Harper's Round Table, April 30, 1895

In this vivid dramatization of a forgotten chapter of early‑American warfare, the author takes listeners back to the winter of 1814‑15, when a seasoned British fleet slipped into the Mississippi Delta, intent on seizing New Orleans. The narrative paints the scene of rag‑tag American militiamen—buckskin‑clad frontiersmen under the fiery command of Andrew Jackson—converging on the vulnerable French‑heritage city. As night falls, a lone American schooner bursts onto the river, its cannon fire igniting a chaotic scramble that forces both sides into a desperate, close‑quarters clash.

What follows is a tense race against time as Jackson orders makeshift breastworks of mud, logs, and cotton to be raised while the British cannons roar. The ensuing artillery duel showcases the gritty ingenuity of the militia, whose improvised defenses seem to hold against the professional enemy. Listeners will feel the fog‑filled uncertainty of those early hours, when the outcome of the battle—and perhaps the fate of a young nation—still hung in the balance.