Battle of New Orleans

(January 8, 1815) a largely symbolic but still significant engagement which ended the War of 1812. On December 23, one day before the signing of the Treaty of Ghent, Gen. Andrew Jackson, commanding a force made up of army regulars, New Orleans's free blacks, three state militias, and the pirates of Barataria, tried to fend off the British. The British, who were trying to relieve military pressure on Canada and improve their status during peace negotiations, attacked on January 8. American artillery shelled the British, who suffered 2, 400 casualties, while the Americans lost only seventy men.

See the Introduction, Abbreviations and Pronunciation for further details.