�With Christmas of 1814 barely a month away, a British
expeditionary force arrived off the coast near
Jackson's
5000 defenders included regular soldiers, militia, Indians, black troops and
even pirates. They were in strong defensive works of logs and cotton bales and
had a clear field of fire across the ground the British had to advance over.
His opponent was General Sir Edward Pakenham, who led
7500 men - a large number of them experienced veterans from the Peninsular War.
While a solid and brave second-in-command, any command talent must have left
Pakenham before the battle as his plan of attack was unimaginative and deadly. Advancing,
the British were hit with an overpowering rain of cannon and musket fire but
continued their attack. Less experienced troops would have broken and fled, but
the redcoats continued on through the terrible fire.
Courage got them to the American lines and then,
finally, a foothold - but the deaths of several of their commanders threw them
into confusion and the attack lost momentum.
Taking charge of the crucial attack in person,
Pakenham was wounded in the knee and then, as he tried to remount his horse,
was hit in the arm. Seconds later came a mortal wound.
A British major, whose men had finally made defenders
withdraw, was said to have turned with a victory shout only to see the recoats
retreating as well.
Text taken from https://www.napoleonguide.com/
The Map
Though
the attacking British force (red) outnumbers the defending American force by
600 men on this map, the American position offers a deadly, almost un-tenable
obstacle to British hopes for Victory. The American army sits above a canal
with few places to cross, on high ground overlooking the marshy plateau, with
several cannon in the line and hundreds of crack shot riflemen. Flanking is
impossible with the
While American Line are present on the field as well
as militia, the lethal force of USA irregulars (pirates, Indians, riflemen) is
represented here most prominently by EW�s Spanish guerilla as well as others.
The American player will obviously suffer far more casualties in our game than
the real battle, but he must win the battle with over 800 men remaining to
declare a Victory. This is to encourage frugal use of his forces. If the
British drive the Americans back from the entire line of defense, they are
declared the winner.������ �