Become a Creator today!Start creating today - Share your story with the world!
Start for free
00:00:00
00:00:01
Episode #4-Miracle of New Orleans
181 Plays3 years ago
In today’s episode we are going to take a look at the biggest victory the United States achieved in the War of 1812 as well as the rise of a frontiersman from Tennessee who would go on to become president and have a major impact on the country. Our funny story from history takes a look at a hoax letter that almost brought two countries and rivals to the brink of war.
Recommended
Transcript
Introduction & Key Victory in the War of 1812
00:00:04
Speaker
Hello, and welcome to another episode of Hooked on History. In today's episode, we're going to take a look at the biggest victory the United States achieved in the War of 1812, as well as the rise of a frontiersman from Tennessee who would go on to become president and have a major impact on our country. Our funny story from history takes a look at a hoax letter that almost brought two countries and rivals to the brink of war. Now, let's dive in.
Post-Independence Challenges with Britain
00:00:30
Speaker
After winning our independence from Great Britain in the Revolutionary War, our new fledgling nation faced the daunting task of establishing our standing on the global stage as a country to be respected. Our biggest opponent we faced in accomplishing this task was our former opponent, Great Britain. Not willing to accept that we had beat them in a war, Britain began to look for any and all ways to annoy or disrupt our country.
00:00:51
Speaker
From encouraging Native American groups in the West to attack American sailors, to stopping American ships in search of deserters, and then kidnapping American sailors in the process to impress them into the Royal Navy. When Napoleon sold the Louisiana territory to the US, which included the Gulf port of New Orleans, the British tried to restrict American trade in the Caribbeans. This continual antagonizing action from the British escalated as time went on. By
Warhawks and Escalating Tensions
00:01:16
Speaker
the time the 1810s rolled around, there was already a growing group of members in Congress calling for war.
00:01:21
Speaker
This group was made up of second generation Americans who were very little, very young when the war of independence occurred. These young men, known as Warhawks, believed that the US had beaten the British once and could do it again. What they didn't realize or know was that the US had some lucky breaks in the war and that for most of the war the British were dominating. This group was looking for any antagonizing action by the British that they could use to kickstart a war.
00:01:47
Speaker
On June 21, 1807, the USS Chesapeake sailed out of Norfolk, Virginia and was intercepted by the HMS Leopard, who was attempting to search for Royal Navy deserters. The Chesapeake refused to stop and tried to outrun the Leopard, but stopped and eventually surrendered after the Leopard fired on the ship, killing three sailors and wounding many more. Four sailors were eventually taken from the Chesapeake and tried for desertion.
00:02:12
Speaker
This incident was just another one in a long line of unlawful impressments by the British that infuriated Americans. President Jefferson issued an embargo on trade to Britain and France in response that caused massive inflation and tanked our economy while doing nothing to deter the Royal Navy in their impressment practices.
00:02:30
Speaker
Furthermore, the escalation of attacks by Native American tribes on settlers in the West, being spurred on by the British and the growing influence that those in the West had in government, fed the growing movement in our country that something had to be done to show to the British and the world that America would and could stand up to our bullies.
00:02:49
Speaker
The Warhawks, led by Henry Clay, finally succeeded in getting a war declaration passed on June 1st of 1812 by a slim margin in the Senate and House. Usually war declarations are passed almost unanimously, but in this case the Senate vote was 19-13 and the House vote was 79-49.
00:03:08
Speaker
This minor divide would be a factor in our story.
Initial US Defeats and Invasions into Canada
00:03:12
Speaker
So the early years of the war did not go well for the US. The strategy early on was to invade and take Canada, believing that the citizens of the area craved to be free from British rule. Madison's advisors pushed for this focus to be there.
00:03:26
Speaker
The planned attack on three fronts was a disaster though. The first front launched from Fort Detroit in the west to capture a nearby British fort was led by General William Hull who folded when his men came under fire from a lesser sized British force and surrendered Fort Detroit in the entire Northwestern American army. The second front launched near Niagara also was a disaster as division and lack of discipline led to the New York militiamen not crossing into Canada to reinforce the 950 Ohio militiamen
00:03:55
Speaker
who were taken prisoner. In the third and final front saw fighting near Lake Champlain in which some militia refused to cross the border and those who did saw skirmishes against the enemy turning to firing at one another and so retreated in defeat. This left many of the cities in the east undefended or at best poorly defended.
