Thoughts From The Battle of The New Orleans

General Jackson Jackson Tough, tolerant Leading, encouraging, convincing Tennessee, New Orleans, Chalmette Plantation Riding, fighting, winning Brave, bold Ole’ Hickory

December 10, 1814 Everyone in the town, that are men, joined Jackson’s Army and were anxious of going to New Orleans. We packed all of our things and some of the women went with us.

December 23, 1814 We just got orders from General Jackson that the British have landed at Bayou Bienvenue. We walked to Chalmette Plantation to set up there. It was a 10 mile walk and took around two hours to walk. We set up camp and we’re waiting for more orders from General Jackson.

December 23, 1814 We got orders from General Jackson saying to attack the British at night. He said “By the eternal, they shall not sleep on our soil.” We are getting ready for the battle. We are waiting for the Carolina to open fire on them to signal for us to attack. It was pitch black, and the only thing you could see is the gunpowder shoot off in flames. Every time we would see that, we would all shoot at that direction.

December 28, 1814 It was a cold, clear morning. The morning dew was crisp on the sugar cane stubble. The red coats were lined up in ranks heading toward our rampart. They were very precise at their drilling. My friend was cowering in fear at the sight of them. I had to slap some sense into him. Then he realized what was happening. He then screamed “The British are coming!” They looked like a big sea of red flooding into the field.

December 28, 1814 The Louisiana fired into their ranks. That signaled for us to start the firing. The red coats fired rockets towards us but missed most of us. It hit a few of my comrades and wounded some other men. We shot at them as we finished loading our guns. Volleys of bullets were shooting from all direction and screams cried out in all directions. The red coats were pushing forward but we kept on fighting. We had the advantage and we pushed them back further. Finally, General Pakenham called for a general retreat.

January 8, 1815 We have dug a rampart on our side because it was swampy everywhere else. We had the advantage by having higher ground. We could see them coming from a good distance. Someone yelled, “The British are coming. The British are coming!” We set up our posts and got ready. We heard the drums of the red coats. There were many of them coming in groups and rows towards us. They couldn’t see us under the camouflage we had.

January 8, 1815 When they were is range, we started shooting. They were startled but acted quickly. We gave volley after volley as quick as we can. They fell down fast but kept coming. Then we heard that someone shot General Packenham. Gibbs got 20 yards from our rampart. He then got shot badly. I heard one soldier say, “Halt, Mr. Red Coat. One more step and I’ll drill a hole through your leather.” The officer froze in his steps and replied, “ What a disgrace for a British officer to have to surrender to a chimney sweep!” (Remini 152)

Bibliography Barrois, Dean. (2012) Personal experiences in “The Recognizing Our Roots Living History Program.” Chalmette, La. Gilbert,Ed. (2008). Frontier Militiaman In the War of Oxford, Great Britain: Osprey Publishing. Remini, Robert. (1999). The Battle of New Orleans. New York, New York: Penguin Group. Sahli,Mohammed. (2012) Personal experiences in “The Recognizing Our Roots Living History Program.” Chalmette, La.