re: Should the New Orleans Hornets Remain Hornets?

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During the War of 1812 the British sent a force to try to conquer the city, but they were defeated by forces led by Andrew Jackson some miles down river from the city at Chalmette, Louisiana on January 8, 1815 (commonly known as the Battle of New Orleans). The city was attacked by a conjunct expedition of British naval and military forces from Halifax, Nova Scotia, and other points. The American government managed to obtain early information of the enterprise and prepared to meet it with forces (regular and militia) under the command of Maj.-Gen. Andrew Jackson. Privateers led by pirate Jean Lafitte were also recruited by Jackson for the battle. The British advance was made by way of Lake Borgne, and the troops landed at a fisherman's village on December 23, 1814, Major-General Sir Edward Pakenham taking command there on the 25th. An immediate advance on the still insufficiently prepared defences of the Americans might have led to the capture of the city, but this was not attempted, and both sides remained inactive for some time awaiting reinforcements. At last in the early morning of January 8, 1815 (after the Treaty of Ghent had been signed, but before the news had reached across the Atlantic) a direct attack was made on the now strongly entrenched line of the defenders at Chalmette, near the Mississippi River. It failed disastrously with a loss of 2,000 out of 9,000 British troops engaged, among the dead being Pakenham and Major-General Gibbs. The expedition was soon afterwards abandoned and the troops embarked for England.

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