Battle of New Orleans

Battle of New Orleans. Part of the War of 1812 Battle of New Orleans Date December 23 - January 8, 1815 Location About five miles (8 km) south of New Orleans on the grounds of Chalmette Plantation Result American victory; British troops and fleet withdraw from Louisiana Belligerents United Kingdom  United States Choctaw Native Americans Jean Lafitte's privateers Commanders Sir Alexander Cochrane Sir Edward M. Pakenham † John Keane John Lambert Andrew Jackson William Carroll John Coffee Jean Lafitte Strength 11,000 in expedition 8-9,000 in attack 4,000 16 guns Casualties and losses December 23: 46 killed 167 wounded 64 captured Total: 277 January 8: 385 killed 1,186 wounded 484 captured Total: 2,055 Overall: 431 killed 1,353 wounded 548 captured Grand Total: 2,332 December 23: 24 killed 115 wounded 74 captured Total: 213 January 8: 13 killed 58 wounded 30 captured Total: 101 Overall: 37 killed 173 wounded 104 captured Grand Total: 314

v • d • e American South Creek War – Pensacola – 1st Fort Bowyer - 13 December 1814 - Lake Borgne - New Orleans - Fort St. Philip – Fort Peter - 2nd Fort Bowyer

The Battle of New Orleans was a prolonged battle which took place around New Orleans, Louisiana from December 23, 1814 to January 8, 1815, and was the final major battle of the War of 1812.^[1][2] American forces, commanded by General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory America had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase.^[3][4][5] The Treaty of Ghent had been signed on 24 December 1814, but news of the peace would not reach the combatants until February.^[6][7] The battle is often regarded as the greatest American land victory of the war.

Prelude

Eighteenth century map of southeast Louisiana

By December 12, 1814, a large British fleet under the command of Sir Alexander Cochrane with more than 10,000 soldiers and sailors aboard, had anchored in the Gulf of Mexico to the east of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne.^[8] Preventing access to the lakes was an American flotilla, commanded by Thomas ap Catesby Jones, consisting of five gunboats. On December 14, around 1,200 British sailors and Royal Marines in 42 longboats, each boat armed with a small carronade, captured the vastly outnumbered Americans manning five U.S. gunboats in a brief but violent battle in what is known as the Battle of Lake Borgne. Seventeen British sailors were killed and 77 more wounded in the battle while the Americans lost 6 killed, 35 wounded, and 86 captured, two of the wounded included the commanders Lt. Catesby Jones and Captain Lockyer. Now free to navigate Lake Borgne, thousands of British soldiers, under the command of General John Keane, were rowed to Pea Island, about 30 miles (48 km) east of New Orleans, where they established a garrison.^[9]

Battle on December 23

On the morning of December 23, Keane and a vanguard of 1,800 British soldiers reached the east bank of the Mississippi River, 9 miles (14 km) south of New Orleans.^[10] Keane could have attacked the city by advancing for a few hours up the river road, which was undefended all the way to New Orleans, but he made the fateful decision to wait for the arrival of reinforcements.^[11] During the afternoon of December 23, after he had learned of the position of the British encampment, Andrew Jackson reportedly said, "By the Eternal they shall not sleep on our soil."^[12] Early that evening, Jackson led a brief, three-pronged attack from the north on the unsuspecting British troops. Then Jackson pulled his forces back to the Rodriguez Canal, about four miles south of the city. The Americans suffered a reported 24 killed, 115 wounded, and 74 missing or captured, while the British reported their losses as 46 killed, 167 wounded, and 64 missing or captured.^[13]

Jackson's surprise attack caused the stunned British commanders to delay their assault on the city, giving the American troops time to begin the transformation of the canal into a heavily fortified earthwork.^[14] On Christmas Day, General Edward Pakenham arrived on the battlefield and ordered a reconnaissance-in-force on December 28 against the American earthworks protecting the advance to New Orleans. That evening, General Pakenham met with General Keane and Admiral Cochrane for an update on the situation, angry with the position that the army had been placed in. General Pakenham wanted to use Chef Menteur Road as the invasion route but was over-ruled by Admiral Cochrane who insisted that his boats were providing everything that could be needed.^[15] Admiral Cochrane believed that the British Army would destroy a ramshackle American army and allegedly said that if the Army would not do so his sailors would. Whatever Pakenham's thoughts on the matter, the meeting settled the method and place of the attack.^[16] On December 28, groups of British troops made probing attacks against the American earthworks.

