View source for Edward Pakenham

{{Short description|British Army officer and politician}}
{{Other people|Edward Pakenham}}
{{Use British English|date=February 2021}}
{{Use dmy dates|date=February 2021}}
{{Infobox officeholder
| honorific-prefix    = [[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] [[The Honourable]]
| name                = Sir Edward Pakenham
| honorific-suffix    = {{post-nominals|country=GBR|size=100%|GCB}}
| image               = Sir-Edward-Michael-Pakenham.webp
| image_size          = 220
| office              = Member of the [[Parliament of Ireland|Irish Parliament]]<br />for [[Longford Borough (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Longford Borough]]
| term_start          = 1799
| term_end            = 1800
| predecessor         = [[Thomas Pakenham (Royal Navy officer)|Thomas Pakenham]]
| successor           = Thomas Pakenham
| birth_name          = Edward Michael Pakenham
| birth_date          = {{Birth date|df=yes|1778|03|19}}
| death_date          = {{Death date and age|df=yes|1815|01|08|1778|03|19}}
| birth_place         = [[Tullynally Castle|Pakenham Hall]], County Westmeath, Ireland
| death_place         = [[St. Bernard Parish, Louisiana]], U.S.
| restingplace        = {{nowrap|St. Etchen's Church, [[Killucan and Rathwire|Killucan]]}}
| resting_place_coordinates = {{coord|53|30|49.5|N|7|08|40.3|W|region:IE-WH_type:landmark|display=inline}}
| nationality         = [[Kingdom of Ireland|Irish]]/[[United Kingdom of Great Britain and Ireland|British]]
| relations           = {{unbulleted list|[[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|The Duke of Wellington]] (brother-in-law)|[[Catherine Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington|The Duchess of Wellington]] (sister)}}
| parents             = {{unbulleted list|[[Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford|The Baron Longford]]|Lady Catherine Pakenham}}
| awards              = [[Order of the Bath|Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
| allegiance          = {{flagcountry|UKGBI}}
| branch              = <!-- EDITORS NOTE: Please do not add the Army flag adopted by the U.K. government in 1938 (123 years after Pakenham's death) as it would be historically inaccurate. Thank you. --> [[British Army]]
| serviceyears        = 1794–1815
| rank                = [[Major-general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]]
| battles             = {{tree list}}
*[[Irish Rebellion of 1798]]
*[[Napoleonic Wars]]
**[[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)|Copenhagen Expedition]]
**[[Peninsular War]]
*[[War of 1812]]
**[[Battle of New Orleans]]{{KIA}}
{{tree list/end}}
| mawards             = [[File:Army Gold Medals and Cross 1806-1814 RIBBON BAR.JPG|border|23px]] [[Army Gold Cross]]
}}

[[Major general (United Kingdom)|Major-General]] '''Sir Edward Michael Pakenham''', {{post-nominals|country=GBR|commas=true|size=100%|GCB}} (19 March 1778 – 8 January 1815) was a [[British Army]] officer and politician.<ref name=CanadianEncyclopedia>{{Cite web |last1=Grodzinski |first1=John |date=16 December 2013|url=https://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.ca/en/article/edward-pakenham|title = Edward Pakenham &#124; the Canadian Encyclopedia}}</ref> He was the son of [[Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford|the Baron Longford]] and the brother-in-law of [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|the Duke of Wellington]], with whom he served in the [[Peninsular War]]. During the [[War of 1812]], he was the commander of British forces attempting to take the Southern port of New Orleans (1814–15). On 8 January 1815, Pakenham was [[killed in action]] while leading his men at the [[Battle of New Orleans]].{{sfn|Reilly|1976|p=300}}

==Early life==
Pakenham was born at Pakenham Hall (present-day [[Tullynally Castle]]) in [[County Westmeath]], Ireland, to [[Edward Pakenham, 2nd Baron Longford]], and his wife Catherine Rowley. He was educated at [[The Royal School, Armagh]]. His family purchased his commission as a lieutenant in the [[92nd (Gordon Highlanders) Regiment of Foot|92nd Regiment of Foot]] when he was only sixteen.

==Political career==
Between 1799 and 1800, Pakenham also represented [[Longford Borough (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Longford Borough]] in the [[Irish House of Commons]].

