Beale’s Rifle Company

The common perception of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans essentially depicts a mass shooting of redcoat soldiers by Americans, who only inflicted little fatalities in return, two weeks after the war's end. However, a number of engagements that started in December 1814 led to that infamously mistaken charge, and the British had been faring considerably better earlier in the conflict. The British gained the initiative in the first battle by capturing five American gunships at Lake Borgne.

The British infantry then ran into Beale's Rifle Company at the Villere Plantation that evening on December 23, 1814. Although the battle ended in a draw and the number of casualties was roughly equal, British morale was severely damaged and subsequent attacks were postponed, giving the defenses plenty of time to be strengthened for the British to launch their infamous doomed attack on January 8 of the following year. Beale's Rifle Company was unusually made up of businessmen and attorneys for a group that made such a strong impression in a bloody battle. The members received land grants twenty years after the conflict.