Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery

 

Visited: Nov 2022

Nearby city: New Orleans, LA

"Here we will plant our stakes and not abandon them until we drive these red-coat rascals into the river or the swamp."

-Gen. Andrew Jackson

January 8, 1815 - Andrew Jackson knew he was the last line of defense between the mighty British Army and the City of New Orleans, the Mississippi River, and the great interior of the country. He was determined to hold strong, even though we was vastly outnumbered. He needed a miracle to win, and that miracle came. 

The Battle of New Orleans, fought on plantation land owned by Ignace Martin de Lino de Chalmette about six miles southeast of downtown New Orleans is preserved as a unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park & Preserve.

Here's last week blog post to learn more about Jean Lafitte and the park: 

https://paulnationalparks.blogspot.com/2023/07/jean-lafitte-national-historical-park.html   

The War of 1812 had its origins in the aftermath of the revolutionary war. Obviously, relations between the US and Great Britain were greatly strained. The young nation established favorable trade and foreign relations with France, Great Britain's traditional nemesis. Britain's alliance with certain Native American tribes and opposition to US expansion in the Northwest Territory also led to conflict. Beginning around 1807, the British Crown imposed tighter restrictions on United States' trade with France. The Royal Navy effectively imposed a blockade on continental Europe, and any American ship that attempted to get through the blockade to trade with France was subject to seizure and confiscation of goods. Occassionally, the crew of the ship would be impressed (conscripted into the British Navy/Army by compulsion) even when they carried documentation that attested to their American citizenship.

These policies resulted in Congress ultimately declaring war on Britain in 1812. The war started badly for the upstart nation, with a failed invasion of Canada and the surrender of Ft. Detroit. However, Oliver Hazard Perry's victory at Lake Erie ensured American control of the key Great Lake, which led to the recovery of Detroit and William Henry Harrison's victory over Tecumseh's Indian Confederation at the Battle of the Thames. These victories were tempered when the British sacked Washington DC and burned the Capitol and the White House. After two years, the war had essentially reached a stalemate and negotiation talks to end hostilies began in August 1814 in Ghent, Belgium. The talks stalled and Britain began a plan (known as the "Gulf Campaign") to capture New Orleans, West Florida, and the Louisiana Territory. Britain figured that if they occupied a large amount of land in the American West and controlled the Mississippi River it would be a powerful bargaining chip in the negotiations at Ghent.

US General Andrew Jackson arrived in New Orleans in December 1814 to prepare for the defense of the city from the British invasion. Jackson concentrated his forces on a small plain on Chalmette's plantation southeast of the city. It was a very strategic location. With the Mississippi River to the south and a nearly impassable marsh to the north, it served as a natural, narrow bottleneck of land for an approaching army.

The plantation had a small mile-long canal (dubbed the "Rodriguez Canal") that connected the Mississippi River to the swampland to the north. Jackson immediately began to dig to expand the canal into a defensive trench. The canal eventually became fifteen-feet wide and eight-feet deep, a formidable obstacle for any infantry to cross. Jackson then used the excess dirt from digging the canal to build a seven-foot tall earthen rampart buttressed with timber. This defensive line (nicknamed "Line Jackson") strecthed nearly a mile from the Mississippi River to the marshland.

Jackson's army was supported by Lafitte and his band of pirates (who were promised a pardon if they agreed to fight against the British), members of the Choctaw Nation (commanded by Pushmataha, the "Indian General"), and Major Louis D'Aquin's Battalion of Free Men of Color. In total, they numbered about 5,700. But the British, commanded by Maj. Gen. Sir Edward Pakenham, numbered about 8,000.

