Another history pageturner from the authors of the #1 bestsellers
George Washington's Secret Six and Thomas Jefferson and the Tripoli
Pirates.
The War of 1812 saw America threatened on every side. Encouraged by the
British, Indian tribes attacked settlers in the West, while the Royal
Navy terrorized the coasts. By mid-1814, President James Madison's
generals had lost control of the war in the North, losing battles in
Canada. Then British troops set the White House ablaze, and a feeling of
hopelessness spread across the country.
Into this dire situation stepped Major General Andrew Jackson. A native
of Tennessee who had witnessed the horrors of the Revolutionary War and
Indian attacks, he was glad America had finally decided to confront
repeated British aggression. But he feared that President Madison's men
were overlooking the most important target of all: New Orleans.
If the British conquered New Orleans, they would control the mouth of
the Mississippi River, cutting Americans off from that essential trade
route and threatening the previous decade's Louisiana Purchase. The new
nation's dreams of western expansion would be crushed before they really
got off the ground.
So Jackson had to convince President Madison and his War Department to
take him seriously, even though he wasn't one of the Virginians and New
Englanders who dominated the government. He had to assemble a coalition
of frontier militiamen, French-speaking Louisianans, Cherokee and
Choctaw Indians, freed slaves, and even some pirates. And he had to
defeat the most powerful military force in the world--in the confusing
terrain of the Louisiana bayous.
In short, Jackson needed a miracle. The local Ursuline nuns set to work
praying for his outnumbered troops. And so the Americans, driven by
patriotism and protected by prayer, began the battle that would shape
our young nation's destiny.
As they did in their two previous bestsellers, Kilmeade and Yaeger make
history come alive with a riveting true story that will keep you turning
the pages. You'll finish with a new understanding of one of our greatest
generals and a renewed appreciation for the brave men who fought so that
America could one day stretch "from sea to shining sea."