When the British troops withdrew, the Americans began construction of artillery batteries to protect the earthworks, which were then christened Line Jackson. The Americans installed eight batteries, which included one 32-pound gun, three 24-pounders, one 18-pounder, three 12-pounders, three 6-pounders, and a 6-inch (150 mm) howitzer. Jackson also sent a detachment of men to the west bank of the Mississippi to man two 24-pounders and two 12-pounders from the grounded warship Louisiana.

The main British army arrived on New Year's Day, and attacked the earthworks using their artillery. An exchange of artillery fire began that lasted for three hours. Several of the American guns were destroyed or knocked out, including the 32-pounder, a 24-pounder, and a 12-pounder, and some damage was done to the earthworks. The British guns ran out of ammunition, which led Pakenham to cancel the attack. Unknown at the moment to Pakenham, the Americans on the left of Line Jackson near the swamp had broken and run from the position. Pakenham decided to wait for his entire force of over 8,000 men to assemble before launching his attack.^[17]

Battle of January 8

The battlefield at Chalmette Plantation on January 8, 1815

In the early morning of January 8, British Major-General Edward Pakenham ordered a two-pronged assault against Jackson's position: a small force on the west bank of the Mississippi and the main attack in three columns (along the river led by Keane, along the swamp line led by Gibbs, and in reserve led by Lambert) directly against the earthworks manned by the vast majority of American troops.^[18]

Preparations for the attack had foundered early, as a canal being dug by Cochrane's sailors collapsed and the dam made to divert the flow of the river into the canal failed leaving the sailors to drag the boats of Col. Thornton's west bank assault force through deep mud and left the force starting off just before daybreak 12 hours late.^[19]

The attack began under darkness and a heavy fog, but as the British neared the main enemy line the fog lifted exposing them to withering artillery fire. Lt-Col. Thomas Mullins, the British commander of the 44th (East Essex) Regiment of Foot, had forgotten the ladders and fascines needed to cross a canal and scale the earthworks, and confusion evolved in the dark and fog as the British tried to close the gap. Most of the senior officers were killed or wounded, including General Gibbs, killed leading the main attack column on the right comprising the 4th, 21st, 44th and 5th West India, and Colonel Rennie leading a detachment of light companies of the 7th, 43rd, and 93rd on the left by the river. Possibly because of Thornton's delay in crossing the river and the withering fire that might hit them from the artillery across the river, the 93rd Highlanders were ordered to leave Keane's assault column advancing along the river and move across the open field to join the main force on the right of the field. Keane fell wounded as he crossed the field with the 93rd. Rennie's men managed to attack and overrun an American advance redoubt next to the river, but without reinforcements they could neither hold the position nor successfully storm the main American line behind. Within minutes, the American 7th Infantry arrived, moved forward, and fired upon the British in the captured redoubt; within half an hour, Rennie and most of his men were dead. In the main attack on the right, the British infantrymen either flung themselves to the ground, huddled in the canal, or were mowed down by a combination of musket fire and grapeshot from the Americans. A handful made it to the top of the parapet on the right but were either killed or captured. The 95th Rifles had advanced in open skirmish order ahead of the main assault force and were concealed in the ditch below the parapet, unable to advance further without support.

The two large main assaults on the American position were repulsed. Pakenham was fatally wounded, while on horseback, by grapeshot fired from the earthworks. With most of the senior officers dead and wounded most of the British soldiers, with no orders to advance further or retreat, stood out in the open and were shot apart with grapeshot from Line Jackson. After about 20 more minutes of bloodletting Major General John Lambert assumed command and eventually ordered a withdrawal.

