

Joseph F. Stoltz III
Exploring the changing narrative of the Battle of New Orleans through two centuries of commemoration.
Once celebrated on par with the Fourth of July, January 8th—the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans—is no longer a day of reverence for most Americans. Although the United States’ stunning 1815 defeat of the British army south of New Orleans gave rise to the presidency of Andrew Jackson, the Democratic Party, and the legend of Jean Laffite, the battle has not been a national holiday since 1861.
Joseph F. Stoltz III explores how generations of Americans have consciously revised...
Exploring the changing narrative of the Battle of New Orleans through two centuries of commemoration.
Once celebrated on par with the Fourth of July, January 8th—the anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans—is no longer a day of reverence for most Americans. Although the United States’ stunning 1815 defeat of the British army south of New Orleans gave rise to the presidency of Andrew Jackson, the Democratic Party, and the legend of Jean Laffite, the battle has not been a national holiday since 1861.
Joseph F. Stoltz III explores how generations of Americans have consciously revised, reinterpreted, and reexamined the memory of the conflict to fit the cultural and social needs of their time. Combining archival research with deep analyses of music, literature, theater, and film across two centuries of American popular culture, Stoltz highlights the myriad ways in which politicians, artists, academics, and ordinary people have rewritten the battle’s history. While these efforts could be nefarious—or driven by political necessity or racial animus—far more often they were simply part of each generations’ expression of values and world view.
From Andrew Jackson’s presidential campaign to the occupation of New Orleans by the Union Army to the Jim Crow era, the continuing reinterpretations of the battle alienated whole segments of the American population from its memorialization. Thus, a close look at the Battle of New Orleans offers an opportunity to explore not just how events are collectively remembered across generations but also how a society discards memorialization efforts it no longer finds necessary or palatable.
In A Bloodless Victory, historian Joseph F. Stoltz III investigates the different ways white Americans created, contested, and eventually monetized public memory of the Battle of New Orleans. He explores the ways in which narratives are created and recreated and how selective memory of events changes with new political contexts... I applaud Stoltz for his ability to take on such a large topic in such a short space
Stoltz's book is a comprehensive study of the battle of New Orleans's presence in the American historical imagination and will serve as the definitive book on the topic.
Well researched and presented in clear, precise, and robust prose, Stoltz's engaging read reminds us that interpretations of history are often subject to the eyes of the beholder.
Clearly a labor of love that has been years in preparation, this refreshingly engaging, detail-rich narrative draws on a truly impressive body of scholarship. A worthy new contribution to cultural memory studies.
At a time when Andrew Jackson plays such a prominent role in the political fight over public memory, Stoltz demonstrates that Old Hickory's greatest military triumph was a contested battleground of myth and memory during his lifetime and remains so today. In lucid prose and with in-depth research, he reminds us that there is still much to learn about Jackson and his legacy.
Joseph Stoltz's lucid, well-documented, and well-written account of how perceptions of Jackson's famous victory have changed over the years reveals a fascinating subject for both history buffs and academics to ponder. The author has bridged the diverse fields of military history and public opinion.
Joseph Stoltz’s A Bloodless Victory engagingly reminds us how we forget and remember the past. Americans have reexamined, reinterpreted, and revised the history of Andrew Jackson’s glorious victory at New Orleans, and this book rescues the study of this important battle by forcing readers to look at the ways people presently think about themselves.
Memorialization of history: a hot political topic today, but not a new phenomenon. In this timely book surveying the Battle of New Orleans, Joseph F. Stolz III superbly illustrates how Andrew Jackson fashioned a political career and a new party, the Democrats, on the back of his military success.
Stoltz skillfully walks readers through two hundred years of history and memory. Far more than a battle history, A Bloodless Victory's wide scope weaves together culture, art, literature, politics, memorialization, and material culture to show how a moment of national military triumph worked its way into many facets of American life. Stoltz has crafted a highly readable and engaging study of how historical meaning is created, fought over, and remade.
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. "By the Eternal, They Shall Not Sleep on Our Soil"
2. "Half a Horse and Half an Alligator"
3. "Under the Command of a Plain Republican—an American Cincinnatus"
4. "The Union Must
Preface
Acknowledgments
1. "By the Eternal, They Shall Not Sleep on Our Soil"
2. "Half a Horse and Half an Alligator"
3. "Under the Command of a Plain Republican—an American Cincinnatus"
4. "The Union Must and Shall Be Preserved"
5. "True Daughters of the War"
6. "Not Pirate... Privateer"
7. "Tourism Whetted by the Celebration"
8. A "Rustic and Factual" Appearance
Conclusion
Notes
Bibliography
Index
with Hopkins Press Books