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Since I’m in Louisiana today, I must acknowledge that it’s the 199th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans, which had no actual bearing on the outcome of the War of 1812, but was responsible for making Andrew Jackson known for the rest of his life as The Hero.
I know I’ve posted this video before, but it’s the only one for this morning: Johnny Horton performing “The Battle of New Orleans” on the Ed Sullivan Show, with some interesting costuming and choreography.
Ed Kilgore is a political columnist for New York Magazine; a longtime contributor to the Washington Monthly; and a former policy adviser to three governors and a U.S. senator from his home state of Georgia.
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