The Battle of New Orleans

Another addition of standing and pointing at things. This time from a rampart where outnumbered American troops and Baratarian pirates held off the British army at the Battle of New Orleans, 1815. The campaign for control over the Crescent City begins in late 1814, the battle in the sugar cane fields of the Chalmette Plantation erupted January 8, 1815.

In typical New Orleans fashion, the battle features food, music, a dash of debauchery, and barrels of rum. The party confuses and frustrates the crown's mighty army; paired with superior fortifications and expert cannon fire from rum-soaked pirates, the humiliated red coats turn and retreat from the lowland swamps. The battle inspires a tune and a 1950s American country music radio hit for Johnny Horton, originally written by Arkansas teacher Jimmy Driftwood who would write songs for his students as a study aid.

The battle as painted by Jean Hyacinthe de Laclotte, a member of the Louisiana Militia, based on his sketches made at the scene.

“Built as a mill race that provided water to power a sawmill, by 1815 the Rodriguez Canal had long been abandoned. With its collapsed banks and grass-covered bottom, the canal resembled a ditch more than a waterway, but it provided a perfect defensive position for Major General Andrew Jackson’s men. American troops and slaves from area plantations dug out the canal and used its soil to build a rampart stretching from the Mississippi River to the cypress swamp. When the rampart was completed and the canal was filled with water, it formed an imposing line of defense.” NPS, Jean Lafitte National Historic Park and Preserve.”

Yeah, they ran through the briers and they ran through the brambles

And they ran through the bushes where a rabbit couldn't go

They ran so fast that the hounds couldn't catch 'em

On down the Mississippi to the Gulf of Mexico