BGuthrie Photos: LA -- Chalmette Battlefield

LA -- Chalmette Battlefield:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. CHALBF_130525_008.JPG: Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery: Chalmette Battlefield and the Battle of New Orleans: Major General Andrew Jackson's troops were outnumbered and less experienced yet they defended and secured the port of New Orleans from British invasion on January 8, 1815. This surprising victory at Chalmet plantation was the last major battle in the War of 1812. The American victory preserved US claims to the Louisiana Purchase territory, prompted settlement in the Mississippi River valley, made Jackson a national hero, and encouraged American pride and unity.
2. CHALBF_130525_021.JPG: Batteries Seven and Eight: When the British attacked the American rampart during their reconnaisance in force on December 28, they almost succeeded in outflanking the rampart and capturing the American positions at this end of the line. The Americans responded by extending the rampart farther into the cypress swamp. The new section was defended by Kentucky militia, General John Coffee's Tennessee militia, and Captain Pierre Jugeant leading a group of Choctaw Indians. On January 8, the British concentrated their main attack here. According to tradition, Lieutenant Samuel Spotts of the Artillery Corps gave the order at Battery 7 to fire the battle's first shot. This engraving from about 1892 portrays the determination of the volunteer troops at the American rampart's swamp end.
3. CHALBF_130525_031.JPG: Batteries Five and Six: When the British attacked the American rampart during their reconnaisance in force on December 28, they almost succeeded in outflanking the rampart and capturing the American positions at this end of the line. The Americans responded by extending the rampart farther into the cypress swamp. This new section was defended by Kentucky militia, General John Coffee's Tennessee militia, and Captain Pierre Jugeant leading a group of Choctaw Indians. On January 8 the British concentrated their main attack here. According to tradition, Lieutenant Samuel Spotts of the Artillery Corps gave the order at Battery 7 to fire the battle's first shot. The British called the Tennessee and Kentucky militias "dirty shirts" because instead of wearing proper uniforms, the militiamen wore homespun clothing colored with homemade dyes as seen in this 1867 picture.
4. CHALBF_130525_074.JPG: Battery Four: Battery 4 boasted the rampart's largest gun, a 32-pound naval cannon manned by sailors from the USS Carolina, which had been sunk by British fire on December 27, 1814. During the Battle of New Orleans, the big gun tore gaping holes in the ranks of the advancing 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment of Foot. To the left, the American line was defended by the 44th US Infantry and by militia from Daquin's Second Free Colored Battalion, men who had emigrated from Saint-Dominque because of the Haitian Revolution. The First Free Colored Battalion, positioned to the right, was descended from the city's colonial Spanish colored militias. This engraving from about 1892 shows the diversity of Jackson's troops through the rampart is inaccurately drawn as a curving wall of cotton bales.
5. CHALBF_130525_089.JPG: They opened late because of some family programs and an unexpected ranger's absence. Later photos will show the flag flying -- the ranger gave it to me to post which was pretty cool!
6. CHALBF_130525_112.JPG: Chalmette Monument: The construction of a monument honoring Andrew Jackson and his troops was the first step in recognizing the importance of the battlefield and saving it for future generations. In 1852 the Louisiana legislature appropriated funds to purchase land at the battlefield and build a monument here. The project was plagued with funding problems for decades and was finally completed in 1908. Maintenance was turned over to the Chalmette Chapter, United States Daughters of 1812. In 1939 Chalmette National Historical Park was created and the site became part of the National Park Service. This photograph from around 1900 shows the partially built monument; Civil War soldiers wrote home about camping in its shadow. Chalmette Monument is about 100 feet tall. When Alfred Rudolph Waud drew the unfinished monument in 1871, plans called for a finished height of nearly 150 feet, but an engineer's test around 1900 discovered that the foundation could not support such a structure's weight.
7. CHALBF_130525_118.JPG: 7th US Infantry 44th US Infantry
8. CHALBF_130525_124.JPG: US Marines
9. CHALBF_130525_130.JPG: US Navy
10. CHALBF_130525_142.JPG: Louisiana Militia
11. CHALBF_130525_147.JPG: US Artillery
12. CHALBF_130525_152.JPG: Mississippi Militia
13. CHALBF_130525_157.JPG: Kentucky Militia
14. CHALBF_130525_163.JPG: Tennessee Miltiia
15. CHALBF_130525_169.JPG: Choctaw Nation
16. CHALBF_130525_175.JPG: Chalmette Monument This monument was erected by the State of Louisiana and the United States to commemorate the memorable victory won here by General Andrew Jackson and the men under his command in the Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815. The cornerstone was laid on January 8, 1840. Construction of the monument began in 1855 and was carried to a height of 55 feet with funds provided by the State of Louisiana. In 1908 the monument was completed with funds provided by Congress. In 1894 the state placed the monument and grounds under the custody of the United States Daughters of 1776-1812, thus had continuous custody of the monument and grounds for 35 years, encompassing periods of both state and federal ownership, the state having ceded title to the United States in 1907. In 1939 the monument and grounds were transferred to the Department of the Interior, and on August 10, 1939, Chalmette National Historical Park was established. This plaque placed by the Chalmette Chapter United States Daughters of 1812 October 19th 1947.
