Chalmette Battlefield — Battle of New Orleans

A flat field six miles downriver from the French Quarter holds the most lopsided American battlefield victory in history. On January 8, 1815, Andrew Jackson's forces — frontiersmen, Jean Lafitte's pirates, free Black militia, and Choctaw warriors — killed or wounded 2,042 British soldiers in under thirty minutes. American casualties: thirteen. The British force numbered 8,000. The Treaty of Ghent had ended the War of 1812 two weeks earlier; news hadn't reached Louisiana.

The fight happened on the Chalmette plantation, owned by Ignace Martin de Lino de Chalmette. Jackson ordered the plantation completely destroyed during the battle to prevent the British from using it for cover. Ignace's half-brother, Col. Pierre Denis de La Ronde, commanded the Louisiana militia's Third Regiment in the fight.

The 100-foot Chalmette Monument marks the center of the American battle line. Construction began in 1855 and wasn't completed until 1908. The battlefield is now part of Jean Lafitte National Historical Park. Hurricane Katrina flooded the site and destroyed the visitor center in 2005; the center has since been rebuilt. The Greek Revival-style Malus-Beauregard House, built in 1830, sits next to the battlefield and is open to the public. Chalmette National Cemetery is adjacent.

Open daily 9am–4:30pm. Free admission.