The Battle of New Orleans was an engagement fought between December 14, 1814 and January 18, 1815, constituting the final major battle of the War of 1812, and the most one-sided battle of that war. American combatants, commanded by Major General Andrew Jackson, prevented an overwhelming British force, commanded by Admiral Alexander Cochrane and General Edward Pakenham, from seizing New Orleans and the vast territory the United States had acquired with the Louisiana Purchase.The Treaty of Ghent had been signed on December 24, 1814 (but was not ratified by the US Government until February 1815), and hostilities continued without the involved parties knowing about the Treaty, until January 18 by when all of the British forces had retreated, finally putting an end to the Battle of New Orleans.
