Word of the treaty signed in December 1814 was slow to reach the countryside south of New Orleans, Louisiana, and before dawn on January 8, 1815, General Andrew Jackson’s American troops waited for a British attack. Commanded by General Sir Edward Pakenham, the larger British force had been held in check for nearly two weeks of skirmishing and advanced toward New Orleans along a narrow corridor between the river and a swamp. Jackson placed his army across their line of march on the Chalmette Plantation, where water eight inches below the ground prevented digging in, so the defense was made of sugar barrels and a few cotton bales. Behind it stood Jackson’s 6.000 unusual troops: Army Regulars, local militias, Tennessee and Kentucky volunteers, two battalions of freed blacks, some Choctaw Indians, and pirates led by Jean Lafitte. At dawn the British attacked, but their first wave moved into heavy American long-rifle and cannon fire, and Pakenham and his second in command were quickly killed. As the survivors retreated, the kilted 93rd Highlanders emerged from the morning mist marching in formation to the sound of bagpipes; of the 925 who went forward, only 130 returned. By the end of the battle the British had suffered more than 2,000 casualties and left American soil ten days later. Although the earlier treaty had technically ended the War of 1812, its terms let each country keep the territory it held at the end of hostilities, and this victory ensured that Louisiana remained part of the United States. News of the treaty and of the victory reached Washington, D.C., at the same time, greatly lifting the nation’s sagging morale, and the battle made Andrew Jackson a national hero.