==Military career==
Pakenham served with the [[23rd Light Dragoons]] against the French in [[Ireland]] during the [[Irish Rebellion of 1798|1798 Rebellion]] and later in [[Nova Scotia]], [[Barbados]], and [[Saint Croix]]. He led his men in an attack on [[Saint Lucia]] in 1803, where he was wounded. He also fought in the [[Denmark|Danish]] campaign at the [[Battle of Copenhagen (1807)]] and in [[Martinique]] against the [[First French Empire|French Empire]], where he received another wounding. In 1806, his sister [[Catherine Wellesley, Duchess of Wellington|Catherine]] married [[Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington|Arthur Wellesley]], the future [[Duke of Wellington (title)|Duke of Wellington]].

===Peninsular War===
{{See also|Peninsular War}}

Pakenham, as adjutant-general, joined his well known in-law, the Duke of Wellington, in the Peninsular War. He commanded a regiment in the [[Battle of Bussaco]] in 1810 and in 1811 fought in the [[Battle of Fuentes de Onoro]] to defend the besieged fortress of [[Almeida, Portugal|Almeida]], helping to secure a British victory. In 1812 he was praised for his performance at [[Battle of Salamanca|Salamanca]] in which he commanded the Third Division and hammered onto the flank of the extended French line. He also received the [[Army Gold Cross]] and clasps for the battles of Martinique, Busaco, Fuentes de Oñoro, Salamanca, Pyrenees, Nivelle, Nive, Orthez, and Toulouse.

===War of 1812===
{{See also|War of 1812}}

====Louisiana campaign====
{{Main|Battle of New Orleans}}
In September 1814, Pakenham, having been promoted to the rank of major general, accepted an offer to replace General [[Robert Ross (British Army officer)|Robert Ross]] as commander of the British North American army, after Ross was killed during the skirmishing prior to the [[Battle of North Point]] near Baltimore.

In August 1814, Vice Admiral Cochrane had finally convinced the [[Admiralty (United Kingdom)|Admiralty]] that a campaign against New Orleans would weaken American resolve against Canada, and hasten a successful end to the war.{{efn|Gene Allen Smith makes reference to a letter from the Secretary of the Admiralty to Cochrane dated August 10, 1814, archive reference WO 1/141. A copy of this document is accessible at The Historic New Orleans Collection' resource center, via microfilm. Smith also mentions how several Royal Navy officers had already suggested the idea of attacking Louisiana.{{sfn|Smith|2008|p=89}} }} The [[Royal Navy]] had begun the Louisiana Campaign to capture [[New Orleans]].

In the winter of 1814, the British had the objective of gaining control of the entrance of the Mississippi, and to challenge the legality of the Louisiana Purchase.<ref>Grodzinski (ed) (2011), p.1</ref> To this end, an expeditionary force of about 8,000 troops under General Edward Pakenham had arrived in the Gulf Coast, to attack New Orleans.{{sfnp|Roosevelt|1900|p=73}}

A general ceasefire had already been declared by the [[Treaty of Ghent]], signed on 24 December 1814, but as peace was not yet ratified in Washington as required by the treaty, the two nations were still formally at war. The news of the treaty did not reach the combatants until February, several weeks after the battle.{{efn|"Then in mid-February dispatches arrived from Europe announcing that the commissioners in Ghent had signed a treaty of peace with their British counterparts and that the War of 1812 had ended." "the Senate of the United States unanimously (35-0) ratified the Treaty of Ghent on 16 February 1815. Now the war was officially over."{{sfn|Remini|1999|p=193-194}} }}

====British reconnaissance-in-force====
On Christmas Day, Pakenham arrived on the battlefield. He ordered a [[reconnaissance-in-force]] on 28 December against the earthworks. The reconnaissance-in-force was designed to test Line Jackson and see how well-defended it was, and if any section of the line was weak the British would take advantage of the situation, break through, and call for thousands of more soldiers to smash through the defences. Pakenham inexplicably decided to withdraw all the soldiers after seeing the left side of his reconnaissance-in-force collapsing and retreating in panic.<ref name=":1">{{cite web|url=https://www.armyupress.army.mil/Portals/7/educational-services/staff-rides/StaffRideHB_NewOrleans.pdf|pages=97–101|title=The Staff Ride Handbook for The Battles of New Orleans, 23 December 1814 - 8 January 1815|website=Armyupresss.army.mil|access-date=24 July 2021}}</ref>

After the failure of this operation Pakenham met with General Keane and Admiral Cochrane that evening for an update on the situation. Pakenham wanted to use [[Chef Menteur Pass]] as the invasion route, but he was overruled by Admiral Cochrane, who insisted that his boats were providing everything needed.{{sfn|Patterson|2008|p=214–215}} Admiral Cochrane believed that the veteran British soldiers would easily destroy Jackson's ramshackle army, and he allegedly said that if the army did not do it, his sailors would, and the meeting settled the method and place of the attack.{{sfn|Patterson|2008|p=215–216}}

====Artillery duel on New Year's Day 1815====
The main British army arrived on New Year's Day 1815 and began an artillery bombardment of the American earthworks. The Americans recovered quickly and mobilized their own artillery to fire back at the British artillery. This began an exchange of artillery fire that continued for three hours. After yet another failure to breach Line Jackson Pakenham decided to wait for his entire force of 8,000 men to assemble before continuing his attack.

