Editing Battle of New Orleans (section)

=== Assessment ===
[[File:American cannons at Chalmette Battlefield Chalmette LA.jpg|thumb|Two examples of artillery pieces on Line Jackson. The one on the right is naval artillery and the left one is army artillery. The Americans used both equally. The British used mostly naval artillery during the campaign and with the small wheels and large frames these guns became bogged down in the muddy fields of Chalmette.]]
For the campaign, American casualties totaled 333 with 55 killed, 185 wounded, and 93 missing,{{NoteTag|Quoting from Butler's "report of the killed, wounded and missing" to Brigadier General Parker dated January 16, reproduced in the appendices.{{sfnp|James|1818|p=388}}}} while British casualties totaled 2,459 with 386 killed, 1,521 wounded, and 552 missing,{{NoteTag|An aggregation of totals for four casualty returns shows 386 killed, 1,516 wounded, and 552 missing. Casualty returns within Stovin's reports{{sfnp|Stovin|1815|pp=443-448}} James states 385 killed, 1,516 wounded, and 591 missing, 39 light dragoons in a boat being added to the missing.{{sfnp|James|1818|p=388}}}} according to the respective official casualty returns. A reduction in headcount due to 443 British soldiers' deaths since the prior month was reported on January 25. The effective strength of the British had reduced from 5,933{{NoteTag|Within Monthly Return, December 1814{{sfnp|Bamford|2014}} to 4,868 soldiers of the original force, bolstered by 681 and 785 soldiers of the [[Royal Fusiliers|7th Foot]] and [[43rd (Monmouthshire) Regiment of Foot|43rd Foot]] respectively.{{NoteTag|Within Monthly Return, January 1815.{{sfnp|Bamford|2014}} }} More than 600 prisoners of war were released from Jackson's captivity by March 1815.{{sfnp|Hollick|2021}} Bassett contains a letter from Jackson to Colonel Hays dated February 4. "After the exchange is compleated {{sic}}, there will remain between three and four hundred Prisoners in my hands".{{sfnp|Bassett|1911|p=157}}}}

The hundreds of dead British soldiers were likely buried at [[Jacques Villeré#Military service|Jacques Villeré's plantation]], which was the headquarters of the British Army during the New Orleans campaign. Nobody knows exactly where their final resting spot is. The only deceased British soldiers transported back to the United Kingdom were Generals Pakenham and Gibbs.{{sfnp|Reilly|1976|p=301}} Lieutenant Colonel Robert Rennie was buried by the 7th US Infantry, as ordered by Jackson, and his personal effects were passed on to Norman Pringle (an officer of the 21st Foot), via a flag of truce, to be forwarded on to Rennie's widow.{{sfnp|Davis|2019|p=277}}

[[File:Pakenham & Gibbs memorial.jpg|thumb|left|upright=0.9|British Generals Pakenham and Gibbs Memorial at St. Paul's Cathedral in London]]
A discredited historical interpretation holds that the British had an ambitious colonization plan for the "[[Crown colony]] of Louisiana" if they had succeeded in capturing New Orleans and Mobile. While some British generals did speculate, the British government under [[Robert Jenkinson, 2nd Earl of Liverpool|Lord Liverpool]] rejected all such ideas and planned to finalize the peace by ratifying the Treaty of Ghent as soon as possible, regardless of what happened in New Orleans.{{sfnmp|Carr|1979|1p=273–282|Howe|2007|2p=16}} For the discredited speculation see Abernethy (1961).{{sfnp|Abernethy|1961|pp=389–390}} Cavell notes that there is little in the correspondence to imply that Britain planned permanently to occupy or to annex New Orleans or Louisiana territory and Davis states in his book 'no one in [the British] government seems to have advocated permanent possession'.{{sfnp|Cavell|2022}}{{sfnp|Davis|2019|p=15}}

Both sides faced challenges with logistics. This was especially the case for the British. The shortage of small boats had a noticeable impact when the landing on the Right Bank was made with only a third of the force originally planned, and they arrived far later than the time when they were supposed to arrive. The transport ships with the 26 artillery pieces of the siege train did not arrive until January 11, and would not see action until the engagement at Fort Bowyer on February 7, 1815. The poor quality of the roads through the swampy terrain, coupled with the lack of horses, was a burden upon the British supply network. These logistical shortcomings of the British were a precursor to similar issues that would be experienced during the [[Crimean War]].