Battle of Lake Borgne[edit]
Main article: Battle of Lake Borgne
By December 12, 1814, a large British fleet under the command of Sir Alexander Cochrane with more than 8,000 soldiers and sailors aboard, had anchored in the Gulf of Mexico to the east of Lake Pontchartrain and Lake Borgne.[15] Preventing access to the lakes was an American flotilla, commanded by Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones, consisting of five gunboats. On December 14, around 1,200 British sailors and Royal Marines under Captain Nicholas Lockyer[16] set out to attack Catesby's force. Lockyer's men sailed in 42 longboats, each armed with a small carronade. Lockyer captured Catesby's vessels in a brief engagement known as the Battle of Lake Borgne. 17 British sailors were killed and 77 wounded,[17] while 6 Americans were killed, 35 wounded, and 86 captured.[17] The wounded included both Catesby and Lockyer. Now free to navigate Lake Borgne, thousands of British soldiers, under the command of General John Keane, were rowed to Pea Island, about 30 miles (48 km) east of New Orleans, where they established a garrison.
Night attack of December 23[edit]
On the morning of December 23, Keane and a vanguard of 1,800 British soldiers reached the east bank of the Mississippi River, 9 miles (14 km) south of New Orleans.[18] Keane could have attacked the city by advancing for a few hours up the river road, which was undefended all the way to New Orleans, but he made the fateful decision to encamp at Lacoste's Plantation[19] and wait for the arrival of reinforcements.[20] During the afternoon of December 23, after he had learned of the position of the British encampment, Andrew Jackson reportedly said, "By the Eternal they shall not sleep on our soil."[21] This intelligence had been provided by Colonel Thomas Hinds' Squadron of Light Dragoons, a militia unit from the Mississippi Territory.[22][23] That evening, attacking from the north, Jackson led 2,131[24] men in a brief three-pronged assault on the unsuspecting British troops, who were resting in their camp. Then Jackson pulled his forces back to the Rodriguez Canal, about 4 miles (6.4 km) south of the city. The Americans suffered 24 killed, 115 wounded, and 74 missing,[25] while the British reported their losses as 46 killed, 167 wounded, and 64 missing.[26]
Historian Robert Quimby says, "the British certainly did win a tactical victory, which enabled them to maintain their position".[27] However, Quimby goes on to say, "It is not too much to say that it was the battle of December 23 that saved New Orleans. The British were disabused of their expectation of an easy conquest. The unexpected and severe attack made Keane even more cautious...he made no effort to advance on the twenty-fourth or twenty-fifth".[28] As a consequence, the Americans were given time to begin the transformation of the canal into a heavily fortified earthwork.[29] On Christmas Day, General Edward Pakenham arrived on the battlefield and ordered a reconnaissance-in-force on December 28 against the American earthworks protecting the advance to New Orleans. That evening, General Pakenham met with General Keane and Admiral Cochrane for an update on the situation, angry with the position that the army had been placed in. General Pakenham wanted to use Chef Menteur Road as the invasion route but was overruled by Admiral Cochrane who insisted that his boats were providing everything that could be needed.[30] Admiral Cochrane believed that the British Army would destroy a ramshackle American army and allegedly said that if the Army would not do so his sailors would. Whatever Pakenham's thoughts on the matter, the meeting settled the method and place of the attack.[31]
When the British reconnaissance-in-force withdrew, the Americans began construction of artillery batteries to protect the earthworks, which were then christened Line Jackson. The Americans installed eight batteries, which included one 32-pound gun, three 24-pounders, one 18-pounder, three 12-pounders, three 6-pounders, and a 6-inch (150 mm) howitzer. Jackson also sent a detachment of men to the west bank of the Mississippi to man two 24-pounders and two 12-pounders from the grounded warship USS Louisiana. Jackson's force was outnumbered by the attacking British forces. Jackson's army of 4,732 men comprised 968 US Army regulars,[32] 58 US Marines, 106 seamen of the US Naval battalion, 1,060 Louisiana Militia and volunteers (including 462 free people of color), 1,352 Tennessee Militia, 986 Kentucky Militia, 150 Mississippi Militia and 52 Choctaw warriors, along with a force of the pirate Jean Lafitte's Baratarians. Additionally, Jackson had the support of warships in the Mississippi River, including the USS Louisiana, the USS Carolinaand a steamboat Enterprise,
The main British army arrived on New Year's Day 1815, and attacked the earthworks using their artillery. An exchange of artillery fire began that lasted for three hours. Several of the American guns were destroyed or knocked out, including the 32-pounder, a 24-pounder, and a 12-pounder, and some damage was done to the earthworks. The British guns ran out of ammunition, which led Pakenham to cancel the attack. Unknown at the moment to Pakenham, the Americans on the left of Line Jackson near the swamp had broken and run from the position. Pakenham decided to wait for his entire force of over 8,000 men to assemble before launching his attack.[33]
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