====New Orleans====
Pakenham developed a complex plan, dividing his forces into four brigades:
# Colonel Thornton would land soldiers on the Right Bank of the Mississippi, capture the artillery battery, so the guns could be turned against Jackson's lines. 
# The main assault against the left-centre of the American line on the Left Bank would be undertaken by Major General Gibbs.
# Light troops would be deployed to breach the right, followed by a Brigade commanded by General Keane, to either exploit the success, or move against the centre.
# General Lambert and his brigade were in reserve.<ref name=CanadianEncyclopedia/>

In front of the American line on the Left Bank, there were 600 metres of open ground to be traversed by the British.<ref name=CanadianEncyclopedia/>

Thornton failed to disembark and capture the battery at the designated time. Pakenham summoned his Assistant Adjutant General (AAG), [[Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet|Major Harry Smith]], and informed him Thornton's delayed troops would have no impact upon the main attack on the Left Bank. Smith tried to dissuade him from proceeding, but to no avail. Pakenham decided to continue with the attack, half an hour before daylight,{{sfn|Smith|1903|p=235-236}} at 6.20am.{{sfn|Davis|2019|p=239}} 
[[File:Correct View of the Battle Near the City of New Orleans.jpg|thumb|right|upright=1.16|A lithograph by Francisco Scacki, created a few years after the battle. The mortal wounding of Pakenham at the Battle of New Orleans in the centre clearly influenced a later engraving by [[F. O. C. Darley]], dating from 1860. These Bearskin cap bedecked British soldiers are wearing trousers, which Darley would replace with kilts in his version.]]

The 44th Foot, commanded by [[Thomas Mullins (British Army officer)|Thomas Mullins]], was assigned to lead the assault. They had to pick up the fascines and ladders needed, in order to cross the ditches and scale the earthworks respectively. Mullins was not pleased, viewing the regiment's role as that of a [[forlorn hope]]. Perhaps due to his bad temper, he failed to personally locate the ladders and fascines on the evening of the 7th, as Pakenham had ordered him to do.{{sfn|Davis|2019|p=224}} The officer he assigned, Lieutenant Colonel Johnston, inquired about their location from Captain Emmett, an [[Royal Engineers|engineer officer]], and reported they were in the advance [[redoubt]].{{sfn|Davis|2019|p=224}}

During the night, an ''advance battery'' was set up about {{convert|880|yd|m}} forward of the ''advance redoubt''.{{sfn|Davis|2019|p=226}} Mullins, thinking this to be the location of the [[materiel]], passed the advance redoubt and halted the regiment at the battery. Upon discovering his mistake, he sent about 300 of his 427 men back to the redoubt at the double-quick to pick up the fascines and ladders, but it was too late. The other regiments were already advancing behind the 44th, the party of 300 lost formation as they struggled to reach the redoubt, and as day dawned, the attack commenced before the supplies could be brought forward.<ref name=OldSub>{{cite journal |journal=The United Service Magazine | publisher=H. Colburn | first=George Robert |last=Gleig |year=1840 | page=[https://archive.org/details/unitedservicema07barngoog/page/n349 339] |url=https://archive.org/details/unitedservicema07barngoog |title=Recollections of the Expedition to the Chesapeake, and against New Orleans, by an Old Sub |accessdate=2008-02-03}}</ref>{{sfn|Davis|2019|p=232-237}}

The British column had already been disordered by the passage of the 300 returning to the redoubt, and they advanced into a storm of American fire. Without the fascines and ladders, they were unable to scale and storm the American position. Mullins had compromised their attack.{{sfn|Davis|2019|p=238-239}}
 
[[File:Edward pakenham.jpg|thumb|left|upright=1.16|The '' '''Death of Pakenham at the Battle of New Orleans''' '' by [[F. O. C. Darley]] shows the death of Sir Edward Pakenham on 8 January 1815. This romanticised portrayal, dating from 1860, has British soldiers wearing [[Bearskin]] caps, a headdress not worn since the [[American Revolutionary War]], with kilts, which were not worn in this battle.]]