17. CHALBF_130525_199.JPG: Rodriguez Canal: Built as a mill race that provided water to power a sawmill, by 1815 the Rodriguez Canal had long been abandoned. With its collapsed banks and grass-covered bottom, the canal resembled a ditch more than a waterway, but it provided a perfect defensive position for Major General Andrew Jackson's men. American troops and slaves from area plantations dug out the canal and used its soil to build a rampart stretching from the Mississippi River to the cypress swamp. When the rampart was completed and the canal filled with water, it formed an imposing line of defense. Benson Lossing's Pictorial Field Book of the War of 1812 showed what remained of the canal in 1861. The tower in the background is the still unfinished Chalmette Monument.
18. CHALBF_130525_232.JPG: Rodriguez Plantation and Macarty House: The Rodriguez and Macarty plantations served as the American camp during the Battle of New Orleans. Major General Andrew Jackson used the upper floors of the Macarty house as his headquarters and observation post, allowing him to monitor British movements and relay orders to his forces. The American rampart was built on the neighboring Rodriguez plantation. The Rodriguez house served as quarters and an artillery observation post. Both properties suffered heavy damage, partially from artillery fire but primarily because the Americans cleared vegetation to set up camp and used wood from fences and buildings to construct defenses. Jean Hyacinthe Laclotte served on the American side of the battle. In this detail from his famous circa 1840 painting, the Rodriguez house is surrounded by American tents; the Macarty house and its formal gardens are nearby.
19. CHALBF_130525_241.JPG: Chalmet Plantation: In June 1813 Ignace Delino de Chalmet purchased a sugar plantation that began at Rodriguez Canal and extended along the river for about a mile. The property was typical of many plantations and included 25 slaves, a great house, and outbuildings. To prevent British forces from using the site, American troops packed the main house with gunpowder and started a fire that destroyed most of the property. Although de Chalmet died a little more than a month after the battle, his name became forever attached to the battlefield and the surrounding community. Lacarriere Latour, the principal American engineer during the New Orleans campaign, produced maps for his 1816 historical memoir that show topography, property lines, and troop movements. Jean Hyacinthe Laclotte served the Americans as an engineer during the New Orleans campaign. The ruins of the Chalmet plantation are visible in his circa 1840 painting.
20. CHALBF_130525_247.JPG: Batteries Two and Three: Sailors from the USS Carolina and Jean Lafitte's Baratarian pirates manned the cannons at Batteries 2 and 3. General Andrew Jackson had once described the Baratarians as "hellish banditti," but now their artillery expertise was invaluable. Dominique Youx and Renato Beluche, allies of Jean Lafitte himself was at the battle. Batteries 2 and 3 were crucial in turning back the British attack along the river. To the left of these batteries were local militias: one made up of free men of color, the other of Irish immigrants and members of the French Creole elite. This engraving from about 1850 shows American Major General Andrew Jackson behind the American lines; he spent the battle to the right of Plauche's battalion near Battery Three.
21. CHALBF_130525_269.JPG: The West Bank Assault: On December 25, 1814, American Major General Andrew Jackson began fortifying the Mississippi River's west bank. By January 8 it was defended by nearly a thousand Kentucky and Louisiana militiamen and several artillery batteries, some armed with cannons from the American fleet. British commander Sir Edward Pakenham recognized the dangers these guns posed to his troops on the east bank and included an attack on these positions in his battle plans. Delays in the west bank assault resulted in a British victory that came too late to salvage the disastrous British defeat on the east bank. No traces of these batteries remain today. The scene on the west bank may have been very much like this detail from Dennis Malone Carter's 1856 painting of the Battle of New Orleans.
22. CHALBF_130525_278.JPG: Battery One and Forward Redoubt: Located where the levee now sits, Battery 1 and a redoubt anchored the river end of the American defenses. On January 6, 1815, construction began on the redoubt, an enclosed defensive structure in front of the rampart. On January 8 this area and the partially finished redoubt were defended by US regulars and Beale's Rifles, a militia unit made up of prominent citizens from New Orleans' uptown "American" sector who organized when the British threat arose. During the attack along the river, British troops captured the redoubt and stormed the rampart but were driven back. This lithograph from about 1890 is dramatic but not historically accurate; for example, the Mississippi River was not crowded with ships during the battle.
23. CHALBF_130525_282.JPG: Attack Along the River: British plans for a three-pronged attack included capturing the river end of the American rampart. On the morning of January 8, British Major General John Keane sent advance troops with Colonel Robert Rennie along the river road to attack the redoubt. Meanwhile, British commander Sir Edward Pakenham ordered Keane to lead most of his force across the field to support the main attack by the swamp. Though Rennie's troops captured the redoubt, fierce American counterattacks pushed them back, inflicting heavy losses and killing Rennie. The Americans recaptured the redoubt, ending the attack along the river.
24. CHALBF_130525_299.JPG: The Malus-Beauregard House: The first owner of the Malus-Beauregard House was Madeleine Pannetier Malus, a widow who purchased land from the St. Amand brothers when they divided the Chalmet plantation into small tracts in 1832. Malus built a French Colonial house in 1833 or 1834. After her death in 1835, Caroline Fabre Cantrelle bought the house and remodeled it to the Greek Revival style it bears today. Its last private owner was Rene Beauregard, son of Confederate General PGT Beauregard. The New Orleans Terminal Company then owned the property until 1949, when it became part of Chalmette National Historical Park.
