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Survey of Historic Sites and Buildings

	JEAN LAFITTE NATIONAL HISTORICAL PARK AND PRESERVE fomerly Chalmette National Historical Park Louisiana	Chalmette Monument
St. Bernard Parish, at the eastern edge of New Orleans, on La. 39; address: Jean Lafitte headquarters, 419 Decatur Street New Orleans, LA 70130-1035. Jean Lafitte NHP and Preserve

The Battle of New Orleans, fought at Chalmette Plantation, was the last major battle of the War of 1812 and a brilliant U.S. land victory. Although it occurred after the signing of the Treaty of Ghent in December 1814, a fact not known in the United States at the time, hostilities with England had not ceased and the treaty had not been ratified. Ratification, in February 1815, was undoubtedly hastened by the U.S. triumph. The victory was a critical one, for a foreign power controlling the mouth of the Mississippi River would have seriously threatened the economic well-being of the entire Mississippi Valley and hampered U.S. expansion across the Mississippi. The Battle of New Orleans also enhanced U.S. confidence in its military prowess, increased its prestige in world affairs, fostered the growth of national unity, and helped make a popular hero of Andrew Jackson.

This 100-foot-high monument at Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve (formerly Chalmette National Historical Park), Louisiana, commemorates the Battle of New Orleans, the last major battle in the War of 1812. Gen. Andrew Jackson's brilliant victory over the British at this site on January 8, 1815, strengthened U.S. prestige internationally and made Jackson a popular hero.

A major part of Britain's war plan was to capture New Orleans and gain control of the Mississippi Valley. In December 1814 a combined British force, consisting of fresh troops from England and the expeditionary force that had withdrawn after marching into Washington and attacking Fort McHenry in Baltimore, approached New Orleans from Jamaica, West Indies, by way of Lake Borgne, a shallow arm of the Gulf of Mexico. After British ships captured five U.S. gunboats that guarded the entrance to New Orleans, a land force made its way upriver over swampy land to the outskirts of the city, where it camped at various plantations along the way. The city had no organized line of defense against an attack from this direction, and if the British troops had advanced immediately they would likely have been victorious.

Gen. Andrew Jackson, in command of the military district that included New Orleans, had arrived in the city only a few weeks earlier. He immediately had recruited a motley force of volunteers to support his handful of Regulars and Tennessee Militia. The army numbered about 4,000. Receiving news that the British force was on the outskirts of town, Jackson moved toward the British lines. In a fierce night attack, he caught the British off guard, but darkness and confusion forced him to retreat to Rodriguez Canal, an abandoned millrace some 15 feet wide between the Chalmette and Macarty plantations, situated on a neck of dry land between the Mississippi River and an impassable swamp. He ordered his men to build a mile-long defensive rampart consisting of fence rails, posts, wooden kegs, and mud.

Malus-Beauregard House. This beautiful example of French-Louisiana architecture was built some 18 years after the Battle of New Orleans and is named for its last private owner, Judge René Beauregard. Never associated with a plantation, the house served as a country residence for a succession of wealthy people in the 19th century.

On December 28 Gen. Sir Edward M. Pakenham, the newly arrived British commander, attacked. He divided his crack troops, which numbered perhaps 5,400, into two columns, and deployed one near the river and one near the swamp. The flat, open canefields of Chalmette, however, afforded little cover, and the stubble made footing difficult. Also, the U.S. sloop Louisiana eased down the river and helped force the British column along the river to withdraw. In another attempt to silence Jackson's artillery, Pakenham erected a battery about 700 yards from the U.S. ramparts. On New Year's Day 1815 British guns opened fire, but U.S. fire silenced them. On the dawn of January 8, in the Battle of New Orleans, the desperate Pakenham, fearing that further delay would demoralize his army, made three head-on assaults during a half hour period. His casualties were heavy, but Jackson's were light. Seldom, if ever, had an experienced British force of such valor and numerical superiority met such an overwhelming defeat at the hands of a force of irregulars.

In 1855 the State of Louisiana began erecting a 100-foot monument on a 13-acre tract on the site of the U.S. line. The Federal Government completed the monument after the War Department acquired the grounds in 1907. In 1939 Chalmette was established as a National Historical Park. A visitor center, including a battle museum, is located in the Beauregard House, a restored ante bellum mansion once owned by Judge Rene Beauregard, son of the famed Confederate general. The park includes an inactive military cemetery. It totals more than 135 acres, almost 83 acres of which are in Federal ownership.