Battle of New Orleans Page #15

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JOHN COFFEE:

There are two six-pounders comingup from the rear!

But Jackson sees more and more BRITISH REINFORCEMENTS comingthrough the canal, meeting up with MAJOR GENERAL KEANE...

And in a moment of battlefield clarity --

73.

ANDREW JACKSON:

Save the guns, General! With their

reinforcements, the tide can onlyshift in their favor.

JEAN LAFITTE:

A retreat?

ANDREW JACKSON:

Hardly. We shall camp to the northand see what daylight brings. Our

message has been duly received.

And as Jackson leads them back through the plantation, theSCREAMS of those injured or dying shouting into the night -

EXT. VILLERE PLANTATION - MORNING

The sun rises on a dreary and horrific scene. Over 500

casualties from both sides, over 70 men killed in action, but

the British have clearly gotten the worst of it.

Many bodies lay were they fell. Bayonets protrude, bones arebroken, limbs torn apart with shot. War from this time is

not kind to the men who must fight it...

Keane and Thornton walk the grounds. Keane is aghast -

MAJOR GENERAL KEANE

Never in all my years...

COLONEL THORNTON

It seems the Americans have found a

new sense of boldness.

The LOUISIANA is still up river just out of musket range.

She’s been joined by another American schooner, the CAROLINA.

The boats trade off firing GRAPE SHOT onto the front lines.

MAJOR GENERAL KEANE

Yes. And his name is Jackson.

Suddenly ADMIRAL COCHRANE arrives through the canal with histravelling party. Cochrane takes one look around --

ADMIRAL COCHRANE

Oh, good Christ, Keaney. What the

hell have you done?

INT. VILLERE HOUSE - STUDY - MORNING

Cochrane and Keane now in the study. Cochrane is livid.

74.

ADMIRAL COCHRANE

And this is the position you’ve

left us in -- on this godforsakenfarm with the river to one side,

the swamps on the other!

MAJOR GENERAL KEANE

The Americans -- they attacked outof the darkness -

ADMIRAL COCHRANE

I don’t care if they attacked out

your ass, Keane. You should have

marched your way to the city!

MAJOR GENERAL KEANE

You instructed me to wait here!

ADMIRAL COCHRANE

You’re a fool. A daddy’s boy with

a silver spoon. And now I’m left

to clean up your mess!

Keane hangs his head. Cochrane takes a breath, and then --

ADMIRAL COCHRANE (CONT’D)

To maintain decency, you must givethe orders. But for as long as ittakes, we shall bring forth all ofher Queen’s fury and unleash.

EXT. MACARTY PLANTATION - MORNING - ESTABLISHING

Jackson’s men have made camp a few plantations north.

Makeshift HOSPITALS house the wounded. Several BARATARIANS

self-medicate with pulls from a bottle of whiskey.

From the ground the Americans can hear the guns of theLouisiana but the camps are out of sight with the naked eye --

INT. MACARTY HOUSE - MASTER BEDROOM - MORNING

Not so from here. Jackson and his advisors have setup a WARROOM on the third floor of the MACARTY HOUSE. Jackson uses

an ASTRONOMER’S TELESCOPE to spy on the British down river.

EDWARD LIVINGSTON

Dare I say -- none of them slept.

75.

MAJOR GENERAL VILLERE

Even with casualties the men are

invigorated. Shall we prepare tostrike again at nightfall?

But Jackson ignores Villere. There’s something on his mind.

ANDREW JACKSON:

At the widest point the plantationsare a mile from the swamp to theriver. But from their current

position, as they move north -

Lafitte figures out where Jackson is going with this -

JEAN LAFITTE:

The river bends. They are squeezedinto a size half that with no other

recourse.

EDWARD LIVINGSTON

What are you saying, General?

ANDREW JACKSON:

To get to the city, the Britishmust now come through us.

EXT. MACARTY PLANTATION - RODRIGUEZ CANAL - MORNING

Moments later. The meeting has moved onto the RODRIGUEZCANAL -- a ten-foot wide DRY CANAL that runs the length ofthe MACARTY PLANTATION from the river to the swamp.

ANDREW JACKSON:

With their numbers and our lack of

cover another attack carries too

great a risk. So we shall build a

line and guard our flanks. Here,

along this canal. With every man,

woman and child, every piece ofbarn and tree, the entire citybehind it. They can’t move throughthe River. They can’t move throughthe swamp. They can’t move through

us. What we build here will be our

last hope to save a nation.

And as Jackson’s advisors share looks of skepticism over thetask at hand, PIERRE LAFITTE the most skeptical of all --

JEAN LAFITTE (V.O.)

My fairest Mary-Anne --

76.

EXT. MACARTY PLANTATION - DAY

The weather has turned rainy and cold. In the hours since

Jackson’s orders his ARMY has become a CONSTRUCTION CREW.

JEAN LAFITTE (V.O.)

I write to you now with your sageadvice taken, and as such I find

myself covered in mire and filth onthis dreary Christmas Eve.

Men literally DIG a DITCH in the canal. SLAVES work side byside with SHOP OWNERS as the ditch keeps filling with water.

BATTALIONS tear down nearby BARNS for usable wood. There’s a

line of HORSES and OXEN carrying in supplies from the city.

It’s a truly back-breaking operation. Jackson supervisesfrom the mud, barking orders. Lafitte watches down the line.

EXT. MACARTY PLANTATION - RODRIGUEZ CANAL - DAY

A few hours later. BALES OF COTTON are being laid the lengthof the canal as foundation for an eight-foot high BREASTWORK.

JEAN LAFITTE (V.O.)

You were astoundingly correct inyour assessment of Jackson as Ihave never met a man as determined

as he. No one wishes to build the

wall we are to build, but no one

dares face his wrath if we don’t.

Men switch out in shifts, too tired to move very far to finda place to lay. A group of BARATARIANS share steaming coffeewith a few of Jackson’s ENLISTED MEN. A BOND is formed.

Jackson surveys the progress from the middle of the canal -

ANDREW JACKSON:

General Coffee, we need a flag.

EXT. LAKE BORGNE - DAY

And as the Americans work, so do the BRITISH. BARGES as far

as the eye can see are rowed carrying a seemingly endlesssupply a SOLDIERS and MUNITIONS. The rain is relentless.

JEAN LAFITTE (V.O.)

Fortunately the British must dealwith the same unbearable conditions

as they prepare to meet us here.

77.

The men are miserable. But then we find a barge carrying adifferent kind of soldier. VETERAN TROOPS hardened bybattle. And riding in the lead with a STEADFAST glare -

GENERAL SIR EDWARD PACKENHAM. The man who burned DC to the

ground. The man who’s come to New Orleans to do the same.

INT. THE CABILDO - ASSEMBLY ROOM - NIGHT

GOVERNOR CLAIBORNE and his advisors eat CHRISTMAS EVE DINNER.

JEAN LAFITTE (V.O.)

And as the city dines under theburden of what is to come, I think

often of our time together.

A MESSENGER enters. He heads straight for Claiborne -

MESSENGER:

Governor. From Washington.

INT. ELMWOOD PLANTATION - DINING ROOM - NIGHT

Mary-Anne reads Lafitte’s LETTER in a quiet corner. Suzette

Claiborne and the rest dance the night away behind her.

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