25. CHALBF_130525_319.JPG: After the Battle: The destruction of their plantation during the Battle of New Orleans left the de Chalmet family in financial trouble. In 1817 brothers Hilaire and Louis St. Amand bought the land. The St. Amands were prominent free people of color who already owned several plantations. In the early 1800s, it was not unusual for free people of color to own plantations and slaves in Louisiana. The brothers rebuilt the property, repairing the damage caused by the Battle of New Orleans and returning the land to sugar production at a time when the industry was growing rapidly in south Louisiana. Sugarcane juice was boiled to evaporate the liquid and leave the crystalized sugar, a hazardous task for the slaves who used long-handed lades to transfer boiling cane juice between kettles and pans. Norbert Rillieux, a free man of color, changed the industry forever in 1843 when he developed the multi-stage evaporator, which used condensers rather than open kettles. Before the Civil War, vast fortunes were made by producing sugar from sugar cane; slaves did most of the work, which was difficult and dangerous.
26. CHALBF_130525_461.JPG: The 93rd Oblique: As the main attack on the swamp end of the American line began to falter, British commander Sir Edward Pakenham ordered Major General John Keane to redirect British forces from the river road assault to help. Nearly a thousand soldiers of the 93rd (Sutherland Highlanders) Regiment led by Lieutenant Colonel Robert Dale moved diagonally across the battlefield. It was a desperate maneuver, leaving the 93rd exposed to heavy fire. When confusion among the advancing British troops forced the 93rd to halt in front of the American line, cannonballs and grapeshot rained down, wounding Keane and killing over half the regiment's men, including Dale. Although nearly every detail in the 1910 E. Percy Moran painting is historically inaccurate, it does dramatize the courage and discipline required for the 93rd's oblique (diagonal) march across the battlefield.
27. CHALBF_130525_471.JPG: British Strategy: British commander Major General Sir Edward Pakenham devised a complex plan for a three-pronged assault on the American lines. The first involved an attack on American positions on the Mississippi River's west bank. The second sent troops against the redoubt and the American rampart near the river. The third and main assault would attack the rampart near the cypress swamp. For this complex strategy to succeeed [sic], Pakenham needed to coordinate the three attacks perfected in the early morning darkness of January 8, but his plans began to unravel soon after daybreak. Jean Hyacinthe Laclotte served as an engineer at the Battle of New Orleans. Many veterans of the battle praised the accuracy of his circa 1840 painting.
28. CHALBF_130525_477.JPG: Fazendeville: Jean Pierre Fazende, a free man of color and New Orleans grocer, inherited land within the battlefield in 1857. After the Civil War, he divided it and sold it to freed slaves from local plantations. Eventually the community grew to more than 200 people and became known as Fazendeville. The National Park Service bought the land in 1966 after long, contentious negotiations. Many residents relocated to New Orleans' 9th Ward but kept the Fazendeville community alive through regular communication and social events. Today the community bonds built in Fazendeville remain strong among its former residents and their descendants. Fazendeville was located in the center of the battlefield area; in this circa 1960 photo, Chalmette Monument is out of the picture on the left.
29. CHALBF_130525_537.JPG: Roads and Ditches: The battle took place on agricultural fields crisscrossed by drainage and irrigation ditches. British commander Sir Edward Pakenham probably launched his main attack from behind the cover of the First Ditch. Some troops advanced and later withdrew along the Center Road, a narrow dirt track that cut across the field toward the American rampart. The heaviest fighting was near the cypress swamp and the Double Ditch along its edge. After the battle, the First Ditch became the line of truce where the armies met for formal communications and to arrange burials. Traces of the road and ditches are still visible today. This drawing from 1844 portrays the battle's aftermath, when troops from both sides assisted the wounded.
30. CHALBF_130525_586.JPG: Pakenham's Fall: As the attack began to fail, British commander Sir Edward Pakenham rode forward to rally his troops. Under intense fire, both Pakenham and his horse were hit less than 40 yards from the American line. He quickly mounted an aide's horse but was shot again, this time mortally wounded. Second-in-command Major General Sir Samuel Gibbs was also killed; third-in-command Major General John Keane was severely wounded. Although some British soldiers advanced as far as the canal and rampart, the relentless American fire killed hundreds. To continue fighting was futile. The battle for New Orleans was over. Pakenham's death is shown as a turning point in the battle in this Eugene Louis Lami painting from about 1840.
31. CHALBF_130525_596.JPG: The Main Attack: At dawn frontiersmen from the Tennessee and Kentucky militias stood ready on the American line's swamp end. British commander Sir Edward Pakenham concentrated his main attack here under Major General Sir Samuel Gibbs, expecting the American volunteers to perform poorly. Yet it was Pakenham's force that fared badly. Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Mullins sent the 44th to the wrong location to pick up the ladders and fascines needed to cross the canal and scale the rampart. When the British reached the American rampart, they had no way to advance and were impeded by the disorganized 44th. Under heavy American fire, the attack disintegrated into chaos. The Macarty house, used as American headquarters, can be seen in the background of this 1845 magazine illustration by Robert Hinshelwood.
Wikipedia Description: Battle of New Orleans
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8, 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812. American forces, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase. The Treaty of Ghent, having been signed on December 24, 1814, was ratified by the Prince Regent on December 30, 1814 and the United States Senate on February 16, 1815. Hostilities continued until late February when official dispatches announcing the peace reached the combatants in Louisiana, finally putting an end to the war. The Battle of New Orleans is widely regarded as the greatest American land victory of the war.

