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A Bicentennial perspective on the Battle of New Orleans, as fiction would have it, and the treacherous paths that brought its heroes together on one cataclysmic day. The year was 1815. New Orleans was then the great prize worth fighting for on the Gulf of Mexico, commanding the shipping routes among gold-rich Spanish colonies and the sugarcane-covered islands claimed by France. It was a disorderly gateway to the new United States and the sole outlet to the sea for the entire American West. More people spoke French than English and the city’s government was even more blind to misbehavior than it is today. This was the backdrop for the improbable, decisive battle that battle pitted volunteer militiamen, “free people of color,” mountaineers, and pirates against the world’s greatest army and navy. The outcome gave Jackson Square its name, sealed the fate of the slaves, repelled European aggressors for all time, and gave America a chance to see what it could do.