00:04:15
Speaker
In 1813, there was finally good news, though, in Canada, as the US force had captured York, Ontario. But unfortunately, some Americans were so overjoyed that they started setting fire to buildings and some public buildings, which is a big no-no in warfare. This would set the stage for the British to seek their revenge when they capture our capital.
00:04:36
Speaker
The rest of the year was full of bad news. East coast towns were raided and burned, and eventually the British would launch an invasion in the east. First, taking Washington DC and burning the White House and Capitol, and then eventually trying to take Baltimore. If Valiant stand by the army and the citizens of the city, they'll force the British to retreat, but things looked very bleak in the east.
Negotiating Peace and Strategizing Battles
00:04:56
Speaker
A delegation was sent to Belgium to meet with British delegation there to negotiate a peace.
00:05:01
Speaker
The British delegation dragged their feet at every turn, though, and the American delegation feared that the British were holding out in hopes of a big British victory and capture of a major port city in which they could include holding onto as part of the terms in the treaty. The delegation was correct in this thinking. The British did have a city in mind.
00:05:19
Speaker
Both President Madison and Andrew Jackson knew that the city of the British coveted lay out west and would be the key to the entire western portion of the U.S. And that's where our story picks up. Now at the heart of this story is the rise of a frontiersman from Tennessee who throughout the course of his life was a Saddler's apprentice, a clerk for an attorney,
00:05:40
Speaker
He became a practicing lawyer himself, a trader, a merchant, a delegate to a state constitutional convention, a congressman, a senator, a Supreme Court justice in his own state, a plantation owner, horse breeder, and eventually a major general of the Tennessee militia.
00:05:57
Speaker
It's this final position that kickstarts a military career that will see him become a legendary figure and provide him the prestige and fame to one day ascend to the presidency. This
Andrew Jackson's Rise in the War of 1812
00:06:07
Speaker
man is none other than Andrew Jackson. Orphaned at a young age following an event with British soldiers during the Revolutionary War in which he received a scar from a British officer's sword, Jackson harbored a deep hatred of the British and sought out any opportunity for revenge.
00:06:24
Speaker
Through the militia, Jackson was able to build his reputation up by building rapport with his men.
00:06:29
Speaker
Jackson was known to have a mean fiery side you did not want to be on, but also a calm, kind of fatherly side. He deeply cared for his men. One incident early on in the war provides a great example of this. Jackson had marched his volunteer militia down to Nat Chas on orders just north of New Orleans. Waiting for the final order to push into the city, Jackson received an order that both humiliated and infuriated him.
00:06:55
Speaker
He was ordered to disband his volunteer force and confiscate the weapons to turn over to the US Army. Not wanting to abandon his men with no weapons or supplies to fend for themselves in hostile Native American territory, Jackson disobeys the order and marched his army back to Nashville, making sure they made it back.
00:07:14
Speaker
Jackson, though, would get his chance to return to command in September of 1813 when news of an attack on Fort Mims by the redstick creeks in which women and children were also killed prompted Jackson to issue an order for his 2,000 brave Tennesseans to assemble in Fayetteville, Tennessee in two weeks. He met up with his force in November as they entered Creek Country.
00:07:36
Speaker
Supplies, though, would be a problem, being so far from civilization, but Jackson was determined to get revenge on those who attacked Fort Mims, and on the British who Jackson believed had supplied the attackers with weapons and munitions. For the next few months, Jackson and his forces would chase after Chief Weatherford and the Redstick Creeks, winning battles along the way, and finally in April, Chief Weatherford was surrendered himself, and the Creek War was over.
00:08:01
Speaker
Jackson negotiates the Treaty of Fort Jackson in August of 1814, which the Creeks gave the US more than 22 million acres of land. News of his accomplishments during the Creek War reached the Washington War Department. Militia General Jackson was promoted to Major General of the US Army, a larger and more powerful command.