Battle of Lake Borgne

By December 12, 1814, a large British fleet under the command of Sir Alexander Cochrane with more than 8,000 soldiers and sailors aboard, had anchored in the Gulf of Mexico to the east of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne. Preventing access to the lakes was an American flotilla, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones, consisting of five gunboats. On December 14, around 1,200 British sailors and Royal Marines under Captain Nicholas Lockyer set out to attack Catesby's force. Lockyer's men sailed in 42 longboats, each armed with a small carronade. Lockyer captured Catesby's vessels in a brief engagement known as the Battle of Lake Borgne. Seventeen British sailors were killed and 77 wounded, while 6 Americans were killed, 35 wounded, and 86 captured. The wounded included both Catesby and 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.

Night attack of 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. 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 encamp at Lacoste's Plantation and wait for the arrival of reinforcements. 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." This intelligence had been provided by Colonel Thomas Hinds' Squadron of Light Dragoons, a militia unit from the Mississippi Territory. That evening, attacking from the north, Jackson led 2,131 men in a brief three-pronged assault on the unsuspecting British troops, who were resting in their camp. Then Jackson pulled his forces back to the Rodriguez Canal, about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the city. The Americans suffered 24 killed, 115 wounded, and 74 missing, while the British reported their losses as 46 killed, 167 wounded, and 64 missing.

Historian Robert Quimby says, "the British certainly did win a tactical victory, which enabled them to maintain their position". However, Quimby goes on to say, "It is not too much to say that it was the battle of December 23 that saved New Orleans. The British were disabused of their expectation of an easy conquest. The unexpected and severe attack made Keane even more cautious...he made no effort to advance on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth". As a consequence, the Americans were given time to begin the transformation of the canal into a heavily fortified earthwork. On Christmas Day, General Edward Pakenham arrived on the battlefield and ordered to fu 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 overruled by Admiral Cochrane who insisted that his boats were providing everything that could be needed. 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. 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 USS 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.

