Combat· War of 1812
Battle of New Orleans
Andrew Jackson's defense of New Orleans was the most lopsided American land victory of the war.
Behind the earthworks along the Rodriguez Canal on the Chalmette plain, a force of regulars, militia, free men of color, Baratarian privateers, and a detachment of Marines met the frontal assault of Sir Edward Pakenham's veteran British army. The 58 Marines from the New Orleans Navy Yard held the line beside the river, commanded by Lieutenant Francis de Bellevue after their senior officer, Major Daniel Carmick, had been badly wounded by a rocket in the fighting two weeks earlier. In barely half an hour the British attack was shattered, with more than two thousand casualties including Pakenham killed, against a handful of American losses. Word of the Treaty of Ghent had not yet crossed the Atlantic. The victory made Jackson a national hero and sent the war out on a triumphant note.
Podcast episodes on War of 1812
Record no. 85