00:08:22
Speaker
Even with a peace treaty in hand, Jackson had little time to relax.
Defense of New Orleans & British Blunders
00:08:26
Speaker
Already the sounds of British boot steps were heard heading to New Orleans. Situated on the mouth of the mighty Mississippi River, New Orleans not only provided a major trade port for the American settlers of the west, but also control of any westward expansion the US was making. If the British controlled New Orleans, they could cut off the US from further westward expansion, leaving the US to be contained to land that would be half the size of our country today.
00:08:50
Speaker
Jackson was tasked with defending the city and set about trying to figure out how the British would accomplish this. News that the British had anchored warships and landed troops in Pensacola, Florida, confirmed to Jackson that the route the British would take would be to land an army at Mobile, Alabama, and then swing them on an arc north of New Orleans to attack from that direction.
00:09:10
Speaker
Jackson marched his forces to Mobile with haste. In order for the British to land at Mobile, they would first have to take Fort Boyer, which guarded the approach. Jackson dispatches a small force of men with supplies to bolster the defense at the fort. Through grit and determination, Fort Boyer was brought up to defensive strength as best as it could.
00:09:30
Speaker
On September 15, 1814, British warships opened fire on the fort, while a small force of Royal Marines bolstered by Native Americans who had landed east of the fort attacked from the opposite side. Although outnumbered and outgunned, the fort defenders did land a lucky shot on the anchor chain of one of the warships, which drifted into a sandbar and got stuck. The guns of the fort laid into this ship, and the command of the ship gave the order to abandon the ship, and fire was set to the crippling vessel.
00:10:00
Speaker
The rest of the ships would retreat with the land force and the fort had succeeded in preventing the British from establishing a beachhead.
00:10:07
Speaker
After reinforcing the fort with the salvaged guns of the destroyed British warship, Jackson turned his sights on ejecting the British from Pensacola. This potentially, though, could have started a war with the Spanish, so Jackson had to maneuver the politics of the situation, and he does so brilliantly, and was able to render Pensacola indefensible as well as force the British to blow up the fort in the area to avoid it falling into American hands.
00:10:31
Speaker
With this objective accomplished, Jackson wastes no time in reinforcing the city or the fort and instead withdraws his entire forces back to Mobile to guess the next British move. Having disrupted the British strategy to this point, Jackson knew that the British would not be using Pensacola or Mobile for their invasion plan.
00:10:49
Speaker
This left the city of New Orleans as the direct target. Jackson arrives in the city to begin preparations for its defense and has the difficult task of bringing together a city of diverse backgrounds that had just been brought into the US a decade ago. Uniting the people was tough, but with the help of a friend who had married into the city's high social class, he was able to bring the people together. Jackson also scattered the terrain in order to determine what landing point the British would take to get their forces on land.
00:11:15
Speaker
After careful consideration, Jackson decided the British would use Lake Bournier to bring in their troops by water before crossing through the plain of Gentilly and attacking the city from the east. With this decision in place, Jackson set about building a defensive strategy to combat the larger British invading force that were currently on their way. As the battle for the city approached, Jackson was assisted by the US Navy, who had five gunboats patrolling the lake, aided by a schooner, and a converted fishing boat that carried supplies, men, and messages.
00:11:43
Speaker
The ships were commanded by Lieutenant Thomas Catsby Jones. They were to be the eyes and ears for Jackson as to the movements of the enemy. If challenged, they were to retreat back to the narrow strait between Lake Bournier and Lake Pontchartrain. On December 14th, the British attacked the gunboats to either capture or destroy them. Jones and his ships put up a valiant fight, but after a few hours of fighting, all were either destroyed or captured.
00:12:07
Speaker
Furthermore, Jones and his men provided tall tales about the size of Jackson's army, further making the British commander, Admiral Cochran, cautious and slow moving. With control of the lake, the British set about unloading their army and supplies onto land in preparations for their march on the city. Not knowing what route the British would take to get to the city, Jackson set up defenders along both direct routes with every fort in the vicinity manned and on high alert.
