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"The Hunters of Kentucky", also called "The Battle of New Orleans" and "Half Horse or Half Alligator", was a song written in 1821 to commemorate Andrew Jackson's victory over the British at the Battle of New Orleans. In both 1824 and 1828 Jackson used the song as his campaign song during his presidential campaigns.
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Origin
"Hunters of Kentucky" was written in 1821 by Samuel Woodworth, whose fame rest on "Hunters" and "The Old Oaken Bucket", also adapted into song. One-fourth of Jackson's men at the Battle of New Orleans were from Kentucky. It was sung the way Irish singers told stories in narrative form, and performed to the tune of Ally Croker and The Unfortunate Miss Bailey.
It was first sung in New Orleans in 1822 by Noah M. Ludlow. When Ludlow first performed the song, the audience was filled with boatmen who had floated down the Mississippi River from Kentucky; they refused to let him leave the stage until he sang it two more times.
Use
Throughout the term of Andrew Jackson, "Hunters of Kentucky" proved to be a popular song, and Jackson used it for his 1828 campaign. This is ironic as Jackson's "fieriest rival", Henry Clay, was the one from Kentucky; Jackson was actually from Tennessee, near Nashville.
Due to a copy of the song being depicted on the front cover of Davy Crockett's Almanack of Wild Sports in the West, it is thought that "Hunters of Kentucky" might have been sung during the Texas War of Independence, but this is speculation as no other evidence supports the song being sung during that conflict. However, Americans who entered Canada in 1837 and 1838 did sing the song.
"Hunters of Kentucky" propagated various beliefs about the war. One of them was calling the Pennsylvania Rifle the 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.