Future President of the United States General Andrew Jackson saved New Orleans, Louisiana, and its 17,242 inhabitants from British invasion on January 8, 1815.   In the 210 years since the Battle of New Orleans, the city's population has grown to an estimated 364,136.

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Years of tension between the United States and Great Britain over issues like American trade with France during the Napoleonic Wars, impressment of American sailors, and British support of hostile American Indian tribes led the United States to declare war against Great Britain on June 18, 1812.  Neither side wanted war.  Great Britain was already at war with France and the United States' Army and Navy were unprepared for war against a super power like Great Britain.  Between 1812 and 1814, the United States and Great Britain fought along several fronts, including in the Northwest Territory, along the New York and New England border with Canada, the Gulf Coast between Florida and Louisiana, and the Mid-Atlantic states with both sides winning victories and suffering demoralizing defeats.  The British dealt the United States its most humiliating defeat of the war after routing American troops at the Battle of Bladensburg.  The defeat left Washington, DC, without defense against British looting and burning on August 24, 1814.  Weeks later, American morale rose with news of the major American naval victory on September 11 on Lake Champlain followed by the British failure to capture Baltimore, MD, and Fort McHenry on September 14, 1814.   The latter battle inspired Francis Scott Key to write the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" that became the national anthem of the United States in 1931.


Just as the Americans' resilience surprised the British following the failed attempt to capture Baltimore, so too were they stunned by the unexpectedly competent American forces they faced along the Gulf Coast of the United States.  The British hoped to capture and occupy strategic Gulf Coast cities and control trade along the Mississippi River in late 1814. However, their plans were soon dashed.  The American garrison at Fort Bowyer in Baldwin County, Alabama, not only repulsed a British assault that aimed to capture Mobile, AL, but also forced the captain of the Hermes to scuttle and abandon the Royal Navy flagship while under fire from the fort's cannons on September 15.  On November 7, American forces led by General Andrew Jackson defeated the Spanish and British at Pensacola, FL.

After learning of Britain's planned attack on New Orleans, LA, Jackson marched his rag-tag army of regular U.S. troops, militias, free Blacks, and American Indians into the city on December 1, 1814, and immediately began strengthening its defenses.  He launched a surprise attack on the British camp on the night of December 23 and withdrew to a stronger position dubbed the "Jackson Line" at Chalmette Plantation south of New Orleans.  In the days that followed, British Major General Pakenham ordered two attacks and exhausted his artillery ammunition on the Jackson Line, but failed to breach the American's position.

Bolstered by the arrival of fresh troops in early January 1815, Pakenham commanded a force that was nearly double that of the Americans.  On January 8, 1815, he ordered a pre-dawn attack against the Jackson Line.  As the sun rose, the fog quickly dissipated leaving many British soldiers exposed in the open to face withering American cannon and musket fire.  The attack was soon in disarray as several senior officers were fatally wounded, including Major General Pakenham and his second-in-command Major General Samuel Gibbs.  Two hours after the attack began, the British withdrew from the battle having suffered 2,034 killed, wounded, missing, or captured compared to just 62 American casualties.

The 1815 Battle of New Orleans was the last major engagement of the War of 1812.  British and American peace negotiators meeting in Ghent, Belgium, agreed to the Treaty of Ghent on December 24, 1814, but it took six weeks for the treaty to reach the United States.  Following unanimous approval in the U.S. Senate, President James Madison signed the treaty, formally ending the war on February 17.  It would take time for news of the peace treaty to reach all British and American forces, though.  The last engagement of the war took place when the USS Peacock captured the Honorable East India Company brig Nautilus off the coast of Java, Indonesia, on June 30, 1815.

