NEW ORLEANS – Andrew Jackson and a rag-tag group of frontiersmen won the Battle of New Orleans in a decisive defeat of the British at the Chalmette Battlefield in 1815.
But for the first time in memory, the annual reenactment of that famous battle most likely will be fought somewhere else. Chalmette Battlefield, part of the Jean Lafitte National Park, is closed to visitors because of the partial shutdown of the federal government.
Without an 11th hour cannon blast of compromise on Capitol Hill, the reenactment will move to the St. Bernard Parish Government Center, and the costumed soldiers will have to muster in the Center’s parking lot.
The reenactment of the Battle of New Orleans is usually a popular, three day event at the Chalmette Battlefield.
The Jean Lafitte National Park Service website describes activities that ” bring the world of the 1815 Battle of New Orleans to life with cannon and musket firings, demonstrations, period music and more.”
But this year, the website also notes that during the shutdown, in most parks, “there will be no National Park Service-provided visitor services, such as restrooms, trash collection, facilities, or road maintenance. ”
Instead, the celebration of the anniversary of the battle that shut down the British will be held next Friday and Saturday (Jan 11 and 12) at 8201 West Judge Perez Drive.
For information and a link to a map and directions, go to www.nps.gov/jela, or call the St. Bernard Parish Government Center at (504) 278-4242.