Filming the Battle of New Orleans

On Tuesday January 12, 2010, Argentine Productions, Inc. in conjunction with the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve filmed scenes at the Pitot House for two documentary videos about the period leading up to the Battle of New Orleans, which occurred January 8, 1815. These videos will be shown at the newly constructed Visitor Center for the Chalmette Battlefield and National Cemetery, a unit of the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve. The Visitor Center is scheduled to open in the Fall of 2010. Many thanks to the film crew and actors for their care and consideration of the Pitot House during their filming.
Visit www.nps.gov/jela for more information on the Jean Lafitte National Historical Park and Preserve.

Just before filming began, Chris Becker, on the far left of this photo, perfects his role as a U.S. Dragoon Officer bringing the news of the British landing on American soil to Andrew Jackson in the Pitot House parlor. Andrew Jackson is played by Jimmy Lee, Jr. of Shreveport, LA.
Gaffer Adam Stevenson adjusts a lighting instrument in the background.

In the Pitot House parlor, Jackson reviews plans for the defense of New Orleans. From left: National Park Service Ranger Matt Boswell, dressed as a member of Plauche's Battalion; Chris Becker as a U.S. Dragoon Officer; Jimmy Lee, Jr. as Andrew Jackson; and Shawn Mefferd as a U.S. Naval Officer.

In the photo below, Matt Boswell (left), a National Park Service Ranger portraying Gabriel Villere, and John Gauthier, portraying a Tennessee volunteer, pose on the loggia staircase at the Pitot House.