Battle of January 8

In the early morning of January 8, Pakenham ordered a two-pronged assault against Jackson's position. Colonel William Thornton (of the 85th Regiment) was to cross the Mississippi during the night with his 780-strong brigade, move rapidly upriver and storm the batteries commanded by Commodore Daniel Patterson on the flank of the main American entrenchments and then open an enfilading fire on Jackson's line with howitzers and rockets. Then, the main attack, directly against the earthworks manned by the vast majority of American troops, would be launched in two columns (along the river led by Keane and along the swamp line led by Major General Samuel Gibbs). The brigade commanded by Major General John Lambert was held in reserve.

Preparations for the attack had floundered 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.

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 Regiments, and Colonel Rennie leading a detachment of light companies of the 7th, 43rd, and 93rd on the left by the river.
General Andrew Jackson stands on the parapet of his makeshift defenses as his troops repulse attacking Highlanders, as imagined by painter Edward Percy Moran in 1910.

Possibly because of Thornton's delay in crossing the river and the withering artillery fire that might hit them from 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 and his second-in-command, General Gibbs, were fatally wounded, while on horseback, by grapeshot fired from the earthworks. With most of their senior officers dead or wounded, the British soldiers, having 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, General Lambert assumed command and eventually ordered a withdrawal.

The only British success was on the west bank of the Mississippi River, where Thornton's brigade, comprising the 85th Regiment and detachments from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines, attacked and overwhelmed the American line. Though both Jackson and Commodore Patterson reported that the retreating forces had spiked their cannon, leaving no guns to turn on the Americans' 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". General Lambert ordered his Chief of Artillery, Colonel Alexander Dickson, to assess the position. Dickson 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 cannon with them.

At the end of the day, the British had 2,042 casualties: 291 killed (including Generals Pakenham and Gibbs), 1,267 wounded (including General Keane) and 484 captured or missing. The Americans had 71 casualties: 13 dead; 39 wounded, and 19 missing.

Siege of Fort St. Philip

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.

Withdrawal of the British

On February 4, 1815, the fleet, with all of the British troops aboard, set sail toward Mobile Bay, Alabama.

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 did, however, resolve that hostilities should cease, and the British abandoned Fort Bowyer and sailed home to their base in the West Indies. 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. However, it would have been problematic for the British to continue the war in North America, due to Napoleon's escape from Elba on February 26, 1815 which ensured their forces were needed in Europe. 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.

Aftermath

From December 25, 1814 to January 26, 1815, British casualties during the Louisiana Campaign, apart from the assault on January 8, were 49 killed, 87 wounded and 4 missing. These losses, together with those incurred on December 23 and January 8, added up to 386 killed, 1,521 wounded and 552 missing for the whole campaign. General Jackson reported a grand total of 55 killed, 185 wounded and 93 missing for the entire siege, including December 23 and January 8.

Four currently active battalions of the Regular Army (1-5 FA, 1-6 FA, 1-1 Inf and 2-1 Inf) and one Mississippi Army National Guard regiment (155th Inf) are derived from American units that fought at the Battle of New Orleans.

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.

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." The battle boosted the reputation of Andrew Jackson and helped to propel him to the White House. The anniversary of the battle was celebrated as a national holiday for many years, and continues to be commemorated in south Louisiana.

In honor of Jackson, the newly-organized Louisiana Historical Association dedicated its new Memorial Hall facility on January 8, 1891, the 76th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans.

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. It also misrepresents the British forces as being cowards which, given that the units involved were veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, seems unlikely. The version by Johnny Horton topped the Billboard Hot 100 in 1959, while the same version (with one profane word changed: "bloomin" taking the place of "bloody") by British singer Lonnie Donegan reached #2 in the British charts in the same year.

Victory attributed to a miracle

With the Americans outnumbered it seemed as though the city of New Orleans was in danger of being captured. Consequently, the Ursuline nuns along with many faithful people of New Orleans gathered in the Ursuline Convent's chapel before the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor. They spent the night before the battle praying and crying before the holy statue, begging for the Virgin Mary's intercession. On the morning of January 8, the Very Rev. William Dubourg, Vicar General, offered Mass at the altar on which the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor had been placed. The Prioress of the Ursuline convent, Mother Ste. Marie Olivier de Vezin, made a vow to have a Mass of Thanksgiving sung annually should the American forces win. At the very moment of communion, a courier ran into the chapel to inform all those present that the British had been defeated. General Jackson went to the convent himself to thank the nuns for their prayers: "By the blessing of heaven, directing the valor of the troops under my command, one of the most brilliant victories in the annals of war was obtained." The vow made by Mother Ste. Marie has been faithfully kept throughout the years.
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