British reinforcements and the proposed advance beyond New Orleans

Clarke challenges the use of New Orleans as proof of an American victory in the war as a whole. In his account, reduced pressure in Europe allowed Britain to begin committing larger forces to North America, where it already occupied parts of the northern United States. He describes the failed New Orleans attack as an opportunistic attempt to seize the city and says that an advance upriver toward St. Louis formed part of the intended plan. The expected follow-on force is described as another couple of divisions, further troops, and more ships. His prediction that these reinforcements would overwhelm the defenders is a counterfactual judgment, not an event that occurred.