George Gleig British Further Reading George Gleig’s account of the Battle of New Orleans More Eyewitness Accounts from the Battle of New Orleans The Battle of New Orleans

A Recollection of Christmas After the American Attack George Gleig was a captain with the British 85th Foot regiment. He was in Washington and Baltimore before sailing down the coast to join the New Orleans campaign. In the following, Gleig recounts the mood of the British camp at the Villere Plantation just after the American attack. "It was Christmas Day, and a number of officers clubbing their little stock of provisions, resolved to dine together in memory of former times. But at so melancholy a Christmas dinner I do not recollect at any time to have been present. We dined in a barn; of plates, knives, and forks, there was a dismal scarcity, nor could our fare boast of much either in intrinsic good quality, or in the way of cooking. These, however, were mere matters of merriment: it was the want of many well-known and beloved faces that gave us pain; nor were any other subjects discussed, besides the amiable qualities of those who longer formed part of our mess, and never would again form part of it."