the land that we still live on. squareshose surveyed are exactly what was done after the ordinance and those plots of land are what was sold then. we still have that surveyed map onto the territory there. when you fly over, you can say there is jefferson. but i looked down and see the midwest. that is so cool. it is a physical representation of this and it is kind of amazing that it has lasted that long. >> watch the entire program admin -- at midnight. american history tv, only on c-span3. >> c-span is at the shall met battlefield which is the battle of new orleans. we will talk about the very last brown battle in the war of 1812.

>> the battle of new orleans was a battle fought between american forces in great britain as the war of 1812. it is the last ground battle that took place between the two nations. this is the last spot where two armies came together on the land. we are at the chalmette battlefield. we are six miles down the river from the french quarter, which in 1814, was a heart of the city of new orleans there looking out to think bernard's parish. -- st. bernard's parish. the war started in june of 1812. the ground assault that we call the battle of new orleans started on january 8, 1815. it would be about five weeks after when the battle officially ended there -- or when the war officially ended. it was a very important target for the ridges for a couple of reasons. it is right along the mississippi river.

the port city that controlled all of the traded vessels coming in and out of the lf of mexico , and it is because of this hub of trading that new orleans has been very important. the british the good if they could capture it, they could control that trade. if you can control the trade of a country you are at war with, you can determine that outcome as well. there are some important people that helped diate wh would happen during the battle of new orleans on the british side. one general eventually became commander of the entire ground assault out here and he is the brother of the duke of wellington. he has a lot of clout in british circles there. you also have admiral cochrane who won't necessarily be here but will be in command of the overall assault force of about 15,000 troops. on the american side, andrew jackson would probably be the most famous because he commanded the u.s. gulf forces at the

time. the also have joseph, who which was a refugee from the revolution from the island -- an island who put together to create a battalion. in terms of numbers of evil out here, it is generally accepted that 7000 british troops were here during the ground assault. re around 4000 american soldiers. it was overwhelming with british compared to american. the british were also professional soldiers. a lot of them were decorated military men. for the americans, you had 4000 troops and three quarters of that were men who did not have a lot of experience, weren't professional soldiers, and did not have a lot of experience. the first conflict between u.s. soldiers and bridges soldiers after the battle of new orleans happened during the night of december 23.

jackson found out from the youngest hillary mann -- hillary man to tellry jackson that the british have landed. he cries his favorite line out and immediately grows -- his famous line out and immediately goes. it is a dark time and a lot of the americans do not know everyone as perhaps the british soldiers do. this is one of the points where the cavalry and the choctaw american indians laid a massively significant part. the used a cover of darkness and the ability to move through the landscape here to really cause confusion with the british. the americans were not able to push the british out. jackson was forced to fully retreat up the river. but, what it does do, it makes

the british re-think about attacking quickly. the casualties that were incurred on that day may british wait for more troops to arrive. which gabe jackson time to repair defenses for the city. he stayed in a few different places ring the battle of new orleans. prior to the knowledge of where the british landed, he stayed off of the french quarter and after the night attack, he comes done here and stay that a plantation house known as the mccarty house. it would be similar to house we have out on the property, but jackson's headquarters at the mccarty house burned down in the fire of the late 1800s. it had the same style of dormer windows that you used to look out and survey the entire battlefield to help decide where he was going to build his defenses and what the british were doing. when the british watched the ground assault of january 8, they launch a fairly complicated

assault. the reason this spot was picked is that it is so narrow. it is one of the narrowest chunks of ground all the way into the city. that helped to jackson concentrate a smaller force, negating some of the british's numbers. he starts by having a rampart created along the rodriguez can out. the can out its dugout -- can now -- canal. this gets dugout and provides a long fortification that the men can stand behind. this is our regression of the rampart wall. it is similar in terms of construction, oh it is short. it would've been closer to a two tall. the side facing the british would have been heavily sloped to allow cannonballs to deflect off of them more easily. initially, the british said the swamp part of the rampart would

be the weakest part of the defensive line so they hoped to flick around the side and take up the artillery that was causing so many casualties for the british. unfortunately for the british, jackson had been mourned by one of the pirates out there that he should extend the rampart. he extended it about 400 yards into the swamp. instead of it being this weakest portion of the entire place, it was one of the strongest. the british are not prepared for how deep and difficult it is to move the swamp. band of taking massive casualties there. the second line of attack -- they end up taking massive casualties. the second line of attack was to take letters and these thick bundles of sugars -- sugar cane sticks, taking them, throwing them into the can now, and laid a letter on the ramparts so they could swarm over the top and overwhelm the canons there.

those kids were causing so many casualties read on the day of the attack -- castle tease. -- casualties. on the day of the attack, they were not brought. the british took massive casualties as well. the third line of attack we could not see from where we are. if you look on the west tank, jackson has a set of canons whose whole purpose was to shoot diagonally on the battlefield. the british general thought if he captured those canons he could turn them on to the main american line that way. they do eventually capture that position, it is the only line of attack for the british, however, it comes a few hours to late. the battle had been over by that point. on the january 8 attack, the losses were massive or the british. they had about two dozen total casualties out of their entire army of about 7000. the americans had less than 20. it is a very decisive victory out here and perhaps one of the

most decisive of the war of 1812. the treaty was officially the treaty that ended the war of 1812. it is a collocated situation. most treaties after they are signed and negotiated, ends the war, but the u.s. ambassadors argued with the power of a king imbuedinterviewed -- are with the power of the king. the treaty had been signed, negotiated about three weeks prior to the battle, but it does not become official until about five weeks after, so the battle did not need to take place. but it becomes in this. where all of this determination of what was going to happen has already happened. after the battle of new orleans, it had a few long-lasting effects. the way americans felt about themselves, for many people, it

was a natural unifying event that took place. we called the. -- we called the period right after, the era of good feelings. d doesn't last for long. we're back into politics that happened, but it does really bind together people as being americans first. also, really solidified the u.s.'s claim on the louisiana purchase which has negative effects. it allows us to extend further west which has us get into more conflict with american indian tribes and it helped the expansion of slavery. in new orleans, it was a major slave trade hub. it increased the amount of slavery that happened in the united states. andrew jackson at already been known as a military man during the creek wars prior to this auto. but it is this battle -- prior

to this battle. but it is this battle that throws them into the history. about had said anything andrew jackson's politics that was bad, it assumed that you were talking about him himself and the country as a whole. he'd already been known as old degree and he got the nickname of the hero of new orleans who gets -- who sticks with him until he dies. how small this chunk of ground is has long-lasting effect across the nation. the men that are fighting here are fighting for all different reasons. but the reasons they were fighting were not that they were to defend the city and create that long-lasting memory of the battle of new orleans in the american population.

announcer: >> our cities tour staff recently traveled to new orleans to learn more about its rich history. learn more at c-span.org/citiestour. you are watching american history tv, all weekend every weekend on c-span3. announcer: next on "the presidency," the opening session of a daylong symposium focused on the history of british and irish connections with the white house. we hear first from the british and irish ambassadors to the united states, and then from kathleen burke from university college london. the white house historical association hosted this hour-long event. >> thank you, everyone, for joining us this morning. delighted to welcome you to the united kingdom and ireland in the white house. the white house historical association, as many of you