On the morning of January 8, 1815, Pakenham launched a full-frontal assault on Line Jackson. The fog was very heavy in the darkness of the early morning to help hide Pakenham's approach. However, as the sun rose, the fog lifted instantly, and the approaching army was exposed to American gunfire from their defensive, entrenched position. More disastrous for the British Army: Lt. Col. Thomas Mullins, who was tasked to command the forward-most British division, the 44th Regiment of Foot, neglected to check his supplies the night before launching the assault. When his men reached the canal, Mullins realized that he had forgot to bring the ladders and fascines necessary to cross the canal/trench and scale the earthworks of Line Jackson. The redcoats were basically sitting ducks at the mercy of Jackson's artillery, unable to quickly cross the canal, and in complete disarray. Within 30 minutes, Pakenham had fallen in battle, the British were suffering heavy losses and were forced to retreat. The invasion had failed. The Brits suffered over 2,000 casualties (including 291 dead), while the Americans only suffered 71 casualties (including only 13 deaths)! It was a resounding victory for the Americans over the mighty British Empire. 

Gen. Jackson quickly became a national hero, and the victory launched his political aspirations that culminated in his election to the presidency in 1828.  

Ironically, on Christmas Eve 1814 (a few weeks before the Battle), negotiators in Belgium had succesfully brokered a peace between the two nations and signed the Treaty of Ghent. It took months for the news of the treaty to cross the Atlantic, and the treaty was ratified by the US Senate in February 1815. Although the Battle of New Orleans took place after the peace agreement had already been entered into, it was a significant victory for the new nation and put the British Empire on notice that America was a force to be reckoned with. By the end of the 19th century, Britain and the United States formed a strong alliance that continues to this day.

A monument to the victory, a one-hundred foot tall obelisk, was completed in 1908.

There is a Visitor's Center/Museum with lots of great information and exhibits about the War of 1812 and the Battle. Watch the video as well. Then walk down to the Mississippi River, see the remnants of Line Jackson, drive the Battlefield Road, and go to the National Cemetery where veterans from Civil War, Spanish-American War, WWI, WWII, Korean War, and Vietnam War are interred. 

a large southern live oak tree on the battlefield

walk along the remains of Line Jackson

this porticoed mansion, the Rene Beauregard House, was built in the 1830s, long after the Battle of New Orleans. The home was purchased by the NPS in 1949.

view of the obelisk along the Battlefield Auto Tour road

We took the long way back to New Orleans, along the backroads of the bayous. It was a fun drive, and we took a ferry across the Mississippi River.

For more info on Chalmette Battlefield:

https://www.nps.gov/jela/planyourvisit/chalmette-battlefield.htm

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park - Barataria Preserve

 

Visited: Nov 2022

Nearby city: New Orleans, LA

Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve protects the natural and cultural resources of Louisiana's Mississippi River Delta region. 

The Park is made up of six separate and distinct units.

    (1) French Quarter Visitor's Center - in downtown New Orleans, also serves as Park HQ

    (2) Chalmette Battlefield - all about the Battle of New Orleans during War of 1812

    (3) Acadian Cultural Center - in Lafayette

    (4) Prairie Acadian Cultural Center - in Eunice

    (5) Wetlands Acadian Cultural Center - in Thibodaux

and the focus of today's blog post: (6) Barataria Preserve - protects the bottomland hardwood forests, swamps, and marshes south of New Orleans.

We started our visit at the Visitor Center in the French Quarter. We will focus more on the French Quarter and downtown New Orleans in a future blog post, but the museum here is a good starting point to familiarize yourself with the history of New Orleans, the diverse cultural influcences of the region, and the significance of Jean Lafitte. 

Visitor's Center in the French Quarter

The marshes and swamps of Barataria Preserve served as the hideout for the infamous pirate and privateer, Jean Lafitte. Lafitte is the namesake of the park.

Jean Lafitte, nicknamed "The Terror of the Gulf" was born on September 25, 1780. The history of Lafitte's childhood and early years are unknown, Lafitte himself claimed he was born in Bordeaux, France, but other reputable sources indicate that he was born in the French colony of Saint-Domingue (present day Haiti). By the early 19th century, he was operating a warehouse in New Orleans (which, at that time, was a part of the French colony of Louisiana).

