Map of the British Landing
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British Land-The Fight in the Dark Dec 23, 1814
a row of oaks on the de la Ronde's Plantation, where the night battle was fought
At Lake Borgne, thousands of British soldiers, under the command of General John Keane,were rowed to Pea Island, about 30 miles (48 km) east of NewOrleans, where they established a garrison. "I shall eat my Christmasdinner in New Orleans," Admiral Cochrane had said on the day of thelanding. On the night of Dec 22, the British advance chose an approachwhich Jackson had least expected them to take, disembarking 2,000 menon Lake Borgne, who managed to get across the swampy ground andappeared in the morning on the left bank of the Mississippi, 8 milesbelow New Orleans . He had expected them to come via the plains ofGentilly. Had they advanced immediately into New Orleans, they probablycould have taken the city .Instead, they decided to wait forreinforcements and artillery .This gave Jackson time to concentrate hisforces, who led a ferocious night attack on the British on the night ofthe 23rd .There was brutal hand to hand combat, with the British usingswords and bayonets and the Americans using tomahawks and huntingknives.in this attack, General coffee and his Tennessean riflemenattacked the British flank at de la Ronde's Plantation .The attackconvinced the British that the force defending New Orleans was largerthan what it was, delaying an immediate attack.The Americans suffered areported 24 killed, 115 wounded, and 74missing or captured, while the British reported their losses as 46killed, 167 wounded, and 64 missing or captured. He also beganconstruction of a fortified line behind an old canal bed below the city. The Carolina bombards British positrons Dec 23, 1814
On Dec 23, the Carolina began to bombard British potions next to the Mississippi River, causing much havoc. The British did not have heavy artillery at the time to respond. On Dec 27, the British had their heavy artillery, after moving them over 60 miles, and the Carolina was hit with heated shot, caught fire , blew up and sank .
The Grand Reconnaissance Dec 28, 1814
Major General Edward Pakenhan
On Christmas Day, General Edward Pakenham arrived on the battlefield . The greatly cheered up the men. General Pakenham, the brother-in-law of the Duke of Wellington, a favorite of the Duke and of the army, was of North of Ireland extraction, like the antagonist with whom he had come to contend.Few soldiers of the Peninsular war had won such high and rapid distinction as he, such as at Salamanca and Badajoz.He ordered guns brought up, which destroyed the Carolina on the 27th.
Hunting parties and 'Indian Warfare' The British kept in a constant state of anxiety and agitation. Sending down small bodies of riflemen, the American general harassed our pickets, killed and wounded a few of the sentinels and prevented the main body from obtaining any sound or refreshing sleep. While two European armies remain inactively facing each other, the outposts of neither are molested .This action was considered ungentlemanly by the British and breaking an unspoken rule of warfare between civilized countries and greatly annoyed the British."In these little 'hunting parties' Jugeat's Choctaws naturally excelled. One of them, a half-breed named Poindexter, being authentically credited with the killing of five British pickets in three nights. The British reported that more than fifty British soldiers were killed, and many more severely wounded by this method of assassination. On the morning of the 28th, the right column, under General Gibbs, took post near the skirts of the morass, throwing out skirmishers half way across the plain, whilst the left column drew up upon the road covered by the rifle corps which, in extended order, met the skirmishers from the other. The spectacle of the British advance was splendid in the extreme. "Forward they came," says the author of "Jackson and New Orleans," "in solid columns, as compact and orderly as if on parade, under cover of a shower of rockets and a continual fire from their artillery in front and their batteries on the levee. It was certainly a bold and imposing demonstration, for such as we are told by British officers, it was intended to be. To new soldiers like the Americans, fresh from civic and peaceful pursuits, who had never witnessed any scenes of real warfare it was certainly a formidable display of military power and discipline. Those veterans moved as steadily and closely together as if marching in review instead of 'in the cannon's mouth.' Their muskets catching the rays of the morning sun nearly blinded the beholder with their brightness, whilst their gay and various uniforms, red, gray, green and tartan. The British face withering gun and cannon fire.The consequence was that in half an hour two the British field-pieces and one field-mortar were dismounted, many of the gunners were killed and the rest, after an ineffectual attempt to silence the fire of the shipping, were obliged to retire. "In the meantime the infantry, having formed line, advanced under a heavy discharge of round and grape-shot till they were checked by the appearance of the canal. Of its depth they were of course ignorant and to attempt its passage without having ascertained whether it could be forded might have been productive of fatal consequence. A halt was accordingly ordered and the men were commanded to shelter themselves as well as they could from the enemy's fire. For this purpose they were hurried into a wet ditch of sufficient depth to cover the knees where leaning forward they concealed themselves behind some high rushes which grew upon its brink and thus escaped any bullets which fell around them in all directions. All thought of attacking was for this day abandoned and it now only remained to withdraw the troops from their present perilous situation with as little loss as possible. This cost General Pakenham a loss of 59 killed and wounded. The casualties of the American side were nine killed and eight wounded. Atthe extreme left of Jackson's lines, a mile away from the river wherethe ditch could be leaped and the embankment easily surmounted, therewas a moment which rightly improved what might have given a differentissue to the day. Upon getting sight of the rude line of defense, General Gibbs, instead of ordering the "simultaneous rush," which wouldhave carried them, was obliged to remember that the affair was only areconnaissance, and so halted his eager column. A detachment underColonel Rennie advanced, however, drove in the American outposts, anddrew up in a sheltered position one hundred yards from GeneralCarroll's division. Carroll's men clamoring for a share in the day'swork, their General permitted Colonel Henderson to lead a column of twohundred Tennesseans along the borders of the swamp, with the design ofgetting to the rear of Rennie's detachment and cutting it off. Theattempt failed. A body of British troops concealed in the woods, openedfire upon the column, killed Colonel Henderson and five of his men,wounded a few more, and compelled the rest to retreat behind the linesin confusion. At this moment, when Rennie, elated by the result, wasadvancing on Carroll's division and about to close with it, animperative order from General Gibbs obliged him to retire. It is beyondquestion that a vigorous attack upon the left at that time would havegiven General Jackson more serious trouble than he had yet experiencedduring the campaign. |
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