CHALMETTE, La. – Welcome to the Chalmette Battlefield. If you’ve never been out there, you’re not alone.
“It’s probably a daily occurrence that I get someone in that says I’ve lived here for 30, 50, 60 years, and I’ve never been to this battlefield before,” park ranger Chad Hoing said.
On of Hoing’s job is showing people around such a unique park.
“You don’t have a lot of spaces where you have wide open fields,” Hoing said. “You don’t really have a space where you can enjoy the nature and the history of the battlefield.”
The Chalmette Battlefield is where Andrew Jackson defended the City of New Orleans from the British during the War of 1812. The serenity of the place is overwhelming, a juxtaposition since it was here that more than 2,000 men lost their lives. Almost all of the casualties were on the British side.
The park honors the fallen with a British flag flying over the place where many were probably buried.
“I think they really come here to see what the Americans would have seen during the Battle of New Orleans,” Hoing said. “We take a lot of effort to try to maintain what it looks like pretty close to what the Americans and British would have seen during the battle.”
And even if you don’t like history, you can still come out to walk, bike or drive the path. But if you ever want to know more, just ask a ranger.