You can learn more about the Battle of New Orleans using Census Bureau data and records. For example:

• New Orleans was part of the Louisiana Territory acquired by the United States from France in 1803.  The United States conducted the first census of the Louisiana Territory seven years after purchasing the 828,000 square miles of territory for $15 million.  The 1810 Census found that New Orleans was the nation's seventh largest city with a population of 17,242 people.  Ten years later, New Orleans had grown to become the fifth largest city in the United States with 27,176 people.  It was America's third largest city behind only New York City, NY, and Baltimore, MD, in 1840.  More recently, the 2020 Census found that 383,997 people called New Orleans home, making it similar in size to Tampa, Florida, and Aurora, Colorado, at that time.
• Andrew Jackson—the hero of the War of 1812's Battle of New Orleans—was born in a region of North and South Carolina known as "Waxhaws."  Named for the Waxhaw American Indians, the region can be found today in Lancaster County, South Carolina, and North Carolina's Mecklenburg and Union counties.  Today, Lancaster County is home to 108,215 people, while Mecklenburg and Union counties are home to 1,163,701 and 256,452 people, respectively.  The region is now inhabited by the Catawba American Indians, many of whom are descendants of region's original Waxhaws people.  In 2023, the Census Bureau's population estimates program reported there were 8,851,007 people in the United States identifying as American Indian and Alaska Native alone or in combination with One or More Other Races.  Included in this number were 269,822 people reporting they were American Indian alone or in combination in North Carolina and 93,329 in South Carolina.  In the Waxhaws region encompassing Mecklenburg, Union, and Lancaster counties, an estimated 20,335 identified themselves at American Indian or Alaska Native alone or in combination.
• When Andrew Jackson was born in the Waxhaws region of North and South Carolina in 1767, the total population of the American Colonies was estimated to be between 1,593,625 and 2,148,076.  North Carolina had approximately 197,200 total inhabitants by 1770, including 69,600 Black residents (free and enslaved).  That same year, South Carolina had an estimated 124,244 total inhabitants of which 75,178 were Black (free and enslaved).
• Four months before the United States won a decisive victory at the Battle of New Orleans, Americans were reeling from the British capture, looting, and burning of many public buildings in Washington, DC.  Among the records lost to the fires were many 1790 Census records, which may account for the loss of records for many of the nation's founders, including George Washington.  During the War of 1812, the nation's capital was home to 15,471 people.  The city recovered quickly after the war, and by 1820, 23,336 lived in Washington, DC.  More recently, 678,972 Washingtonians called the nation's capital home in 2023.
• Soon after the August 1814 burning and looting of public buildings in Washington, DC, the British Army set its sights on Baltimore.  Baltimore was home to a thriving shipbuilding industry and harbor that served the American privateers who wrought havoc on the British Navy and merchant ships.  As the British began their attack by land and sea on September 12, 1814, the city's 46,555 residents' hopes rested on the U.S. Army soldiers stationed at Fort McHenry.  The British attempted to bombard Fort McHenry into submission for 25 hours between September 13-14.  The fort withstood the attack, saved Baltimore from destruction, and forced the British to withdraw.  Francis Scott Key witnessed the "bombs bursting in air" over Fort McHenry and penned the poem "Defence of Fort M'Henry" as the battle concluded.  Set to music after the battle, the song had been popular for more than a century when President Herbert Hoover signed a joint resolution of Congress making "The Star Spangled Banner" the official national anthem of the United States on March 31, 1931.  Today, Fort McHenry is a national monument and historic shrine overlooking Baltimore, its busy harbor, and the city's 565,239 inhabitants.
• The January 8, 1815 Battle of New Orleans was a lopsided victory for the Americans.  Although the British outnumbered the Americans nearly 2-to-1, just 62 Americans were killed, wounded, missing, or captured.  In contrast, 2,034 British soldiers were reported killed, wounded, missing or captured during the battle..  During the War of 1812, 286,730 Americans served in the United States military.  There were 2,260 Americans killed and 4,505 wounded during the war.  Joseph Coffman—a 10-year-old drummer serving under Jackson—is believed to have been the last surviving veteran of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans.  He died in Parker County, Texas, on February 13, 1897.  Hiram Cronk was the last surviving veteran of the War of 1812.  Cronk served in defense of Sackets Harbor, NY, in 1814.  He died at age 105 on May 13, 1905, in Ava, New York.
• Andrew Jackson was one of four presidents who served in the U.S. Army or a state militia during the War of 1812.  The other three were:

