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UNITED STATES DEPARTMENT OF THE INTERIOR

Fred A. Seaton, Secretary

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

Conrad

HISTORICAL
This publication
historical

L.

Wirth, Director

HANDBOOK NUMBER TWENTY-NINE

is

one of a

series

and archeological areas

of
in

handbooks describing the

the National Park System

administered by the National Park Service of the United States

Department of the Interior.
It is printed by the Government
Printing Office and may be purchased from the Superintendent of

Documents, Washington

25, D. C.

Price 25 cents.

CHALMETTE
National Historical Park

LOUISIANA
by

J.

Fred Roush

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE HISTORICAL HANDBOOK

Washington, D. C, 1958

SERIES NO. 29

The National Park System,

Historical

Park

is

the scenic, scientific,

States for

the

unit,

and

benefit

of which Chalmette
is

dedicated

to

National

conserving

historic heritage of the

and

inspiration

of

its

United
people.

Contents
Page

THE

WAR

OF

1812

OLD HICKORY

LOUISIANA IN

1814

BRITISH PLANS

AND PREPARATIONS

10

THE PENSACOLA AFFAIR

PREPARING TO DEFEND

11

NEW

ORLEANS

13

THE BATTLE OF LAKE BORGNE

14

THE NIGHT BATTLE OF DECEMBER

THE

ll

23

MUD RAMPART

28

THE "GRAND RECONNAISSANCE"

THE ARTILLERY DUEL, JANUARY

29

1815

30

PREPARING FOR THE DECISIVE BATTLE

32

THE BATTLE OF

NEW

1,

ORLEANS, JANUARY

MILITARY ACTIVITY AFTER JANUARY

NEW

8,

1815

40

ORLEANS AFTER THE VICTORY

41

THE NEWS ON THE EAST COAST

WHAT THE VICTORY MEANT TO THE UNITED

THE CHALMETTE MONUMENT AND THE PARK

33

42

STATES

42
45

GUIDE TO THE AREA

47

NEARBY POINTS OF INTEREST

53

HOW

53

TO REACH THE PARK

ABOUT YOUR

VISIT

53

RELATED AREAS

54

ADMINISTRATION

54

SUGGESTED READINGS

55

Gen.

Andrew Jackson, painted from

The Metropolitan Museum of

Art,

life in

New

1817 by Samuel Lovett Waldo.

York.

Courtesy,

WAR
THE LAST
from
1812

fought

between the United States

to

1815.

It

ended in a draw, neither

Yet the Battle of New Orleans, the

its objective.

American land

victory

and Great

last big battle

of that war, had important

results

Britain was
side

gaining

and greatest

in

American

history.

This

is

true even

though

it

was fought on January

8,

1815, after the

peace treaty between the two nations had been signed at Ghent,
Belgium, on December 24, 1814. Even if news of the signing had

reached them, the British might have attacked

had orders

to fight until the treaty

until February 1815.

After Gen.

was

ratified,

Andrew

Orleans, the British could only withdraw.

New

Orleans.

They

which was not done

Jackson's victory at New

The Lower Mississippi

Valley was saved for the United States.

Coming

at

the end of an unsatisfactory war, victory restored the

confidence of Americans in their ability to win battles. It particularly

gave the "Westerners" of that day the people of the Ohio and
Mississippi Valleys a chance to assert themselves in national affairs.
Their leader, Andrew Jackson, the conqueror of British and Indians,

became

President.

The news of

this victory helped to break up a movement for disunion in 1815. Without the national pride stemming from the Battle
of New Orleans, the Union might not have survived the Civil War

50 years

The

later.

New

Orleans Campaign of 1814-15 was a spectacular clash

between picturesque fighters from many parts of the globe. The
anniversary of the crowning victory on January 8, 1815, is still celebrated in New Orleans.
On that day, a motley group of frontiersmen,

and Free Men of Color was

Army. A group of mainly
numbers, overwhelmingly defeated a force

regulars, Creoles, sailors, pirates, Indians,

pitted against the flower of the British

irregular troops, inferior in

of recognized valor and proven

The

War

ability.

of 1812

war most of the time from 1793 to

two nations often violated American
The French seized American ships and goods; but the
neutrality.
British did worse they stopped American ships at sea and removed
American sailors. President Thomas Jefferson tried by economic
means to force other nations to respect neutral rights. He persuaded
Congress to pass an embargo on American export trade with foreign
France and Great Britain were
1815.

During

nations.

at

this conflict, the

This action aroused so

Jefferson at length yielded.

much

opposition in this country that

Shortly before leaving office in 1809, he

which prohibited trade only with France and Great Britain

changed their practices. These restrictions failed
to protect American commerce.
In his tangled relations with the French and British, James Madison,
the next President, was no more successful in settling American
signed a

bill

until these nations

maritime grievances.

Despite maritime insults, the demand for war did not come priIt came from the men of the "West" of
that day the men living on the frontier curving from Vermont,
around through western New York, Ohio, Kentucky, and Tennessee,
to Georgia.
Shipowners made profits in spite of seizures, and conBy
servative Easterners felt England to be the preserver of order.
contrast, hostility toward the former mother country persisted among
the "Westerners" who believed that British intrigue was behind their
Indian and frontier land troubles. These frontier grievances led to
demands for territory in both Canada and Florida. The "Western"
attitude was intensified by economic hard times on the frontier from
1807 until war broke out. The frontiersmen believed that these conditions were caused by British restrictions on American shipping. The
West furnished most of the troops for the defense of New Orleans.
In spite of the prowar sentiments of the frontier, the war might not
have started had there been faster ways of communication. On
June 16, 1812, the British Orders in Council were suspended in
belated reaction to Jefferson's embargo. These orders barred American
ships from continental European ports and were to be given as one of
the major reasons for declaring war.
On June 18, 1812, before the
news could cross the ocean, Congress declared war against Great
marily from the shipowners.

Britain.

The war that followed was fought rather half-heattedly. Trading

between enemies continued. Peace negotiations began shortly after
hostilities broke out and continued intermittently throughout the
Great Britain, still fighting Emperor Napoleon of France,
struggle.
The unlittle more in the first 2 years than help defend Canada.
prepared United States tried to invade Canada, but was repelled and
Detroit and Fort Dearborn (on the site of
attacked on its own soil.
did

Chicago) were soon lost, and the Americans were repulsed at Niagara.
the ocean, Americans usually won in duels between ships, but their
navy was outnumbered. The British remained masters of the seas and

On

could land troops where they chose.

The situation in the spring of 1814 was ominous for the Americans.
The defeat of Napoleon released British troops, who soon took the
Their government planned a triple thrust in the United
by way of Lake Champlain, the Chesapeake Bay, and, later, the
Gulf Coast. In September 1814, the Battle of Plattsburg, N. Y.,
ended the first invasion when Commodore Thomas MacDonough
defeated the British fleet on Lake Champlain, forcing the British Army
After burning the White House and the Capitol, the
to retreat.
second expedition withdrew when it failed to pass Fort McHenry, the
main defense of Baltimore. The third invasion was met by Andrew
Jackson at New Orleans.
offensive.

States

Old Hickory
Andrew Jackson came from

He was born in the Waxhaw

North and South Carolina on

the frontier.

section near the boundary between

The parents of Andrew Jackson were Scotch-Irish

His father had died shortly before his birth.
Known as a boy who was always ready to fight, regardless of the
size of his foe, young Jackson saw the horrors of war during the
British invasion of the Carolinas in the American Revolution.
At 13
he did active duty as the armed and mounted messenger for an uncle
who was a major in the Continental Army. Later during this war, he
lost both brothers and his mother.
Though never studious, Andrew Jackson gained admittance to the
North Carolina bar in 1787. The next year he moved to Nashville,
at that time a wilderness settlement beyond the frontier.
He was
public prosecutor for several years a position that only a man of
extraordinary nerve and courage could fill in those wild parts.
In
1796, Tennessee was admitted to the Union, and Andrew Jackson was
sent to the Constitutional Convention.
Tradition holds he suggested
the name Tennessee for the new state. Jackson was chosen Tennessee's
first representative in Congress as a man popular with the people and
March

15, 1767.

immigrants.

"TV

Andrew

Jackson as portrayed in 1815 by John Wesley Jarvis, present at the time of

the battle.

one
was

':.;..-:

From the

collection of Stanley Clisby Arthur.

who would

support their claims with spirit and effect. His term

however, as was his later service in the United States Senate.
He then served as judge of the State Supreme Court for 6 years,
resigning because of pressure of other affairs.
short,

Known

Jackson had
major general commanding the western district of
Tennessee in 1802. In the next 10 years, he won the loyalty of his
officers and inspired enthusiasm throughout the command.
When the War of 1812 broke out, Jackson led 2,000 Tennessee
volunteers on an expedition to the Gulf Coast.
At Natchez, in 1813,
orders came to disband the men, many of them hardly more than boys,
where they would be left without provisions. Defying his official
superiors and using his personal credit for supplies, Jackson held his
army together and marched them back home over the Natchez Trace.
His care for his men and the way he shared their hardships in the march
through the wilderness gained for him the enduring nickname "Old
for his boldness in forays against the Indians,

become the

Hickory."

militia

Jackson's next campaign was against the Creek Indians in Alabama,

then part of Mississippi Territory. He was recovering from wounds
received in a "private fight" when news came of the massacre of white
This massacre
settlers at Fort Mims by the Creeks in August 1813.

roused the frontier to

Jackson's personality was so

fury.

wound and

that, despite his

his bent for quarreling,

commanding

he was chosen to

lead the youth of Tennessee to war.

He

started out

with his arm in a

sling.

Overcoming the

wilderness,

the weather, the lack of supplies, and the handicap of militia

home when

who went

term was up, he broke the power of the Creeks in

a series of battles ending on March 27, 1814, with the victory at
Tohopeka or Horseshoe Bend. Later in the year, he became a major
general of the Regular Army, with command of all the forces in
Tennessee, Mississippi Territory, and Louisiana. The new regular
major general had his work cut out for him.
their

Louisiana in 1814
Louisiana was founded by the French, and
their rule.
it

Then followed

was French again

a period

briefly before

its

early

growth was under

of Spanish domination.

becoming American

In 1803,
of the

as part

Even under American rule, many French refugees

West Indies and Europe kept New Orleans,
Also, the city had all the
Louisiana's chief city, predominately Latin.
elements of a cosmopolitan seaport. Although Louisiana was admitted
as a state in 1812, it still seemed like a foreign country to people from
Kentucky or Tennessee.
W. C. C. Claiborne, a Virginian by birth, was Governor of Louisiana
in 1814.
As head of the militia, he could not find enough reliable
troops to defend the state. Only a few regulars were stationed at
New Orleans. Many planters, remembering the slave uprising of
Louisiana Purchase.

from the wars

1811, did not

this,

in the

want to leave

to defend the frontiers.

