Pakenham enhanced both his social and mili-
tary standing when he married Catherine
Wellesley, sister of Arthur, the future Duke of
Wellington. He then accompanied the Copen-
hagen campaign of 1807 and assisted in the
capture of Martinique in 1809, before joining
his brother-in-law on the Spanish Peninsula.
For England, Spain was the principal the-
ater of operation against Napoleonic France,
a costly, ongoing series of battles and sieges
that Emperor Napoleon came to lament as the
“Spanish ulcer.” Pakenham joined Wellington
in March 1810 as deputy adjutant general and
also a brigade commander with the First Divi-
sion. Thus situated, he fought well at Bussaco
in 1810 and Fuentes de Orono the following
year. In the spring of 1812 Pakenham replaced
the wounded Gen. Thomas Picton as com-
mander of the elite Third Division and was
closely engaged in the decisive victory at
Salamanca on July 22, 1812. He delivered the
decisive attack that split the French forces in
two, gaining for himself a measure of glory
and promotion to major general. “Pakenham
may not be the brightest genius,” Wellington
conceded, “but my partiality for him does not
lead me astray when I tell you that he is one
of the best we have.” At the head of the Sixth
Division, the young general won additional
applause during the Battle of the Pyrenees in
1813, receiving in consequence a knighthood
of the Order of Bath. Other successful actions
at Nive, Orthez, and Toulouse followed before
Napoleon finally abdicated in April 1814.
Despite his aristocratic origins and the
rapid promotion they ensured, Pakenham had
matured into one of Wellington’s most effec-
tive divisional commanders. As such, he was
handpicked by the Great Duke to lead an ex-
pedition against New Orleans following the
death of Gen. Robert Rossat Baltimore in
September 1814. Pakenham, slated to com-
mand 10,000 of Wellington’s Invincibles, had
never experienced an independent command
of this magnitude before. However, the young
general eagerly assented to the opportunity
for additional glory because he—like most
British military leaders—held American sol-
diery in undisguised contempt. Pakenham
had hoped to rendezvous with Adm. Alexan-
der Cochraneat Bermuda that fall, but ad-
verse winds detained him and he arrived after
the fleet had sailed. Pressing on ahead, he fi-
nally landed in Louisiana, marched overland,
and reached the advance force under Gen.
John Keane by Christmas Eve 1814. His ap-
pearance was welcomed by the British, for
their camp had recently been attacked by
frontier forces under Gen. Andrew Jackson
on December 23 and severely handled. Paken-
ham, who brought with him additional ar-
tillery, directed operations that sank one
American schooner in the Mississippi River
and drove the survivor downstream. He then
collected his finely disciplined men, aching
from days of wading through swampland, and
advanced upon the American position before
New Orleans.
Andrew Jackson may have been a proud
man and a stubborn fighter, but he realized
that his motley assemblage of frontier rough-
necks was no match for superbly disciplined
British infantry in a stand-up fight. Therefore,
acting upon the advice of Col. Arthur P.
Hayne, he deployed his men behind the Ro-
driguez Canal, reinforcing it with cotton bales
and cannons. With his right resting upon the
mighty Mississippi, and his left extending into
a thick cypress swamp, his position could not
be easily outflanked and, in all likelihood,
would have to be assailed head-on. Paken-
ham, who had received reinforcements, ad-
vanced upon Jackson’s line and did precisely
that. On December 28, 1814, he unlimbered
his artillery and sent several infantry columns
forward. All were blasted back with heavy
loss by superior American firepower. Unde-
terred, he next tried bringing up additional
guns, placing them behind dirt-filled sugar
casks for cover, and engaged in a long-range
artillery duel with Jackson’s batteries. The re-
sult was the same: American cannons, well-
handled, knocked out most of the British
pieces and repulsed a last-minute reconnais-
sance in force by the infantry. An impasse
then settled in as Pakenham pondered whatPAKENHAM, EDWARD