About book Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson And Jean Laffite At The Battle Of New Orleans (2006)
I'm afraid that prior to this book, my knowledge of the War of 1812 was largely limited to three things: 1) The Americans defeated the British. 2) The British burned Washington. 3) The Battle of New Orleans was fought after the war ended and became a smash hit song for Johnny Horton. Winston Groom's Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle of New Orleans provides an excellent, readable antidote to my ignorance through an engaging examination of how the battle transpired, why it was so important, and the personalities behind it.The first half of the volume gives a breezy overview of the War of 1812 and capsule biographies of hard-nosed territorial lawyer Andrew Jackson and roguish privateer Jean Lafitte. The war was not going well for the Americans, militarily or economically, to the point that New England states were threatening secession. The British brought a militarily stronger force to take New Orleans, which would have divided the Louisiana Purchase from the rest of the young American nation and given the British a new colonial toehold. While the Treaty of Ghent technically ended the War of 1812 on the eve of the Battle of New Orleans, a British victory along the Gulf Coast would have continued the military conflict--most likely disastrously for the US.Into this scenario came two men: Andrew Jackson and Jean Lafitte. (NB: Groom uses the French "Laffite" rather than the Anglicized "Lafitte" that is more commonly seen in Louisiana.) The book examines how each man's contribution was vital to the victory of an untrained, inexperienced, and underequipped ragtag force of American volunteers and militia against the most powerful European army of the day, fresh from victory against Napoleon. Jackson used backwoods experience, hatred of the British, tireless work, and military knowledge to establish a defensible position suited to his troops. Groom makes a convincing case that Lafitte's contributions were essential to Jackson's victory, and that Lafitte was poorly treated after the battle. Lafitte and his Baratarian privateers brought vital munitions, gunnery skills, and knowledge of the terrain, even though he had little reason to side with the Americans. In fact, he was offered substantial incentive (including funds of about 2 million in today's dollars!) to take the British side, yet he chose the Americans who actively prosecuted him for privateering and seized his goods instead! Also important were British arrogance and inability to adapt to warfare as it was carried out in the New World, which Groom examines in passing.Patriotic Fire is written as history for non-historians, with few citations. Groom occasionally chooses narrative over accuracy, relaying other historians' conclusion with little examination of the dissenting viewpoints. Though he clearly identifies these sections, this makes his text seem less authoritative. I found one glaring error; Thomas ap Catesby Jones did not command the CSS Virginia (incorrectly referred to as the USS Merrimac in the text) in the Civil War, as he died in 1858; Catesby ap Roger Jones assumed command of the ironclad during the battle with the USS Monitor. That said, the flow of the book is excellent; it is well-written, easy to understand, and provided a clear recounting of its subject matter.Patriotic Fire is an interesting, enlightening look at events that are often treated as a historical footnote, despite being pivotal to the history of America.
Most of the scholarship on Andrew Jackson concentrates on his political life, so it's a great treat to dive into any book that focuses entirely on a pre-presidential Jackson, specifically his generalship during the War of 1812. For those who, like me, can't ever seem to get enough of Andrew Jackson, this is a great book that fits neatly on the shelf next to such titles as Robert V. Remini's exhaustive biography and Jon Meacham's American Lion (a single volume account of Jackson's White House years).Patriotic Fire is vivid and mostly riveting account of a turning point in early Americana, both for Andrew Jackson and for the country itself. Winston Groom, perhaps best known as the author of Forrest Gump, combines his talents as a novelist and those of a researcher to give us an engaging narrative that takes us to New Orleans, circa 1814, a world filled with pirates, privateers, Creole aristocrats, native-Americans, disgruntled militiamen and other outcasts of society. It is these folk who Andrew Jackson whipped into a militia that beat the British at the Battle of New Orelans, a devastating battle that took place after peace had already been declared (news traveled slow in those days; nobody knew a treaty had been signed for almost two months).Although an engaging account of the Battle of New Orleans, a caveat should be issued less anyone is fooled by the subtitle of the book. "Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle of New Orleans" is a misleading description of Winstom Groom's historical musings: this book is definitely about Andrew Jackson and most certainly about the Battle of New Orleans, but not much is said about Jean Laffite. Indeed, once the battle starts, Laffite disappears entirely from the narrative.Laffite does play a central role in the first part of it and Groom adeptly combs through the various accounts of Laffite's life to give us a probable picture of the man. Laffite was a privateer (or pirate, depending on who you talk to) who chose to ally himself with Jackson and provided Jackson's army with munitions, men and knowledge of the Louisiana frontier. That Jackson agreed to trust a known criminal makes for a fascinating relationship that does not get properly explored, although it's likely that Mr. Groom was unable to explore it, as history may have left such things unrecorded. Still, Mr. Groom does return to M. Laffite in the last chapter and puts forth a strong argument for the case that Jean Laffite's loyalty to America was instrumental to Jackson's victory.Mr. Groom's a smart historical writer who tries to keep the narrative perpetually focused on the humanity of the past, rather then simply list dates and events. No doubt this is the novelist in him and Patriotic Fire makes a good case for the argument that the best people to write about history are fiction writers. Mr. Groom clearly understands how to craft a historical novel that makes us care about both our central characters and the minor figures whose only claim to fame is that they left a diary for us to read. Mr. Groom also is clear to report when his facts are in dispute, or why he chose one particular source over another - a sure sign of a history writer who both respects the reader and those historians who came before him.
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This book was impressive. This was a part of U.S. History that I didn't know much about. Now I understand why Andrew Jackson was such a popular man in history. As much as I loved learning about Andrew Jackson, learning about the pirate Jean Laffite was even more interesting to me. Pirates helping us win the war was awesome to read about. The "bad guys" turned into heroes that Jackson had to, begrudgingly, work with. The British would have probably won the Battle for New Orleans without them.Highly recommend.
—Michael
I love history and this book is history at its best. Winston Groom has a knack for storytelling and this story is a terrific one. Who would believe that our country's freedom would have depended on a fiery tempered, part-time soldier and a Baratarian pirate! Together with a mixed band of Tennessee and Kentucky volunteers, New Orleans town folk poorly armed and totally untrained, they not only held off the highly trained and battle hardened British Army, fresh from defeating Napoleon, they sent them running, killing three of their generals and thwarting an Admiral. Not bad for a country still trying to define itself! I could go on and on but instead I'll just say that everyone should read this rather short but thoroughly enjoyable book.
—Eileen
The author, who also wrote Forrest Gump and has lately taken to writing non-fiction, has written a highly readable account of the battle and the numerous personalities involved. But he also acknowledges the difficulties in working with confusing, unreliable and contradictory resources. Altogether the book flows well and would be worthwhile for anyone interested in the War of 1812 and the battle at "Nawlins." One glaring pictorial error, the picture of David A. Morgan, Louisiana MIlitia commander, is incorrect. That is a picture of DANIEL Morgan of Revolutionary War fame. :)
—Mark Luongo