In spite of

all

the spirit of the militia strengthened as the danger of British

invasion

came

closer.

In the early years of "American domination" there was enmity be-

tween Americans and Creoles (white Louisianans of French or Spanish

descent); however, Claiborne wrote Jackson that the majority of
Creoles and Europeans in New Orleans were loyal, but that many
favored Spain or England.

In this connection, the British believed that the inhabitants of

Barataria,

new

who

lived

on the Louisiana coast about 50 miles south of

Orleans, would aid

them

in their conquest of Louisiana.

The

Baratarians admitted smuggling and privateering, and were accused of

piracy.

468593

They were
0-58

led by the mysterious Lafitte brothers,

Jean and

W. C. C. Claiborne, Governor of Orleans Territory, 1803-12; Governor of the State

of Louisiana, 1812-16; Commander-in-Chief, Louisiana Militia, 1814-15- Courtesy,
Louisiana National Guard, T. J. Harrison, State Military Historain.

but Barataria existed before their arrival about 1810. After

the importation of slaves became illegal in Orleans ter-

Pierre,

when

1804,
ritory,

smuggling them

privateers.

in

was another

line of "business" for these

In the year before the British invasion, the Baratarians

were having more trouble than formerly with both State and Federal
authorities.

On

September

3,

1814, British officers appeared at Barataria and

offered Jean Lafitte land in British

North America, protection of

his

property and person, $30,000 in cash, and the rank of captain in their
navy, if he would join them.
Lafitte asked for time to consider their
offer,

and promptly wrote to the Governor and to

legislature.

He

told

them of the

member

British offer, enclosed

of the

documents

to

prove his story, and offered to help the Americans in return for a

pardon for himself and his men.

These letters were received in New Orleans on September 5. On
advice from his military committee, Governor Claiborne declined
Lafitte 's offer, but he wrote soon after that the privateers might become

This interesting sketch reputedly shows Louisiana pirate leaders drinking in a cafe in

New

Orleans in 1812.

Renato Beluche, Jean

State

From

the men are traditionally identified as

and Dominique You. Courtesy, Louisiana

left to right,

Lafitte, Pierre Lafitte,

Museum.

useful to the United States.

jailed in

New

from those

in

Pierre Lafitte,

who had

been arrested and

Orleans, escaped about this time, possibly with help

high places.

Barataria was destroyed by United States forces under Col. G. T.

Ross and Commodore D. T. Patterson, between September 16 and 19.

The Baratarians fled to the swamps rather than resist. Their avoidance of conflict, following Jean Lafitte's offer of help, was making some
impression on the American authorities.
On October 30, Claiborne
wrote to the United States Attorney General, recommending clemency
for the smugglers.
The Americans and Baratarians were gradually
coming together as the British prepared their grand assault.

1000

piastres de

P1erre

-j

la tail *?.'

^^

est <fe

fanner unc plus at^ple descrip?W

JLdn Lafitte

^^

V 0r:

emmene

His

avec

la

lui

,t

trcia

propria

Lefe bm;et Handler,

appartenam . Mr,
Jarnand
La recompense ci denes scm

aonneeiquiconquedcliireraledJiLafitte
au soussigne, qui
ra aussi cinquaute
piastres pour cha
nesdita rtgrcs.

H. Holland,

7 Septembre

*-

Geolief*

LUat de

ia

Translation.

$1,000 Reward

WILL BE
who

last

paid to whomever will arrest PIERRE LAFITTE,

night forced the Parish Prison and escaped from

Said Pierre Lafitte

it.

built, has a light

is

feet 10

complexion and

is

inches

tall,

somewhat

strongly

cross-eyed.

Further description is believed unnecessary, the said

being well known in this city.

Lafitte

The said Lafitte took with him three negroes, to wit:

Sam, formerly the property of Mr. Sawza; Caesar, belonging to Mr. Lefebvre; and Hamilcar, belonging to Mr.
Jarnand. The above reward will be given to whomever
delivers the said Lafitte to the undersigned,

who

will also

pay $50 for each of the aforesaid negroes.

J.

H. Holland
Jailer

September
This handbill
that French

tells its

was

the

7.

own

story

language of

about one of the Baratarian leaders,

New Orleans in 1814.

It also

shows

Portrait of Sir

Edward Michael Pakenham,

after a lithograph of

an

original painting

in England.

British Plans

and

Preparations

War, Lord Bathurst, sent

commander of His Majesty's Army

In September, 1814, the British Secretary of

orders to Maj. Gen. Robert Ross,

Chesapeake Campaign, to prepare an attack on the Gulf Coast.

Bathurst believed that, with help from the inhabitants, it would be
easy to take New Orleans and make serious trouble for the United
in the

He was sending 2,150 rank and file as reinmaking sure of the success of this expedition, to which
His Majesty's Government attached great importance. West Indies
troops would join the force when it reached the rendezvous in Jamaica.
Friendly Indians in the Southern United States would also be armed

States in nearby territory.

forcements, thus

and equipped.

The expedition would first secure the mouth of the Mississippi, thus
depriving inland Americans of access to the sea.
It would secondly
occupy a place important enough to increase British bargaining power
in the

The details of the plan were left to General

Alexander Cochrane, commander of the British
that the people of Louisiana wanted to become

peace negotiations.

Ross and Adm.

Sir

fleet.
Bathurst felt
independent or to return to Spanish

10

rule,

thus making

it

unnecessary

to maintain a large British occupation force there.

population on the British

side,

To keep

no encouragement was

the white

to be given to

a slave revolt.

The easy capture of Washington encouraged the British to proceed

Before General Ross
with the Gulf Coast phase of their offensive.
received his instructions for the campaign on the Gulf Coast, however, he was killed in the unsuccessful attack on Baltimore.
Maj. Gen.
Sir Edward M. Pakenham was chosen to take his place.
With Maj.
Gen. Samuel Gibbs, he was sent on a fast frigate to America.
The choice of commander shows the importance the British attached
Sir Edward Michael Pakenham was the brother-into this invasion.
law of the Duke of Wellington, but he did not owe his prominence to
Known as the "Hero of Salamanca," he had
that connection alone.
There was a coincidental connection beliterally fought his way up.
tween Sir Edward and his final opponent: Pakenham and the parents
of Andrew Jackson were all born not far apart in County Antrim, Ireland.

In 1814, General Pakenham was 36 years old and in vigorous

health his opponent was 47 and in poor health. Pakenham had
learned the art of war by fighting against the best armies in the
world Jackson had fought only savages. Pakenham had under him
veterans of the wars against NapoleonJackson had mainly recruits
and militia. It seemed there could be only one outcome of a contest
between these two.

The Pensacola Affair

Meanwhile Jackson, busy with Creek Indians in the summer of 1814,
began to hear of British activity on the Florida coast. The same Britishers who in September, would offer Lafitte money and a captaincy to
join them were now landing soldiers and furnishing supplies to Indians
hostile to the United States.
Disturbed by these developments, Jackson dictated a treaty to the Creeks and marched to the Gulf Coast in
August 1814.
At Mobile he learned that the British under Col. Edward Nicholls
had taken Pensacola from the Spaniards, at that time the nominal
rulers of Florida.
Nicholls issued a proclamation calling on those
whom he supposed to be dissatisfied with American rule Creoles,
Kentuckians, and others to support the British. Jackson replied
with

his

proclamation urging the inhabitants of Louisiana to

resist the

invaders.

Although he commanded 5 regiments and 350 artillerymen in MiliNo. 7, Jackson's forces were scattered. He appealed to
Secretary of War James Monroe for more men and materials, but the
successful British attack on Washington tied Monroe's hands.
tary District

11

Brig. Gen.

Battle of

John

New

Coffee,

Orleans,

1772-1834, who commanded

and played

the Tennessee troops in the

the most important part in the

American night

attack on the British on December 23, 1814-

Adding to Jackson's problems were repeated letters from Governor

Claiborne requesting more regular troops and a personal visit by the
general to New Orleans to boost lagging morale.

The

general

first.

He

go

New

felt,

however, that

believed that the

affairs

near

enemy wanted

at

hand needed

attention

to seize Mobile, and thence

Orleans by land. Jackson strengthened Fort Bowyer, at

the entrance to Mobile Bay.
Fort Bowyer beat off a British attack,
but the American commander continued to build up the defenses of
Mobile.
His forces there were much strengthened by the arrival of Brig. Gen.
John Coffee's Brigade of Tennessee mounted infantry. In response to
a letter from Jackson to the Governor of Tennessee, these volunteers
had gathered at Fayetteville in that State. From there, they rode
through Chickasaw and Choctaw lands and reached Mobile on Octo

tober 25.

Now Jackson

could take the offensive and give some attention to

quick march to Pensacola in November and a surprise attack drove out the British.
Sending an expedition to keep the

New
12

Orleans.

Seminoles in check, and leaving another part of his force

Jackson at last departed for New Orleans.

Preparing

to

Defend

New

at

Mobile,

Orleans

arrived in New Orleans for the first time on DecemIn his history of the campaign, Maj. A. Lacarriere Latour,
Jackson's military engineer, said: "It is scarcely possible to form an

Andrew Jackson

ber

2,

1814.

change which his arrival produced on the minds of the peoThat such a man was needed is shown by these words of

idea of the
1

ple.

'

Charles E. A. Gayarre, the distinguished Creole historian of Louisiana:

Where (Jackson) was as chief, there could be

but one controlling
and directing power. All responsibility would be unhesitatingly assumed
and made to rest entirely on that unity of volition which he represented.
Such qualifications were eminently needed for the protection of a city
containing a motley population, which was without any natural elements
of cohesion, and in which abounded distraction of counsel, conflicting
opinions, wishes and feelings, and much diffidence as to the possibility
of warding off an attack.
.

Jackson commenced work with

minimum

of formalities.

He

im-

mediately reviewed the Battalion of Uniform Companies of the Orleans

Militia.

He

then chose aides from

and established headquarters

at

among

106 Royal

the promient local citizens,

Street.

