The Night Battle Before The Battle of New Orleans

In Ghent, Belgium peace negotiations to end the War of 1812 were in progress. The attack came under the cover of darkness on December 23, 1814, the day before the treaty was signed. The British had decided to continue an operation planned earlier to raid the Gulf coast and capture New Orleans. The British strategy was to separate Louisiana from the US by force if necessary. The Americans, having received warning of British intentions, placed their southern defenses under the command of Major General Andrew Jackson (aka Old Hickory) of Tennessee. Jackson arrived in New Orleans on December 2nd and immediately began preparations to meet the British on the battlefield.

The British expedition, under the command of Major General Keane, arrived at the mouth of Lake Borgne on December 10th. There they met and captured an American flotilla of five gunboats and two sloops of war. They then offloaded their troops and began marching to within six miles east of New Orleans.

Upon learning of the loss of the flotilla, Jackson placed the city under martial law and concentrated his scattered troop detachments nearby. Tennesseean General Coffee with his mounted riflemen arrived on December 19th. The Tennessee and Mississippi volunteers, commanded by General Carroll, arrived shortly thereafter. In and around the city, Jackson was organized with two regular line regiments, the 7th Infantry and the 44th Infantry; a thousand-state militia; a battalion of three hundred city volunteers; a rifle company of about sixty long-rifle sharpshooters; a battalion of free blacks, mostly refugees from Santo Domingo; and twenty-eight Choctaw Indians.

It was fortunate that the Americans had concentrated quickly, for at noon on December 23rd the British vanguard, a light brigade of about nineteen hundred men, appeared on the banks of the Mississippi River near New Orleans. Here they halted to camp for the night. Being informed, Jackson decided to conduct a preemptive strike.

Jackson led a surprise night frontal assault with approximately thirteen hundred soldiers. General Coffee and his seven hundred soldiers attacked on the flank while the armed schooner Carolina floating in the river swept the British with her cannons.

The guns from Carolina initiated the battle followed by the ground attack. As planned, the British were caught off guard. Unfortunately, the evening fog soon rolled in causing both sides to lose control. Soldiers became separated from their units, and the battle fizzled into a melee of squad-size engagements in the darkness often ending in hand-to-hand combat.

After an hour and a half of confusion, Jackson broke off the attack and withdrew his soldiers as British reinforcements arrived. The American losses were 213 killed or wounded. The British lost 267.

The die was cast. The Battle for New Orleans would not be an easy victory for the British. “Old Hickory” would be ready and waiting.