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The British Plan of Attack New Orleans before the invasion British and American Commanders Warning from Jean Laffite Attack on Lafitte's base Jackson placed in command Battle of the Gunboats Jackson and the Baratarians The British Arrive The Fight in the Dark The Carolina The Grand Reconnaissance Battle of New Years Day The Main battle Weapons of the Battle re-enactments&photos What if the Americans lost? visiting the battlefield Map of Chalmette Battlefield and surrounding area List of Kentuckians and Louisianans in the battle Timeline audio
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Photos and movies from the Chalmette Battlefield Jan 9, 2009
Photos-click to enlarge
video of Baratarian re-enactors firing a cannon, with French commands
video of a rifle fire demonstration
The Chalmette Monument, started in 1840, finished 1908
What if the Americans lost the Battle of New Orleans ?
The British army loots New Orleans 1815
What if Jackson had been defeated and lost the Battle of New Orleans ? He told one officer he would have burned the city and taken a position north of New Orleans and stopped all shipping to the city. After the battle of the 28th, committee of the Legislature to ask what course he intended to take in case he were compelled to retreat..'If,' replied the General, 'I thought the hair of my head could divine what I should do, forthwith I would cut it off! Go back with this answer; say to your honorable body that if disaster does overtake me and the fate of war drives me from my line to the city, they may expect to have a very warm session !'
As mentioned before, After taking New Orleans, the British planned to head up the Mississippi Valley to join troops coming down from Canada . Perhaps a new British colony could be established in Louisiana or New Orleans at least could be detached to the empire, giving the British a stranglehold on the Mississippi. The price of peace could have been ceding the Louisiana Purchase territory to the British, setting up a Louisiana "India."
There are a great number of ' what ifs ' for the British operations in the Gulf Coast. What if Pakenham had attacked immediately after discovering Jackson holding a parade for his troops when the fog lifted on Jan 1st ? What if Cochrane had not been delayed two weeks waiting for Lloyd's squadron to arrive at Negril Bay and arrive off New Orleans before Jackson had arrived ? What if the British were able to take Mobile and march along the coast as Jackson expected ? If this had happened, the British could have recruited many Creeks, who until recently had been fighting the U.S. in the Creek War, and were still bitter over ceding 23 million acres of their land at the Treaty of Fort Jackson. Such an army, marching along, gathering Indians,and forcing towns and plantations to swear allegiance to the empire along the way would have been hard force to stop. Such a force of Indians may have been able to mitigate the Indian style warfare Jackson certainly would have employed against the British in their march to New Orleans.
If the British had been able to take New Orleans and had the Louisiana Territory ceded to them as a condition of peace and Napoleon had not returned to power, what would have been the result ? Would the Creoles of New Orleans and the surrounding area revolted or just accepted it as another ruler, which had happened more than a few times already ? The British probably would have banished the American population, and fortified New Orleans and the river to the coast and able to collect huge revenues . American expansion west of the Mississippi could have been stopped and British armed Indian tribes would have made American settlement of the western lands it did hold much more difficult. This almost certainly would have led to another war between Britain and the U.S. at some point, if America itself didn't break apart after such a disaster . Britain would have been in a position to encourage sectionalism and succession in America to further weaken it as a threat. There certainly wouldn't have been the optimistic Era of Good Feeling which followed Jackson's victory. California could have been easily seized from the Spanish and the resulting gold discovery there would have brought in many colonist. Driving the British out would have become the biggest issue, not slavery, perhaps resulting in the Civil War not occurring . With no Civil War occurring and the western part of America under British control, America would have become less industrialised and the black population of the American south probably would have been enslaved longer. The longer the British were able to hold on to their lands, the harder it would become to drive them out. America probably not have been powerful enough to be a factor by the time world wars started breaking out in Europe. Visiting the Chalmette Battlefield Open daily 9:00 a.m.-4:30 p.m. Closed December 25 and Mardi Gras (February 16 in 2010) Major construction and restoration including a new visitor center is underway. The address is (504) 281-0510 8606 W St Bernard Hwy (First Street) Chalmette, LA 70043 The park is in an industrial area and will be on your right if you are driving from New Orleans. Map of the park location. Links Books written by participants of the Battle of New Orleans
The campaigns of the British army at Washington and New Orleans, in the years 1814-1815 (1827) George Gleig firsthand account of the battle by a British soldier
Historical memoir of the war in West Florida and Louisiana in 1814-15 written by Major Arsène Lacarrière Latour,the Principle engineer of the 7th military district and prepared maps of the Gulf Coast region and served as Jackson's served as General Andrew Jackson's chief of engineering.
Other Sources wikipedia Battle of New Orleans entry The Battle of New Orleans, by Zachary F. Smith Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetary free admission and often has re-enactments wikipedia War of 1812 entry
other historical websites
FrenchandIndianWar.info War between France and the UK over the New World GrandIsle.us History and info on Grand Isle, Louisiana FrancoPrussianWar.com France vs Prussia 1870-1 MexicanHistory.org history of Mexico SpanishAmericanWar.info The war between Spain and America over Cuba, 1898 AlternativeHistory.com What would have happened if...? OttomanEmpire.info history of the Ottoman Empire TaipingRebellion.com civil war in Qing China 1850-60s PersianEmpire.info history of the Pempires in Persia (Iran) ByzantineEmpire.info history of the Byzantine Empire KoreanHistory.info Korean History JapaneseHistory.info History of Japan IndianHistory.info History of India SinoJapaneseWar.com war over Korea between China and Japan 1894-5 WarofthePacific.com war between Chile, Bolivia and Peru 1879-1883 WaroftheTripleAlliance.com 1864-70 Paraguay vs Argentina, Brazil,Uruguay EastGermany.info history of the DDR BoerWar.info War in South Africa between the British Empire and the Boers ( Dutch settlers) SinoVietnameseWar.com war between Vietnam and China 1979
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