From

orders for the disposition of troops for the defense of

there he issued

New

Orleans.

about 105 miles from the mouths of the Mississippi, was almost an island surrounded by swamps and marshes, lakes,
and the river. Most of the firm ground was along the banks of the
Mississippi.
A mile or so from the river, the almost impenetrable
cypress swamps began.
These gradually gave way to marshes that
were filled with tall, razor-edged reeds. The marshes became more
watery as the shores of shallow lakes were reached: Maurepas, Pontchartrain, Borgne, and many smaller ones.
Lake Borgne, was an arm
of the Gulf of Mexico. The only practicable ways from the lakes to
the river were along the bayous.
The marshes and swamps were crisscrossed by many of these sluggish streams, some navigable by small
The banks of the bayous were the only partly firm ground in
boats.
In 1814, the

city,

the extensive morass.

It seemed likely that the British would come by way of Lakes Borgne
and Pontchartrain, and Bayou St. John, or up the Mississippi itself.
Jackson kept some troops on the alert in New Orleans, and sent others
to guard the water approaches.
A fleet of gunboats watched the entrance to the lakes.
Some of the bayous were blocked with logs and
earth.
These arrangements having been completed within 48 hours
of his arrival, Jackson inspected the defenses down the Mississippi,
where he ordered the strengthening of Fort St. Philip. On his return,

468593 0-58

13

Lake Borgne, December 14. 1814. In this view the British barges are
Courtesy, The Mariners' Museum.
board the American gunboats.
Newport News, Va.

The

Battle of

closing

in

to

he inspected the defenses of the lakes, Chef Menteur, and the Plain
of Gentilly, these being north and east of the
in order,

city.

Jackson awaited the next move by the

With

his defenses

British.

The Battle of Lake Borgne

The Americans began
Louisiana.

One

receiving warnings as the British

fleet

approached

of these, an anonymous letter from Pensacola dated

December 5, 1814, was directed to the American naval commander,

Commodore D. T. Patterson. When the British forces arrived off the
Louisiana coast on December 9, Patterson sent Lt. Thomas Ap. Catesby
Jones with 5 gunboats, 1 tender, and a dispatch boat to watch the enemy. These boats played a sort of grim, nautical hide-and-seek with
British warships among the islands along the coast until December 13.
On that date, the Americans in the gunboats saw a British flotilla
approaching. The Americans tried to withdraw to Petit Coquilles, an
entrance to Lake Pontchartrain, where a fort could help them defend
themselves.
Unfortunately the tide was against them 2nd the water
was shallow. The wind died down about 1 a. m. on the 14th; so the>
had to anchor in open water near the west end of Malheureux Island
in Lake Borgne.
There they remained.
11

Maj. Gen. William Carroll, commander of the Tennessee Militia

Orleans.

Courtesy, Louisiana State

in the Battle of

New

Museum.

Four of the gunboats in the American squadron had 5 guns each and
They had crews of 31 to 41 men. At dawn on Decfifth had 3.
ember 14, 1814, the Americans saw the British barges carrying about
Each barge had a carronade, or
1,200 men lined up to attack them.
short cannon, in its bow.
When the becalmed gunboats opened fire, the barges were out of
reach.
As they came within range, the barges separated into three
divisions, pushed forward, and began a lively return fire with their carronades.
Closing in, the British boarded the American gunboats. In
hand-to-hand fighting with muskets and bayonets, pikes and cutlasses,
the greatly outnumbered Americans were overpowered.
The British lost 17 killed and 77 wounded; the Americans lost 6
killed and 35 wounded.
In this battle, the British won control of the
lakes.
New Orleans
Jackson's "eyes" for watching them were lost.
became panic-stricken.
If people had formerly been surprised at Jackson's energy in spite of
his illness, they were now astounded.
He was on the Plain of Gentilly
when news of the loss of the gunboats reached him. He galloped to
his headquarters on Royal Street and dictated orders steadily for a day
and a night, even though his illness forced him to lie on a sofa much
the

15

16

of the time.

Express letters to Generals William Carroll, John Coffee,

and John Thomas ordered them to hasten to New Orleans with their
The militia went into active service and moved to the threatforces.
ened points. Every able-bodied man, British subjects only excepted,
was called to do his duty. When the legislature hesitated to suspend
the writ of habeas corpus, Jackson proclaimed martial law.
Panic subThe city became an armed camp.
sided.
Up to now, the American commander had stubbornly refused to accept the services of the Baratarians, whom he called "hellish banditti."
Several prominent Louisianans had tried in vain to persuade him that
Now Jean Lafitte called on Jackson
the pirates would be useful allies.
and offered his services. Though what passed between the two probArtillery
ably never will be known, Jackson accepted Lafitte's offer.
detachments were formed under Dominique You and Renato Beluche.
Other Baratarians joined various units of the defending forces. For
the time being, the pirates became patriots.
When the news that the gunboats had been captured reached him,
General Coffee's Brigade was encamped a few miles above Baton Rouge.
Leaving most of the brigade's baggage, Coffee selected the stronger
men of his command. They traveled 135 miles in a little more than

and arrived in New Orleans on the 20th.

Other reinforcements were arriving almost daily from the militia of
Louisiana, Mississippi, and Tennessee.
On the way down the rivers
from Nashville, General Carroll's Tennesseans had overtaken some of
Taking this material, Carroll
the boats carrying arms and munitions.
armed and drilled his men on the flatboats. When they reached the
threatened city on December 22, they were well enough trained to defend it against the approaching British forces.

3 days

The Night Battle of December 23

After getting control of Lake Borgne, the next British

ing a way to

New

problem find-

Orleans was solved by Capt. R. Spencer of the

Royal Navy and Lt. John Peddie of the Quartermaster Department.
Disguised as fishermen, these officers reached the Mississippi and found
that small boats could go through the bayous most of the way to the
great river.
They had penetrated by way of Bayou Bienvenue and
found no sign of American preparation. The British spies had seemingly found the only unguarded bayou.
Their commanders decided
to advance along this route.
Before reaching the mouth of Bayou Bienvenue, however, British
seamen and soldiers were driven to tremendous exertions and suffered
great hardships.
To cross the shallow Lake Borgne, the troops on the
heavy ships had to load into vessels that drew less water. They then

17

Jacques Philippe

Villere,

Major General

in the Louisiana Militia

and owner

plantation on which part of the action at Chalmette took place in 181415.

Louisiana State Museum.

went

The

of the

Courtesy,

mouth of Pearl River, for regrouping.

made the British divide their land
The Light Brigade, composed of the 85th

to Pea Island, near the

shortage of shallow-draft boats

force into

two

brigades.

and 95th Regiments, rocket troops, sappers, and miners, with the 4th
Regiment as support, formed the advance commanded by Col. William
Thornton. The 2d Brigade, under Col. Arthur Brooke, was made up
of the 21st, 44th, and 93rd Regiments, with much of the artillery.

went in open boats to the mouth of

sometimes grounded. Many seamen were at the oar for the greater part of 4 or 5 days. During these
journeys, the British had no fires or warm food and they were exposed
to drenching rains.
Once, after a heavy rain, the skies cleared and
Many of
the night became bitter cold.
Ice formed before morning.
the West Indian Negroes, unused to such a climate, died of exposure.
Pushing on despite these hardships, the invaders captured the small
American detachment at the mouth of Bayou Bienvenue about midnight of December 22, before other Americans could be warned of
the attack. Joseph Ducros, a native of Louisiana, was among the captives.
When questioned by Admiral Cochrane and Maj. Gen. John

From Pea

the bayou.

18

Island the invaders

Even the

lighter boats

The plantation house of Maj. Gen. Jacques Villere was used by the British as headquarters from December 23, 1814, to January 19, 1815.
This drawing shows the
old house as it was about I860.
Photocopy by Dan Leyrer from Lossing's Pictorial
Field Book of the

War

of 1812.

Keane, he told the British officers that there were 12,000 or 15,000
American soldiers in New Orleans and 5,000 more farther down the
river.
Cochrane and Keane were impressed, though not convinced,
and continued to move forward cautiously.
The British advanced along the bayous some in boats, and some
marching along the banks until they reached firm ground at the edge
of the Villere plantation.

Late in the

morning of the

23rd, they rushed

the plantation house, where they surprised and captured a militia de-

tachment.
The British had scored a tremendous tactical advantage:
they had reached, almost unopposed, a spot within 9 miles of their
goal.

was soon made known. Maj. Rene Philippe Gahad escaped in a clatter of musketry, and other Americans
had seen the invaders. That morning, Jackson had received a message
from Col. Pierre Denis de La Ronde saying that the British fleet was
in a position that suggested landing.
The American commander had
Before
sent Majors Howell Tatum and A. L. Latour to reconnoiter.
But

their presence

briel Villere

L9

commander of the Orleans Battalion of Uniform Militia ComHis battalion fought in the Night Battle of December 23 and afterward held
From the portrait by Vaudchamp.
a section of the line on the Rodriguez Canal.
Maj.

J.

B. Plauche,

panies.

Courtesy, Louisiana State

they

came

Museum.

back, Augustin Rousseau galloped to headquarters

Street with astounding news.

when

others, including

young

He had

on Royal

barely delivered his message

Villere, arrived

muddy and

nearly out

of breath.

According to an oft-repeated

story, Jackson, still

not well, was lying

when
came that the enemy was in force only 9 miles below New
Orleans.
He jumped up from the sofa, and, "with an eye of fire and
an emphatic blow on the table" cried:
"By the eternal, they shall not sleep on our soil."
Then, quickly becoming calm, Jackson called his aides, and said,
"Gentlemen, the British are below. We must fight them tonight."
Jackson's decision to attack at once was as important as any ever
made by a commander. The British could have entered New Orleans
easily at this time, for there were no important forces or defensive works
between them and the city.
Jackson's move was more than the impulse of a man who at last
could attack an enemy hated since boyhood.
The British troops were
on

a sofa in his

headquarters about

o'clock in the afternoon

the news

tired, his

20

were

fresh.

He had

the advantage of darkness and surprise.

He hoped

also that action

would improve morale,

especially of the

civilian population.

When

Jackson learned that the British had landed, Carroll's and

4 or 5 miles above the city, Maj. J. B. Plauche's
Battalion was at Fort St. John on Lake Pontchartrain, Dacjuin's Battalion of San Domingo Men of Color and the Louisiana Militia under
Claiborne were on Gentilly Road, and the regulars were scattered about
The naval commander, Commodore Patterson, was also some
the city.
Coffee's

men were

distance away.

