“Historical Memoir Of The War In West Florida And Louisiana in 1814-15” is a first-person narrative by Frenchman Arsene Lacarriere Latour, who served as chief engineer under Gen. Andrew Jackson throughout the Gulf campaign.  Hie obtained his position due to his professional qualifications, his loyalty to the American cause and the fact that most U. S. military engineers were committed to the eastern campaigns.  After the Introduction, this work commences with an introduction to the renowned pirate outpost of Barataria, followed the unsuccessful first British attack on Fort Bowyer, at the entrance to Mobile Bay in September 1814.  It continues with the American expedition against Pensacola, the Royal Navy’s capture of the American Gun boats along the Gulf, and then the sequence of events constituting the Battle of New Orleans, culminating in the decisive American victory on January 8, 1815. 

This work is divided into two parts, Latour’s writing and the Appendix of correspondence, dispatches and other documents relating to the campaign.  Latour has crafted a well written and informative account that documents the events of the campaign and also its spirit.  Latour was definitely writing for the home audience, such as in his comment “Thus the United was forced into a war which they (note United States used as a plural noun) had not provoked;-America took up arms in support of her rights, and for the preservation of her national honor, with a firm determination not to lay the down until the object should be attained.”  In contrast “The British soldiers showed, on this occasion that it is not without reason they are said to be deficient in agility.” 

I found this to be a valuable resource in understanding the campaign in real time.  Though lacking in perspective that comes with time and reflection, it reflects the temper of the era.  Latour writes: “the United States must be reduced to their original colonial subjection”, a position at odds with the consensus among contemporary historians that recolonization of the United States was never Britain’s aim.  While we may have a clearer look now, the expectations of the time are as much a part of the history as the military maneuvers.  The issues raised by the parties, including Jackson’s demands that the British return slaves to their masters, were of the Eighteenth century, not the Twenty-First.  Correspondence in which Jean Lafitte proclaims his American loyalty to Andrew Jackson adds levity to an otherwise deadly situation. 

I believe this tome is regarded as a good, local, first-hand account of the actions of 1814-15.  I found it to be useful in understanding both the coordination of events in the Gulf region and the disparate forces that carried them out and the environment in which they, and the greater War of 1812 occurred.  ☞  Pick up a copy on Amazon