SAA 2013, Part 2: The Battle of New Orleans

"In 1814 we took a little trip, along with Colonel Jackson down the Mighty Mississip . . . "

The American lines and cannons at the Chalmette Battlefied, with Malus-Beauregard House and live oaks in the background

On Tuesday I joined members of the SAA's Military Archives Roundtable and 6 Marines currently stationed in New Orleans on a bus tour to explore the New Orleans Campaign (December 1814-January 1815), the final campaign of the War of 1812.  Lillian Jackson Braun once wrote that a historic battlefield is all in your imagination.  Well, take a tour of two historic military sites with a group of archivist military history buffs and you bring far more than your own imagination with you.  Apologies ahead of time to my British friends, but (spoiler alert) you did lose this one.

Inside Fort Pike, with Lake St. Catherine in the background

We began the trip at historic Fort Pike, recently reopened after extensive damage from Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.  The outer walls of the fort are 18 feet high and our guide told us the storm surge pushed the water over 14 feet above the walls during the worst of the storm.  The fort is about 23 miles east of New Orleans, and was actually built just after the war ended when the military decided to increase the area's defenses against both land and sea attacks.  We were told there was a fort

in this location before Pike was built in 1819 and it was this strategic location that the British wanted to avoid.  Captured Americans told the British the fort was heavily armed and its cannons would have no trouble taking out British ships.  So to avoid the hundreds of cannons the British thought were there (apparently only something like 12 were actually at the fort at the time) the British made the fateful decision to sail on towards Chalmette and come at New Orleans that way.

Cannon in a protective iron enclosure to keep it from falling into the fort in recoil after firing

 The fort has been restored well and our tour guide was excellent, describing how garrisoned troops would have lived, the blacksmith area where horse shoes and munitions would have been made, a small bakery where bread was baked.  In the heat of the morning you could imagine how miserable the workers would have been in the small stone areas!  Vents built into the walls took the worst of the smoke out, and probably some of the heat, and breezes from Lake St. Catherine helped
cool things down more.  But it was still not a job you'd want for long.  The fort lost its museum and papers, including letters and diaries written during its occupation in the Civil War, to Katrina.  Conservation experts are still working on some areas of the fort and a new museum is being planned.  It was a great way to set the stage for Chalmette.  Our leaders read from archival letters and British orders  to harass and annoy the Americans as much as they could- and take New Orleans if at all possible.  Even though peace talks were being carried out in Europe that would end the war, if the British were able to take New Orleans first they would have the right to plunder the rich city, perhaps even use it as a bargaining chip if the treaty talks stretched out.

Inner walls of Fort Pike

Our next stop was, of course, the Chalmette Battlefield.  Downriver of New Orleans, the battlefield stretches across a very flat plain against a levee and the Mississippi River.  The Battle of New Orleans was important for two main reasons.  First, it was a perfect melding of cultures and people into a new 'America'.  Native Americans fought along side freedmen, slaves, Creoles, pirates, and sharpshooters from Kentucky and Tennessee.  Remember that the Lousisiana Purchase had been concluded only a few years ago and Louisiana didn't consider itself 'American'.  Legend claims this is where the term "neutral ground" comes from- Creoles lived on one side of what America calls a median, the Americans lived on the other side and the grass in the middle was 'Neutral ground"between two peoples and cultures that didn't like each other.  The Battle of New Orleans was one of the first times everyone living in the region had to work together for a common goal.  Second,  it was a decisive victory for American.  Roughly 2,000 British troops died and about 20 American troops.  A huge moral booster!  According to our group leaders this is where the British learned they were dealing with "a new kind of American".  This was not meant as a compliment.  The American troops fighting here didn't worry about the rules of polite warfare (if there is such an oxymoron) that had governed Europe during the Napoleonic Wars.  They had no problems shooting at troops camped at night, aiming at their campfires, and at the very least making sure the soldiers had no sleep and few steady nerves when they finally fought.

Chalmette Battlefield- as flat today as it was in 1815. Not an inspiring march for the British

 The battlefield itself is as flat today as it was in the winter of 1815, the only rise being an earthen wall the Americans built to use for protection. One story was told about an American whose hat was shot at least five times, but was himself not harmed at all while he put his gun over the wall and shot at British soldiers (given the guns at the time I'm not sure this story is real, but it certainly sounds American).  The British marched straight into cannon fire with several of their commanders in the front ranks.  One of our Marines said that leading from the front was the perfect way to get killed and leave your troops to lose the battle, sending up an apology to British Major General Pakenham in particular, but telling the man "You were an idiot." Several commanders died on the front lines and their forces had to wait for orders from the back before continuing.

 I hadn't been to the battlefield since a school field trip a long time ago, and I enjoyed the discussion and debates of military enthusiasts and seeing the field through their eyes instead of just walking the paths and reading the signs describing a few key points in the battle.  I'm by no means a military expert but I am interested and want to learn more.  I'm going to have to do some research into good books on the campaign to make sure I remember what I learned on the trip, and hopefully pick up a few more things about one of the greatest battles in the area. Sink or Be Sunk was recommended by name, but anyone who has other suggestions, please pass them on!  

Cannons lined up as the British would have faced them