As Pakenham rallied his troops near the enemy line, [[grapeshot]] from US [[artillery]] shattered his left knee and killed his horse. As he was helped to his feet by his senior ''[[aide-de-camp]]'', Major [[Duncan MacDougall (British Army officer)|Duncan MacDougall]], Pakenham was wounded a second time in his right arm. After he mounted MacDougall's horse, more grapeshot ripped through his spine, fatally wounding him, and he was carried off the battlefield on a stretcher. He was 36. His last words were reputed to be telling MacDougall to find General [[John Lambert (British Army officer)|John Lambert]] to tell him to assume command  and send forward the reserves.{{sfn|Reilly|1976|p=291}}{{sfn|Porter|1889|p=363}}{{sfn|Davis|2019|p=255-256}}

The British attacks on the Left Bank failed in bloody confusion, with Pakenham and Gibbs among the casualties.

The battle ended in defeat for the British.

Wellington had held Pakenham in high regard and was deeply saddened by news of his death, commenting: <blockquote>We have but one consolation, that he fell as he lived, in the honourable discharge of his duty and distinguished as a soldier and a man. I cannot but regret that he was ever employed on such a service or with such a colleague. The expedition to New Orleans originated with that colleague... The Americans were prepared with an army in a fortified position which still would have been carried, if the duties of others, that is of the Admiral ([[Sir Alexander Cochrane]]), had been as well performed as that of he whom we now lament.{{sfn|Holmes|2003|p=206}}</blockquote>

Patterson notes that the plan of attack was not Pakenham's own, yet he conceded to follow it, despite his reservations, and his death prevented him from reformulating a subsequent attack, following the initial failure.{{sfn|Patterson|2008|p=265}}

==Legacy==
[[File:Pakenham & Gibbs memorial.jpg|thumb|100px|Generals Edward Pakenham and Samuel Gibbs Memorial, St. Paul's Cathedral]]
There is a statue in his memory at the south transept of [[St Paul's Cathedral]] in [[London]].{{sfn|Sinclair|1909|p=458}} His body was returned in a cask of rum and buried in the Pakenham family vault in Killucan in [[County Westmeath]], [[Ireland]].

The village of [[Pakenham, Ontario|Pakenham]] in Ontario, Canada, named in honour of his role in the War of 1812. The village is located on the Canadian [[Mississippi River (Ontario)|Mississippi River]] which empties into the Ottawa River.

There is also a [[Pakenham, Victoria|suburb of Melbourne, Australia]], named after him.

In the alternative "British Version" of [[Johnny Horton]]'s novelty hit "[[The Battle of New Orleans]]," Horton refers to the British being led into battle by Pakenham. As with other 'historic' details of the song, Horton haphazardly styles him as "Colonel Pakeningham" despite his actually being General Pakenham.

Two streets in [[Chalmette, Louisiana]], the site of the Battle of New Orleans, are named for Pakenham, Packenham Avenue and Packenham Drive.

==See also==<!-- EDITORS NOTE: This section should primarily contain lists linked to the main article which are directly related to the person. Thank you. -->
* [[List of knights companion of the Order of the Bath]]
* [[List of knights and dames grand cross of the Order of the Bath]]

