The Treaty of Ghent was signed in December 1814, yet 15 days later two armies met in a Louisiana swamp for one of the most lopsided battles in military history. This episode unpacks the Battle of New Orleans, how a mismatched American force defeated a professional British army in about 30 minutes, and how the story was later shaped by propaganda.

We cover Britain’s orders to press on regardless of peace rumors, the exhausting rowboat landings after the Battle of Lake Borgne, a hard-of-hearing purser’s accidental bluff, and Andrew Jackson’s night raid on December 23. Then we follow the mud wall of Line Jackson, the hot shot furnace that destroyed the USS Carolina, the New Year’s artillery duel, and the January 8 assault where missing ladders and a delayed river crossing doomed General Edward Pakenham’s attack.

• Why New Orleans mattered and why Britain questioned the legality of the Louisiana Purchase
• The night raid that rattled the British and bought time to build Line Jackson at the Rodriguez Canal
• Enfilading fire from the USS Louisiana and the mud ramparts that absorbed British cannon fire
• The forgotten ladders, the 93rd Highlanders, Pakenham’s death, and over 2,000 British casualties
• Jackson’s diverse coalition, the beauty and booty rumor, the end of the Federalists, and Jackson’s later Indian removal policies