The Battle of New Orleans: Andrew Jackson and America's First Military Victory [ILLUSTRATED] (Hardcover)

~ Robert V. Remini (Author)
Key Phrases: marine battery, New Orleans, United States, Old Hickory (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

The United States and Britain had already negotiated an end to the War of 1812 when their troops met on the Plains of Chalmette near New Orleans in 1815. Word of the peace had not yet reached that far west, so a group of professional British soldiers clashed with a rag-tag band of about 4,000 "frontiersmen, militiamen, regular soldiers, free men of color, Indians, pirates, and townspeople" along the banks of the Mississippi River. These were "citizen-soldiers" in the finest sense, writes Robert V. Remini, the acclaimed biographer of Andrew Jackson, and they were commanded by a man whose military experience had commenced only two years earlier. Yet the battle "was one of the great turning points in American history" because it "produced a President and an enduring belief in the military ability of free people to protect and preserve their society and their way of life." Remini may oversell the battle's importance, but not by much. His enthusiasm is the mark of a historian in love with his subject. The Battle of New Orleans (and the War of 1812 in general) has tended to suffer more from neglect than from too much attention. This concise book, full of workmanlike prose, is a fine introduction to what Remini calls "America's first military victory" (he downplays Saratoga and Yorktown as "simply surrenders, nothing more"). Military history buffs won't want to miss it. --John J. Miller

From Publishers Weekly

As the alpha wolf of Jackson scholars and a master of historical narrative, Remini (whose three-volume biography, Andrew Jackson, won a National Book Award and was reissued last year) is the perfect writer to recount how Old Hickory, leading a motley crew of fighters, decisively repelled the British attack on New Orleans in January 1815. Remini's impeccable scholarship and lively pen produce what undoubtedly will become the standard account of the 1814-1815 military operations around New Orleans. In addition to some regular army units, Jackson used backwoodsmen from Tennessee and Kentucky, free blacks, Creoles and others from the local militia, Indian allies and pirates led by Jean Lafitte. Such a roster did not appear to stack up favorably against the British, who boasted thousands of veterans of the Napoleonic wars. But the British, despite their experience, committed many key blunders throughout the campaign, the most important of which was underestimating American resolve. Remini paints the background of the campaign, including battles with the pro-British Creek Indians, Jackson's invasion of Spanish Florida and the importance of the fabled Baratarian pirates led by Lafitte. As he brings the exciting story to life, Remini cogently argues that New Orleans was America's first important military victory, that it provided the impetus for the young nation to believe in itself and, just as importantly, convinced Europe that the United States was not a fleeting historical anomaly. Maps not seen by PW. (Sept.)
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 224 pages
• Publisher: Viking Adult; illustrated edition edition (September 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0670885517
• ISBN-13: 978-0670885510
• Product Dimensions: 8.4 x 5.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 15.2 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (30 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #469,482 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

31 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Another excellent work from Robert Remini, September 20, 1999

By	[e-mail] (Eaton, Ohio) - See all my reviews

This is a subject I thought I had thoroughly studied, most significantly in Remini's definitive Jackson three-volume biography. However, as with his other books, The Battle of New Orleans is replete with new information, new perspectives, and new insights. Above all, Professor Remini always makes his topics, (even those the reader thought he knew well), exciting. Like a good novel, I had trouble putting down the book.

16 of 20 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well Written, Concise, Stiring Account of Battle, June 12, 2000

By	Wayne A. Smith (Wilmington, DE) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

Remini has filled a gap for lovers of American history. The War of 1812, which the Battle of New Orleans ended convincingly (allowing the previously negotiated Treaty of Ghent to be accepted by both the British and our side as negotiated), has had too few treatments in recent years.

Yet the Battle of New Orleans, as the author argues, perhaps was the event that convinced hostile Europeans that America was here to stay as a free nation. I would not completely agree with Remini's contention that the Battle of New Orleans was America's first major victory over European arms (he dismisses Yorktown and Saratoga as mere surrenders doing in my opinion a disservice to the aggressive American commanders and troops who did fight and convincingly beat the British at Saratoga). The author makes a case that this neglected Battle of a forgotten war earned our country the grudging respect it would need to grow unmolested over the next few decades.

That having been said, the book is a very well written account of a stirring and fascinating story. General Andrew Jackson, after defeating the Creek Indians and punishing Spanish Florida for aiding that foe as well as the British, leads his American volunteers to Louisianna to defend against the expected British move on New Orleans.

The British proceed to the bayous of the Mississippi delta and engage in another European style campaign against wiley American back country fighters. One wonders why the English high command did not learn the lessons of Gen. Braddock's defeat in the French and Indian War or numerous defeats during the American Revolution. Doctrinaire plans and rigid troop handling along the lines of European war were not very successful against citizen soldiers who know how to use their weapons with skill and fight from behind cover.

Using first person sources to illustrate the events in December 1814 to January of 1815, Remini gives voice to the events and people who helped make New Orleans a stirring American victory. Unsurprisingly, this biographer of Jackson paints a good portrait of the man whose talents and traits were sorely needed by our side in facing British regiments who had recently faced down Napolean's best troops. The hodge-podge of defenders are given colorful treatment. The pirate Laffite brothers and their outlaw band who manned our artillery, backwoodsmen in buckskin (giving the name the British used for our troops -- 'dirty shirts'), freed blacks, Creols and New Orleans first citizens all manned the barracades to await the onslaught.

The British, with their straight ahead determination, poor avenue of attack and lack of planning aided the American cause. But Jackson earned much of the glory that surrounded his victory. He cajoled troops and supplies, built a well fortified line, attacked before the British were all up and ready and worked to keep together an army that in reality was more like today's UN peacekeeping forces than a coherent American corps.

The battle scenes are well told, particularly the Jan. 8th main assualt in front of New Orleans. Remini's writing is good enough that the unfamiliar (to most) details of an unknown battlefield come alive in the reader's mind. So do the personalities on both sides. His descriptions are aided by three very good maps that allow one to fully picture the terrain.

This book is a quick read. The author tells just enough of the main charactors to separate them from one another in the story without bogging it down with a lot of background. The battles themselves come alive and are given a full description and dramatic rendering. You'll enjoy this book.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars What Military History ought to be, January 7, 2000

By	D. C. Carrad "augustabookman" (Augusta, GA United States) - See all my reviews (TOP 1000 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

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A fine account. Lucid, flowing prose and an interesting subject. The author is able to relate the details that make battles interesting from the point of view of the common soldier to the officers in charge, yet also connects the events of battle to the war itself and larger diplomatic and political issues thus highlighting their significance. This book also has what some good military histories foolishly lack -- good, detailed battlefield maps that make the action understandable. Take it from a former soldier (US Army 1966-69, Vietnam service 1968-69) you will enjoy this book.