200 years ago today, several miles downstream from the city of New Orleans, Andrew Jackson commanded a mixed force of army regulars, militia from western states, and Native allies to an overwhelming victory against a British army commanded by General Pakenham. Pakenham, a veteran of numerous battles against the French in Europe (as were most of his soldiers) died in the British assault, which resulted in over 2000 British casualties and only a few dozen American ones. It is safe to say that the battle made Jackson famous across the Western world and (along with his decisive defeat of the Creek Red Sticks at Horseshoe Bend in 1814) an immensely popular war hero at home, easing his path to the White House in 1828.
I am sure that quite a few of you would debate my nomination of this battle - and war - as the most pointless in American history. No doubt there is a strong case to be made for many other wars and battles, with the recent war in Iraq only the newest example. But below I make a case for the Battle of New Orleans because it was, in fact, utterly pointless - a battle which had no effect at all on the outcome of the war and which took place after a peace treaty had been signed, in a war that could easily have been averted.
To begin with, the War of 1812 itself started not just as a war of choice (which it was, for the U.S.) but a war of miscommunication. President Madison's war message to Congress, in early June 1812, specified three main grievances against the British. These were the 'impressment' of sailors from U.S. ships by the Royal Navy (basically, kidnapping them from their vessels and forcing them into service on British warships); the British Orders in Council of 1807, which severely restricted U.S. trade with the French (with whom Britain was at war); and the claim that the British government was supporting and encouraging Native tribes in conflict with U.S. expansion.
But Great Britain had no desire whatsoever for war with the U.S., and its political and military leaders never planned or intended some kind of 'reconquest' of the U.S. Britain had been at war with France almost continuously for over 15 years, and saw itself as engaged in a struggle of survival with Napoleon. War in North America could only divert precious resources from the main struggle. While the British disagreed with the Americans about the legality of impressment and of their trade policies, they wanted to avoid war. Both nations, however, fell victim to the slow trans-Atlantic communications of the day. The timeline of events at the start of the war unfolded as follows:
June 1, 1812: President Madison's war message is delivered to Congress, and debate begins.
June 16, 1812: The British Foreign Secretary announces to Parliament that the Orders in Council will be repealed.
June 18, 1812: The House of representatives votes 79-49 in favor of war with Great Britain. This is the narrowest margin for any declaration of war in U.S. history, and a measure of the widespread opposition to war - especially in the New England and Middle Atlantic states. The Senate approves the declaration 19-13.
June 23, 1812: The Orders in Council are provisionally repealed. Although not the only complaint cited by Madison, news of this step would certainly have encouraged opponents of the war and perhaps caused some supporters to pause.
July 29, 1812: News of the U.S. declaration of war arrives in London.
August 12, 1812: News of the repeal arrives in Washington. President Madison takes no steps to halt hostilities because he does not yet know of British reaction to the declaration of war. Several months later, after unsuccessful US attempts to invade Canada and clashes at sea between British and American warships, the British finally issue their own declaration of war against the U.S.
Despite the officially stated causes of the war, one of the actual and unstated motives - the invasion and annexation of Canada - quickly revealed itself. The next two years were marked by multiple failed efforts to seize Canada, and a civil war in the Creek nation living in Alabama and Georgia that grew into a massive land grab by the U.S. Costs to the American economy (and to the British) began to mount dramatically, and the two sides opened peace negotiations in Belgium.
Early British demands included cession of disputed territory in Maine and (in recognition of the invaluable assistance of their native allies, who quite clearly recognized the American threat to their territories) the creation of an independent, Native American buffer state between the U.S. and Canada, to be carved out of what is now Michigan, Wisconsin, and Minnesota. U.S. negotiators rejected such ideas out of hand.
In early 1814 Napoleon surrendered (for the first time). The somewhat war-weary British embarked thousands of veteran troops for North America, planning invasions from Canada south into New York and from their base in the Chesapeake against the Atlantic seaboard. But British defeats at Plattsburgh in New York and at Fort McHenry in Baltimore harbor pushed them to drop any demands for territorial concessions. The nearly bankrupt U.S. government was also ready to call it quits, and the peace treaty was signed at Ghent, Belgium, on December 24, 1814.
Peace was declared on the basis of the 'status quo antebellum.' This basically meant that after two-and-a-half years of war, thousands of battle deaths on both sides, and immense economic damage, nobody conceded wrongdoing and neither side gave up anything to the other. Literally none of the original causes cited by the U.S. for declaring war were even mentioned in the treaty.
But now, the communications lag struck again. In the final offensive planned by the British, thousands of the troops that had attacked Washington and Baltimore in the summer of 1814, joined by thousands more reinforcements and under the overall command of General Pakenham, were now headed to the gulf coast with the intention of seizing New Orleans.
Dec. 23, 1814: British advance forces complete a crossing of Lake Borgne and march several miles to the eastern side of the Mississippi. A rapid counterattack by Jackson checks their advance.
Dec. 24, 1814: The treaty is signed in Ghent, Belgium.
Dec. 30, 1814: The Treaty is ratified by Parliament and signed by the Prince Regent (the future King George IV).
January 1, 1815: With the main bodies of both armies in place and facing each other on the east bank, a long-range artillery battle results in a clear success for the U.S. forces.
January 2, 1815: The British sloop-of-war Favourite sails for America, bearing British and American representatives and official copies of the treaty.
January 8, 1815: Reinforced by yet more troops, Pakenham launches a frontal assault against Jackson's forces, who are sheltered in earthworks behind a small canal running from a swamp on Jackson's left flank to the Mississippi on his right. When the smoke clears the extent of the British catastrophe is obvious to both sides. There are more than 2,000 British casualties, compared to only seventy-one American (with most of those occurring in a secondary action on the west bank of the river). Three of the four British major-generals present are killed. It has been 15 days since the peace treaty was signed; 9 days since Britain ratified it; and a week since the Favourite put to sea.
February 11, 1815: The Favourite arrives in New York harbor with news of the treaty.
February 16: The Senate unanimously confirms the peace treaty.
Within a few weeks of the battle, Napoleon made his triumphant return to France, leading to the even more famous British victory at Waterloo. War in America had never been more than a sideshow to the British.
Despite the fame his overwhelming victory brought to Jackson, ironically, the battle had no influence at all on the terms that had already settled the war weeks before. Militarily and diplomatically, it was irrelevant. Even if the British had won at New Orleans, they would have had to simply abandon their conquest as soon as news of the peace terms arrived. Regardless of the battle's outcome, one wonders how history might have been different had the British succeeded in imposing some of the terms they had envisioned - in particular, the idea of an independent Native American nation in the Midwest, as a buffer between the U.S. and Canada. But as an unnecessary battle, fought after the end of a war that had resulted in nothing more than a return to the status quo, the Battle of New Orleans occupies a unique place in American and military history.
5:50pm: slightly edited for typos and clarity.
Jan. 10: some more edits. This will teach me to proofread more carefully next time.