==References==
===Notes===
{{notelist}}

===Citations===
{{reflist|30em}}

===Bibliography===
* {{Cite book|last=Davis |first=William C. |author-link=William C. Davis (historian) |date=2019 |title=The Greatest Fury: The Battle of New Orleans and the Rebirth of America |publisher=Dutton Caliber, an imprint of Penguin Random House |isbn=978-0-39-958522-7}}
* {{cite journal  |editor-last1=Grodzinski |editor-first1=John |date=September 2011 |title=Instructions to Major-General Sir Edward Pakenham for the New Orleans Campaign |url=https://www.napoleon-series.org/military/Warof1812/2011/Issue16/c_PakenhamOrders.html |journal=The War of 1812 Magazine |issue=16 }}
* {{Cite book|last=Holmes |first=Richard |author-link=Richard Holmes (military historian) |date=2003 |title=Wellington: The Iron Duke |publisher=Harper and Collins |isbn=978-0-00-713750-3}}
* {{Cite book |last=Patterson |first=Benton Rain |title=The Generals, Andrew Jackson, Sir Edward Pakenham, and the road to New Orleans |year=2008 |isbn=978-0-8147-6717-7 |publisher=New York University Press |location=New York }}
* {{cite book |last=Porter |first=Maj Gen Whitworth |title=History of the Corps of Royal Engineers Vol I |year=1889 |publisher=The Institution of Royal Engineers |location=Chatham |oclc=35254552}}
* {{Citation |last=Reilly |first=Robin |orig-date=1974 |year=1976 |title=The British at the gates – the New Orleans campaign in the War of 1812 |location=London |publisher=Cassell |oclc=839952 }}
* {{Cite book |last=Remini |first=Robert V. |author-link=Robert V. Remini |year=1999 |title=The Battle of New Orleans |publisher=Penguin Putnam, Inc. |location=New York |isbn=0-670-88551-7 |url=https://archive.org/details/battleofneworlea00remi }}
* {{cite book |last=Roosevelt |first=Theodore |author-link=Theodore Roosevelt |year=1900| title=The Naval War of 1812 |url=https://archive.org/details/navalwarof181200roos| location=Annapolis |publisher=Naval Institute Press |volume=II}}
* {{Cite book |last=Sinclair |first=William |author-link=William Sinclair (Archdeacon of London) |year=1909 |title=Memorials of St Paul's Cathedral |location=London |publisher=Chapman & Hall, Ltd}}
* {{cite journal |last=Smith |first=Gene Allen |author-link=Gene A. Smith |title=Preventing the "Eggs of Insurrection" from Hatching: The U.S. Navy and Control of the Mississippi River, 1806-1815 |journal=Northern Mariner |institution=The Canadian Nautical Research Society |year=2008 |series=issue Nos. 3-4, (July–October 2008) |volume=18 |issue=3–4 |pages=79–91 |doi=10.25071/2561-5467.355 |s2cid=247349162 |url=https://www.cnrs-scrn.org/northern_mariner/vol18/tnm_18_3-4_79-91.pdf |access-date=19 December 2021}}
* {{Cite book |last=Smith |first=Sir Harry |author-link=Sir Harry Smith, 1st Baronet |year=1903 |title=The autobiography of Lieutenant-General Sir Harry Smith : Baronet of Aliwal on the Sutlej, G.C.B.  |others=edited, with the addition of some supplementary chapters, by G.C. Moore Smith. |publisher=John Murray |location=London |oclc=4960058 | via=University of Pennsylvania |url=https://digital.library.upenn.edu/women/hsmith/autobiography/harry.html}}

==Further reading==
* "Edward Michael Pakenham," ''A Dictionary of Louisiana Biography'', Vol. 2 (1988), p.&nbsp;627

==External links==
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* {{NPG name|id=03423|name=Edward Pakenham}}
* {{Internet Archive author|sname=Edward Pakenham|birth=1778|death=1815|sopt=t}}
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{{s-start}}
{{s-par|ie}}
{{s-bef|before=[[Thomas Pakenham (Royal Navy officer)|Thomas Pakenham]]<br />[[Henry Stewart (politician)|Henry Stewart]]}}
{{s-ttl|title=[[Member of Parliament]]<br />for [[Longford Borough (Parliament of Ireland constituency)|Longford Borough]]|with=[[Thomas Pakenham (Royal Navy officer)|Thomas Pakenham]]|years=1799–1800}}
{{s-aft|after=[[Thomas Pakenham (Royal Navy officer)|Thomas Pakenham]]<br />Thomas Borrowes}}
{{s-end}}
{{Subject bar|portal1=Biography|portal2=Ireland|portal4=Politics|portal5=United Kingdom|commons=y|commons-search=Category:Edward Pakenham|s=y|s-search=Pakenham, Edward Michael (DNB00)|d=y|d-search=Q1293005}}
{{Authority control}}

{{War of 1812}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Pakenham, Sir Edward Michael}}
[[Category:1778 births]]
[[Category:1815 deaths]]
[[Category:18th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
[[Category:19th-century Anglo-Irish people]]
[[Category:British Army commanders of the Napoleonic Wars]]
[[Category:British Army major generals]]
[[Category:British Army personnel of the War of 1812]]
[[Category:British military personnel killed in the War of 1812]]
[[Category:Irish MPs 1798–1800]]
[[Category:Knights Companion of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Knights Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath]]
[[Category:Members of the Parliament of Ireland (pre-1801) for County Longford constituencies]]
[[Category:Pakenham family|Edward]]
[[Category:People educated at The Royal School, Armagh]]
[[Category:Military personnel from County Westmeath]]
[[Category:People of the Irish Rebellion of 1798]]
[[Category:Politicians from County Westmeath]]
[[Category:Recipients of the Army Gold Cross]]
[[Category:Younger sons of barons]]