Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans took place on January 8 , 1815 and was the final major battle of the War of 1812 . American forces , commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson , defeated an invading British Army intent on seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase . The Treaty of Ghent , having been signed on December 24 , 1814 , was ratified by the Prince Regent on December 30 , 1814 , and the United States Senate on February 16 , 1815 . Hostilities continued until late February when official dispatches announcing the peace reached the combatants in Louisiana , finally putting an end to the war . The Battle of New Orleans is widely regarded as the greatest American land victory of the war . 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 . Preventing access to the lakes was an American flotilla , commanded by Lieutenant Thomas ap Catesby Jones , consisting of five gunboat s . On December 14 , around 1 , 200 British sailors and Royal Marines under Captain Nicholas Lockyer 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 . Seventeen British sailors were killed and 77 wounded , while 6 Americans were killed , 35 wounded , and 86 captured . 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 east of New Orleans , where they established a garrison . Night attack of December 23 . On the morning of December 23 , Keane and a vanguard of 1 , 800 British soldiers reached the east bank of the Mississippi River , south of New Orleans . 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 and wait for the arrival of reinforcements . 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 . " This intelligence had been provided by Colonel Thomas Hinds ' Squadron of Light Dragoons , a militia unit from the Mississippi Territory . That evening , attacking from the north , Jackson led 2 , 131 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 south of the city . The Americans suffered 24 killed , 115 wounded , and 74 missing , while the British reported their losses as 46 killed , 167 wounded , and 64 missing . Historian Robert Quimby says , " the British certainly did win a tactical victory , which enabled them to maintain their position " . 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 " . As a consequence , the Americans were given time to begin the transformation of the canal into a heavily fortified earthwork . 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 . 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 . On December 28 , groups of British troops made probing attacks against the American earthworks . When the British troops 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 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 . Jackson ' s force was outnumbered by the attacking British forces . Jackson ' s army of 4 , 732 men comprised 968 US Army regulars , 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 . Additionally , Jackson had the support of warships in the Mississippi River , including the USS " Louisiana " , the USS " Carolina " and the " Enterprise " . The main British army arrived on New Year ' s Day , 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 . Battle of January 8 . In the early morning of January 8 , Pakenham ordered a two - pronged assault against Jackson ' s position . Colonel William Thornton ( of the 85th Regiment ) was to cross the Mississippi during the night with his 780 - strong brigade , move rapidly upriver and storm the batteries commanded by Commodore Daniel Patterson on the flank of the main American entrenchments and then open an enfilading fire on Jackson ' s line with howitzers and rockets . Then , the main attack , directly against the earthworks manned by the vast majority of American troops , would be launched in two columns ( along the river led by Keane and along the swamp line led by Major General Samuel Gibbs ) . The brigade commanded by Major General John Lambert was held in reserve . Preparations for the attack had floundered early , as a canal being dug by Cochrane ' s sailors collapsed and the dam made to divert the flow of the river into the canal failed , leaving the sailors to drag the boats of Col . Thornton ' s west bank assault force through deep mud and left the force starting off just before daybreak 12 hours late . The attack began under darkness and a heavy fog , but as the British neared the main enemy line the fog lifted , exposing them to withering artillery fire . Lt - Col . Thomas Mullins , the British commander of the 44th ( East Essex ) Regiment of Foot , had forgotten the ladder s and fascine s needed to cross a canal and scale the earthworks , and confusion evolved in the dark and fog as the British tried to close the gap . Most of the senior officers were killed or wounded , including General Gibbs , killed leading the main attack column on the right comprising the 4th , 21st , 44th and 5th West India Regiment s , and Colonel Rennie leading a detachment of light companies of the 7th , 43rd , and 93rd on the left by the river . Possibly because of Thornton ' s delay in crossing the river and the withering artillery fire that might hit them from across the river , the 93rd Highlanders were ordered to leave Keane ' s assault column advancing along the river and move across the open field to join the main force on the right of the field . Keane fell wounded as he crossed the field with the 93rd . Rennie ' s men managed to attack and overrun an American advance redoubt next to the river , but without reinforcements they could neither hold the position nor successfully storm the main American line behind . Within minutes , the American 7th Infantry arrived , moved forward , and fired upon the British in the captured redoubt : within half an hour , Rennie and most of his men were dead . In the main attack on the right , the British infantrymen either flung themselves to the ground , huddled in the canal , or were mowed down by a combination of musket fire and grapeshot from the Americans . A handful made it to the top of the parapet on the right but were either killed or captured . The 95th Rifles had advanced in open skirmish order ahead of the main assault force and were concealed in the ditch below the parapet , unable to advance further without support . The two large main assaults on the American position were repulsed . Pakenham and his second - in - command , General Gibbs , were fatally wounded , while on horseback , by grapeshot fired from the earthworks . With most of their senior officers dead or wounded , the British soldiers , having no orders to advance further or retreat , stood out in the open and were shot apart with