More Than One New Orleans Battle
In the War of 1812, there were actually several battles of New Orleans between December 1814 January 1815. These battles occurred during the War of 1812, which actually started earlier between England and France. During that European war, the U.S. Congress passed the Embargo Act of 1807 prohibiting American goods from being shipped to either France or England. At that time Louisiana was not yet a state. New Orleans was, however, a major port and the Embargo Act was a serious economic blow to the city.
Statehood and War
Louisiana became a state on April 30, 1812. On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on England. This was partly due to the English tactics of seizing American ships in violation of America's neutrality in the war between England and France. At this point, the Americans were not prepared to take on the great power of the English military and England won most of the early battles.
An Unlikely Partnership
New Orleans got word in the spring of 1814 that the war would likely come to the city. Such a major port as New Orleans was too strategic a location to ignore. About that time Jean Lafitte, an infamous privateer who was making the most of opportunities to pirate ships and sell the contraband along with his brother Pierre and Dominique You. Before this time Lafitte and Governor Claiborne were enemies, with Claiborne trying to rid the waters around Louisiana of piracy and Lafitte trying to get Claiborne and other authorities out of his way. But, apparently Jean Lafitte disliked the English more than Governor Claiborne, because when the English approached Lafitte to help them defeat the Americans, Lafitte told Claiborne of the plan.
All Join Forces to Turn the Tide
General Andrew Jackson, who was in charge of the American troops, learned that the British intended to invade Louisiana from Jamaica. Jackson arrived in New Orleans in early December of 1814 and put together a rag-tag army of slaves, free black militia, creoles, Choctaw Indians and Jean Lafitte and his band of pirates. This "army" faced the British army led by General Sir Edward Packenham in Chalmette, south of the city of New Orleans. Soon Americans from Kentucky brought in 2000 men to bring Jackson's army up to about 6000 strong.
The Final Outcome
Packenham's first strike in late December of 1814 was stopped by the Americans. His second advance on the morning of January 8, 1815 was met with disaster. Packenham's men, smartly dressed in red uniforms and led by drums and bagpipes walked across the battlefield of Chalmette only to be mowed down, line after line, by Jackson's army safely hidden behind cotton bales. Both Packenham and his Major General John Keane were killed. When the dust settled 2,000 British troops were dead. The Americans only lost seven. The British left New Orleans on January 27, 1815.
The Real Irony
The victory in the New Orleans Battle is celebrated in New Orleans and at the Chalmette Battlefield every year on the anniversary of the battle. There is a statue of General Andrew Jackson in the middle of a square named in his honor in the heart of New Orleans' French Quarter. The real irony of the story is that the actual battle of New Orleans that took place on January 8, 1815 was unnecessary because the Treaty of Ghent, that ended the war was signed December 24, 1814. Unfortunately, it took two weeks of the end of the war to reach New Orleans, and the battle was already won.
