The War of 1812, Conflict and Deception This Book Was Published in Cooperation with the Battle of New Orleans Bicentennial Commission N

The War of 1812, Conflict and Deception This book was published in cooperation with the BaTTle of New orleaNs BiceNTeNNial commissioN n This book is made possible in part by a generous contribution from KeN and fred AtchiTy and with the assistance of the V. ray cardozier fuNd WAR 1812 CONFLICT AND DECEPTION �e �� The British Attempt to Seize New Orleans and Nullify the Louisiana Purchase @ RONALD J. DrEZ With a Foreword by W. HEnson MOORE louisiana state university press baton rouge Published by louisiana state university Press copyright © 2014 by ronald J. drez all rights reserved manufactured in the united states of america first printing designer: Barbara Neely Bourgoyne Typeface: millerText Printer and binder: maple Press library of congress cataloging-in-Publication data drez, ronald J., 1940– The war of 1812, conflict and deception : the British attempt to seize New orleans and nullify the louisiana Purchase / ronald J. drez. pages cm includes bibliographical references. isBN 978-0-8071-5931-6 (cloth : alk. paper) — isBN 978-0-8071-5932-3 (pdf) — isBN 978-0-8071-5933-0 (epub) — isBN 978-0-8071-5934-7 (mobi) 1. united states— history—war of 1812. 2. New orleans, Battle of, New orleans, la., 1815. I. Title. e354.d74 2015 973.5'2—dc23 2014020834 The paper in this book meets the guidelines for permanence and durability of the committee on Production Guidelines for Book longevity of the council on library resources. dedicated to roger and aline drez, who made this all possible This page intentionally left blank CONN TE TS F oreword by w. henson moore ix acknowledgments xi Time line for louisiana xiii Time line leading to the Battle of New orleans xv introduction: The enigma 1 1. Louisiana 16 2. Resentment and Provocation 37 3. Fatal confrontations: The Leander affair, and Chesapeake versus Leopard 51 4. British demands and madison’s resistance 70 5. On to canada: war and reality 94 6. The eagle against the leviathan 117 7. Finally a General, or Two 136 8. War and deception 169 9. The Grand offensive 193 10. The final attack 225 epilogue 302 appendix: war secretary lord Bathurst’s letter to major General Pakenham, october 24, 1814 315 Notes 317 Bibliography 349 index 355 This page intentionally left blank FOREWORD Good works on american history come and go. hopefully we learn from them, and sometimes we learn something new. i am very excited about this work as not only will the reader learn, but it actually changes history. Not many books can make that claim. when the Battle of New orleans Bicentennial commission was created, its founding legislation envisioned twin missions of celebration and edu- cation. No one knew then of the possibility of actually rewriting what we have learned in the past about the Battle of New orleans. we have all been taught that Gulf of mexico campaign during the war of 1812 culminated in the conflict that took place on January 8, 1815.w hile a tremendous and unexpected military victory for Jackson and the united states, the battle, as we have also been told, was actually unnecessary as the Treaty of Ghent had been signed on december 24, 1815, effectively ending the war. if generals Jackson and Packenham had modern communications available to them, the battle would never have been fought. This conclusion of historians has probably done more than anything else to relegate this once celebrated event to the dustbin of american history. at one time, January 8 was one of only two national holidays, July 4 being the other. But what if this was not true? what if the battle was going to be fought by the aggressor even if he knew about the treaty? what if he had orders to do so even in the event of a treaty? would history be wrong? would this change history and restore this magnificent battle to the pantheon of our great national events? you must read on, learn the truth, and make up your own mind about the new history of the Battle of New orleans. The new material revealing the necessity of the battle itself notwith- standing, this book is an excellent telling in a very readable style of the ix x foreword events leading up to this climatic nineteenth-century confrontation between david and Goliath. you will undoubtedly enjoy it and learn more than you ever knew about this last crossing of swords by two countries that have remained strong allies ever since. The author is an accomplished military history writer and indefatigable researcher. This may be his greatest work because he does change history. This may also be the greatest leave-behind of the bicentennial of this truly historic battle. w. henson moore chairman, Battle of New orleans Bicentennial commission Ac KNOWLEDGMENTS This book was initially made possible through the