pursuit, and meet again at a rendezvousrnfifteen to twenty miles further on itsrnroute. Supply should be by air, communicationrnby wireless: these two weaponsrnhad not yet been properly exploited.”rnIn February 1943, Wingate took 3,000rnmen and 1,000 animals across thernChindwin River (inside Burma and flowingrnparallel to the Indian border) with thernaid of ropes, inflatable dinghies, andrnmakeshift rafts, without being detected.rnHis principal target was the Japanese railroadrnthat ran from Mandalay up to thernChinese border. After crossing the Irrawaddyrn(east of the Chindwin) andrnwreaking destruction along the way, hernevacuated some of the wounded by airrnand struggled back through the jungle tornIndia. Of the original force, only 2,182rnsurvived. But the first Allied victory inrnAsia proved that British soldiers could defeatrnthe Japanese on their own terrain,rnand Wingate was hailed as a hero in Burmarnand in England.rnPromoted to major general, Wingaternimmediately began to plan the secondrnChindit expedition; in just five months,rnhe managed to “raise, organize, equip,rnand train six long-range penetrationrnbrigades and get them into action beforernthe onset of the 1944 monsoon.” Hernbrought in his men by gliders, sufferingrnmany accidents, and successfully attackedrntrains, ammunihon dumps, riverrnbarges, highway traffic, and telegraphrnlines. In March 1944, ignoring his Americanrnpilot who warned that the plane’srnengine might fail, he crashed in the jungle.rnDeprived of his inspired leadership,rnhis Special Force was disbanded early inrn1945. In 1956, his old commanding officer,rnLt. Gen. Sir William Slim, denigratedrnhis achievements and damaged hisrnreputation.rnJohn Bierman and Colin Smith, twornveteran British journalists, have producedrna thoroughly researched, wellwritten,rnand dramatic narrative thatrnmoves along at a cracking pace (thoughrnthey devote only one page to Wingate’srnfour formative years at Charterhouse).rnHaving examined all the evidence, theyrnare properly skeptical of myths, rumors,rnand scandal. Bierman and Smith providerna useful epilogue on Wingate’s reputationrnas well as on the fate of his familyrnand friends, and offer a convincing analysisrnof his complex, quicksilver character.rnWilfi-ed Thesiger—who fought underrnWingate in Ethiopia, thought he deservedrna knighthood for that campaign,rnand later became Lawrence’s leading literaryrndisciple—concluded (in a passagernnot quoted by the authors) that “Wingaternwas ruthlessly ambitious, yet his aimsrntranscended personal ambition. He wasrnan idealist and a fanatic. He needed arncause with which he could identify himself,rnbut his intolerance and arrogance requiredrnhim to be in command. Hernshould have lived in the time of the Crusades.”rnWingate’s astonishing careerrnshows that great intelligence, personalrncourage, and victory in battle were notrnenough to secure his legendary reputation.rnThe military hierarchy he offendedrnwas determined to defeat him after death.rnJeffrey Meyers will publish, this fall, a lifernof George Orwell (Norton), PrivilegedrnMoments: Encounters with Writersrn(Wisconsin), and Hemingway: Life intornArt (Cooper Square).rnA CollaborativernEffortrnhy David B. KopelrnThe Battle of New Orleans:rnAndrew Jackson and America’srnFirst Military Victoryrnby Robert V. ReminirnNew York: Viking; 226 pp., $24.95rnI here was a time when the Unit-rnX. ed States had heroes and reveledrnin them. There was a time when AndrewrnJackson was one of those heroes, alongrnwith the men who stood with him at NewrnOrleans and drove an invading Britishrnarmy back to the sea.” So begins RobertrnRemini’s The Battle of New Orleans,rnwhich attempts to recover the history ofrnone of America’s greatest heroes.rnBefore the War Between the States,rnthe Battle of New Orleans was celebratedrnnearly on a par with Independence Day,rneach anniversary commemorating therntriumph of American liberty over thernBritish monarchy. Andrew Jackson’s victoryrnat New Orleans capped his campaignsrnagainst the British and the Indiansrnin the Southeast, ensuring Americanrncontrol over the region. Without the newrncotton-producing states of Mississippirnand Louisiana, slavery might have witheredrnin the 1830’s and 40’s, rather thanrnexpanding. It is understandable, therefore,rnthat postbellum America lost interestrnin the events of 1815. But today, slaveryrnis long gone from the United States.rnThe time has come for Andrew Jacksonrnand his brave army to reclaim their placernin the American pantheon.rnTo the extent that junior high schoolrnhistory textbooks mention the Battle ofrnNew Orleans, they insist that it was irrelevant,rnsince it was fought on January 8,rn1815, and the Treaty of Ghent, endingrnthe war, was signed on December 24,rn1814. However, had the British capturedrnNew Orleans —upon which the economyrnof almost all of the Louisiana Territoryrndepended —it is doubtful that theyrnwould have relinquished it, despite whatrnthe treaty stipulated. Indeed, the Britishrnhad violated the Treaty of Paris, whichrnended the American Revolution, by refusingrnto evacuate their forts east of thernMississippi.rnBefore conveying the Louisiana Territoryrnto the United States in 1803, Francernhad acquired the territory from Spain inrnthe 1800 Treaty of San Idelfonso. Underrnthat treaty, Spain had the right of first refusalrnbefore France could sell the territoryrnto any third party. The Louisiana Purchasernwas a plain violation of Spain’srnrights, and if Britain could have gainedrncontrol of Louisiana it would have had arnstrong legal case for conveying the territoryrnback to Spain.rnThere would have been more immediaternconsequences, too. As noted in thernsong “The Hunters of Kentucky” (celebratingrnthe Battle of New Orleans, thernsong became the Jackson presidentialrncampaign’s theme song). New Orleans isrn”famed for wealth and beauty.” BritishrnGen. Packenham had promised his soldiersrn”beauty and booty”—meaning thatrnthey could rape the women and pillagernthe city.rnThe British army was fresh from its triumphrnover John McCain’s childhoodrnhero Napoleon: The forces invadingrnNew Orleans were veterans of the PeninsularrnCampaign in Spain. Against thernbest-trained, best-equipped army in thernworld, the Americans lacked even sufficientrnweapons. Remini quotes a contemporaryrnobserver: “From all the parishesrnthe inhabitants could be seen comingrnwith their hunting guns” because “therernwere not enough guns in the magazinesrnof the United States to arm the citizens.”rnThe Tennessee militia, with their roughrnclothes, unshaven faces, and raccoonrncaps, hardly looked like a professionalrn28/CHRONlCLESrnrnrn