00:12:32
Speaker
Besides not having enough ammunition for his troops, Jackson also had insufficient knowledge of the bayous to truly plan to repel every possible attack. He needed help, and it came in the form of a group of people Jackson had resisted in making a deal with, the Pirates of Baratari Bay. The British had attempted to employ their help weeks before the Battle of New Orleans, but the leader of the group, Jean Lafitte, had acted as a double agent, sending word to the Governor of Louisiana about the British proposal and offering up his services to the country.
00:13:00
Speaker
Now, Jackson needed their help and struck a deal for it. The pirates provided much needed men, ammunition, and knowledge of the waterways and the bayous. The sentinels that Jackson had left there to provide an early warning did not spot the British troops until it was too late. With the plantation captured, the British were a mere two-hour march from the city. It's here the British made their first crucial mistake.
00:13:24
Speaker
Instead of pressing their advantage, they chose instead to make camp for the night, hoping that a full night's rest after long nights on the barges and the march they had taken would help them. During the night, the commander of the captured sentinels escaped and was able to get to New Orleans to warn Jackson of the British presence on land. Jackson finally had the information he was looking for and immediately rallied his forces to attack the British with haste.
00:13:48
Speaker
He left a small force to guard the wide road through the plain of Gentile in case of a second front opening there, and another force was dispatched in the direction of Upper Bayou Bienvenue. His main force under his command marched south to the Rodriguez Canal to meet up with the Mounted Brigades there. Orders were also given to Commander Patterson to bring the remaining Navy vessel, the USS Carolina, downstream for battle.
00:14:09
Speaker
During the night of December 23, 1814, Patterson and his men dropped anchor and maneuvered the ship into position within cannon range of the British position near the plantation.
00:14:20
Speaker
They were now a floating battery for the upcoming fight. The British onshore were at ease most of the evening, but there was a little on edge at the end,
Adaptive Strategies & American Success
00:14:29
Speaker
not being able to identify this ship on the water. Still, the mindset of the British was that the fight tomorrow would be a cakewalk. At 7.30 PM, the order was given to open fire.
00:14:41
Speaker
Aided by the campfires which provided excellent targets for the gunners to sight their cannons, the full effect of cannons was felt as grapeshot struck campfires sending embers and burning wood scattering as well as the troops huddled around them. Men were knocked to the ground, some wounded or killed under the regular and accurate cannon fire.
00:15:00
Speaker
As the cannon fire slackened, Jackson's second surprise commenced. Jackson had met up with the mounted brigade at the canal and had advanced to within 500 yards of the British position, forming a line perpendicular to the river. With the bombardment over, Jackson orders his men to attack.
00:15:16
Speaker
Jackson had sent the mounted brigade under general coffee to its left in order to attack the right flank. Aided by Lafitte and his men, as well as the riflemen known for their deadly accuracy, this force crashed into the rear of the right flank of the British at the same time as Jackson's forces struck the front. All of this was aided by the darkness of the night, which terrified the British. The British commander rallied his troops and made a push at the American line in front of him.
00:15:41
Speaker
Losing men along the way, they were able to break through the line and made a push against the American cannons. Jackson noticed this breach of the line and spurs his horse into the fray, leading a defense of those guns. Eventually, Jackson will order his men to withdraw from the field and his force moved north to the canal while the British retired back to their camp. In total, the Americans suffered far less casualties with 213 dead wounded or captured, while the British suffered more than 500.
00:16:09
Speaker
This first clash between the two armies had shown the British that their opponent would not be easily beaten.
00:16:15
Speaker
This made the British more cautious which allowed precious hours and days for Jackson and his forces to dig in and establish a solid line of defense to halt the British march on the city. Jackson set up his defensive line at Rodriguez Canal and proceeded to build up a breastwork of defenses there. Jackson decided to build up the northern bank of the canal as his breastwork defenses while flooding the once water filled canal to serve as a moat.
