After the battle some hailed Jackson as a conquering hero and honored him with parades, balls, and parties. Others scorned him as the butcher of New Orleans. Nevertheless, the victory gave Old Hickory the recognition and popularity he needed to win the presidential election of 1828 and become the 7th President of the United States.
Rachel, published during the Mexican War as the Texas Quickstep, is another tune that became associated with Andrew Jackson.
During the presidential campaign of 1828 Jackson's wife Rachel was labeled an adultress because when they married in 1791 she was still married to someone else. Rachel eventually got a divorce and the Jackson's were legally remarried in 1794.
The Eighth of January is a fiddle tune commemorating Andrew Jackson's defeat of the British at New Orleans on January 8th, 1815. Originally titled Jackson's Victory, the name was changed during the Civil War when Jackson's political views were out of favor.
The fighting in Louisiana was a series of battles for New Orleans, lasting from December 1814 through January 1815.
Finally, on January 8, two British generals, were killed and a third severely wounded. Contemporary accounts described the battlefield action as confused and haphazard.
The British suffered over 2,000 casualties. Jackson lost 71 men. Sadly the battle was irrelevant. The United States and Britain had met in Ghent Belgium, on December 24 and signed a treaty ending the War of 1812.
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