Library of Congress
"The Battle of New Orleans," Edward Percy Moran (1862-1935)
On January 8, 1815, Gen. Andrew Jackson won one of the most stunning victories in American history when he defeated the British at the Battle of New Orleans.
The United States had declared war on England three years earlier to stop the impressment of American sailors and the stealing of our cargoes on the high seas. A desire to capture Canada was a contributing factor.
Unfortunately, we struggled during the War of 1812 and lost many of the battles. Two invasions of Canada ended in disaster, and the enemy captured Washington, D.C. and burned much of it.
In late 1814, the British shifted their operations to the south in an attempt to capture New Orleans and gain control of the Mississippi River. The only significant force America had in the region was Andrew Jackson’s small army, which was fighting Indians in Alabama and Florida.
Jackson was in his late forties, stood about six feet tall, and had piercing grey eyes. But he also suffered from malaria, was rather emaciated, and carried his left arm in a sling because of a wound he had received recently during a street brawl.
Jackson’s army was equally unimpressive, being a hodgepodge of regulars, frontier militiamen, and Choctaw Indians. However, Jackson’s determination to defend the city impressed many, and hundreds of Creoles, free black militiamen, and, eventually, Jean Lafitte’s pirates joined his force.
Lafitte and Jackson needed one another. Many of Lafitte’s men had been captured and imprisoned, and he wanted them released. Jackson desperately needed men, cannons, and powder, which Lafitte had in abundance. Contrary to popular legend, the two men probably never met in person (and Lafitte was never on the battlefield), but a deal was struck. In return for Lafitte’s help, Jackson agreed to release the captured pirates from prison and pardon them for their crimes.
In December, a British force consisting of fifty ships and thirteen thousand men under the command of Sir Edward Pakenham arrived off the Louisiana coast. Pakenham was the brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, who had recently helped defeat Napoleon.
To stop the juggernaut, Jackson had perhaps six thousand men. The frontiersmen, Indians, Creoles, black militiamen, and pirates under his command formed one of America’s most culturally diverse armies.
A series of clashes were fought around New Orleans over the next few weeks. The Americans were usually defeated, but they bought Jackson enough time to establish a strong defensive line behind a canal at Chalmette.
The canal drained a swamp and ran through a sugar cane field into the Mississippi River. With the swamp on one side and the river on the other, Pakenham would be funneled straight into Jackson’s position. To strengthen his line, Jackson took the advice of some of the black militiamen and built a protective wall out of cotton bales.
Pakenham attacked at dawn through a dense fog. The British fired rockets to demoralize the Americans, and bands played as the soldiers marched across the field in tight formations. Within minutes Jackson’s riflemen and artillery cut them to pieces, killing Pakenham and his second-in-command, General Samuel Gibbs.
After suffering two thousand casualties, the British retreated. Jackson lost fewer than one hundred men.
The British left most of their dead and wounded in American hands but did retrieve the bodies of Pakenham and Gibbs so they could be given a proper burial back in England. The corpses were preserved by being eviscerated and pickled in barrels of rum.
Jackson was hailed a hero and went on to form the Democratic Party and be elected twice to the presidency.
Although the news would not reach America for weeks, a peace treaty had been signed in Europe two weeks before the battle. It declared an armistice but did not address the issue of impressment. Nonetheless, the British never again impressed American sailors.
Today, history teachers often claim that the Treaty of Ghent made the Battle of New Orleans unnecessary, but that is not true. If Pakenham had won the battle and occupied New Orleans, it is likely the British would have learned of it before the U.S. Senate ratified the treaty. Having the upper hand on the Mississippi River and being in a position to capture the Louisiana Purchase territory, it is possible the British would have rejected the treaty and pressed their advantage. Without Jackson’s victory, American history might have been dramatically changed.
Dr. Terry L. Jones is professor emeritus of history at the University of Louisiana at Monroe who has received numerous awards for his books and outdoor articles.
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