The story of the battle that saved New Orleans, made Andrew Jackson a
hero for the ages, and shaped the American public memory of the war.
Whether or not the United States "won" the war of 1812, two engagements
that occurred toward the end of the conflict had an enormous influence
on the development of American identity: the successful defenses of the
cities of Baltimore and New Orleans. Both engagements bolstered national
confidence and spoke to the élan of citizen soldiers and their militia
officers. The Battle of New Orleans--perhaps because it punctuated the
war, lent itself to frontier mythology, and involved the
larger-than-life figure of Andrew Jackson--became especially important
in popular memory. In Glorious Victory, leading War of 1812 scholar
Donald R. Hickey recounts the New Orleans campaign and Jackson's key
role in the battle.
Drawing on a lifetime of research, Hickey tells the story of America's
"forgotten conflict." He explains why the fragile young republic chose
to challenge Great Britain, then a global power with a formidable navy.
He also recounts the early campaigns of the war--William Hull's
ignominious surrender at Detroit in 1812; Oliver H. Perry's remarkable
victory on Lake Erie; and the demoralizing British raids in the
Chesapeake that culminated in the burning of Washington.
Tracing Jackson's emergence as a leader in Tennessee and his
extraordinary success as a military commander in the field, Hickey finds
in Jackson a bundle of contradictions: an enemy of privilege who
belonged to Tennessee's ruling elite, a slaveholder who welcomed free
blacks into his army, an Indian-hater who adopted a native orphan, and a
general who lectured his superiors and sometimes ignored their orders
while simultaneously demanding unquestioning obedience from his men.
Aimed at students and the general public, Glorious Victory will reward
readers with a clear understanding of Andrew Jackson's role in the War
of 1812 and his iconic place in the postwar era.
