The Battle of New Orleans at Chalmette, 1815 by j ean Hyacinthe de Lacfotte (1766-1829), a member ofthe Louisiana militia who participated in the battle. and rum them on Jackson's m ain line across the river now defended by 4,700 eager and skilled Americans . Once the barrage was underway, Pakenham would lead his troops in a fro ntal arrack on the earthwo rks. Thornton was successful in his arrack; he completely routed the ill-trained m ilitia, bur he had gotten a late start, delayed until nearly dawn on 8 January. Pakenham was also delayed and gave Thorn ton no chance to follow up on his victory and carry our the rest of his orders. The main part of rhe army began to move into position in a thick fog rhar had settled over the intended bat tlefield. Using the fog to his adva ntage, Pakenham moved his soldiers quietly to within about 500 yards of the American line, totally undetected. And then, q uire without wa rning, the fog lifted . There, before the American soldiers stood the British army, some 5,000 strong, in a near three-column battle form ation, and completely exposed . O ne can imagine the surprise on both sides! The A merican artillery opened fire first with devastating results, bur, true to for m, the British advance co nt inue d . W h e n rh ey we re within 300 yards, the A merican riflemen, mos tly sharpshooters, began to pick off
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the oncoming English soldiers. The artillery shifted its a mmunitio n to grape and canister shor. 2 The rifle fire, ultimately combined with musket fir e (when the British approached to within 100 yards),
was devastating. O ne British survivor, a veteran of rhe Napoleonic W ars, wrote: " it was the most murderous [fire] I ever beheld , before or since. The [expletive] A mericans can shoot the eye our of a squirrel if rhey can bur see it!" Barde-hardened rroops-somesay the best England had to offer-scrambled fo r rhe paucity of cover while others simply lay flat on the ground, rem aining there until the shooting stopped . Others turned a nd ran . General Pakenham, a conspicuous fi gure in full uni fo rm, rode a horse among the fleeing soldiers, trying in vain to rally them . For his efforts, he suddenly found himself afoo t when his horse was shot our from under him. H e quickly found a new mount and continued to exhort his men . This time, a canno nball "cur him asunder," leaving the soldiers without a commander. Upon receiving word of Pakenham's d emi se, Gen eral John Lamb ert rook comm and a nd q uickly ordered a retreat, breaking away from the slaugh ter. The entire fight along the eastern side of the river, pitched though it was, las ted only a half hour, bur the British loss was horrific. The scarlet-clad bodies lay in heaps, the wo unded mixed in with the dead . Those soldiers who had thrown themselves to the ground when the fusillade began rose,
Death of Pakenham at the Battle of New Orleans by Felix 0. C. Darley (1822- 1888)
2
Grape was a cluster of approxim ately 1"-dia merer ball s in a bag wh ich was fired , causing rhe bag ro d isintegrate in rhe air, whi le ca nister was simila r bur used scrap meta l and nai ls instead of ba lls.
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