The Mississippi River — trade route, boundary line, and burial ground. According to www.nps.gov the Mississippi River flows 593,003 cubic feet of water per second into the Gulf of Mexico. This equates to 4.4 million gallons per second, with each droplet telling a story and holding a memory. Researching currents and flood stages gives us a hint at her moods, but she has long been a crucial player in the history of American. Here, Bethany Bellemin will look at the river’s importance in the Battle of New Orleans during the War of 1812.
The Battle of New Orleans. By Edward Percy Moran, 1910.
Key Players
1812. The testing time for a new American had begun. The British fleet had been confiscating crewmen from United States’ vessels claiming them as deserters of the British navy. While some of them had been deserters looking to start a new life, other sailors taken were simply American citizens going about their lives. After a few years of this injustice, the Americans had finally had enough. War was officially declared against the former mother country on June 18, 1812. It was going to be a conflict with far more significance than either side realized.
For two years war waged bringing the most pivotal battle with it. The beginning of the end started on December 21, 1814. The war had come to New Orleans, Louisiana. The ensuing conflict would prove to be a crucial and defining moment, not just for the war, but also for the entire nation.
December 1, 1814. General Andrew Jackson, the man of the hour had arrived. Robert Tallant, an authority on the Battle of New Orleans called him, “The toughest fighting man in the country.” (The Pirate Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans, Robert Tallant, 84). Jackson was preparing for the looming battle ahead with an ill-prepared army, and he was running out of time. With his troops low on ammunition and food, Jackson prepared his defense and hoped the supply boats would arrive in time. The British, under the command of Major General Pakenham, was sailing in with a fleet, fully prepared for a quick seizure of the city and the mouth of the Mississippi River. The British army had determined to conquer New Orleans using her access to the interior via the river and put a chokehold on America. It was known that whoever controlled the river controlled the nation. The city of New Orleans knew they were a pawn in the game and the control of the river was the key element to the upcoming events in which they would be participating whether they wished to or not. There was no ignoring the British ships silhouetted against a gulf sky.
The supplies Jackson was waiting for were running late, and his temper was running short. The keelboats hauling the goods had stalled upriver with their captains refusing to deliver the load unless they were paid a higher fee. It was a classic trade monopoly that the river has witnessed time and time again.
Enter Henry Miller Shreve, inventor and entrepreneur of growing renown along the river. With lives and the fate of the nation at stake, he knew what he had to do. In December 1814, he set off down the river in his steamboat the Enterprise which he had loaded with supplies for the small army amassing at the mouth of the Mississippi. Shreve was already tackling the Livingston-Fulton embargo on river trade and was no stranger to opposing injustice in the trade routes. Fighting for his country was just as close to his heart. He also made certain that the three keelboats delivered their load to Jackson: regardless of the captains' complaints against the action. A deal was a deal in Shreve’s mind and was as irrevocable as the flow of the river.
Now the spotlight moved to Jean Lafitte, privateer and businessman. He never revealed in his life why he disliked the British so much, but it is a known fact that he opposed them enough to refuse their offers attempting to cajole him into joining the British army, which also seemed to have lit the match that pushed him to offer his influence and abilities in the aid of his new country. He was not American born but he was American made. Jackson is said to have taken an instant liking to him which is recommendation enough from the stern general.
Alongside Henry Shreve, and the temporary ally, Jean Lafitte, Jackson was now ready. Lafitte was able to supply the flints needed to outfit the army Jackson commanded, many volunteers lacking any weapons whatsoever. (The Pirate Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans, Robert Tallant, 119). Jackson, Shreve, and Lafitte: men that ran in very different circles and yet their decisions had brought them all together in this moment. The three men were perhaps unknowingly cornerstones for this battle, would all carry have a lifelong respect for each other.
Why New Orleans
The battle of New Orleans would forever mark the young country of America. Sometimes called the Second War for Independence, it was proof that the new country was here to stay. It would set the nation apart, a new land with opportunity and justice for all. And everyone from every people group were eager to take part in the battle. Even the Choctaw nation took an interest, making up a small group of eighteen and heading down the river to help defend Louisiana. The United States had an army of 2,131 while the British were known to be marching in with at least 12,000 seasoned soldiers. The odds were not in New Orleans’ favor. Robert Tallant made this empowering statement about Jackson’s troops: “It is doubtful if a braver little army every marched in the history of the world.” (The Pirate Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans, Robert Tallant, 128-130). It is also to be noted that it is the first recorded time that all different people groups of the country fought united against a common foe. For the first time, the former colonists really felt like Americans.
The Mississippi River was a major deciding factor on the outcome of the war. Even the British were aware that the river would determine the winning side. Controlling the watery trade route could split the nation in half and ensure the ability to deliver ammunition along the waterways to the nation that held the power. It was well known that the majority of news, military orders, and citizen mail for the southern portion of the country went down the waterway as well; trade was not the only thing that was in jeopardy. New Orleans had long known that the war would come to them, it was inevitable. She stood at the edge of the Gulf of Mexico and going by her was the only way the interior could be reached by boat. If she fell, potentially so did the nation.