Orders to assemble brought quick action. The first troops arrived

the narrow streets of the Old French Quarter by midafternoon.
Plauche's Battalion ran to the city (a feat which is commemorated
yearly by a race from the old Spanish fort to Jackson Square).
The
Tennesseans under Carroll and Coffee arrived less than 2 hours after
orders were issued.
Carroll and his men were ordered to join Governor Claiborne in case
The others started about sunset
the landing at Villere's was a feint.
on their way along the road toward the enemy. Col. Thomas Hinds'
Dragoons, recent arrivals from Mississippi Territory, and Coffee's Brigade of mounted infantry formed the advance. They were followed
by the Orleans Rifle Company under Capt. Thomas Beale, Jugeat's
Choctaws, Daquin's Battalion, two pieces of artillery commanded by
Lt. Samuel Spotts, the 7th Regular United States Infantry under Maj.
Henry D. Peire, a detachment of United States Marines under Lieutenant F. B. Bellvue, the 44th Regular United States Infantry under Maj.
Isaac L. Baker, and Plauche'e Battalion.
Altogether, some 2,000 men
marched with Jackson along the Mississippi River in the winter twiin

light.

Meanwhile the schooner Carolina went to take position opposite the

encampment. Capt. John D. Henly commanded and Commodore Patterson was on board.
About 4 p. m. a reconnoitering party on land had clashed with a
British outpost.
This party returned without a good estimate of the
enemy's numbers. They had picked up copies of a proclamation to
British

the Creoles, however, telling

them

that if they remained quiet, their

property and slaves would be respected.

miral Cochrane and General Keane.

At

nightfall, Jackson's forces reached

Ronde Oaks

stand today.

are often miscalled

(These

trees,

"Pakenham Oaks"

It

was signed by Vice Ad-

the spot where the

De

La

probably planted about 1820,

or "Versailles Oaks.")

General Coffee commanded one division, consisting of part of his brigade of Tennessee mounted infanThe
try, the Orleans Rifle Company, and the Mississippi Dragoons.
of
the
himself,
consisted
other division, under command of Jackson
artillery on the road along the levee, then, on a line almost perpendic-

There the

little

army

divided.

21

De La Ronde

Ruins.

mette vicinity.

The

The remains of what was once

British used

it

the finest mansion in the Chal-

as a hospital in 1814-15.

Photograph by Kay

Roush.

ular to the river, the marines, the 7th

and 44th Infantry, the battalions

By then it was dark, ex-

of Plauche and Daquin, and the Choctaws.

cept for the light of a

dim moon.

Ronde, a plantation owner familiar

with the terrain, was to circle to the left and attack from that side.
Every man was to keep quiet until the Carolina's opening volley the
Coffee, guided by Colonel de La

signal for the battle to begin.

While all this was happening, such of the British as were already
encamped had been enjoying food and wine from the plantations, and
Campfires showed plainly the
getting their first rest in several days.
position of those between Villere's house and the levee.

and sentinels had been posted, including

Jackson's army.
the fighting

At 7:30
22

p.

Only

detachment not

Outposts
far from

part of the British land forces were there

began about

1,680 men.

when

Others were on the way.

m., the Carolina's opening broadside hit the unsuspecting

Recovering from their consternation

foe.

like the veterans they were,

the British put their campfires out, and began to shoot at the schooner.

Their muskets and rockets were of even less effect than their 3-pounders the biggest guns they had. The noise of the battle was heard by
their troops on Lake Borgne, and by the people in New Orleans.
The British troops under the schooner's fire could only lay close to
the levee or hide behind buildings, while they listened to the moans
and shrieks of the wounded. They were so impressed by the volume
of cannon fire that their commander mistakenly reported "two Gunvessels" besides the Carolina.

For 10 minutes, "which seemed thirty," Jackson let the little ship
on the fight alone. Then he ordered his division to advance.
The accounts of what followed, on both sides, are confused and contradictory.
In the darkness, troops in both armies became separated
from each other, and the battle broke up into many small fights.
Men were captured because they did not know where they were.
Troops fired into other units of their own forces. Such things hapcarry

pened

The
in

to

both armies

column and others

first

as the battle

swayed back and

forth.

infantry under Jackson got off to a bad start,

in line.

to clash with the

enemy.

A company
Its

some advancing

of the 7th Infantry was the

advance met with

a discharge of

23

The Americans drove the invaders back; the British were

and the two forces continued to shoot at each other in the
This action was typical of the battle.
dark.
The main body of the 7th Infantry, coming on, engaged in a brisk
fire, followed by the 44th Infantry, which also began to fire as the acThe artillery and marines advanced with the
tion became general.
The two cannon were placed and began to fire in the direcregulars.
Flashes from the Carolina, and later from Coffee's
tion of the enemy.
men, showed other actions of the battle. In Jackson's Division, the
militia apparently lagged at first and seems to have fired into the more
advanced regulars. The British tried to turn the line by attacking the
militia, but Plauche's and Daquin's Battalions returned the fire
and drove them back.
Then larger units of the British 85th and 95th Regiments under
Col. William Thornton came into the fight, and the Americans had to
The two American fieldpieces were threatened. Jackgive ground.
musketry.

reinforced,

This reproduction of W. A. C. Pape's painting, "The Night Battle of New Orleans,"

a scene during Jackson's surprise attack on the British at the Villere plantation on the night of December 23, 1814In the light cast by burning British supdepicts

Jackson is seen arriving at the point where the capture of his guns was being
threatened in the general confusion of the night fighting.

plies,

24

Confused fighting and marching in the dark, illuminated momentarily by flashes of

Photocopy by Dan Leyrer from Frost's
gunfire such was the battle of December 23.
Pictorial Life of

son himself

Andrew

is

Jackson.

said to have saved them.

Americans drove the enemy back again.

rived to reinforce the British.
all

The

Reorganized somewhat, the

The 93rd Highlanders ar-

Carolina ceased firing as a fog

made

further action impossible.

In the meantime, Coffee and his

tack the British flank.

men had moved

to the left to

The Tennesseans dismounted and turned

at-

their

horses loose because the canefields where they fought were cut by
Coffee's

ditches.

opened

British camp.
battles, the

men were

almost in position

Then they advanced,

fire.

Experienced in

when

the Carolina

and muskets into the

Indian warfare, and accustomed to night
firing rifles

Fighting as indivi-

frontiersmen drove the British back.

way through the British camp. "In the whole

course of my military career I remember no scene at all resembling
duals, they cut their

British officer wrote later.

"An American officer, whose
made a cut at my
demanded, instead of giving it up
head."
Friend and foe were confused in the dark.
British reinforcements from Lake Borgne arrived, and their army
found a position behind an old levee. Coffee's men could not dislodge them, although these Tennesseans kept on shooting after Jackson's immediate command had ceased.
Both wings of the American
army withdrew to a place near the De La Ronde mansion and waited
this,"

sword

for daylight.

468593

0-58

25

26

/'V
CYPRESS

SWAMP
/

/
/

//
//

ft

/
fill
If I II

F^HALM|TTXNATipNAL\HISTORICAL PARK

BATTLE OF

NEW ORLEANS
JAN.
1815

8,

1815

DATA: SOLID LINES

PRESENT-DAY DATA: BROKEN LINES

AMERICANS

HHMi

BRITISH

DEFENDERS' ARTILLERY ALONG LINE

IN BATTERIES NUMBERED
TO 8.
1

27

The Americans lost 24 killed, 115 wounded, and 74 missing. The

commander reported 46 killed, 167 wounded, and 64 missing.

British

Among

the prisoners taken by the Americans was Maj. Samuel Mit-

who was supposed

to have set fire to the Capitol in

Washington.
Orleans was saved for the time being.
Although Jackson had
not driven the enemy from American soil, the results were important.
The invader's surprise had been met by a countersurprise. The British had been given a bad fright by the hitherto despised Americans.
The invaders had been thrown off balance, and did not recover durThe Night Battle of December 23 went far toing this campaign.
chell,

New

British cautious, when they might still have captured

by moving fast.
It had been a close call.
Jackson himself wrote that had the British
arrived a few days sooner, or had the Americans failed to attack them
in their first position, the invaders probably would have taken New

ward making the

their prize

Orleans.

The

Mud

Rampart

Jackson and

his officers

knew

could not stand up to

in daylight and in the open.
cruits,

they withdrew soon after

men, mostly militia and rebayonet attack by the British veterans

Leaving cavalry to watch the enemy,

that their

dawn on December

24 to the Rodriguez

Canal, the best defensive position in the vicinity.

The Rodriguez Canal formed the boundary between the Chalmette

and Macarty plantations. Years before, this shallow ditch on the
shortest line between river and swamp had been used as a millrace.
When the river was higher than the land, river water had operated a
small mill and had drained into the canal.
Directly astride the British
route of advance across the Chalmette plantation, it was 2 miles from
the scene of the Night Battle and 6 miles from the center of New
Orleans.

Along the Rodriguez Canal, Jackson's men began to build the mud
would defend New Orleans against

wall behind which a motley army

three attacks.
City and surrounding country were ransacked for tools
and men. The ground was much too wet for trenches. Fence rails
were driven into the soil along the canal and dirt piled against them.
By nightfall, the mud wall had the semblance of a field fortification,
but the work went on, one shift relieving another. Jackson himself
was seldom out of the saddle, day or night. (Nearly 5,000 miles away,
in Ghent, Belgium, the British and American envoys signed a treaty
of peace on that Christmas Eve.)
On the morning of the 24th, the Louisiana came down stream and
anchored about a mile from the Carolina. Whenever redcoats showed

2S

was followed by cannon fire from the ships.

pinned down. During the day,
troops from the British fleet landed at the Villere plantation, and the
advance withdrew after dark to join them out of range of the Amerithat day, their appearance

The

British advance

was

effectively

can ships' guns.

In the days following, Americans cut the levee below the Rodriguez

This flooded the plain between their army and the British,
but the river soon subsided and left the plain dry. Work continued
on the mud wall. A threat of attack on New Orleans from the northeast proved false, so General Carroll and his men moved to Jackson's
Canal.

line

on the

26th.

Pierre Lacoste's battalion also

moved

here.

