It all happened just downriver from New Orleans, on Jan. 8, 1815. This weekend, you can see it unfold again on the Chalmette Battlefield.
Many people believe that the Battle of New Orleans – the last great battle of the War of 1812 between the United States and Britain – was unnecessary, since the treaty ending the war was signed in late 1814. But the war was not over.
The resounding American victory at the Battle of New Orleans soon became a symbol of a new idea: American democracy triumphing over the old European ideas of aristocracy and entitlement. Gen. Andrew Jackson’s hastily assembled army had won the day against a battle-hardened and numerically superior British force. Americans took great pride in the victory and for decades celebrated Jan. 8 as a national holiday, just like the Fourth of July.
Remember the Battle of New Orleans at Chalmette Battlefield, the very place where it happened. Meet the American and British troops who fought one of the most significant battles in world history as some 100 living history experts in period dress bring the sights and sounds of Jan. 8, 1815, to life.
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