The Main Attack

At dawn, frontiersmen from the Tennessee and Kentucky militias stood ready at the swamp end of the American line. British commander Sir Edward Packenham concentrated his main attack there under Major General Sir Samuel Gibbs, expecting the American volunteers to perform poorly. Instead, Packenham's force fared badly when Lieutenant Colonel Thomas Mullins sent the 44th to the wrong location to pick up the ladders and fascines needed to cross the canal and scale the rampart. When the British reached the American rampart, they had no way to advance and were impeded by the disorganized 44th. Under heavy American fire, the attack disintegrated into chaos.

Chalmette, Louisiana · United States