In DECEMBER of 1814, after learning that 50 British ships had sailed into Lake Borgne near New Orleans and deposited more than 8,000 troops, General Andrew Jackson rushed to defend the city and protect the entrance of the Mississippi River. Jackson maneuvered into a very defensible position at Chalmette Plantation and made his stand.
The British advanced too slowly and cautiously, thereby, losing much of their advantage. Numerous engagements occurred between portions of the opposing armies with neither being the clear winner. Jackson, with a small force of regular troops, militiamen, seamen, citizens, Choctaw Indians, free blacks and pirates under the command of Jean Lafitte (a force totaling about 2,000 men), delayed the British advance long enough for 2,300 Kentucky militiamen to arrive to bolster his numbers on January 4,…