The first shots fired in defense of New Orleans were from aboard the Carolina, a steamboat merchant vessel that sailed down the Mississippi to the British encampment. Shots were exchanged beginning at 7 p.m. on December 23, 1814. It had started.
It was a long battle, lasting from December 23 to its finale on January 8, 1815. The casualties for the Battle of New Orleans were grossly unbalanced with the British recording over 2,000 casualties among their troops. In contrast, Jackson’s smaller force, with their base camp at the now famous Chalmette Plantation, endured less than 100 casualties. This success in preservation can be attributed to the guerrilla warfare style of the Americans and the fact they knew the lay of the land. Also fighting for one's own country has a higher moral fiber than fighting to conquer another’s homeland. The British soldiers were certainly less enthusiastic than their commanders about the whole affair.
A Pointless Battle or Something More?
Ironically, the war ended before the famous battle on December 24, 1814, in Ghent, Belgium. But news had to come by ship and that took time. Edith McCall, a historian on Captain Shreve, notes it was seven weeks before the news of the treaty reached New Orleans. She further states that “the Battle of New Orleans soon became known as ‘the needless battle,’ for it was fought two weeks after the war was officially over. However, no one argued that it had been a useless battle, for it won new respect for the American military forces.” (Mississippi Steamboatman: The Story of Henry Miller Shreve, Edith McCall, 29-30). The War of 1812 was considered officially ended by Congress ratifying the treaty on February 16, 1815. The United States finally saw itself as a separate country and not just a singular group of colonies that still reflected Britain. Now she saw herself as a nation that could stand the test of time and make her mark on the world.
All the men that played a part in it, the knowns and the unknowns, showed that the country was built on initiative. Shreve taking his steamboat with munitions; Jackson pushing his troops to march from Pensacola, Florida to New Orleans as quickly as possible; Lafitte relentlessly offering his aid in the conflict from supplying weapons to sharing knowledge of the swamp lands: this was initiative and these are the types of men that laid the foundation for their sons and grandsons and further down to the ones who would enlist in World War Two in the fight to protect their country and stop Nazi Terrorism. This is the backbone of America, and it took a battle that was fought too late after a war to prove it to herself.
Robert Remini, another historian covering the famous battle, remarks that “the Battle of New Orleans was one of the great turning points in American history. The country had gone to war with England in a desperate effort to prove that its independence won in the revolution was no fluke, no accident, no grant by a reluctant mother country…in that one glorious moment the nation had demonstrated that it had the strength, will, and ability to defend its freedom and prove to the world that it was here to stay, that its sovereignty and rights were to be respected by all.” (The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and the First Military Victory, Robert V. Remini, 195). The United States was now a player among the powers of the world.
The Mississippi River was the heartbeat of a growing nation at a time when roads were few and railways were fewer. Even for the people that did not live near her shoreline, the river was the line of communication and trade from north to south. For those who were directly influenced by the waterway, the river was their very own to protect and utilize. Fishing, trade, and all manner of livelihood ebbed and flowed with the river's currents. Keeping the waterway in the hands of the Americas ensured she would last as long as the river ran. The people of New Orleans and of the swamplands considered her home, but she also became a symbol: no one will easily lose what he is willing to die to protect. The Battle of New Orleans was a group of people with little connection before the event. In their attempts to protect a river they forged a bond; and in doing so solidified the United States of America. That is one of the things that makes America what it is. And we can can thank a river for that.
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References
When it comes to history, I always tell people don’t take just one person's word for it. Research it and find your own conclusions based off of the facts that present themselves. That’s what makes us all historians: the curious mind and the searching heart. I found these books to be invaluable in my study of The Battle of New Orleans and hope you find in them a piece of the past to hold onto for yourself as well.
It Happened on the Mississippi River, James A. Crutchfield, Morris Book Publishing, 2009.
The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and the First Military Victory, Robert V. Remini, Penguin Books, 1999.
The Story of the Battle of New Orleans, Stanley Clisby Arthur, 1915, republished Cornerstone Book Publishers, 2015.
Mississippi Steamboatman: The Story of Henry Miller Shreve, Edith McCall, Walker Publishing Company, 1986.
Sink or Be Sunk!, Paul Estronza La Violette, Annabelle Publishing, 2002.
The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America, William C. Davis, Caliber by Penguin Random House, 2019.
Master of the Mississippi, Florence L. Dorsey, Pelican Publishing, 1998.
The Pirate Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans, Robert Tallant, Pelican Publishing, 1951. (You will notice this was one of my favorite books to quote in this article. A well written and engaging narrative of Lafitte and the Battle of New Orleans).
