I do not know this personally, but the gentlemen who showed me the gun said the curator of records at Chalmette Battlefield in Jean Lafitte National Park verified that Capt. Beal's Company of New Orleans Riflemen did indeed participate in the Battle of New Orleans, and company records list William Ross as a member.

The legend concerning the obliterated names on the patchbox is that the family fell on hard times and did not want the family name on the rifle when it was pawned. True or not, it's a good story.