General Andrew Jackson Pays His Troops for Their Epochal Victory at the Battle of New Orleans

He uses some of the funds for the continued defense of the South

After burning Washington in August 1814, the British were emboldened to make their next foray an ambitious plan to take New Orleans and use that as a base to seize the land obtained by the Americans in the Louisiana Purchase. A fleet with some 9,000 British troops arrived off Lake Borgne by New Orleans on December 12. Admiral Alexander Cochrane sent naval forces forward to sweep American gunboats from Lake Borgne on December 12. Attacking with 42 armed longboats, they overwhelmed Thomas ap Catesby Jones’ U.S. force on the lake. With the lake open, British army forces landed on Pea Island and established a British garrison. Pushing forward, 1800 of their men reached the east bank of the Mississippi River on December 23 and encamped on the Villeré Plantation.

In New Orleans, the defense of the city was tasked to Major General Andrew Jackson, commanding the Seventh Military District. Working frantically, Jackson assembled around some 4,000 men that mainly included the 7th US Infantry, the Tennessee and Kentucky militia, and local men of all stripes. Unwilling to tolerate British troops on American soil unchallenged, Jackson sortied from the city and launched a three-pronged attack. In a sharp fight, American forces bloodied the British and put them off balance, causing them to delay their advance on the city. Using this time well, Jackson’s men continued building fortifications. As the main British force arrived on January 1, 1815, a severe artillery duel began between the opposing forces. The British prepared for their great assault on New Orleans, which was set for January 8. On that day they began to move out.  Pirate Jean Lafitte, however, warned the Americans that the British assault was imminent, and the arriving British found the Americans ready and waiting for them. Seeing the British columns before them, composed of columns of veterans of the Napoleonic Wars, Jackson’s inexperienced men courageously opened an intense artillery and rifle fire upon the enemy. In two separate assaults, the 7,500 British soldiers under Sir Edward Pakenham were unable to penetrate the U.S. defenses, and Jackson’s troops, many of them expert marksmen, decimated the British lines. In half an hour, the British had retreated, General Pakenham was dead, and over 2,000 of his men were killed, wounded, or missing (the British reported their losses as 291 killed, 1,262 wounded, and 484 captured/missing for a total of 2,037). U.S. forces suffered only 13 killed, 58 wounded, and 30 captured for a total of 101. The British defeat was so great that the entirety of British senior command on the field was killed or wounded. Their losses were such that they were forced to give up their entire strategy. A stunningly one-sided victory, the Battle of New Orleans was the signature American victory of the War of 1812, securing the Gulf Coast and New Orleans, and ending British designs on the Louisiana Territory. It was also the last armed engagement between the United States and Great Britain.

The victory was more than a military one. It solidified American independence, awakened a strong sense of national identity, and led to a burst of energy and expansion that changed the face of the young country. That is why the Battle of New Orleans has become the stuff of legends, and been the subject of books, movies, and popular stories. For Jackson personally, the victory brought instant fame and was the first step along a path that eventually led to the White House.

But the war, as far as Jackson was concerned, was not yet over.  It was only on the 14th of February that he would hear of the signing of the Treaty of Ghent and the end of the war.  In the meantime, he needed to pay his troops, some of whom had not been paid in some time.  On February 14, his regional paymaster, John T. Pemberton, wrote him asking whether he could pay at their request the officers of infantry for service dating back months, including the battle.  Jackson must have received many such requests and he did not have the funds to pay. However he was simultaneously receiving communications from Secretary of War James Monroe to continue the organization of troops, and sending the funds to do so. So Jackson drew on the funds of the U.S. Government with this very check, and paid his troops for their victory and continuing service.

Document signed, February 14, 1815, a draft on the Secretary of War and the United States for $25,000 on behalf of the Cashier of the Bank of Louisiana, the very money that would be used to fund the great victory and compensate his troops. This payment draft is famous, and is the original from which facsimiles were made for history enthusiasts to enjoy.

This is the same day Jackson learned of the end of the war and the signing of the Treaty of Peace in Ghent.