00:16:39
Speaker
Also, channels were cut into the southern landscape to flood the land on that side, making any advance by the British have to occur across mud and standing water. The USS Carolina, now joined by her sister ship, the USS Louisiana, acted as artillery support from the water. During the construction of the defenses, these two ships provided suppressing fire, keeping the British at bay. The next bit of action occurs on the morning of December 27th as British cannons take aim at the USS Carolina.
00:17:08
Speaker
Arriving on the British side with longer range cannons was the brother-in-law to the Duke of Wellington, Sir Edward Pakenham. He took command of the British forces and recognized that the British were in a sense trapped in a box with the river and swamp on either side and the Americans in front of them. The only way supplies could reach them was by small open boats and the path of retreat would be difficult.
00:17:29
Speaker
Not wanting to anger Admiral Cochran, Packenham devised that the situation called for step one to be getting rid of the US ship on the water that had been hounding the British position for days.
00:17:40
Speaker
Those cannons on the morning of December 27th took aim at the ship. Jackson orders the Louisiana to sail upstream out of range to save it but the Carolina is a sitting duck. Its crew will fight valiantly but the cannon fire was just too much. Fire from the hot cannonballs eventually will reach the powder room and a huge explosion dooms the ship to the riverbed below. Now the Louisiana was not out of the woods yet when the cannons turned on it.
00:18:04
Speaker
Little whispers of wind did not move the ship against the current and so sailors and their little boats rowing out in the shallow water pulled on ropes and eventually were able to move the ship half a mile upriver to save it in the day's action concluded. The following day, Packingham orders in advance of the British lines in hopes of reconnoitering the enemy's position. He was blind to what the Americans were doing due to the American sharpshooters and cavalry that patrolled no man's land.
00:18:30
Speaker
Two groups of British soldiers advanced, one by the river to the west and the other by the swamp to the east of the field, both supported by artillery if needed. The British marched within half a mile of the American defenses before American sentries fired a volley and retreated back to the line. British guns opened up to provide protection for the advancing columns, but American guns will open up with deadly accuracy.
00:18:52
Speaker
The Louisiana also joins the fight for the river, firing broadside down the British lines near the river. The British advance slowed and then stopped as soldiers ducked for cover wherever they could. The British advance near the swamp fares better though. Even though they are facing the American fire in front, they don't have to deal with the fire from the USS Louisiana. Packingham realized his artillery was inadequate in its current position and issues in order for the building up of new earthworks to bring his guns forward.
00:19:18
Speaker
At the same time, Jackson had focused his guns on land at the small British artillery installations, which scored direct hits at the carriages that held those guns in place. Packingham was informed that his small handful of guns were now out of action, and seeing that his left attacking flank was going nowhere, he orders a withdrawal from the field. While a defeat for the British, Packingham had gathered valuable information on the defensive position the Americans had built.
00:19:42
Speaker
He knew that the American guns were the next things he needed to take out, and so he ordered the two 18-pounders he brought up, as well as eight more guns from the fleet, to be brought forward. Jackson also knew that when the British attacked next, they would be better prepared, and so he installs a new gun position in the middle of his line with a 32-pounder. Outside of minor skirmishes between the two sides, no real action occurs for the next three days.
00:20:06
Speaker
New
Victory in New Orleans & War Outcomes
00:20:06
Speaker
Year's Eve saw the British under the cover of night construct a new gun emplacement closer to the American lines with two 18-pounders and two 24-pounders in place. As the New Year's Day dawned, a fog had rolled in blocking either side from viewing what the other had done. As the fog burned off, the British guns opened up aiming at Jackson's headquarters first. Behind the guns were again two lines of British troops ready to advance and a third smaller group hidden in the woods of the swamp.
00:20:32
Speaker
The American guns will roar to life and the day's battle commences. The British had the advantage in the numbers department when it came to guns, but their position was lower than the Americans, which meant their aim was off as cannonballs either flew harmlessly over the American lines or embedded in the earth bank in front. A few shots managed to do some damage, but overall it's ineffective, as within a couple of hours,
00:20:53
Speaker
Within an hour a couple of American guns, maybe an American gun was silenced, but almost all the British guns were put out of action under the precise and accurate American cannon fire. The British were again forced to withdraw from the field in defeat. Over the next few days, both sides set about working on their plans of action. For Jackson, this was to keep improving and building up the ramparts and breastworks his men had built so far.
