A Bloodless Victory: The Battle of New Orleans in History and Memory by Joseph F. Stoltz III (review)

One of the shortest battles in American history has provided material for more than two centuries of historical inquiry. The Battle of New Orleans gave Americans one of the few positive memories from a disastrous war, helped catapult Andrew Jackson to national prominence, inspired countless works of art, and served as inspiration for innumerable political events. Historians wrote about the battle shortly after it ended and Joseph F. Stoltz III adds a new intriguing volume to further our understanding of the place it holds in our collective memory.

Stoltz begins his slender volume with a solid recounting of the campaign leading up to the battle, followed by an excellent summary of the critical January 8 confrontation. He roots his account solidly in the earliest available sources to avoid falling into traps that snared other historians and artists: cotton bales and pirates are relegated to the sidelines. After setting the background, Stoltz dedicates the balance of the book to a survey of how Americans remembered the battle over the past two centuries.

Arguing that "examining the popular historiography of an event like the Battle of New Orleans across such a long span of time, we gain a new insight into American culture and society across generations," Stoltz takes the reader on an eminently intriguing journey through the many ways in which the battle has been used by, and in turn shaped, American culture and society (pp. vii–viii). Each chapter focuses on how a different generation of Americans interpreted the battle to fit its particular needs. The book's greatest strength lies in how it successfully demonstrates how several major works of popular art, especially the well-known song The Battle of New Orleans by Jimmy Driftwood, shaped popular understanding of the battle. Additionally, Stoltz dedicates significant space to show how the Democratic Party tried to use the battle to its political advantage by reshaping the previously nationalist celebration of the day into a celebration of Andrew Jackson and the rise of popular democracy.

The book does have one serious flaw in that it is far too short. With only about 110 pages of text, too many sections of the book feel rushed. Several significant discussions appear to have been cut short and the reader is left wondering why other particular threads are not followed through to their conclusions. The reason for the book's brevity is not addressed in the preface, or in any obvious location on the press's website. With even another fifty pages, the book would be far stronger.

Physically, the book is delightful. The layout and illustrations are done in the highest quality. The illustrations always serve to enhance the text and never appear superfluous. A map providing some geographical context for the chapter on the campaign immediately preceding the battle would give immeasurable help to those unfamiliar with the bayous and rivers of the New Orleans region, but otherwise the illustrations work well. Stoltz's book, even with its brevity, provides a solid contribution to American cultural history, and will be useful to historians of many eras.