A British Eyewitness At The Battle Of New Orleans: The Memoir Of Royal Navy Admiral Robert Aitchison,1808-1827 - Softcover

Robert Aitchison

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0917860500 ISBN 13: 9780917860508

Publisher: Historic New Orleans, 2004

Synopsis

Edited with an introduction and conclusion by Professor Gene A. Smith of Texas Christian University, A British Eyewitness at the Battle of New Orleans offers readers a glimpse of the bygone Age of Sail. Rampant warfare raged across Europe and the Americas in the early 19th centuryNapoleon schemed for world domination, colonized nations rose up in revolt, and Britain and the United States met, for the final time, as battlefield opponents. During this epoch hundreds of thousands lost their lives in the struggles to redraw the boundaries of the world map. Most left no personal imprint on history. Robert Aitchisona young Scottish naval officer who dodged alligators, shipwreck, and musket shot, all before his twentieth birthdaycould well have become another nameless casualty of war. But Aitchison survived to memorialize his youthful adventures in the Mediterranean, off the coast of New England, and on the plains of Chalmette. A British Eyewitness at the Battle of New Orleans invites readers to join Aitchison at sea.

About this title

About the Author:

Editor Gene A. Smith, professor of history at Texas Christian University, received his Ph.D. in history from Auburn University, specializing in Jeffersonian politics and military policy. He serves as director of the Center for Texas Studies and has authored or edited numerous publications including Thomas ap Catesby Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny (Naval Institute Press, 2000); a revised and updated edition of Arsene Lacarriere Latour's Historical Memoir of the War in West Florida and Louisiana, 1814-15, with an Atlas (University Press of Florida in association with The Historic New Orleans Collection, 1999); and Filibusters and Expansionists: Jeffersonian Manifest Destiny, 1800-1821, with Frank L. Owsley, Jr. (University of Alabama Press, 1997).

Review:

A British Eyewitness at the Battle of New Orleans, The Memoir of Royal Navy Admiral Robert Aitchison, 1808-1827, provides a rare prospective of the Battle of New Orleans -- the British point of view. Until the mid-20th century, accounts from the losing side were, understandably, unpopular on both sides of the Atlantic. Editor Gene A. Smith has done a commendable job of preparing this unpublished manuscript, the orginal of which is housed in the Historic New Orleans Collection, for publication. His numerous footnotes to the text identify people, places, ships, battles, and other events. The memoir begins in 1808 when the author, a young Scotsman, who was not yet 13, entered the British Navy. Robert AITCHISON takes us from the first taste of grog to his life as a young naval officer sailing in the English Channel and the Mediterranean. His experiences in North America begin in 1814 when he sailed for Bermuda, then to chasing American privateers along the New England coast. Of course, the highlight is his account of the Battle of New Orleans. While he avoids describing what the army did, for fear of making "many mistakes," he writes about his role and experiences. For example, he notes his diligence at tending a fire on shore, as much for his own sake at keeping away stray alligators as for the benefit of their transport boats. Included with memoir are several rough sketches by Aitchison as well as illustrations from collections around the world. Most impressive is the section containing numerous full-color illustrations of maps, paintings, and photograpohys from HNOC's vast holdings related to the Battle of New Orleans. --Le Raconteur

Royal Navy Admiral Robert Aitchisons memoirs span roughly twenty years. Penned in the late 1850s, they briskly describe the life of a young naval officer sailing the English Channel, serving on French blockade duty in the Mediterranean, chasing American privateers along the New England coast, the Battles of New Orleans and Algiers, and then that of a seasoned officer on the North American station. Born in 1795 and surviving until 1861, Aitchison secured a first-class naval volunteer appointment at age thirteen in 1808, passed his lieutenants examination just days after the Battle of New Orleans, was promoted to commander in 1819, to captain in 1827, and then spent the rest of his career ashore on half-pay until his retirement in 1849. He was promoted to flag rank in 1854. In an address delivered to a Civil War gathering shortly before his death, Douglas Southall Freeman advised caution regarding eyewitness accounts written more than twenty years after the war---not only because memories grow foggy with age, but also because the witness "has told his tale over and over again . . . until it becomes exceedingly difficult to ascertain the fabric of fact that underlies the embroidery of fancy." We do not have to worry about Aitchison, for as he comments: All that I wish is, to acquaint my children, what part I acted in these juvenile days. While Aitchison spent most of his career in the Great Slump, the long period of Royal Navy demobilization following the wars with France and the United States, his early career was not without episode and excitement. In December 1814 and January 1815, he observed the preparations for and subsequent British debacle on the plains of Chalmette, which becomes the highlight of the memoir. Although he remained behind and did not participate in the attack on the American naval force on Lake Borgne, to the disappointment of this reviewer, he did secure command of the gig carrying the admirals valet and shoe brushes, which allowed him to venture to the front. But again to this reviewers dismay, he comments: I have no business to attempt to describe what the army did, and I possibly would make many mistakes. While Aitchison spent most of his career in the Great Slump, the long period of Royal Navy demobilization following the wars with France and the United States, his early career was not without episode and excitement. In December 1814 and January 1815, he observed the preparations for and subsequent British debacle on the plains of Chalmette, which becomes the highlight of the memoir. Editor Gene A. Smith provides a bounty of explanatory notes, which amplify the usefulness of Aitchisons recollections and supply considerable added material to what can be leaned here. The book also includes nearly a dozen beautiful color maps and plates illustrating the campaign, most of which are from The Historic New Orleans Collection. --International Journal of Naval History

his manuscript is a centerpiece of the Historic New Orleans Collection and offers rare insights into the Napoleonic era as well as the flora and sauna of Lousiana, New England, Canada, Cuba, and Bermuda, where he went on his travels. --College and Research Libraries News

About this edition

• Publisher: Historic New Orleans
• Publication date: 2004
• ISBN 10: 0917860500
• ISBN 13: 9780917860508
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 149
• Editor: Gene A. Smith