Notable New Orleanians: A Tricentennial Tribute

distinguished reputation in the wars of St. Domingo,” formed the newest battalion “chiefly with refugees
from that island.” 3
Four days after their mustering in, the Second Battalion’s first battle occurred during the savage
night-time battle of December 23 on the banks of the Mississippi River. During the skirmish, Savary and
his men fought back the British who were attempting to enter the city. In French, and reminiscent of
the La Marseillaise, he urged his men to “March on! March on, my friends, march on against the enemies
of the country.” After the commanding victory of the Americans on January 8, 1815, General Jackson
noted that the British rout began when one of Savary’s men killed British Commanding General Edward
Pakenham on the field of battle. Jackson publicly praised the Second Battalion and its commander, stating
that saying, “Savary’s volunteers manifested great bravery….” 4
On January 21 Jackson spoke to the troops assembled at Chalmette “recounting in glowing
words the major events of the campaign, and taunting the enemy with the miserable frustration of
their designs. He also used the occasion to laud the bravery of “Major Joseph Savary, a Free Man
of Color from Haiti who had performed spectacularly during the fight.” 5
When the war ended, however, white New Orleanians persuaded Jackson to order the black
troops out of the city. But, New Orleans and Louisiana did not forget Savary. In 1819, the State of
Louisiana granted him a pension of $30 a month, which ten years later was still in effect. 6 That year
Savary headed a pump brigade for the fire department, while the city council provided their lodging
on Hospital Street. 7 He had descendants for a century later; pioneering black historian Charles
Roussève noted that his granddaughter had married prominent Creole Joseph-Celestin Rousseau. 8
1 Marcus Christian, “Negro Soldiers in the Battle of New Orleans,” in Gary D. Joiner, ed., The Battle of New Orleans: A
Bicentennial Tribute (Gretna: Pelican Publishing Company, 2015), 229-252.
2 Jack D. L. Holmes, Honor and Fidelity: the Louisiana Infantry Regisment and the Louisiana Militia Companies, 1766-1821
(Birmignahm, 1965), 55. See also Roland C. McConnell, Negro troops of antebellum Louisiana; a history of the Battalion of
Free Men of Color (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1968).
3 Christian, 243.
4 Charles Gayarré, History of Louisiana. The American Domination (New Orleans: F. F. Hansell & Bro., Ltd., 1903), IV, 433.
5 Winston Groom, Patriotic Fire: Andrew Jackson and Jean Laffite at the Battle of
New Orleans (New York: Vintage books, 2007), 228.
6 Robert Ewell Greene, Black Defenders of America, 1775-1973 (Chicago: Johnson Publishing Company Inc.,. 1974);
Roland C. McConnell, Negro Troops of Antebellum Louisiana: A History of the Battalion of Free Men of Color (Baton Rouge:
Louisiana State University Press, 1968). Annie Lee West Stahl, “The Free Negro in Ante-Bellum Louisiana” in Louisiana
Historical Quarterly, XXV (April 1942): 327-9.
7 New Orleans Argus Feb 23, 1828. P. 3
8 Charles B. Roussève, The Negro in Louisiana: aspects of his history and his literature ( New Orleans: Xavier University Press,
1937), 28-29, 65.
J EAN L AFFITE (1782-1823) AND
P IERRE L AFFITE (1770 TO 1822)
The subject of endless biographies; disagreements over whether he was a privateer or a pirate; controversy
over an authentic-sounding personal journal written on period paper with authentic-looking signatures
allegedly written decades after he was supposed to be dead; recognized and given a Presidential
pardon for his contributions to the Battle of New Orleans that at least one historian has now concluded
were of little significance; and a commodified tourist draw for New Orleans’ Jean Laffite will not go away.
Perhaps he is one of those figures who remain famous because everyone has heard of him. More
likely, easily impressed adventurers seeking the exotic in preference to the workaday prefer to hear
BIOGRAPHIES
31