In 1803, New Orleans and the rest of the colony of Louisiana became a part of the United States by virtue of the Louisiana Purchase. In 1807, as tensions heightened between the United States and Britain, Congress passed the Embargo Act, which barred American ships from docking in any foreign port and imposed an embargo on any goods imported into the US. The act was devastating to New Orleans' economy, which relied heavily on trade with European colonies in the Caribbean. 

Jean Lafitte and his brother, Pierre, created a secret base on a remote and marshy island in the Barataria Bay in order to smuggle foreign goods to local merchants in the city. Lafitte's clandestine operations were largely tolerated by local officials, because they and their consitutents were happy to benefit from the illicit trade. Furthermore, the harsh conditions and remoteness of the island in Barataria Bay made it very difficult for the US Navy to quash Lafitte and his band of outlaws. However, after the US declared war on Great Britain in 1812, the state and federal government became more determined to put an end to Lafitte's smuggling.

Lousiana Gov. William C.C. Claiborne raised a militia that managed to caputre Pierre Lafitte in 1814. Pierre was arrested, tried and convicted for acts of piracy. In late 1814, it became apparent that the British army was prepared to invade New Orleans. US Army General Andrew Jackson arrived in New Orleans on December 1, 1814, and found the town ill-defended and knew he was greatly outnumbered by the British. Jean Lafitte met with Andrew Jackson and offered to assist Jackson in the defense of the city on the condition that his brother, himself, and his band be pardoned of any crimes. Jackson agreed to do so. The Lousiana legislature granted a full pardon to Lafitte and his men. Lafitte later served with bravery and distinction at the Battle of New Orleans and played a pivotal role in thwarting the British invasion and ending the War of 1812.

In his later years, Lafitte moved to Galveston Island (in Texas, which was then part of the Spanish Empire) and worked as a spy for Spain during the war of Mexican Independence. Lafitte also became a slave trader and continued to run smuggling operations in Cuba, Colombia, and other Caribbean islands. He died (presumably) in 1823, at the age of 42, while raiding a Spanish ship off the coast of Honduras.

Lafitte's exploits became legendary and his colorful and adventurous life has been the subject of many books and films.

We visited the Barataria Preserve and walked a few trails: the Bayou Coquille Trail and the boardwalk trail near the small Visitor Center at the Preserve.

we cut this hike short when we saw a big gator chillin' by the boardwalk 😀

a little too close for comfort 😬😀

saw these big spiders near the bathrooms at the Barataria Visitor's Center...yikes 😳

a small snake along the trail

saw another gator along the trail

It was fun to explore this harsh swampland just a few miles outside of the bustling city of New Orleans, and imagine what life was like for Lafitte and his pirates.

     

We also visited the Chalmette Battlefield, but will document that visit in a future post. 

For more info: https://www.nps.gov/jela/planyourvisit/barataria-preserve-trails-and-waterways.htm

BONUS: we did not visit the units of the Park about Acadian (or "Cajun") culture, they are quite a distance away from New Orleans. However, we did visit the Oak Alley Plantation in the small town of Vacherie, LA. Oak Alley Plantation is about an hour drive west of New Orleans.

I highly recommend. We took the tour (no photos allowed inside the house). It was very informative and interesting.

The mansion was built in 1839 and the plantation was owned by Jacques Telesphore Roman.

the mansion is famous for the double row of southern live oak trees that create a canopied path as you approach the house. Many branches and overgrowth of the oaks were destroyed in 2021 by Hurricane Ida.

After your tour of the mansion, make sure to take some time to go through the Slave Quarters and exhibits. Learn about the harsh realities and deplorable conditions of the enslaved people who lived and worked on the plantation.

There was a restaurant at the Plantation that served southern cuisine. We splurged! We got fried green tomatoes w/ shrimp, catfish po'boy, gumbo, mint juleps, and praline cheescake and pecan pie for dessert. It was delicious!