The Battle Of New Orleans Reconsidered

Book excerpt: The Battle of New Orleans Reconsidered arose organically from the rich heritage of St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana. The same land that was witness to the Battle of New Orleans would also spawn a unique and vibrant culture known for close-knit families, good food, refineries and the activities centered around the bountiful wetlands. Academic cultural offerings were rare when the Nunez History Lecture Series began in 2001. Some folks at Nunez Community College, the only institution of higher education in the Parish, decided to tell the stories of the people of St. Bernard and Louisiana, hoping that a handful of others might also be interested. After 14 seasons of over 100 lectures and an average attendance of over 100 people, the Lecture Series is still finding new stories to tell. A natural outgrowth of the Lecture Series was to feature a more detailed treatment of the second most important historical event in St. Bernard Parish history, the Battle of New Orleans. And the College was the natural place since the battlefield was in sight of the campus on a clear day. However, the plans for the first Symposium were delayed by a few years when the most important historical event in St. Bernard Parish history, Hurricane Katrina, left six feet of water across the Nunez campus and up to seventeen feet of water across the rest of the Parish. By January of 2013, the first Battle of New Orleans Historical Symposium was held at the College, with the audience likely sitting in the exact spot that soldiers mustered for the Battle. Once the Symposium became established and successful, the only nagging problem was the ephemeral nature of the knowledge being created. With some of the most passionate and knowledgeable speakers in the nation, it just seemed natural to expand and preserve the great information being presented. So in a labor of love, many of the top lecturers agreed to put pen to paper and tell the story of the Battle of New Orleans in greater detail. The result is The Battle of New Orleans Reconsidered