1.  William Henry Harrison, who was born in Charles City County, Virginia, in 1773.  He fought American Indians at the 1794 Battle of Fallen Timbers and 1811 Battle of Tippecanoe.  Promoted to major general in the U.S. Army during the War of 1812, Harrison led his troops to victory at the 1813 Battles of the Thames in Ontario, Canada.  Harrison defeated incumbent Martin Van Buren to win the 1840 Presidential Election.  Harrison gave the longest inaugural address in American history on a cold and windy March 4, 1841.  He developed pneumonia soon after his inauguration and died just a month later on April 4..
2.  John Tyler became the 10th President of the United States following William Henry Harrison's death.  Like Harrison, Tyler was also born in Charles City County.  After the British captured Hampton, VA, in June 1813, Tyler organized a militia company to defend Richmond, VA, from possible attack.  During his presidency, Tyler settled border disputes with Great Britain, established diplomatic relations with China, and signed a joint resolution to annex Texas.  With 15 sons and dauthers, Tyler fathered more children than any other president.  His last surviving grandchild—the son of 13th child Lyon— was born 66 years after his grandfather died in 1862 and recently celebrated his 96th birthday!
   
3.  Zachary Taylor was born in Barboursville, Orange County, Virginia, in 1784.  He was commissioned as an officer in the U.S. Army in 1808.  During the War of 1812, he defended Fort Harrison in the Indiana Territory, participated in expeditions into the Illinois Territory, and led an expedition against American Indians and their British allies along the Mississippi River.  His status as a national hero for his victories in the Mexican-American War helped propel him to victory as the 12th president of the United States.  His presidency was beset by disagreements over the expansion of slavery into the territory acquired from Mexico following the Mexican-American War.  After attending an Independence Day celebration in Washington, DC, Taylor died 16 months into his presidency on July 9, 1850, from "Cholera Morbus" (acute gastroenteritis).  According to data collected during the 1850 Census, 1,568 people nationwide died of Cholera Morbus between June 1849 and May 1850.  Leading causes of all reported deaths during this period were Consumption (Tuberculosis, 33,516)  Cholera (Vibrio cholerae, 31,506), and Dysentery (20,556).  The census counted 12,130 deaths from pneumonia—which took the life of President WIlliam Henry Harrison in 1841.
   

• Two years before the War of 1812 began, the 1810 Census reported that the population of the United States was 7,239,881.  The harbors, manufacturers, and shipbuilders in many of the largest American cities—including New York City, NY (96,373), Philadelphia, PA (53,722), Baltimore (46,555), and Boston, MA (33,787)—played critical roles in the war.  Five years after the Treaty of Ghent ended the war, the 1820 Census found that the nation's population had grown to 9,638,453.  New York City (123,706), Philadelphia (63,802), Baltimore (62,738), and Boston (43,298) were still the nation's largest cities. In 2023, New York City remained the largest city in the United States with a population of 8,258,035.  Philadelphia's population of 1,550,542 made it the nation's 6th largest city, while Boston ranked as the 25th largest with a population of 653,833.  Baltimore's population of 565,239 ranked it as the 30th among the nation's largest cities in 2023.

On January 10, 1921, a fire at the U.S. Department of Commerce building in Washington, DC, destroyed the majority of the population schedules from the 1890 Census.  The fire left an enormous gap in many families' genealogical records.

After the fire, staff had moved the fire- and water-damaged volumes to temporary storage, but the paper continued to decay.  Census Bureau Director William Mott Steuart instructed employees to try to save as many of the 1890 schedules as possible. 

In December 1932, the Census Bureau reported to the Librarian of Congress that the unsalvageable schedules should be destroyed.  Congress authorized their disposal on February 21, 1933.

An investigation never conclusively determined the cause of the1921 fire.  Potential culprits included careless disposal of a cigarette or match, faulty wiring or spontaneous combustion of sawdust in the building's workshops.