Meanwhile, General Pakenham had arrived to take command of the

British.
His arrival on Christmas Day brought a momentary lift to

Pakenham and
second in command, Sir Samuel Gibbs, was not good. The terrain made it hard to reinforce and supply their troops, and this difficulty was increased by the shortage of pack animals.
The Americans
held a wall of mud, men, and artillery across the only dry ground on
the way to the city which Pakenham had come to take.
He must
either break through that line or try another route.
He decided to try
the spirit of his depressed troops, but the situation of

his

for a break-through.
First,

however, Pakenham

felt

he must rid himself of that

intoler-

able nuisance, the Carolina, that kept shooting at the flanks of his army.

So heavy guns and howitzers were brought from the

Early on the

shot furnace was built.

gunners began
and blew up.

firing red-hot balls into the Carolina,

Now

Pakenham was

fleet,

morning of the

and

a hot-

27th, British

which caught

fire

ready.

That evening, the British drove in the American outposts by a show

of superior force, and established artillery within range of the American lines.
In withdrawing, the Americans blew up the buildings of
Chalmette's plantation to give their

own

artillery a clearer field

The defenders had been strengthening their position in

The crew of the Louisiana had towed that vessel out of

of

fire.

other ways.
range, thus

saving for a few days the only remaining armed ship on the

river.

Some guns from

Jack-

the Carolina had been saved and

mounted on

son's line.
Expert gunners from Barataria manned a battery. Two
regiments of Louisiana Militia had been added to the force behind the

mud

wall.

The "Grand Reconnaissance"

As soon

as the

mist cleared next morning, December 28th, Pakenham

sent his troops forward in close-packed ranks across the cane stubble.

The

Britishers

marched

in

two main columns, one near the

river

and

29

Skirmishers were dethe other on the edge of the cypress swamp.

ployed between the two columns. A British subaltern later wrote of
the approach:

On we went

about three miles, without any let or hindrance from

coming our way. But all at once a spectacle
was presented to us, such indeed as we ought to have looked for, but
The enemy's army besuch as manifestly took our leaders by surprise.
came visible. It was posted in rear of a canal, and covered, though most
imperfectly, by an unfinished breastwork.

man

The

for

or inanimate nature

artillery

the Louisiana.

of the British fired at the unfinished

The Americans returned

the

fire,

mud

and

wall and

at

in the artillery

Then missiles from the ship

on land broke up the attacking column

duel the British cannon were silenced.

and from American

along the

artillery

river.

At the swamp end of the line, a detachment of Carroll's troops under

Colonel Hutchinson was ordered to skirt the edge of the swamp and
When the colonel was killed by the first Britdislodge the invaders.
ish fire, the detachment withdraw in confusion.
The British column along the swamp advanced toward the left of
On seeing
the American line, which was not as strong as the right.
his other

column broken, however, Pakenham ordered

all

his forces

were bitter at the thought that they could have

Said
turned the American left if permitted to continue the attack.
the subaltern quoted earlier: "There was not a man among us who
failed to experience shame and indignation."
This second land battle for New Orleans, called by the British a
The Americans lost 7
"reconnaissance in force," did not last long.
killed and 10 wounded.
British losses were 9 killed and 8 wounded.
His

back.

The

officers

Artillery Duel,

Between
night.

January

1,

1813

battles, the Americans harrassed their enemy by day and by

The Louisiana dropped downriver each day to bombard the

English position, until the invaders placed howitzers to reach her.

After that, she had to stay out of enemy range, and some of her guns

were added to those the defenders were mounting on the right bank
of the Mississippi.
From there these guns continued to annoy the
invaders.

Night after night, individual Tennesseans

woods and underbrush, frontier fashion, to
Three

men

slipped through
kill

British

tjie

sentinels.

one outpost were killed by unseen Americans in a single

Frequent shots in the dark kept the others in the British camp
awake. The invaders were not used to this kind of war. It got on
in

night.

their nerves.

30

This

is

the now destroyed plantation home of Augustin

Andrew Jackson as his field headquarters. From the col-

from an old photograph of

Francois Macarty, used by

lection of Stanley Clisby Arthur.

American defense preparations continued. More cannon were placed

behind the mud rampart. Other lines, manned by militia, were established between the Rodriguez Canal and the city.
These troops were
short of weapons and, New Orleans being under martial law, Jackson
directed the mayor to have houses searched for arms.
More Louisiana
Militia prepared to defend the right bank of the Mississippi in case
the enemy should cross the river.
Then, elated by their successes, the Americans planned a review and
celebration for New Year's Day, 1815.
Something quite different was
planned by the enemy.

With

great labor the British had transported heavy artillery from

American breastworks. All through the night

of December 31, 1814, the camp of the invaders resounded with the
noise of hammering, as gun platforms were constructed.
New Year's morning was foggy. Back of Jackson's line, soldiers in
their best uniforms were preparing for a parade.
A band was playing.
Civilian visitors, including women, gathered for the celebration.
Suddenly there was a tremendous explosion, followed by shells and
rockets.
The troops dashed to the
Spectators fled in every direction.
their fleet to batter the

mud

rampart.

31

The

first

discharges of the British batteries near the river were

American headquarters. This was in a

Macarty house, back of the line near the
The commanding general and his staff were in the buildMississippi.
Bricks, splinters, rockets, and balls were
ing when the firing began.
sent flying through the place in all directions, but no one was hurt.
Soon American artillery answered the British. The cannonading
continued all morning. Cotton bales had been placed around the
openings in the mud wall for the cannon. Now the bales were blown
out of place and set on fire. On the other side, the British were
finding that hogsheads of sugar did not make good breastworks.
Their
cannoneers were killed by balls that went through the barrels, and the
Someone said that this was the first
sugar ran down into the mud.
directed mainly against the
planter's residence, the

battle fought in "molasses."

An

attempted assault by the British infantry during a lull in the

cannonading was thrown back by Coffee and the Tennesseans.
Although considerably damaged, the American guns kept up their acDominique You and the other pirates showed their skill
curate fire.
The American fire had
as cannoneers on this New Year's Day.
By noon the British fire slackened and
greater precision and effect.
The American losses were 11 killed and 23
at 1 p. m. it ceased.
wounded. The British lost 32 killed, 44 wounded, and 2 missing.

Preparing for the Decisive Battle

After the artillery duel of January

1,

Pakenham decided

to await

This delay gave scattered American forces time to

converge on New Orleans and reinforce Jackson's defenses. Maj. Gen.
Philemon Thomas with 500 Louisiana Militia arrived from Baton
Rouge. These manned one of the lines between the Rodriguez Canal
reinforcements.

and

New

Orleans.

And on January 4, some 2,250 Kentucky Militia under Generals John

Thomas and John Adair arrived and encamped in the rear of the line.
Only 550 of these, however, were armed. Many wore rags. Jackson
wrote a blistering

letter to the Secretary

of

War on

the failure of ex-

New

Orleans and
buy woolens which the
women of the city made into clothes for the Kentucky soldiers. The
city was searched again for arms.
Skirmishing, patrolling, and intermittent cannonading went on between battles.
pected supplies to arrive.

subscription taken in

the surrounding country raised

money

to

Despite the shortage of supplies and an unfinished redoubt in front

of the fortified line at the river end, the defenders were well prepared
for the coming battle.
The Rodriguez Canal was from 10 to 20 feet

wide and from 4 to 8

32

feet

deep.

The mud

wall behind the canal,

and thickness, could withstand the enemy's

swamp. In the swamp, the wall was
only thick enough to resist musket balls. It was a double log wall,
with earth between. On the advice of Jean Lafitte, it is said, the line
had been extended at a right angle in the swamp to prevent that end
of the American line from being turned.
This line was defended by 8 batteries of artillery in 4 groups. The
Battery No. 4 was by itself, Batfirst 3 batteries were near the river.
teries 5 and 6 were near the center of the line, and Batteries 7 and 8
were near the swamp. The guns ranged in size from 4-pounders to
The gun crews included regular artillerymen, militia,
32-pounders.
seaman, pirates, and Napoleonic veterans.

though
cannon

irregular in height

balls as far as the cypress

The infantrymen defending New Orleans were as varied as the

The New Orleans Rifle Company was at the river end.
Next was the 7th Infantry. Then came the Orleans Battalion, the

artillerymen.

Men of Color, the San Domingo Free Men of Color,

and the 44th Infantry, in that order. A company of United States
Marines was near the center of the line. The remainder of the defenders, about half the line, consisted of Kentucky and Tennessee
From Battery No. 6 to the swamp, the infantry was Carroll's
troops.
Tennesseans, supported by Adair's Kentuckians. The line in the
swamp was held by Coffee's men, who suffered great hardships, even
sleeping in the mud.
Capt. Peter V. Ogden's Cavalry, the Attakapas Dragoons, Lt. Louis
Chauveau's Horse Volunteers, and Hinds' Dragoons were stationed at
various places in the rear to pounce on any of the enemy who broke
Louisiana Free

through.

The

British

were not

idle

during this

lull.

Their leaders decided to

on both sides of the Mississippi at the same time now that

American warships were no longer on the river to hinder a crossing.
To bring their boats from the bayous to the river, the British with
immense labor cut a canal across Villere's plantation. This was
finished on January 6.
On the same day, Gen. John Lambert arrived
from England by a somewhat roundabout route with the 7th and 43rd
Regiments as reinforcements. The British worked all through the day
and night of January 7 to prepare the attack. From observation of
this activity, the American officers expected action the next day.
attack

The Battle of New Orleans, January

8,

1815

Jackson had about 4,000 men on the line on January 8. Pakenham

had about 5,400 in his attacking force. Half of Jackson's men on the
line had spent the night at the breastworks, taking turns occasionally.
Their commander was awakened shortly after 1 a. m., and from then
33

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on was going up and down the line, inspecting, encouraging the men,
and dictating otders.
One thing after another went wrong with British plans on the night
of January 7-8. The banks of the freshly dug canal caved in before
all

the boats for the attack across the river got through.

that

made

farther

when

The 24

boats

the passage were late starting and were carried by current

downstream than expected.

main battle began.

Consequently they were not ready

the

Preparations did not start of! well in front of Jackson's line either.

Pakenham had divided the attacking

force into 3 groups.

General

companies of another, was to attack

near the cypress swamp, hitting the American line in the vicinity of
General Keane was to attack along the river with
Batteries 7 and 8.
General Lambert was to remain in reserve
a smaller body of men.
Gibbs, with

with

regiments, and

regiments.

