Now in paperback with a new afterword.... Another pageturning New
York Times bestseller by the authors of 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, who
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. The new nation's dreams of western
expansion would be crushed before they really got off the ground.
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 then he had to
face the most powerful military force in the world, in the confusing
terrain of the Louisiana bayous.
As they did in their 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."
