Fort Bowyer after a brief siege before news of
the Treaty of Ghent, which ended the War of
1812, arrived the following day. Cochrane re-
turned to England shortly thereafter, but
under a cloud. No less authority than the
Duke of Wellington castigated his entire naval
strategy, concluding it had been conceived
solely for the purpose of obtaining plunder.
The lopsided victory at New Orleans also
electrified the American public, who came to
believe in time that the United States had ac-
tually “won” the War of 1812!
Back home, Cochrane advanced to full ad-
miral in 1819, but he remained without an ac-
tive command until 1821, when he gained ap-
pointment as commander in chief of
Plymouth Harbor. This concluded his active
career; he died in Paris on January 26, 1831.
Bibliography
Coker, William S. The Last Battle of the War of 1812:
New Orleans, No Fort Bowyer! Pensacola, FL: Per-
dido Bay Press, 1981; Henderson, William A. “Vice
Admiral Sir Alexander Cochrane and the Southern
Campaign at New Orleans, 1814–1815.” Southern
Historian 8 (1987): 24–38; Humphries, B. “Sir
Alexander Cochrane and the Conclusion of the
American War, 1814–1815.” Unpublished master’s
thesis, Liverpool University, 1960; Owsley, Frank L.
Struggle for the Gulf Border Lands: The Creek War
and the Battle of New Orleans, 1812–1815.
Gainesville: University Press of Florida, 1981; Rick-
etts, Robert. “The Men and Ships of the British At-
tack on Fort Bowyer—February, 1815.” Gulf Coast
Historical Review5, no. 2 (1990): 7–17; Sheads,
Scott. The Rocket’s Red Glare: The Maritime De-
fense of Baltimore in 1814.Centerville, MD: Tide-
water Publications, 1986; Smith, Gene A. Thomas ap
Catesby Jones: Commodore of Manifest Destiny.
Annapolis, MD: Naval Institute Press, 2000; White-
horne, Joseph A. The Battle for Baltimore, 1814.
Baltimore: Nautical and Aviation, 1997; Wood, G. W.
“The Admiral Should Have Been Court-Martialled
and Shot.” Army Quarterly and Defense Journal
106 (1976): 236–242.COCKBURN, SIRGEORGE
Cockburn, Sir George
(1772–August 19, 1853)
English Admiral
C
ockburn was an audacious naval leader
in the Royal Navy during the War of- A skilled practitioner of amphibi-
ous warfare, his devastating raids along
America’s coastlines culminated in the de-
struction of the nation’s capital.
George Cockburn was born in 1772 and
went to sea at the age of nine as a captain’s
servant on board the frigate HMS Resource.
He rose to lieutenant in 1793 while serving
under Capt. Horatio Nelson on the HMS Vic-
tory and, thereafter, embarked upon a singu-
larly distinguished naval career. Commencing
in 1790, when he received the sloop HMS
Speedy as his first command, Cockburn
served on a succession of larger warships and
rendered distinguished service throughout
the Mediterranean theater. He participated in
several actions off Toulon and, in December
1796, assisted in capturing the Spanish frigate
Sabina.The following year he received com-
mand of the frigate HMS Minerve,accompa-
nied the fleet of Adm. Sir John Jervis, and
fought at the Battle of Cape St. Vincent on
February 14, 1797. Thereafter, he spent sev-
eral years cruising the Mediterranean and se-
curing several privateer prizes. When war
with France recommenced in 1803, Cockburn
was performing duty in the East Indies, and
he subsequently assisted in the capture of