The Battle of New Orleans, Chalmette, LA

Most school children used to learn about the Battle of New Orleans, the final battle of the War of 1812, immortalized in the song by Johnny Horton (see https://youtu.be/DSTKE85yXl4) was fought after the war ended. Generally, though, this historical fact was not really part of any history lesson, but rather used to show how slow communications were at the time. We were told that the war had ended with a treaty negotiated in Ghent, Belgium (United Netherlands at that time). The treaty was signed by representatives of both countries on December 24, 1814, however, news of the treaty did not reach General Andrew Jackson until after the January 8, 1815 battle.

On my visit to the site of the battle in Chalmette, I found out that was only part of the story.

It is true that negotiators at Ghent had reached an agreement and put their signatures to that agreement on December 24. However, the treaty needed to be approved by the British Parliament and U.S. Congress before it could go into effect. Both armies in Louisiana were unaware of the agreement as they maneuvered troops around New Orleans in December 1814.

The British were never too keen on Napoleon’s sale of Louisiana to the United States (not just the current state but all of the land up to the Canadian border and west toward the Rockies). New Orleans was a vital port city. Goods from the distant Missouri and Ohio Rivers could come down the Mississippi to New Orleans to be shipped to the east coast (avoiding the rugged crossing of the Appalachians) or to foreign ports. If the British controlled New Orleans, all of that new land was effectively cut off.

This was the British goal as they amassed a force of 8,000 men. Jackson, charged with defending New Orleans had about 2,000. In a most impressive recruiting effort, Jackson assembled a force made up of frontiersmen from as far as Kentucky and Tennessee, Louisiana militia, businessmen of New Orleans, Choctaw Indians, former slaves living free in New Orleans, and men loyal to Jean Lafitte, a renown pirate! Jackson still had a far inferior force made up of highly disparate men who had never fought together going against the well-trained mightiest army in the world.

The battlefield itself was extremely small, especially compared to Civil War sites. In the weeks leading up to the main battle, several small skirmishes took place. The Americans had established a defensive line at the edge of a field on the Chalmette Plantation. Britsh General Edward Pakenham had the British forces camped on the other end of the plantation. Pakenham planned a diversionary attack on part of the American line followed by a full attack at a point he hoped was weakened by the diversion. It didn’t work that way.

The American artillery and those backwoodsmen from Kentucky and Tennessee rained lethal fire on the British troops trying to cross the open fields. A Scottish unit was ordered to cross the field diagonally to assist a flailing attack on the north end, but halfway across, the commander was killed. Without a leader, the force became disorganized and many soldiers were killed in the confusion. At the end of the day, after the British retreated, they had lost over 2,000 soldiers, including General Pakenham. The Americans had a total of 62 casualties. The battle was a resounding and important win for the United States.

Here’s the part of the “battle after the war was over” story that is seldom told. As I mentioned above, the Treaty of Ghent needed to be approved by legislatures in both countries. As the park ranger put it to me as we talked history, “Do you think Parliament would have signed the treaty that left New Orleans in American hands had they won that battle?”. It was a very good point, and one I have since seen on other history websites. Given the importance of New Orleans, treaty or not, this was a major and critical victory for the United States. It also marked the last time Britain and America fought each other, eventually becoming staunch allies.

Steve