Historical Memoir of the War in West
Florida and Louisiana in 1814-15 with
an Atlas
Revised Edition
by
Arsene LaCarriere Latour
Edited with an Introduction by Gene A. Smith
Order
this Book now
Widely regarded as the best
eyewitness account of the Battle of
New Orleans, Arsène LaCarrière Latour’s Historical
Memoir records first-hand the dramatic events of the
climactic military campaign of the War of 1812. This
revised and expanded edition includes a substantial new
biographical introduction based on a group of manuscripts
relating to the battle recently acquired from
Latour’s descendants in France.
Only months after the battle ended, Latour, who was
General Andrew Jackson’s principal army engineer,
began interviewing witnesses and key participants in
order to create a comprehensive record based on
first-hand accounts. The work’s most significant
value derives from these accounts--of numerous
individuals who participated in a crucial moment in the
history of the United States-- reproduced in the
book’s appendix.
As the first full-length treatment of the New Orleans
campaign, the book also offers perceptive analysis of
battle preparations, terrain, and strategy by the man who
designed many of the American defenses. This new edition
also includes nine three-color foldout maps illustrating
the course of the battle. Latour characterized it as a
conflict "which preserved our country from conquest
and desolation." As a key figure in the conflict who
knew many of the other main actors and personally
collected their reports and observations, Latour provides
a record which will never be replaced.
Gene A. Smith, associate professor of history at Texas
Christian University in Fort Worth, wrote Iron and
Heavy Guns: Duel
Between the Monitor and Merrimac and "For the
Purposes of Defense": The Politics of the
Jeffersonian Gunboat Program, and is the coauthor of
Filibusters and Expansionists: Jeffersonian Manifest
Destiny, 1800-1821.
1999. 400pp. 6 X 9.
Appendixes (letters), notes, index, 9 foldout maps.
ISBN 0-8130-1675-4 Cloth, $49.95s
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"The No. 1 source
among published materials on the Battle of New
Orleans."—The Times-Picayune, New
Orleans
"Scholars and students of the War 1812 and the United States military in the Early Republic will value this new edition of Latour's story. It is an important resource for understanding the chaotic and occasionally haphazard organization of the United States Army in the early national period. It is also a whopping good
story."-- Journal of Military History
"Anyone interested in the Battle of New Orleans will
find this
superb reading. . . . Will be welcomed by the
professional and amateur historian alike."—The
Sunday Advocate, Baton Rouge
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