The only British success was on the west bank of the Mississippi River, where a 700-man detachment from the 85th light infantry, Royal Navy and Royal Marines under the command of Colonel Thornton of the 85th^[20] attacked and overwhelmed the American line. Though both Jackson and Commodore Daniel Patterson reported that the retreating forces had spiked their cannon, leaving no guns to turn on the American's main defense line, this is contradicted by Major Mitchell's diary which makes it clear this was not so, as he states he had "Commenced cleaning enemy's guns to form a battery to enfilade their lines on the left bank"^[21]. General Lambert ordered his Chief of Artillery, Colonel Dickenson, to assess the position. He reported back that no fewer than 2,000 men would be needed to hold the position. General Lambert issued orders to withdraw after the defeat of their main army on the east bank, and retreated, taking a few American prisoners and cannons with them.^[22]

At the end of the day, the British had a little over 2,000 casualties: 278 dead (including generals Pakenham and Gibbs); 1186 wounded (including Major General Keane); and 484 captured or missing. (ref: Brooks, Charles B p. 252, Reilly, Robin p. 297) The Americans had 71 casualties: 13 dead; 39 wounded' and 19 missing.

Aftermath

On January 9, British naval forces attacked Fort St. Philip which protected New Orleans from an amphibious assault from the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River. American forces within the fort withstood ten days of bombardment by cannon before the British ships withdrew on January 18, 1815.

With the defeat of the British army and the death of Pakenham, Lambert decided that despite the arrival of reinforcements and a siege train for use against New Orleans, continuing the battle would be too costly. Within a week, all of the British troops had redeployed onto the ships and sailed away to Biloxi, Mississippi; the British army then attacked and captured Fort Bowyer at the mouth of Mobile Bay on February 12. The British army was making preparations to attack Mobile when news arrived of the peace treaty. The treaty had been ratified by the British Parliament but would not be ratified by Congress and the president until mid-February. It, however, did resolve that hostilities should cease, and the British sailed home. Although the Battle of New Orleans had no influence on the terms of the Treaty of Ghent, the defeat at New Orleans did compel Britain to abide by the treaty.^[23] Also, since the Treaty of Ghent did not specifically mention the vast territory America had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase, it only required both sides to give back those lands that had been taken from the other during the war.^[24]

Although the engagement was small compared to other contemporary battles such as the Battle of Waterloo, it was important for the meaning applied to it by Americans in general and Andrew Jackson in particular.^[25]

Americans believed that a vastly powerful British fleet and army had sailed for New Orleans (Jackson himself thought 25,000 troops were coming), and most expected the worst. The news of victory, one man recalled, "came upon the country like a clap of thunder in the clear azure vault of the firmament, and traveled with electromagnetic velocity, throughout the confines of the land."^[26] The battle boosted the reputation of Andrew Jackson and helped to propel him to the White House. The anniversary of the battle was celebrated for many years.

A federal park was established in 1907 to preserve the battlefield; today it features a monument and is part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve.

"The 8th of January" became a traditional American fiddle tune the melody of which was used by Jimmie Driftwood to write the song "The Battle of New Orleans", which in a lighthearted tone details the battle from the perspective of an American volunteer fighting alongside Andrew Jackson. The version by Johnny Horton topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959.

