The Generals: Andrew Jackson, Sir Edward Pakenham, and the Road to the Battle of New Orleans

In December of 1814, American forces led by Major General Andrew Jackson moved into the city of New Orleans. For the next six weeks, Jackson’s ragtag troops of militiamen, free blacks, Indians, and pirates furiously defended the city against Britain’s elite army, led by Lieutenant General Sir Edward Pakenham. In the bloody confrontation of the two armies, the American underdog army decisively defeated Sir Edward Pakenham’s British troops. The Generals tells the dramatic story of the battle between Andrew Jackson and Sir Edward Pakenham for the booty and beauty of New Orleans in the winter of 1814-1815. The Battle of New Orleans was the last battle in the War of 1812, which cost Pakenham his life and propelled Andrew Jackson into the national prominence that would eventually lead to his presidency. The Generals provides a detailed and intimate look at both the personal and professional lives of Jackson and Pakenham, demonstrating how their paths twisted and turned until they inevitably met each other on the battlefield outside of New Orleans. Benton Rain Patterson leads readers through the captivating tale of a central battle in American military history and subsequently brings the biographies of these two great generals into full light.