The 44th Regiment had been chosen to lead the predawn attack.
They were to carry bundles of cane stalks (called fascines) to throw
in the

Rodriguez Canal and ladders

darkness, regimental
past the redoubt

commander

for scaling the

Lt. Col.

where the ladders and

out picking them up.

(After the battle,

Mullins for their defeat.)

It is

mud

wall.

Thomas Mullins

In the

led his

men

were stored withthe British would blame

fascines

uncertain whether he or General Gibbs

sent part of the regiment back for the ladders and fascines.

In any

column was thrown into confusion and the attack delayed

most favorable moment. _ Pakenham, it is said, dared not
change his plans at the last moment because of taunts from Admiral
Cochrane about the army's incapacity. __
About daylight, a rocket shot up from the British forces near the
woods, followed by another from their ranks near the river. These
signals to attack were answered almost instantly by a shot from the
American artillery. Gibbs' column gave three cheers and started
forward in close order. American Batteries 6, 7, and 8 began to pour
round shot and grape into the column. In spite of gaps torn by
missiles from the artillery, the British veterans continued to advance in
fairly good order until they came within musket range of the
Tennessee and Kentucky troops. Small arms fire from 1,500 pieces
added to that from the artillery soon broke the advancing column.
The defenders stood 3 and 4 deep behind the protective mud wall.
An infantryman fired his gun, stepped down from the rampart to reload, and was instantly replaced by another.
A witness wrote later
of ".
that constant rolling fire, whose tremendous noise resembled
case, the

past the

rattling peals of thunder."

One

surviving British officer said that the

looked like a row of fiery furnaces.

After 25 minutes of this hail of lead, the attackers broke and ran.
Though they were rallied by their officers, it was the same story over

American

line

35

American regulars and frontiersmen firing at the British from behind the
part during the battle of January 8.

Highlanders
devastating

and

other British forces storm the

American

line

and

mud

ram-

are repulsed with

losses.

"

.N&

^\

Only seasoned troops would have stood so long, and only

again.
Gibbs was mortally wounded
such troops could have been rallied.
trying to drive his soldiers forward.

Pakenham soon met

the

same

dying on the way to the rear after being hit a second time.
Many of the lower ranking officers were already dead or seriously
wounded. Numbers of the rank and file had lain down on the field
the only way to escape the murderous fire.
Keane, commanding the British near the river, saw Gibbs' plight
and obliqued across the field with the kilted 93rd Highlanders.
fate,

(Forty years later, this regiment was to be the "thin red line" at

According to legend, their commander, Col. Robert Dale,

handed his watch and a letter to a surgeon, saying, "Give these to my
On the Highlanders
wife.
I shall die at the head of my regiment."
came, in spite of a volume of fire such as even these veterans had
never known before. Their colonel was killed and Keane was seriA few men reached the mud rampart, but they were
ously wounded.
Confusion and terror became panic.
all quickly killed or captured.
The command of the column along the river had fallen to Col.
Robert Rennie. Under protection of the fog, lasting longer there,
Rennie stormed the American lines. Driving out defenders in handto-hand fighting, Rennie and some of his men seized the redoubt at
Then, mounting the breastwork, he
the right of the American line.
called on the "Yankee Rascals" to cease firing, and cried, "The enemy's
works are ours." But he barely said this when rifle fire smote him
down. American muskets and cannon ended the British attack along
the river as disastrously for the attackers as they had at the other end
Balaclava.)

of the

line.

Pakenham's

last order was for Lambert to bring up the reserve, but,

deciding that the battle was hopeless, General Lambert withdrew the

army from the

field.

The

infantry action

had not lasted more than

hours.

The joy of Jackson and his men turned to consternation when they
beheld the Americans across the river fleeing from the enemy.
Although

late in landing, Colonel Thornton's force had found little

oppose it along the west bank of the Mississippi. First to be
reached was an outpost manned by militia, many of them tired and
hungry and poorly armed. After firing a few volleys, the militia fled to
an unfinished line that ended in an open field. There they formed a
short distance from the other Americans manning the line.
The entire force was under the command of Brig. Gen. David B. Morgan.
The strongest part of this line was along the river where Commodore Patterson had mounted several naval guns. These, firing
across the river, had helped to repel the attacks on Jackson's line, including that which had just been defeated. The remainder of the line,
according to one description, was only a waist-high wall of dirt

to

37

This unusual perspective drawing of the Battle of New Orleans, January 8, 1815,
The Misswas made in 1815 by Hyacinthe Laclotte, an engineer in Jackson's army.
issippi River is seen in the foreground.
Just beyond is the American redoubt in front
It is being stormed by British troops under Colonel Rennie.
Jackof the main line.
son's line can be traced from the river bank to the point where it disappears in the
heavily wooded swamp.
Back of the American line, near the river at the left, is the
Macarty plantation house.
Here Jackson had his headquarters.
The ruins of the
Chalmette plantation buildings are at lower right.
Even the levee is shown, with
British soldiers advancing on either side, but few on top of it.
Gibbs led the British
troops near the woods.
Pakenham was mortally wounded while trying to rally the
troops massed in the center of the picture.
This reproduction is from a copy of an
engraving by P. L. Debucourt.
Courtesy, Prints Division, New York Public Library.

behind

shallow ditch. Even this did not extend all the way to the
There were also gaps between the various units defending it.
By attacking next to the swamp, and between the two groups of
defenders, Thornton broke this line, in spite of some losses from cannon
a

swamp.

fire.

The

defenders fled after efforts of their officers to rally

them

were unsuccessful.
Thornton's plan included seizing the cannon mounted along the
river.
If Patterson had not succeeded in spiking his guns, the British
might have raked the rear of the line on the Rodriguez Canal and
undone the American victory. Even as it was, they were soon on their
way to New Orleans with little to stop them.
Then came the order to withdraw. The army opposite Jackson had
been shot to pieces so badly that the British victory across the river was
of no use to them.
38

The impact of
years

is

partly

the Battle of
the

shown by

New

Orleans on Americans in 1815

many popular

and

*^

the following

two of which are shown here.

imaginations rather than the results of careprints of

it,

They are of course products of the artists'

In the upper view, for instance, the river from the British
ful study of the battle.
side should be on the left.
So far as we know, on January 8 there were no boats on
the river near the battleground.

But

it

courtesy of

Boyd

Cruise.

like these that many of

Photocopy by Dan Leyrer,

was from pictures

our ancestors obtained their impressions of historic events.

One of their
killed,
wounded,
of
nearly
and
missing.
2,000
reports gives a total
regimental
history,
the
4th
Regiment lost
(According to the official
Estimates of British casualties on January 8 vary widely.

more than 3 times as many as they were to lose

few months later.) The official American estimate of
Others guessed 3,000 or more.
the enemy's loss was 2,600.
The defenders found it hard to believe that their own losses were
only 7 killed and 6 wounded.
Rarely have first-rate soldiers been defeated in so one-sided a battle.
over 400 on this day
at

Waterloo

Military Activity After January 8

After defeating their enemies in front of Jackson's line on January 8,

This was
to attack them in the open.

some of the Americans wanted

prevented by the higher

many

officers.

They knew

soldiers able to use bayonets,

and that

that the British

it

still

would be only

had

waste

of lives to try to destroy the rest of their army. There were truces to
bury the dead, and the usual tedious and tricky negotiations over such
Between truces, the American
matters as the exchange of prisoners.
artillery annoyed the enemy.
On January 19, it appeared that the British had gone. This was
confirmed when one of their doctors approached the American lines
with a letter from General Lambert informing General Jackson that
the British had given

up the attempt against

asked for care for 80

Several spiked

men wounded

New

Orleans.

The

letter

too badly to be taken home.

cannon and some other war materials were

also left

behind.

Meanwhile

a small British fleet

began

to

bombard

Fort

St.

Philip,

New

Orleans on a bend in the river. They

soon found they could hit the fort and yet stay out of range of its guns.
They continued to bombard it at intervals for more than a week,
about 60 miles below

doing

damage and

little

plies for the fort arrived

killing only

from

New

two men.

On January

16, sup-

Orleans, including fuses for the

13-inch mortars that the defenders had not been able to use.
The next
day they hit the ships with projectiles from the mortars. On the 18th

up this" rather half-hearted attempt.

not knowing that the peace treaty had been signed, the British

the British gave

Still

showed

their determination by attacking Fort Bowyer on Mobile

second time in this campaign. The fort was weak in comparison with the force now sent against it, and surrendered on
February 1 1
Two days later, news of the peace reached the fort, and

forces

Bay

for a

the fighting in America ended.

40

New

Orleans After the Victory

After the British departed, Jackson redistributed his

army and

per-

An
mitted some of the men to return to their homes in New Orleans.
enthusiastic Latin celebration of the victory followed. There were parades, a triumphal arch, and, as the climax of the celebration, a Te
Deum

at

the cathedral,

when

the crowd outside joined in singing

hymns

of thanksgiving.

Even though Americans celebrated, their troubles were not over

The troops had long been exposed to every
the enemy left.
kind of weather, and now disease began to take a toll far heavier than

when

Mrs. Jackson, arriving in February, wrote to a friend that

the battle.

nearly a thousand had thus died.

In those days, Jackson's task was not

made

easier

by the rumors of

city.
Suspecting a ruse, he refused to believe
anything until he had a fully confirmed official notice. He kept the
militia under arms and New Orleans under martial law.
The raising
of the blockade boomed prices, and many of the citizen-soldiers were
more anxious to speculate than to do irksome duty. Once the immediate danger was past, the Governor and the legislature resented
Out of this situation grew a series of
Jackson's high-handed ways.
unpleasant incidents, culminating in a fine of $1,000 imposed on
Jackson by a Federal judge for contempt of court. Jackson bore himself with dignity in the courtroom, and paid the fine.
He quelled a
popular demonstration in his favor, advising his friends to recognize
the supremacy of the law.
At long last, indubitable news of peace came. Martial law was
lifted on March 12, and Jackson began to release the troops.
Many of the fighters in Jackson's temporary army returned to their
usual civilian ways.
The Tennessee troops marched back over the
Natchez Trace to their homes. General Carroll, their commander,
later served six terms as Governor of his State.
Others of Jackson's
commanders were later prominent in civil life, including John Adair,
who became Governor of Kentucky.
Some of the defenders, however, were adventurers with no civil
occupation. Among these were the Baratarians.
Because of their part
in the battle, President Madison pardoned them for their early offenses,
and they behaved for a while. Dominique You tried to be a New
Orleans ward politician and died in poverty. Renato Beluche became
an admiral in the Venezuelan Navy. Others returned to piracy and
set up an "establishment" on Galveston Island.
It was destroyed by
the United States Navy after outrages had been committed by the

peace that reached the

pirates.

that he

Of
".

