Product Description

In 1815 Britain's troops fresh from the victories against Napoleon were defeated near New Orleans by a ragtag army of citizen-soldiers. It was this battle that defined the United States as a military power to be reckoned with.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1439832 in Books
• Published on: 2001-02-01
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 240 pages

Customer Reviews

Battle: Its Details And Significance
"The Battle Of New Orleans" introduces the reader to this battle and its importance to our nation's early history. The battle is presented in detail without the reader becoming swamped by minutia. The importance of the battle to our nation's development is explained.

I like books which broaden my way of looking at things. This book meets this test. I had always wondered if the battle was fought outside of New Orleans because I have never heard of anyone visiting the battle site. In this book, author Robert V. Remini confirmed my belief by giving the story of the battles outside of the city extending over several days. He also explained the British war strategy of dividing the U.S. by marching up the Mississippi to link up with troops coming down from the Great Lakes in a way that I had never understood before.

The aspect of this book which most interested me was the battle's importance in the development of our national pride and self-image. I was surprised to read that, until the Civil War, January 8, the date of the battle, was celebrated as a national holiday, second in significance to July 4. In this book I learned, for the first time, that the Battle of New Orleans was regarded as America's first major military victory. Although there had been some wins during the revolution, such as at the Cowpens, most of the successes were surrenders, such as Ticonderoga and Yorktown. This was the first time that the U. S. had crushed a European army. The most important significance of this battle was the sense of national unity which it demonstrated. The British had expected to be welcomed by the French settlers of New Orleans as liberators from their relatively recently established American overlords. The British were disappointed as the residents uniformly supported the Americans. The army which defended New Orleans was a polyglot of local pirates, U. S. Volunteers from southwestern states and local militia. This disparate army had united to defeat the most feared military machine in the world. National unity had been expressed as it never had before. The Battle of New Orleans demonstrated that the American experiment would continue. This book tells us why.