Unaware of the dark turn in British negotiations, General Jackson nonetheless continued to move to the defense of New Orleans. He waited for no man—in Europe or in Washington—and under the cover of night, on November 7, 1814, he marched all but five hundred of his men into the woods on the outskirts of Pensacola. The town’s Spanish defenders, believing the Americans were still in their original camp, kept their guns pointed toward the nearly empty tents, while their British allies repositioned their warships to bear on the westward approach to Pensacola. At daylight, the token force Jackson
...more