Jean
.

Lafitte's

sailed

life

after

this

incident,

we

can only say

away into the legendary realms from which he

had come."
41

The News On

the East Coast

In January 1815, people in the cities of the East knew only that a large
An editor
British force had landed and that fighting was going on.

Baltimore newspaper, wrote that "great interests"

Nation were anxiously awaiting news. Some leaders of the
New England States, meeting in Hartford, were strongly suspected of
planning to secede from the Union. The Capitol in Washington was
The Federal Government was in bad financial condition.
in ruins.
of Niks

Register, a

in all the

Men

feared that the negotiations at

would not be

Ghent would

fail

was possible

or that the re-

one of these
outcomes, coupled with probable defeat at New Orleans, could have
broken up the Union.
The relief of the Government was extreme when the news of victory
The
at New Orleans finally reached Washington on February 4.
National Intelligencer used its largest type for the headline: ALMOST
INCREDIBLE VICTORY
People went wild with delight. A
heavy fall of snow did not dampen the celebration in Philadelphia.
All over the East the fireworks and rejoicing were greater than for any
other victory of the War of 1812.
Nine days later, news of the signing of the Peace Treaty at Ghent
completed the people's happiness. The envoys to Washington from
the Hartford Convention were glad to slip back to their own States
without presenting their demands to the Federal Government. Even
the Massachusetts Legislature gave thanks for the victory to God if
sulting treaty

ratified.

not to

Andrew

What

the Victory

The

It

that

Jackson.

Meant

to the

United States

New

Orleans was fought between the signing and the

Ghent, ending the War of 1812. It cannot be stated whether the British, if they had won, would have
insisted on changing the peace treaty.
Partly because of the American
victory in Louisiana, however, the treaty was promptly ratified by both
Battle of

ratification of the Treaty of

sides.

Much
its

effect

that the

of the significance of the Battle of

on

New

Orleans

is

found

in

From its founding, many men doubted

would endure. Conservative Europeans

political thinking.

new United States

many examples, from

the failure of the Roman Republic

French Revolution, which seemed to prove that
republics could not govern large territories.
In the United States too,
men often questioned whether the young nation would last. Even
after the Constitution had been adopted, many regarded themselves as
primarily citizens of their respective States.
have seen that news

pointed to

to the excesses of the

We

42

\\\

Ml/

Da

f*Z

xo

43

of the British defeat helped to end a secession movement in New England.

Partly because of the victory's unifying effect, the United States

endured
tics, and

as a republic.

success belied the prophesies of the skep-

Its

form of government became

its

model

for the

new

nations

of Latin America.

meant much to the people of the United States as a

helped them to forget earlier defeats in the War of 1812
such as Detroit, Niagara, and the burning of Washington and it
helped them to feel pride in their country as a whole. This national

The

victory

nation.

It

was shown in the following years by the establishment of the

Second Bank of the United States, protective tariffs, increased army
appropriations, and acceptance of the nationalizing opinions of Chief
feeling

Justice

John

Marshall.

Before 1815, American leaders had watched with anxiety every

political and military move in Europe.
After the New Orleans victory they stood

With

on

their

own

feet.

other military events of those years, the

paign cleared the way for

New

Orleans cam-

wave of migration and settlement along

The battles helped to advertise the West. Jackson's

coming and going, marked and built roads and trails, and
made people better acquainted with water routes. More important

the Mississippi.
soldiers,

was that European and Indian threats to the Misiswere now ended, and the outlet for Western products was

possibly than
sippi River

open

all,

at last.

from the smoke and glory of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson

For the first time, a Westerner arose to
challenge the power of the Eastern "aristocracy" which, until then,
had dominated the national politics of the United States. Soon after
the battle, he was mentioned for the Presidency.
He became a canAlthough Jackson received a plurality of popular
didate in 1824.
votes in this election, he lost in the Electoral College in a four-cornered
His winning of the next election, in 1828, was hailed as a trirace.
Finally,

emerged

umph
This

as a national hero.

of the people.
is

not the place to

years in the

White House.

D'Armes

now

tell

the story of

Andrew

Jackson's 8

His outstanding characteristics as President were his devotion to the Union, his faith in the plain people,
and his courage. He was as unafraid of any opposition in politics as he
had been on the battlefield.
Out of office, the old warrior became an "Elder Statesman" and
adviser to Presidents.
As such, he was influential in the annexation
of Texas. In 1840, he visited New Orleans for the 25th anniversary
of the battle.
At that time he laid the cornerstone of the monument
to him in downtown New Orleans' Jackson Square, as the old Place
is

called.

In 1843, Congress refunded with interest the fine that

son had paid in

4A

New

Orleans in 1815.

Andrew Jack-

Ml
The Rene Beauregard House, traditionally called " Bueno Retiro."
The original
was apparently built in the early 1830' and probably later altered considerably in the 1850' s and 1860's.
It is located in front of the American defense
line of 1815.
This view shows the structure before it was rehabilitated as the visitor
structure

center for the park.

's

Photograph by Kay Roush.

The Chalmette Monument and

the

Park

Jackson came to New Orleans in 1840, he visited the battleOn January 13, 1840, a few days after Jackson's visit, the cornerstone was laid for a battlefield monument.
Apparently little was done in the next 15 years. The Jackson
Monument Association continued to campaign for the proper commemoration of the heroes who had fought and died here. In 1855
the State of Louisiana bought a small tract of land, which included the
American defensive position behind the Rodriguez Canal, and began

When

field.

monument.
The work proceeded slowly, with many

to build the

interruptions.

In 1894, the

ground was placed in the custody of the United States Daughters of

1776 and 1812, who cared for it until 1929.
That society continued
to urge completion of the monument.
In 1907, the land was ceded
to the United States by the State of Louisiana, and the Federal Government completed the structure the following year.
45

The monument and grounds were transferred to the United States

Department of the Interior in 1933. In 1939 Chalmette National Historical Park was created, including the National Cemetery and the
The Rene Beauregard House and surland around the monument.
rounding land were added in 1949.

The Chalmette Monument, begun by

the State of Louisiana in 1855,

by the United States Government in 1908.

46

was completed

Photograph by Kay Roush.

Monument:

Facts About the

Material: Marble sheathing over brick

Spiral iron staircase winds around brick center support
Height: 100 feet 2V2 inches from
Thickness of walls: 2 feet

ground

to base of lightning rod

inches

Widths: 48 feet square at bottom of base

14 feet 4 inches square at base of shaft
14 feet 2 inches square at base of vertex
Vertex: 9 feet high

lightning, for third time since completion, in May 1937.

Lightning protection system installed soon after.
Plaque installed by United States Daughters of 1812, Chalmette Chap-

Damaged by

ter,

October

Guide

to the

19, 1947.

Area

follows is offered to enable you to make your

National Historical Park, including both the
Chalmette
own tour of
Line) Section and the National Cemetery.
(American
Monument

The information which

The

points of interest are

(page 48)

and we

numbered

suggest that

as

they appear on the

you follow them

map

in order, starting

with:

1.

visitor center.

Here, by means of models, pictures, historic ob-

and a "talking map" with electric

you are introduced to the highlights of the
Battle of New Orleans.
Its importance in the War of 1812 and in
later American history is also described.
These exhibits are housed in
a building which was not on the field at the time of Jackson's great
victory over the British veterans in 1815.
Just when it was built is
not definitely known, but it certainly was one of the fine ante-bellum
houses on the Louisiana shores of the Mississippi in the halcyon days
before the Civil War.
The name given it today is that of its last private owner, Rene Beauregard, son of Confederate Gen. P. G. T. Beauregard.
Rene lived here from 1880 to 1904. In later years the house
was abandoned and fell into ruinous condition. In 1957, it was restored outside and remodeled inside by the National Park Service under Mission 66, to serve its present purpose as a visitor center.
jects in

lights

story-telling arrangement,

showing the

action,

RODRIGUEZ canal.

As you walk the footbridge at this point you

Rodriguez Canal, a former millrace which, even as
early as 1815, had been abandoned.
Using the canal as a moat, Jackson's men constructed a mud rampart back of it.
From that strong
position, the oddlv assorted fighting force of Americans hurled back
2.

are crossing the

47

48

The Rodriguez Canal today.

The view is away from the river.
The reconstructed
At the time of the fighting in 1814-15,
of the mud rampart is on the left.
most of this land was in fields of sugar "cane, and the trees, fence, and buildings did
not exist.
A cypress swamp covered the area in the background of the present view.

section

Photograph by Dan Leyrer.

three British attacks.

manmade

The Rodriguez Canal

feature remaining

on the

is

the only trace of any

battlefield.

lost battery sites.

We cannot show you the position of BatSince 1815,
1,2, and 3 of the 8 batteries of the American Line.
the Mississippi River has claimed some 800 feet of the land on which
the guns stood; the sites are now under 40 to 60 feet of muddy river
3.

teries

49

water.

here

However, the

may help you

text of this

handbook and the marker

to get a picture of the situation as

in place

was on Janu-

it

ary 8, 1815.

"Lost" Battery

consisting of 2 long 12-pounders and a 6-inch

1,

howitzer, near the river, helped

on January
"Lost" Battery 2, had only

in the final assault

smash the

British attack at that point

8.

1 gun, a 24-pounder served by sailors

from the Carolina. The Carolina had been sunk before the main battle by British gunners firing "hot shot" (solid shot heated red hot)
which set the ship on fire and caused her to blow up.
"Lost" Battery 3 had perhaps the most colorful crew on the field.
The two 24-pounders were manned by the Baratarian pirates under
the command of Dominique You and Renato Beluche.
In the fierce
artillery duel on New Year's Day, the rough-and-ready pirates out-

gunned the

British artillerists.

American line battery 4. Like Battery 2, this 1-gun (38pounder) battery was served by crewmen from the ill-fated Carolina.
Between this battery and pirate-manned Battery 3, the Battalion of
Louisiana Free Men of Color held the line.

4.

5.

victory marker.

in

American

Here

is

described the importance of the victory

history.

the chalmette monument. This shaft commemorates the great

American victory on the Plain of Chalmette, known as the Battle of
New Orleans. The cornerstone was laid January 13, 1840, but the
project then entered a slumber almost as deep as Rip Van Winkle's.
Revived and promoted by the Jackson Monument Association, work
on the monument was started in 1855 by the State of Louisiana and,
6.

over a period of years,

it

rose to a height of 55 feet.

