The cannon were the first to fire, but the redcoats closed up their shattered ranks, and moved on. Those lines of red! How splendid and terrible they looked! The Americans gave three cheers. "Fire!" rang out along the line. The breastworks were instantly a sheet of fire. Along the whole line it blazed and rolled. No human being could face that fire. The British soldiers broke and fled. [Sidenote: =The battle in earnest=] [Sidenote: =The victory after the treaty=] Once more they rallied, led by General Pakenham, a relative of the great Duke of Wellington. But who could withstand that fire? Pakenham was slain, and again his troops fled. The battle was over. The British had lost two thousand six hundred men and the Americans only twenty-one! This victory was won after peace had been made between England and America. A ship was then hurrying to America with the glad news. [Sidenote: =Jackson a hero=] Everywhere the people rejoiced greatly over the victory of New Orleans. Jackson was a great hero, and wherever he went crowds followed him, and cried out, "Long live the victor of New Orleans!" For several years Jackson remained at the head of the army in the South. The Seminole War was fought, and those Indians were compelled to make peace. [Illustration: ANDREW JACKSON _From a painting by Thomas Sully which hangs in the rooms of the Historical Society of Pennsylvania at Philadelphia_] [Sidenote: =Elected president=] =127. The People's President.= The people of the United States elected Jackson president in 1828, and reëlected him in 1832 by a greater majority than before, showing that he was very popular. [Sidenote: =Quarrels with the bank=] [Sidenote: =Great men oppose Jackson=] President Jackson had a quarrel with the men who were managing the United States Bank. This bank kept the money for the government. He ordered that the money of the government be taken out of this bank and put in different State Banks which were called "pet" banks. In the Senate of the United States at this time were three men of giant-like ability--Henry Clay, Daniel Webster, and John C. Calhoun. They joined together to oppose President Jackson in his fight against the United States Bank. These men made many long and very bitter speeches against the president. The Senate finally passed a resolution blaming President Jackson for taking the money away from the United States Bank. President Jackson was furious. He wrote a protest and sent it to the Senate. The people in the states took sides, and the excitement spread to all parts of the country. [Sidenote: =Jackson and Benton friends=]