Jackson’s visit to New Orleans.
General Jackson received a gala welcome in New Orleans when he
returned victorious from the Plains of Chalmette.
It is a long trail leading from the plain of Chalmette to January 8, 1965, but nothing that has happened over these years lessens the modern Tennessean’s appreciation for the warriors who represented their state so well at New Orleans. History has observed that of the approximately 5,000 Tennesseans in the vicinity almost 1,500 were on the line during the battle.
With the exception of the 700 United States regulars, no group connected with the campaign on the American side had the military training and leadership which the Tennesseans already possessed by virtue of their participation in the Creek War. If the British attack on the American left, held by Coffee’s Tennesseans, had succeeded, the battle’s outcome might well have been a different story.
The several groups comprising Jackson’s army performed capably. Each had its unique talents and accomplished much of what was expected of it. When considering the entire New Orleans campaign, however, one is immediately impressed with the fact that no phase can be studied without finding evidence of Tennessee’s participation. It is clear in retrospect, as it was in 1815, that the role of Tennessee at New Orleans was highly significant, perhaps the dominant force, in bringing the campaign to a successful conclusion.
NOTES
[1]. O. P. Chitwood, F. L. Owsley, and H. C. Nixon. The United States from Colony to World Power, (New York, 1954), 218. Delegates from Massachusetts, Connecticut, Rhode Island, Vermont, and New Hampshire met at Hartford, Connecticut, December 15, 1814, to declare their opposition to the war. Declaring that a state could interpose its authority against unconstitutional acts of the Federal Government, the Convention also proposed seven constitutional amendments and appointed a committee to go to Washington to negotiate with the Government. Shortly after the committee’s arrival, however, word came of the overwhelming American victory at New Orleans, so that the representatives retired without revealing the purpose of their trip.
[2]. The northern states were more concerned with the infamous “Orders of Council” passed by the British Government permitting that nation’s navy to search any United States ship on the pretense of looking for English deserters, and forbidding any intercourse between France and America. The firing on the American frigate Chesapeake in the summer of 1807 by the British warship Leopard for the former vessel’s refusal to be searched, brought the two countries dangerously close to war, and Federalist apathy was almost swept away by an aroused public opinion.
[3]. Charles B. Brooks, The Siege of New Orleans. (Seattle, 1961), 12. Jackson assumed command of the Military District on May 28.