Glorious Victory

"Whether or not the United States 'won' the war of 1812, two engagements that occurred toward the end of the conflict had an enormous influence on the development of American identity: the successful defenses of the cities of Baltimore and New Orleans. Both engagements bolstered national confidence and spoke to the elan of citizen soldiers and their militia officers. The Battle of New Orleans--perhaps because it punctuated the war, lent itself to frontier mythology, and involved the larger-than-life figure of Andrew Jackson--became especially important in popular memory. In Glorious Victory,…