The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory

Robert V. Remini

May 2001 · Sold by Penguin

About this ebook

The Battle of New Orleans was the climactic battle of America's "forgotten war" of 1812. Andrew Jackson led his ragtag corps of soldiers against 8,000 disciplined invading British regulars in a battle that delivered the British a humiliating military defeat. The victory solidified America's independence and marked the beginning of Jackson's rise to national prominence. Hailed as "terrifically readable" by the Chicago Sun Times, The Battle of New Orleans is popular American history at its best, bringing to life a landmark battle that helped define the character of the United States.

Ratings and reviews

Remini is extremely meticulous about historical accuracy as usual. One thing about the battle of New Orleans is how British revisionists always avoid it, or give that same ole lame mantra, "If the British army and navy were not busy elsewhere it would have been a different outcome." Talk about stark bias revisionism! * The truth is at the time Britain invaded New Orleans they were no longer busy with Napoleon. They sent a massive armada against the crescent city with the full intention of keeping it in spite of the ante bellum clause in the treaty of Ghent. The excuse that raids along the U.S. East coast were nothing more than chastisements for American incursions into Canada are also an attempt to mitigate the evils of British depredations and base behavior in Hampton Virginia. But more importantly, those raids were a military feint (as the status quo ante bellum clause in the treaty was a diplomatic feint) so as to draw American forces away from the south west. * In the end an extremely powerful british navy and army was bested by a much smaller American force. It should rightly go down in the books as a second humiliation for Britain. And it is that humiliation which is driving intense British revisionism concerning this particular piece of history. * British nationalists and authors are churning out more and more subtle and bold propaganda concerning the War of 1812 and American historians and authors need to counter it honestly and effectively. Robert V Remini is one such author, so is Winston Groom. The war of 1812 was not an overwhelming political or territorial victory for the U.S., but New Orleans was a time enduring victory for Andrew Jackson and his soldiers over the British, as were the naval battles which American captains won on the Lakes. In this venue America won the battle of world opinion and international respect in 1815.

About the author

Robert V. Remini, whose three-volume biography, Andrew Jackson, won the National Book Award and was reissued in 1998 as a Main Selection of the History Book Club, is also the author of biographies of Henry Clay and Daniel Webster. He is professor emeritus of history and research professor emeritus of humanities at the University of Illinois at Chicago, and lives in Wilmette, Illinois.