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A fact from Alexander Cochrane appeared on Wikipedia's Main Page in the Did you know column on 12 September 2004. The text of the entry was as follows:
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This statement has been dumped into this article, and there is no reasoning as to why the failure of the British Army on land ends up squarely as the fault of a Naval officer. Either this statement gets removed, or the rationale as to why it failed and how he is to blame should be added in support. Keith H99 (talk) 19:49, 23 December 2021 (UTC)
Hello Peter, I have come across your essay from nearly 12 months ago on this topic
I was going to delete it, but I thought it better etiquette to ask if this can be improved upon.
My first observation was that being copied like this from a website, it could be construed as plagiarism. The second is that I do not understand what you are trying to convey, in relation to Cochrane. The Battle of New Orleans was fought on land by around 8,000 soldiers of the British Army. There were 100 sailors and 100 marines that played an active part, but I do not see from your prose how they, or the 360 soldiers commanded by Thornton, would have made a material difference to the outcome of the battle.
The subsequent part is muddled, in my opinion. The source consulted is no longer accessible. It makes reference to the events of 14 December 1814, but I thought the paragraph was supposed to be talking about the failures made on 8 January 1815. Even then, it is unclear how Cochrane has used his power and influence, and as a consequence made decisions which resulted in the British Army being soundly defeated on 8 January 1815. Are you saying he was a liar who published a different account of the Battle of New Orleans on 8 January 1815?
Ideally, at the end of each sentence, there should be an inline citation. Where possible, secondary sources of books published by historians who are recognised as reliable sources will carry more weight than websites. In a lot of cases, historians like Clowes and Roosevelt have books that have been made available online, so can be accessed for free. Being able to provide more than one source for a fact adds extra credence, too.
If the present content can be improved, so that the points about Cochrane are made in a clearer manner, that would be great. Kind regards Keith H99 (talk) 22:08, 23 December 2021 (UTC)