Edward Pakenham The Honourable Sir Edward Pakenham GCB ( pro . pake - en - ham ) ( 19 March 1778 – 8 January 1815 ) , was an Anglo - Irish Army Officer and Politician . He was the brother - in law of the Duke of Wellington , with whom he served in the Peninsular War . Appointed as commander of British forces in North America in 1814 , he was killed in action at the Battle of New Orleans . Early life . Pakenham was born at Pakenham Hall ( now known as Tullynally Castle ) , County Westmeath , Ireland to Edward Pakenham , 2nd Baron Longford and the former Catherine Rowley . He was educated at The Royal School , Armagh . His family purchased his commission as a lieutenant in the 92nd Regiment of Foot when he was only sixteen . Between 1799 and 1800 , Pakenham also represented Longford Borough in the Irish House of Commons . Early service . Known as ' Ned ' to his friends , he served with the 23rd Light Dragoons against the French in Ireland during the 1798 Rebellion and later served in Nova Scotia , Barbados , and Saint Croix . He led his men in an attack on Saint Lucia in 1803 , where he was wounded . He also fought in the Danish campaign at the Battle of Copenhagen ( 1807 ) and in Martinique against the French Empire , where he received another wounding . In 1806 , his sister Catherine married Arthur Wellesley , the future Duke of Wellington . Peninsular War . Pakenham , as adjutant - general , joined his famous in - law , Wellesley , in the Peninsular War . He commanded a regiment in the Battle of Bussaco in 1810 and in 1811 fought in the Battle of Fuentes de Onoro to defend the besieged fortress of Almeida , helping to secure a British victory . In 1812 he was praised for his performance at Salamanca in which he commanded the Third Division and hammered onto the flank of the extended French line . In the following years he was appointed a Knight Companion of the Order of the Bath in 1813 , fought at the Battle of Toulouse in 1814 and received the Grand Cross to the Order of the Bath in 1815 . He also received the Army Gold Cross and clasps for the battles of Martinique , Busaco , Fuentes d ' Oñoro , Salamanca , Pyrenees , Nivelle , Nive , Orthez , and Toulouse . War of 1812 . In 1814 , Pakenham , having been promoted to the rank of major - general , accepted an offer to replace General Robert Ross as commander of the British North American army , after Ross was killed during the skirmishing prior to the Battle of North Point near Baltimore . The next year during the Battle of New Orleans while rallying his troops near the enemy line , grapeshot from US artillery shattered his left knee and killed his horse . As he was helped to his feet by his senior ADC ( " aide - de - camp " ) , Major Duncan MacDougall , Pakenham was wounded a second time in his right arm . After he mounted MacDougall ' s horse , more grapeshot ripped through his spine , fatally wounding him , and he died as he was carried off the battlefield at the age of 36 . His last words were reputed to be telling MacDougall to find General Lambert to tell him to assume command and send forward the reserves . The battle ended in defeat for the British . The American commander was Major General Andrew Jackson , who would go onto become the President of the United States . A general ceasefire had already been declared by the Treaty of Ghent , signed on 24 December 1814 , but as peace was not yet ratified in Washington as required by the treaty , the nations were still formally at war . The news of the treaty did not reach the combatants until February , several weeks after the battle . Legacy . Wellington had held Pakenham in high regard and was deeply saddened by news of his death , commenting : We have but one consolation , that he fell as he lived , in the honourable discharge of his duty and distinguished as a soldier and a man . I cannot but regret that he was ever employed on such a service or with such a colleague . The expedition to New Orleans originated with that colleague . . . The Americans were prepared with an army in a fortified position which still would have been carried , if the duties of others , that is of the Admiral ( Sir Alexander Cochrane ) , had been as well performed as that of he whom we now lament . There is a statue in his memory at the South Transept of St Paul ' s Cathedral in London . His body was returned in a cask of rum and buried in the Pakenham family vault in Killucan in Westmeath , Ireland . There is a small village in Ontario , Canada named in honour of the general ' s short visit there and his role in the War of 1812 . The village is located on the Mississippi River which originates from Mississippi Lake and empties into the Ottawa River . There is also a suburb of Melbourne , Australia named after him .