Early during the afternoon of December 23, General Andrew Jackson, the commander of American forces at New Orleans, learned that the British force was near.

General Jackson was a good soldier and a great leader. He fought in the Revolutionary War, then studied law. He moved west to Nashville, Tennessee. The general also served in both houses of the United States Congress.

When war broke out in 1812, he was elected general of a group of volunteer soldiers from Tennessee. Jackson was a rough man. His soldiers feared and respected him. They called him "Old Hickory,” because he seemed as tough as hickory wood.

Jackson was given responsibility for defending the coast along the Gulf of Mexico.

Earlier in the year, he had attacked Pensacola, in Florida, and forced out several hundred British marines. Jackson believed the British would attack Mobile before attacking New Orleans. He left part of his forces at Mobile and took the others to the mouth of the Mississippi.

Jackson was a sick man when he got to New Orleans. And what he found made him feel no better. Little had been done to prepare for the expected British attack. Jackson declared martial law and began building the city's defenses.

Most of the work on the defenses had been completed when Jackson got word that the British were only a few kilometers from New Orleans. "Gentlemen," Jackson told his officers, "the British are below. We must fight them tonight."