Notes

References

• Borneman, Walter H. 1812 The War that forged a nation ISBN 0-06-053112-6
• Brooks, Charles B (1961). The Siege of New Orleans. Seattle: University of Washington Press. OCLC 425116. 
• Brown, Wilburt S (1969). The Amphibious Campaign for West Florida and Louisiana, 1814-1815. University of Alabama Press. ISBN 0817351000. 
• Cooper, John Spencer (1996) [1869]. Rough Notes of Seven Campaigns in Portugal, Spain, France and America During the Years 1809-1815. Staplehurst: Spellmount. ISBN 1873376650. 
• Forrest, Charles Ramus (1961). The Battle of New Orleans: a British view; the journal of Major C.R. Forrest; Asst. QM General, 34th. Regiment of Foot. New Orleans: Hauser Press. OCLC 1253280. 
• Gleig, George Robert (1827). The Campaigns of the British Army at Washington and New Orleans, 1814-1815. London: J. Murray. ISBN 066545385X. 
• Hickey, Donald R (1989). The War of 1812 : a forgotten conflict. Urbana: Univ. of Illinois Press. ISBN 0252016130. 
• James, William (1818). A full and correct account of the military occurrences of the late war between Great Britain and the United States of America; with an appendix, and plates. London: Printed for the author and distributed by Black et al.. ISBN 0665357435. OCLC 2226903. 
• Latour, Arsène Lacarrière (1999) [1816]. Historical Memoir of the War in West Florida and Louisiana in 1814-15, with an Atlas. Gainesville: University Press of Florida. ISBN 0813016754. OCLC 40119875. 
• Maass, Alfred R (1994). "Brownsville's steamboat Enterprize and Pittsburgh's supply of general Jackson's army". Pittsburgh History 77: 22–29. ISSN 1069-4706. 
• Caffrey, Kate The Twilight's Last Gleaming ISBN 0-8128-1920-9 Stein and Day
• Owsley, Frank. Struggle for the Gulf borderlands: the Creek War and the battle of New Orleans 1812-1815. (1981) ISBN 0817310622
• Patterson, Benton Rains The Generals, Andrew Jackson, Sir Edward Pakenham, and the road to New Orleans. 2008 ISBN 0-8147-6717-6
• Pickles, Tim New Orleans 1815; Osprey Campaign Series, #28. Osprey Publishing, 1993.
• Quimby, Robert S. (1997). The U.S. Army in the War of 1812: an operational and command study. East Lansing: Michigan State University Press.
• Reilly, Robin (1974), The British at the gates - the New Orleans campaign in the War of 1812, New York: Putnam
• Remini, Robert V. (1977), Andrew Jackson and the course of American empire, 1767-1821
• Rowland, Eron (1971) [1926]. Andrew Jackson's Campaign against the British, or, the Mississippi Territory in the War of 1812, concerning the Military Operations of the Americans, Creek Indians, British, and Spanish, 1813-1815. Freeport, NY: Books for Libraries Press. ISBN 0836956370. 
• Smith, Gene A. (2004). A British eyewitness at the Battle of New Orleans, the memoir of Royal Navy admiral Robert Aitchison, 1808-1827. The Historic New Orleans Collection.
• Smith, Sir Harry "Various Anecdotes and Events of my Life - The Autobiography of Lt. Gen. Sir Harry Smith, covering the period 1787 to 1860" First published in 2 volumes, edited by G.C. Moore, London (1901)
• Stanley, George F.G. "The War of 1812 - Land Operations" . MacMillan & National Museum of Canada (1983)
• Surtees, W. "Twenty-Five Years in the Rifle Brigade" (1833) Reprint by Greenhill Books
• Ward, John William . Andrew Jackson, Symbol for an Age. 1962.

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Battle of New Orleans

• Battle of New Orleans — detailed account, with maps and pictures, hosted by the National Park Service
• Battle of New Orleans: Myths and Legends — detailed account by military historians
• Map
• The Battle of New Orleans — summary account by the Louisiana State Museum, with photographs
• Battle of New Orleans Pathfinder — research collection by The Historic New Orleans Collection
• History of Louisiana, Vol. 5, Chapter 10 — detailed account by Charles Gayarré
• The Battle of New Orleans — detailed account by John Smith Kendall
• The Glorious Eighth of January — colorful account by Grace King
• The Battle of New Orleans — account by Theodore Roosevelt
• Siege of Fort St. Philip — eyewitness accounts, as published in the Louisiana Historical Quarterly

Coordinates: 29°56′27″N 89°59′09″W / 29.94073°N 89.98592°W / 29.94073; -89.98592