00:21:15
Speaker
For Parkingham and the British, a new plan was formed. This involved capturing Louisiana and turning her guns combined with their own guns on Jackson and his men, while the enlarging British army would advance in full force.
00:21:28
Speaker
To accomplish this, Cochran built a canal from the Leviette Lake Bournier to the Valera Canal, allowing British boats to travel from the lake to the Mississippi River. On January 7, Parkingham issued his orders for the following day. A group of British troops would attack the American forces on the west bank of the Mississippi River and capture the guns there. Once they were successful, they would fire a signal rocket to alert Parkingham to start the main assault. Fresh troops and supplies had poured in the night before, providing a morale boost
00:21:58
Speaker
and much needed relief. Their efforts though were spotted by Patterson across the river from the British headquarters and a message was sent to Jackson asking for reinforcements. Jackson here makes a rare misstep in turning down this request. He believed the action by the British was a diversion from the main attack which would come against him. As dawn broke on January 8th, Jackson would realize his mistake.
00:22:22
Speaker
The attack of the opposite shore, thankfully, though, was delayed by eight hours as the boats for the attack got stuck in the canal and had to be dug and pulled out. By the time they set sail for the opposite bank, the number of boats and men was only half. Realizing that the guns on the west banks of the Mississippi could not be captured and used to assist the main assault, Packingham ordered the attack signaled to be made for the main force. The Americans were ready for them, though, and the cannons and rifles loaded and ready
00:22:52
Speaker
but there was a problem. A low-lying fog had obscured the advancing British army from the American site. The main attack would come from the British right with an Irish regiment tasked with grabbing bundles of sugarcane and ladders along the way to traverse the ditch in earthworks. This plan though falls through quickly as the regiment tasked with bringing the sugarcane and ladders either intentionally or unintentionally did not grab the bundles or ladders, maybe perhaps realizing the suicide mission they were tasked to carry out.
00:23:21
Speaker
This doomed the attack on the right. On the left, a British force was tasked with capturing a newly constructed American redoubt with two cannons at all cost. And a third force was to march on the American center. The fog concealed their movements, but the red hue of the uniforms began to provide the Americans easily sighted targets. The order was given to fire and the battle commenced.
00:23:44
Speaker
The middle of the British line failed to get to the big 32-pounder before it was fired. Filled with musket balls, it wipes out the middle of the British line completely. On the left, the British made it to the new gun emplacement, only to be taken out by the rifle marksman and forced to retreat.
00:24:00
Speaker
Back in the middle, the British came within 200 yards of the American line. The Americans opened up, employing a strategy of one man firing and then falling back to reload while another one steps forward and fires theirs. Some fired as fast as they could reload, while others picked their targets carefully. As the battle waged on, ammunition supplies became low. But despite this, the Americans were pouring deadly, accurate fire on the British.
00:24:26
Speaker
Some of the British soldiers will reach the embankment but find the footing there difficult in the mud as they slip back into the canal and become easy targets for the Americans above.
00:24:36
Speaker
In the middle, the British officer in charge was wounded and carried away from the field. And even though they were reinforced from the rear, the resolve of the British was wavering. On the right side, the British officer there goes down to American fire and is carried off the field. Parkingham and his staff gallop in to rally the troops and he's hit by a musket ball on the knee. And his horse will be shot out from under him.
00:24:59
Speaker
He demanded the mount of a junior officer, but upon getting on the horse, an artillery round hits nearby, launching deadly shrapnel into parking hams growing and mangling his spine. The general is taken to the rear, where in his dying breath he'll issue one last order. Send forward the reserves. Major General John Lambert was the highest ranking officer now on the British side.
00:25:21
Speaker
Across the river, the British force finally attacks the Americans on the west bank of the Mississippi. Further delayed in their trip by the boatman's complete lack of anticipation of the strong river current, the British will press their attack.
