Battle of Villeré's Plantation
| Battle of Villeré's Plantation | |||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Part of the New Orleans campaign during the War of 1812 | |||||||||
A painting of the night battle depicting Free Men of Colour and Choctaws warriors engaging the British 85th and 95th Regiments in combat | |||||||||
| |||||||||
| Belligerents | |||||||||
| United States | United Kingdom | ||||||||
| Commanders and leaders | |||||||||
| Andrew Jackson | John Keane | ||||||||
| Strength | |||||||||
|
2,131 men 2 gunboats | 1,800 men | ||||||||
| Casualties and losses | |||||||||
|
24 killed 115 wounded 74 missing |
46 killed 167 wounded 64 missing | ||||||||
The Battle of Villeré's Plantation,[5] also known as the Night Battle of New Orleans[6] was a military engagement between American and British forces during the War of 1812.[7]
Background
On 23 December 1814, 1,800 British soldiers under the command of British General John Keane, 1st Baron Keane landed south of the city of New Orleans.[8] The British invaded the home of Major Gabriel Villeré, who narrowly evaded capture by jumping through a window.[9] The British later established their headquarters in Villeré's house.[10] As for Villeré himself, after his escape, he reported the British landing to Major General Andrew Jackson.[11] After hearing about the British landing, Jackson allegedly exclaimed, "By the Eternal, they shall not sleep on our soil!... Gentlemen, the British are below, we must fight them to-night."[12]
Order of battle
American
- Major D'Aquin's Battalion of Free Men of Color
- Orleans Rifle Company
- Baptiste Plauche's Battalion
- Mississippi Dragoons
Tennessee Militia
- John Coffee's Mounted Rifles
Choctaws warriors
British
- 4th Regiment of Foot[15]
- 21st Regiment of Foot (reinforcements)
- 85th Regiment of Foot
- 93rd Regiment of Foot (reinforcements)
- 95th Rifle Regiment
Battle
On the evening of 23 December, Jackson led a force of 2,131 men in a three-pronged assault on the British encampment.[16] At 7:00pm, the USS Carolina under the command of Captain John D. Henley, and USS Louisiana, under the command of Master commandant Daniel Patterson bombarded the British camp.[17] A half an hour after the Carolina's bombardment, Jackson sent his forces forwards with the Marines pressing forward along the levee, the 7th and 44th Infantry Regiments in column to the Marines' left, Plauche and Daquin's battalions coming in from the rear.[15] The 7th and 44th Regiments made initial contact, routing a British force behind a hedge and ditch.[15] As the battle progressed British reinforcements from the 21st Regiment of Foot and 93rd Regiment of Foot arrived and engaged the Americans, with the 21st Regiment of the Foot beating back John Coffee's Mounted Rifles.[15]
Aftermath
After the brief but chaotic engagement, Jackson withdrew his forces to the Rodriguez Canal.[18] Historian Robert Quimby stated that the British won a "tactical victory, which enabled them to maintain their position"[2] but also "were disabused of their expectation of an easy conquest."[19] The Bill of Rights Institute said about the engagement, "Although a tactical defeat, the skirmish was a strategic victory for Jackson. It forced the British forces to remain in place and shattered their illusions of a quick and easy conquest. It also granted Jackson the time to build earthworks and other defenses he desperately needed to hold off the much larger enemy force. His men constructed ramparts more than five feet high and as many as twenty feet deep and reinforced with logs. The artillery was dug in at regular intervals. The gamble had paid off."[3]
References
- ^ "Army historian corrects myths on Battle of New Orleans' 200th anniversary". www.army.mil. January 9, 2015.
- ^ a b Quimby 1997, p. 852.
- ^ a b "Andrew Jackson Battle of New Orleans War of 1812". Bill of Rights Institute.
- ^ "New Orleans". American Battlefield Trust.
- ^ "23rd Infantry Regiment Reenactment". 23rdus1812reg.org.
- ^ https://repository.lsu.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=4780&context=gradschool_theses
- ^ "NCHGS Road to New Orleans". www.nchgs.org.
- ^ "A sketch of the attack made by Major General Jackson, on a division of the British army commanded by Major General Kean on the evening of the 23 Dec., 1814". teva.contentdm.oclc.org.
- ^ Bunner 1855, p. 220.
- ^ "Plantation of Jacques Philippe Villere Historical Marker". www.hmdb.org.
- ^ Editor, News (April 11, 2018). "Villeré Plantation Receives Historical Marker".
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Wegmann, Mary Ann; Museum, Louisiana State; Department, University of New Orleans History. "From Fort St. Charles to the U.S. Mint". New Orleans Historical.
- ^ a b https://www.tngenweb.org/campbell/hist-bogan/NewOrleans.html#:~:text=23%20December%201814,46%20killed%20and%20145%20wounded.
- ^ "The Pinchpenny Flotilla". U.S. Naval Institute. February 9, 2015.
- ^ a b c d https://www.nps.gov/parkhistory/online_books/jela/lost_riverfront/Part_1.pdf
- ^ Quimby 1997, p. 843.
- ^ "Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History, Villereas plantation, battle of". www.perseus.tufts.edu.
- ^ Editors, HISTORY com (November 9, 2009). "Battle of New Orleans: War of 1812 & Andrew Jackson". HISTORY.
{{cite web}}:|last=has generic name (help) - ^ Quimby 1997, p. 852–853.
Bibliography
- Quimby, Robert S. (1997), The U.S. Army in the War of 1812: an operational and command study, East Lansing, MI: Michigan State University Press, ISBN 0-87013-441-8, JSTOR 10.14321/j.ctt130hjqq
- Bunner, E. (1855). History of Louisiana, from Its First Discovery and Settlement to the Present Time. New York: Harper and Bros. OCLC 1046527540. Retrieved September 25, 2017. This article incorporates text from this source, which is in the public domain.