|
Kentuckians and Tennesseans at the Battle of New Orleans
In 1814 a huge British armada of sixty warships and 14,000 men descended upon the western American city of New Orleans as part of an overall strategy to end the war with America--and perhaps to seize the Louisiana Purchase. The fledgling US Government sent Major General Andrew Jackson of Tennessee with a force of 990 "bluecoats" to defend the city. Short of weapons, gunpowder, and manpower, "Old Hickory" was forced to use the resources available to him. He cobbled together a force of wealthy planters, Creole militias, slaves, free blacks, Choctaw Indians and pirates--but he was still desperately short of men. Historians agree that without the Tennessee and Kentucky militias, the battle could have had a much different outcome.
|