00:25:33
Speaker
They are able to overrun the right flank of the Americans, and not wanting the guns to be turned on his fellow Americans across the river, Commander Patterson orders the guns spiked and rendered useless before retreating with his men and escaping. The British had succeeded in silencing the guns, but failed to capture them in time to use on the American defenses across the river. Lambert now realized he was the default ranking officer of the British New Orleans mission and begins to plan the exit of the British Army from the field.
00:26:01
Speaker
He recalls the forces from across the river, and a flag of truce would be raised by the British in terms of ceasefire were agreed upon by both sides in order to collect the dead for burial. There was little doubt at this point who the victor of the battle was, the Americans. With the last of the battle sound ceasing, the aftermath of the battle started to become clear. In front of the American line lay a land filled with the carnages of battle. Immense destruction and devastation had befallen the British.
00:26:28
Speaker
The dead lay on the field in all sorts of conditions, with some parts of the body missing on a lot of them. The number of casualties sustained by the British vary from account to account, with the number ranging anywhere from 1,700 up to 3,000, while the American side lost only about a dozen. Jackson and his diverse and melded force had done what Napoleon had been unable to accomplish, destroy the finest fighting force the world had seen.
00:26:55
Speaker
In doing so, he gave the country a very meaningful victory and showed the world that the United States was a country that would not be pushed around. Nine days after the battle, the British retreated and boarded their ships headed for England. Along the way, Admiral Cochran could not help but attack Fort Boyer to save face for his part in the Battle of the Battle of New Orleans.
00:27:15
Speaker
The defenders of Fort Boyer were no match this time around and abandoned the fort without a fight. The following day the special envoy from Ghent had a ride with the treaty and in order to all British commanders to return to England because the war was over. Jackson was hailed as a hero in the city and in the country.
00:27:33
Speaker
The city will throw massive parades and parties in his honor, and the fame and reputation he earns from this, as well as his defeat of the Seminoles and wrestling of Florida from Spain, propels them to the presidency in 1829, serving two terms. As for the end of the war, the Treaty of Gantt put things back to the way they were before the war, territory-wise, but did nothing to solve the British impressment of American sailors or the harassment of American shipping. While historians look at the war as a loss for the Americans in terms of solving none of the problems that started the war,
00:28:02
Speaker
Time, however, has revealed that the true victory for the Americans lay in the hard-won respect and reputation of the world. A respect and reputation made possible through the great leadership of guys like Andrew Jackson and through the sacrifices made by average, everyday Americans.
Benjamin Franklin's Prank and International Tensions
00:28:18
Speaker
Today's funny story in history involves a letter and too much time on one's hands. In the late 1700s, a letter appeared in the major London newspaper complaining that England was being forced to take deported French prisoners.
00:28:32
Speaker
The British were furious and wanted it stopped. The French became upset because the uproar implied that England was too good for French prisoners and both governments became involved and were on the brink of war before it all unraveled as a hoax. So who wrote the original letter? The kite flying prankster himself, Benjamin Franklin, who was spending time in England as an ambassador and was simply bored and looking to stir up trouble and then sit back and watch what happened.
00:29:01
Speaker
But is this story true? So like a lot of legendary stories in history, there are some truths to this story. Franklin did write a phony letter published in a British newspaper involving the British being forced to take prisoners. However, the country from which the prisoners was to come from was not France, but Britain's ally Prussia.
00:29:22
Speaker
The letter was titled, An Edict by the King of Prussia, and among other things, included a section detailing the transportation of its prisoners they deemed unfit for their country to be dropped off in England for, quote, the better peopling of that country, end quote. Now, the letter did not almost start a war between the two countries, but did provide Franklin a good time, writing to his nephew that the people in England during the first half of the reading of the edict thought it was true.
00:29:49
Speaker
In reality, Franklin was making satirical comments on the ideal of the relationship the British had with its own colonies, and it helped to start open eyes in the colonies to this fact. While the original story is mostly false,
00:30:04
Speaker
Like a lot of stories and crazy legends throughout history, there are some bits of truth to it. And it is funny to think that a founding father of ours, having time on his hands, bored, can craft such a letter that would create such an outrage. Thanks for listening, and as always, stay hooked.