It’s 200 years since Britain last fought America. But it’s not a battle the British care to remember

2015 is the year of Waterloo and Wellington. The 200^th anniversary will be celebrated with grand commemorations on the battlefield and in London.

But today, January 8th, 2015, is also the 200th anniversary of the Battle of New Orleans – the last time Britain fought America, and the beginning of the special relationship. How smoothly and quickly we moved from bloody slaughter to two centuries of close friendship.

And how remarkable that the battle is forgotten here. Perhaps that’s because we lost so spectacularly to General Andrew ‘Old Hickory’ Jackson, the future American President. The battle concluded the War of 1812 between Britain and America, which ended in a score draw a month after the battle.

I only remember the battle because the leader of the losing British forces was my great-great-great-great uncle, Major-General Sir Edward Pakenham – Wellington’s brother-in-law, known as Ned. The marriage of Ned’s sister, Kitty, to Wellington won’t be getting much attention in the Waterloo commemorations.