The Battle of New Orleans

The Battle of New Orleans is a classic War of 1812 history by Zachary F. Smith. Had it not been for these hostile acts of the British there would have been no War of 1812. Had they continued to treat the young republic with the justice and liberality to which they agreed in fixing its western boundary in the treaty of 1783, no matter what their motive may have been, there would have been no cause for war between the two countries. The Battle of New Orleans was a series of engagements fought between December 14, 1814 and January 18, 1815, constituting the last major battle of the War of 1812. American combatants, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, prevented a much larger British force, commanded by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and General Edward Pakenham, from seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase. The Treaty of Ghent had been signed on December 24, 1814 (but was not ratified by the US Government until February 1815), and hostilities continued without the involved parties knowing about the Treaty, until January 18 by which time all of the British forces had retreated, finally putting an end to the Battle of New Orleans.