CHALMETTE, LA – The Meraux Living History Park and the Louisiana Living History Foundation will host a FREE re-enactment of the Battle of New Orleans to celebrate the 201st Anniversary on Friday, January 8, 2016, at 8207 Patricia St., in Chalmette, right behind the Walmart, adjacent to Torres Park, at 7:00 p.m.
The Public is invited to attend, and learn about this most consequential battle in American History.
Last year, the LLHF hosted 1588 historical re-enactors for over seven nations to put one of the largest Battle Re-Enactments in American History. According to St. Bernard Parish, the event constituted the largest economic impact of any tourism event in St. Bernard history.
This year's re-enactment will be the main event of a four day commemoration of the Battle of New Orleans, from Thursday, January 7 through Sunday January 10, that includes free symposiums on the Battle at Nunez Community College, living history demonstrations, a Saturday night premier of the documentary: “New Orleans 1815 – Such stuff as dreams are made on,” a film about the effort to put on last year's re-enactment, presented at Docville Farm.
LLHF's annual historical festival commemorating the Battle of New Orleans occurs on at a leased tract of land located off of Patricia Street in St. Bernard Parish, the original geographic region where most of the Battles of the War of 1812's New Orleans Campaign took place.
The LLHF said the event wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of the Joseph & Arlene Meraux Charitable Foundation, the Honorary Consul of Great Britain James Coleman and Terry Tedesco.
“In January 2015, we assembled on our new Meraux Living History Park more people in War of 1812-era uniforms than at any time since January 1815,” explained LLHF military historian and President Tim Pickles. “Re-enactors came from the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada and across the United States to put on this event to celebrate the 200th Anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans. Moreover, most people don’t realize it, but it literally takes an act of Congress to have re-enactment on a Federal Battlefield. That's why we created the Living History Park on Patricia Street.”
Federal law currently prohibits the re-creation of a battle at a National Park site, including the nearby Chalmette National Park, where the final battle took place on Jan 8, 1815. The Meraux Foundation's and Tedesco's agreement to lease a large undeveloped land tract allowed the highly successful 2015 re-enactment of the five land battles fought between American forces under Gen Andrew Jackson and British forces under Gen. Edward Pakeham to be a feature of the Bicentennial Commemoration. The construction of a replica of the 1815 Battlefield was intended to create a Living History Park to hold the Annual Re-Enactment each year.
The LLHF’s mission is to increase public awareness of history in general, and Louisiana history in particular, by presenting live shows, re-creations, documentary films, websites and exhibitions, both temporary and permanent, that highlight the history of the State of Louisiana and its people and their antecedents, with particular attention being paid to the commemoration of centennial, bicentennial and tercentennial anniversaries in the State of Louisiana.
The LLHF acts as a clearinghouse for ideas, and a resource to assist communities throughout the state to research and record their own history, in co-operation with other historical groups.
