[StBernard] Yuletide celebration is Dec. 14 at Chalmette Battlefield

[Westley Annis]

Yuletide celebration is Dec. 14 at Chalmette Battlefield

Print NOLA Community By NOLA Community 
on November 30, 2013 at 7:04 AM, updated November 30, 2013 at 7:14 AM

Chalmette Battlefield's living history volunteers will host a Yuletide
celebration on Dec. 14 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. at the historic
Malus-Beauregard House. The house is on the Chalmette Battlefield, site of
the Battle of New Orleans in 1815 and one of six areas of Jean Lafitte
National Historical Park and Preserve, 8606 West St. Bernard Highway in
Chalmette. The event is free and open to the public.

Built in 1833, 18 years after the Battle of New Orleans, the
Malus-Beauregard house was occupied by a succession of different families.
For the Yuletide program, the house will be furnished and decorated as it
might have been by the families who lived there in the 1800s. Living history
experts in period clothing will portray family members, discussing their
plans for the holidays and telling stories about their lives. Visitors can
make old-fashioned decorations for the house Christmas tree and for their
own homes.

As part of the battlefield's high school JROTC living history program,
during the yuletide event cadets and other living history reenactors will
present "Christmas as War," portraying troops from the American army who
fought at the Battle of New Orleans in 1815. The troops will be camped
outside the house, much as they camped in the area during December
1814-1815, when British troops threatened the city of New Orleans.

Chalmette Battlefield and adjoining Chalmette National Cemetery are managed
by the National Park Service as part of Jean Lafitte National Historical
Park and Preserve. Admission to the site and to most programs is free. The
battlefield and adjoining national cemetery grounds are open as follows:
visitor center and entrance gates open Tuesday-Saturday, Memorial Day, and
Veterans Day 9 a.m. from 4 p.m.