-Perry

Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 6: A British Disaster

Five thousand British soldiers charged the American line with fixed bayonets and were mowed down by fire.  they regrouped, charged again and again were mowed down.

In just 30 minutes, the British lost 285 killed, 1,265 wounded and 484 captured or missing.

The British commander, General Sir Edward Pakenham was among the dead.  His body was sealed in a barrel of rum and transported to London for burial at St. Paul's Cathedral.

Meanwhile, American losses were 13 dead, 30 wounded and 19 captured or missing.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 5: Standing at "Line Jackson"

Ephraim Brank was one of several Kentukians in Andrew Jackson's hodge-podge army made up of Louisiana, Tennessee and Kentucky militiamen, frontiersmen, regular soldiers, sailors, Marines, free blacks, Indians, local volunteers, inmates from city jails and pirates, who stood to fight a larger force of trained British soldiers intent on capturing New Orleans in January 1815.

They dug in behind the 15-foot wide, 8 feet deep, 3,010 foot long Rodriguez Canal running from a swamp to the Mississippi River at Chalmette.

From this line, Jackson's men had a clear line of fire and called their position Line Jackson.  Their works consisted of dirt, barrels of sugar, cotton bales and timbers.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 4: Greatly Honored in Greenville, Kentucky

There is a Brank Historic Exhibit at the county public Genealogy and Local History Annex.   There is a historically accurate Kentucky long rifle and powder horn as well as a cardboard cutout of Brank.

He is buried on an honored spot at the Old Greenville Cemetery, close to city hall and the state has a historic marker there.  In addition, there is a "Lt. Ephraim Brank Memorial Trail."

Brank was born in North Carolina in 1791 and settled in Muhlenberg County about 1808 and was regarded as a crack shot.

--Brock-Perry

The Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 3

After the battle, Ephraim Brank returned to Greenville, the county seat of Muhlenberg, Kentucky.  His comrades from the battle told of him standing atop the battlements of Chalmette plantation, southeast of New Orleans and gunning down the British as calmly as if he were bagging squirrels in western Kentucky.

Two soldiers kept loading and reloading rifles and handing them to the 24-year-old soldier.  He never missed, or so it is told.

Branl later became a lawyer, land surveyor and a farmer.

There is a Brank Street in Greenville and a live-sized bronze statue at the veterans Mall at the court.  His rifle reportedly used that day outside of New Orleans is also there.

His statue is the only War of 1812 one in Kentucky.

--Brock-Perry

Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 2: War Hawks

Even though the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war, had been signed near the end of 1814, the war wasn't officially over until the United States Senate ratified it and it was signed by President Madison.  Because of the slowness of travel, that didn't happen until February 16, when the Senate ratified it.  President Madison signed it the next day.

The war ended, essentially, in a tie.  Both sides were where they were at the beginning.

But, it was over.

Kentucky's Henry Clay was a leader of Congress's War Hawks, meaning those pushing for a war with Britain.  They were especially strong on the western states where the British stood in the way of expansion plans with their backing of the Indian resistance.

--Brock-Perry

Battle of New Orleans' Ephraim Brank-- Part 1: The War Is Over, Or Was It?

From the January 9, 2017, Ky Forward "Old Time Kentucky: Bluegrass sharpshooter Ephraim Brank hero of New Orleans, never missed his mark" by Berry Craig.

This is another War of 1812 person I'd never heard of before.

Ephraim Brank, from Muhlenberg County, Kentucky was a hero to the Americans at the Battle of New Orleans.  But to the British, he was "Some Great Spirit of Death."

A British officer recalled:  "We lost the battle, and to my mind, that Kentucky rifleman contributed more to our defeat than anything else."

The Battle of New Orleans was fought on January 8, 1815.  The bloodiest battle in the war and fought even after it was over.  The Treaty of Ghent had been signed on Christmas Eve, 1814, in Belgium and Henry Clay of Kentucky had been a part of it.

--Brock-Perry

Kentucky Long Rifleman Honored

Ftom the May 14th Lafourche Parish (La) Daily Comet "Ky. town to honor War of 1812 militia man" by AP.

Greenville Kentucky, located in the western part of the state, is planning to erect a bronze statue of a War of 1812 hero lnown as the "Kentucky Long Rifleman," Ephraim Brank.  They have a summer 2013 target date.

Brank served in the militia and was at the Battle of New Orleans.  Kentucky claims that the state lost more soldiers in the war than any other state.

The statue will be on a limestone base with expected cost at $100,000.  Local and national donations have been received.

Anything to Bring Knowledge of the War to Folks.  --Brock-Perry