grapeshot from Line Jackson . After about 20 more minutes of bloodletting , General Lambert assumed command and eventually ordered a withdrawal . The only British success was on the west bank of the Mississippi River , where Thornton ' s brigade , comprising the 85th Regiment and detachments from the Royal Navy and Royal Marines , attacked and overwhelmed the American line . Though both Jackson and Commodore Patterson reported that the retreating forces had spiked their cannon , leaving no guns to turn on the Americans ' main defense line , this is contradicted by Major Mitchell ' s diary which makes it clear this was not so , as he states he had " Commenced cleaning enemy ' s guns to form a battery to enfilade their lines on the left bank " . General Lambert ordered his Chief of Artillery , Colonel Alexander Dickson , to assess the position . Dickson reported back that no fewer than 2 , 000 men would be needed to hold the position . General Lambert issued orders to withdraw after the defeat of their main army on the east bank and retreated , taking a few American prisoners and cannon with them . At the end of the day , the British had 2 , 042 casualties : 291 killed ( including Generals Pakenham and Gibbs ) , 1 , 267 wounded ( including General Keane ) and 484 captured or missing . The Americans had 71 casualties : 13 dead ; 39 wounded , and 19 missing . Siege of Fort St . Philip . On January 9 , British naval forces attacked Fort St . Philip which protected New Orleans from an amphibious assault from the Gulf of Mexico via the Mississippi River . American forces within the fort withstood ten days of bombardment by cannon before the British ships withdrew on January 18 , 1815 . Withdrawal of the British . A few days after the battle , General Lambert held a council of war where he concluded that despite his request for reinforcements as well as siege train , capturing New Orleans and continuing the Louisiana campaign would be too costly and thus agreed with his officers to withdraw . On February 4 , 1815 , the fleet , with all of the British troops aboard , set sail toward Mobile Bay , Alabama . The British army then attacked and captured Fort Bowyer at the mouth of Mobile Bay on February 12 . The British army was making preparations to attack Mobile when news arrived of the peace treaty . The treaty had been ratified by the British Parliament but would not be ratified by Congress and the President until mid - February . It did , however , resolve that hostilities should cease , and the British abandoned Fort Bowyer and sailed home to their base in the West Indies . Although the Battle of New Orleans had no influence on the terms of the Treaty of Ghent , the defeat at New Orleans did compel Britain to abide by the treaty . However , it would have been problematic for the British to continue the war in North America , due to Napoleon ' s escape from Elba on February 26 , 1815 , which ensured their forces were needed in Europe . Also , since the Treaty of Ghent did not specifically mention the vast territory America had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase , it only required both sides to give back those lands that had been taken from the other during the war . Aftermath . From December 25 , 1814 , to January 26 , 1815 , British casualties during the Louisiana Campaign , apart from the assault on January 8 , were 49 killed , 87 wounded and 4 missing . These losses , together with those incurred on December 23 and January 8 , added up to 386 killed , 1 , 521 wounded and 552 missing for the whole campaign . General Jackson reported a grand total of 55 killed , 185 wounded and 93 missing for the entire siege , including December 23 and January 8 . Four currently active battalions of the Regular Army ( 1 - 5 FA , 1 - 6 FA , 1 - 1 Inf and 2 - 1 Inf ) and one Mississippi Army National Guard regiment ( 155th Inf ) are derived from American units that fought at the Battle of New Orleans . Although the engagement was small compared to other contemporary battles such as the Battle of Waterloo , it was important for the meaning applied to it by Americans in general and Andrew Jackson in particular . Americans believed that a vastly powerful British fleet and army had sailed for New Orleans ( Jackson himself thought 25 , 000 troops were coming ) , and most expected the worst . The news of victory , one man recalled , " came upon the country like a clap of thunder in the clear azure vault of the firmament , and traveled with electromagnetic velocity , throughout the confines of the land . " The battle boosted the reputation of Andrew Jackson and helped to propel him to the White House . The anniversary of the battle was celebrated as a national holiday for many years , and continues to be commemorated in south Louisiana . In honor of Jackson , the newly - organized Louisiana Historical Association dedicated its new Memorial Hall facility on January 8 , 1891 , the 76th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans . A federal park was established in 1907 to preserve the battlefield ; today it features a monument and is part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve . " The 8th of January " became a traditional American fiddle tune , honoring the date of the battle . More than a century later , the melody was used by Jimmie Driftwood to write the song " The Battle of New Orleans " , which was a hit for Johnny Horton and Lonnie Donegan . Victory attributed to a miracle . With the Americans outnumbered it seemed as though the city of New Orleans was in danger of being captured . Consequently , the Ursuline nuns along with many faithful people of New Orleans gathered in the Ursuline Convent ' s chapel before the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor . They spent the night before the battle praying and crying before the holy statue , begging for the Virgin Mary ' s intercession . On the morning of January 8 , the Very Rev . William Dubourg , Vicar General , offered Mass at the altar on which the statue of Our Lady of Prompt Succor had been placed . The Prioress of the Ursuline convent , Mother Ste . Marie Olivier de Vezin , made a vow to have a Mass of Thanksgiving sung annually should the American forces win . At the very moment of communion , a courier ran into the chapel to inform all those present that the British had been defeated . General Jackson went to the convent himself to thank the nuns for their prayers : " By the blessing of heaven , directing the valor of the troops under my command , one of the most brilliant victories in the annals of war was obtained . " The vow made by Mother Ste . Marie has been faithfully kept throughout the years .