efforts of louisiana state representative Nicholas lorusso, whose passion for history inspired him to commemorate “the series of battles of the war of 1812 collectively referred to as the Battle of New orleans.” he introduced legislation stating that the bicentennial of the Battle of New orleans be recognized and celebrated, particularly between december 23, 2014, and January 8, 2015—the dates during which the united states and Great Britain fought the climactic battle of the war of 1812 two centuries ago. That legislation created the Battle of New orleans Bicen- tennial commission to “commemorate this anniversary through local and statewide observances, educational events, and activities planned, coordi- nated, and conducted by a commission for such a purpose.” The honorable henson J. moore, formerly a louisiana member in the united states house of representatives, graciously accepted the challenge to chair this commission. in an effort to fulfill the commission’s charge to create a new, complete work on the war and the Battle of New orleans, i worked under its guidelines to produce a book that would truly be accurate, commemorative, and educational. i am indebted to dr. Gary Joiner, the chairman of the history department at lsu in shreveport, who painstak- ingly reviewed the work for its scope and contribution to the subject of the war of 1812. The professionals at lsu Press, under the leadership of director mary- Katherine callaway, have all contributed their talents to bring the book to life, and it has been a pleasure to work with them. i owe a special thanks to mary lee Berner harris, the curator of the ursuline convent collection in New orleans, for the documents and research xi xii acknowledgments that detailed the vital relationship between the ursuline nuns, the battle, General andrew Jackson, and the city of New orleans. finally, a special thanks to my wife, Judy, who continually combed through the manuscript to find better words to tell this remarkable story. TIME LINE FOR LOUISIANA 1682.r obert cavelier de lasalle claims the mississippi river and the land drained by the river for louis XiV and names it louisiana—the land of louis. 1718. New orleans is founded by Jean Baptiste lemoyne de Bienville. 1722. New orleans becomes the capital of the vast louisiana Territory. 1762. Following the British victory in the french and indian war, or the seven years’ war, france secretly cedes to spain the louisiana territory west of the mississippi river, including New orleans, in the Treaty of fontainebleau. This was to avoid losing the land to the victorious British. New orleans falls under spanish rule. 1763. The Treaty of Paris officially ends thes even years’ war, and france cedes the eastern half of louisiana to Great Britain. This is the area between the mississippi river and the appalachian mountains. spain also cedes east and west florida to Great Britain, but New orleans remains under spanish rule. 1783. The Treaty of Paris ends the seven-year american revolution, and Great Britain is forced to cede the eastern half of louisiana to the united states and the colonies of east and west florida back to spain. The narrow strip of land south of the 31st parallel and north of the Gulf of mexico is divided by the apalachicola river. The capital of east florida is Pensacola, and west florida’s capital is st. augustine. New orleans remains under the spanish flag. The western and south- ern boundaries of the united states are now controlled by spain. Great Britain retains perpetual access to the mississippi river. xiii xiv time line for louisiana 1791. The Negro slave revolt on the caribbean island of saint domingue marks the end of the french colonial empire there. many colonists flee to cuba and then to New orleans. 1800. Napoleon Bonaparte acquires the louisiana territory (west of the mississippi) from spain in the secret Treaty of ildefonso. he plans to reestablish a colonial empire in america for france by re-enslaving saint domingue as the heart of his empire and by invading and conquering New orleans. although New orleans is included in this secret retrocession to france, it remains under spanish rule. 1802. Finally getting wind that this retrocession has occurred, the united states tries to negotiate with france to acquire New orleans, even though it still flies the spanish flag. Napoleon’s army in the caribbean is stricken with yellow fever and is unable to seize saint domingue or attack New orleans. 1803 Napoleon sells all of louisiana west of the mississippi river, including New orleans, to the united states to finance a new war with Great Britain. November 30. The Territory of louisiana, including New orleans, is trans- ferred from spain to france. december 20. France transfers louisiana and New orleans to the united states.

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