The campaign against New Orleans stretched over several weeks. The first engagement took place on Lake Borgne, when the British troops left their ships to be ferried across. They encountered United States gunboats on 13 December 1814, and after pursuing them for most of the day, engaged and captured them the following morning. The British then spent a week accumulating men and supplies while Jackson strengthened his defenses.

 Fighting continued on December 23rd and January 9, and a naval bombardment of the city's defenses continued until January 17 when the British withdrew. The joy of the victory was compounded when word came that the Treaty of Ghent, ending the war, had been signed on December 24.