In 1894 the bat-

United States Daughters of

1776 and 1812 (later called United Daughters of 1812) who took care
of it until 1929. In 1907 the land was ceded to the United States by
the State of Louisiana, and the monument was completed the followtlefield

was placed

in the custody of the

ing year.

The plaque was installed on October 19, 1947, by the Chalmette

Chapter of the United Daughters of 1812.
7.
is

mud rampart and battery

a reconstruction

5.

The

pile

of earth which you see

of a very small section of the

mud

which Jackson's men hurriedly constructed, by the

on Christmas Eve of 1814. The 1814-15 version of
cation,

50

with the Rodriquez Canal in front of

it,

rampart, or wall,
general's orders,
this

proved

crude

most

fortifi-

effective

barrier to the British advance.

sippi River

on the right

Extending,

to the great

as

it

did,

swamp on

the

from the Missisleft, it gave the

British no alternative but to make direct frontal attacks upon the

American Line, or "Jackson Line" as it is sometimes called. The
American sharpshooters and gunners, relatively secure behind the mud
rampart, wrecked terrible execution in the British ranks charging across

the Plain of Chalmette.

Near the present marker, Battery

battery

challenged the British.

8, was parJanuary 8 as it poured round after round

of shot and grape into British General Gibb's advancing column.
The battery was commanded by Gen. Garrigues Flaujeac, veteran of
Napoleon's army and a member of the Louisiana Legislature.
It was supported magnificently by musket fire from a nearby company of United States Marines and by the deadly accurate, if relatively
undisciplined, fire delivered by Kentucky volunteers.
8.

6.

This battery, together with Batteries 7 and

ticularly effective

on

critical

battery 7. Professional soldiers regular artillerymen of the

United States Army manned this battery. Supporting the battery
were Tennessee Militia under command of Maj. Gen. William Carroll,
later elected Governor of that State six times.
This part of the
American Line bore the brunt of the decisive action on January 8.
Cannon fire tore holes in the red-coated ranks and the unerring aim
of the Tennessee frontiersmen completed the execution.
A few British soldiers reached the mud rampart only to perish there.
The supreme effort for a breakthrough was made here and at Batteries 6 and
8.
It failed and the British attempt to capture New Orleans was
9.

defeated.
10. battery 8.
Kentucky troops supported the one gun here which
was commanded by a regular-artillery corporal. The name of the corporal and the type of gun are not known and so the marker is entitled
"The Mysterious Gun." It is known, however, that this small "battery" joined with the two to its right to break the last desperate Brit-

ish

charge in the

11.

general coffee's position.

final

American Line, which

phase of the Battle of

New

The holding

Orleans.

of the

left

end of the

swamp, was the disagreeable assignment of the Tennessee volunteers under Brig. Gen. John Coffee, veteran commander of "mounted infantry" and friendly Indians in the
Creek Indian War. Coffee's men at Chalmette had raided the British
lay in the

in the night attack of December 23, 1814.

On New Year's
Day, from their position behind the rampart, they had broken the
only British charge of that day.
On decisive January 8, they held the

camp

51

same position with a determination not chilled by the cold water and
mud which all but engulfed them.
Leaving the Monument Section of Chalmette National Historical
Park, you may turn east (right) on the highway to reach:
12.

chalmette cemetery.

1864, this hallowed

Established as a National Cemetery in

ground holds,

in honor, the remains of

15,000 veterans of our Nation's wars.

Of

these, 6,700 are

more than
unknown.

The cemetery was closed for burials in 1945 but is open for visitation
by those wishing to pay respects to the defenders of our Country who
have their last resting place here.
13.

G. A. R.

(a society

monument.

In 1874, the

of Union veterans of the Civil

Grand Army of the Republic

War) erected this monument

memory

of their comrades-at-arms buried in Chalmette NaIt was originally placed in the center of the cemetery, but was moved, in 1956, to its present location at the River Terminal Circle of the cemetery's magnolia-lined drive. Notice the into the

tional Cemetery.

scription,

DUM TACENT CLAMANT

They Cry Aloud") the

in the graves at

("While They Are

Silent,

Federal soldiers' last salute to their comrades

Chalmette.

The De La Ronde Oaks. Probably planted about about 1820, they grew where Jackformed his men for the Night Battle of December 23, 1814. They are often miscalled "Pakenham Oaks" or "Versailles Oaks" and are located on private property

son

near the park.

&*

mm
*mmr

* $$fe
f*%

We

hope that you have reThis concludes the self-guiding tour.

from your visit to Chalmette National Historical Park, real
inspiration and a greater understanding of a part of the American
ceived,

story.

Nearby Points of Interest

About 2 miles east on State Route 39, the ruins of the De La Ronde
mansion stand in the center of the divided highway. Between the
avenue of moss-grown
for the night attack
The British camped here later in the campaign.
An oil refinery is now on the site of the Villere plantation, the British
The
headquarters, about 1 Vi miles east of the De La Ronde Oaks.
Night Battle of December 23 was fought over much of the ground
between these two places.
The exhibit on the Battle of New Orleans in the Cabildo of the
Louisiana State Museum on Jackson Square should also be seen.
ruins and the Mississippi River

Near
on December 23.
live oaks.

How

this site the

is

a magnificent

Americans formed

Reach the Park

to

The park

6 miles from the junction of Canal and Rampart Streets,

of New Orleans.
The Cemetery Section of the park is
one- third mile east of the Monument Section.
State Route 39 follows
is

in the center

St. Claude Avenue, a continuation of North Rampart Street.

Both
park entrances are on this highway.
State Route 47 is a short cut
from U. S. 90 to State Route 39 for those approaching from the east.
Close study of street maps and careful observation of signs are recom-

mended

for

newcomers

About Your

to

New

Orleans.

Visit

You may

obtain further information about this and other areas of the

National Park System at the Visitor Center in the Rene Beauregard
House, located in the Monument Section of the park. With the exception of Christmas and New Year's Day, the visitor center is open
every day of the year.
Visiting hours, Monday through Saturday, are
from 8 a. m. to 5 p. m.; and on Sunday, from 9 a. m. to 6 p. m. Park
personnel are available at the visitor center to give you information
and assistance. Literature explaining the park can also be obtained
here.

made

Special service for groups can be secured

in

if

arrangements

are

advance with the superintendent.

53

Equestrian statue of Andrew Jackson, by Clark Mills, in Jackson Square,

Photograph by Kay Roush.

New

Or-

leans.

Supplementing the explanatory exhibits

Monument

will find in the

in the visitor center,

you

Section of the park a series of historical

markers identifying important positions along General Jackson's line

and the historic remains of the Rodriguez Canal in front of the
American position. Here also is situated the imposing Chalmette

Monument.

Related Areas

The National Park

rating the

War

Service administers

of 1812.

They

are Fort

two other

areas

commemo-

McHenry National Monument

and Historic Shrine, Baltimore, Md.; and Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial National Monument, Put-in-Bay, Ohio.

Administration
Chalmette National Historical Park is administered by the National
Park Service of the U. S. Department of the Interior. A superintendent, whose address is Box 125, Arabi 16, La., is in immediate charge.
54

Suggested Readings
Contemporary Accounts

Gleig, G. R., Campaigns of the British Army at Washington, Baltimore

and New Orleans in the Years 1814 and 1813. N. Carey and Sons,
(Recently reissued in an Everyman's Library
Philadelphia, 1821.
edition.)

Nolte, Vincent, Memoirs

New

Watt,

G. H.

or Fifty Years in Both Hemispheres.

Good on

York, 1934.

New

general conditions at

Orleans.

Other

stories of the

pated in

New

Orleans Campaign by

men who

partici-

are in rare books.

it

General Histories

Adams, Henry,
Jefferson

History of the United States in the Administrations of

Charles Scribner's Sons,
York,
9 vols.

New

and Madison.

1921.

Roosevelt, Theodore, Naval War of 1812.

New

G.

P.

Putnam's Sons,

York, 1910.

Biographies

James, Marquis, Andrew Jackson, Border Captain.

Bobbs- Merrill Co.,

Indianapolis, 1933.
,

Portrait of a President.

Bobbs-Merrill Co., Indianapolis,

1937.

The

first

in the

volume contains

War

Saxon, Lyle,

of 1812.

vivid descriptions of the part Jackson played

The

latter

Lafitte the Pirate.

continues his

Century Co.,

life as

New

President.

York, 1930.

Much

local color.

U.

S.

GOVERNMENT PRINTING OFFICE

1958 OF

468593
55

NATIONAL PARK SERVICE

HISTORICAL

HANDBOOK

SERIES

FOR SALE BY THE SUPERINTENDENT OF DOCUMENTS, U.

PRINTING OFFICE, WASHINGTON 25, D. C.

S.

GOVERNMENT

Bandelier (No. 23), 25 cents

Chalmette (No. 29), 25 cents

Chickamauga and Chattanooga

Battlefields

(No. 25), 25 cents

Custer Battlefield (No. 1), 20 cents

Custis-Lee

Mansion (No.

6), 25 cents

Fort Laramie (No. 20), 25 cents

Fort

McHenry (No.

5), 25 cents

Fort Necessity (No. 19), 25 cents

Fort Pulaski (No. 18), 25 cents

Fort Raleigh (No. 16), 25 cents

Fort Sumter (No. 12), 25 cents

George Washington Birthplace (No. 26), 25 cents

Gettysburg (No. 9), 25 cents

Hopewell Village (No.

Independence (No.

8), 25 cents

17), 25 cents

Jamestown, Virginia (No.

2), 25 cents

Kings Mountain (No. 22), 25 cents

The Lincoln Museum and

the

House Where Lincoln Died

(No. 3), 20 cents

Manassas (Bull Run) (No. 15), 25 cents

Montezuma
Morristown,

Castle (No. 27), 25 cents

Military Capital of the Revolution (No. 7),

25 cents

Ocmulgee (No.

24), 25 cents

Petersburg Battlefields (No. 13), 25 cents

Saratoga (No. 4), 20 cents
Scotts Bluff

(No. 28), 25 cents

Shiloh (No. io), 25 cents

Statue of Liberty (No. 11), 25 cents

Vicksburg (No. 21), 25 cents

Yorktown (No.

14), 25 cents