ANDREW JACKSON.

“It is not in Indian wars”, said an eloquent writer and speaker of a

by-gone age,[13] “that heroes are celebrated; but in them they are

formed.”--Applied to the subject of this biographical sketch, the

remark is partly correct, partly not correct. His brilliant success

at New Orleans undoubtedly eclipsed all his former victories; but,

had that battle never been fought, it may be questioned whether the

Creek campaign would not have established his celebrity as a hero,

beyond dispute. Yet it must be admitted, that his military experience

was mainly acquired, and his military character formed, amid the

hardships and vicissitudes, the trials and dangers, of that campaign.

In this respect, he resembles some of the most eminent warriors that

America has produced, many of whom laid the foundation of future

renown and distinction, in the border wars with the aboriginal

inhabitants, which grew out of the discovery and settlement of the

country, or the subsequent encroachments of the whites.

The father of Andrew Jackson, though a native of Ireland, was

of Scotch descent.--During the reign of Henry II, in 1172, the

subjugation of the Emerald Isle was effected,--not so much by the

superior bravery of the English soldiery, as by the defection of

her own sons. The conquest entailed, on both oppressor and victim,

a fruitful legacy of war and bloodshed. It was followed by years of

strife and dissension--by centuries of tyrannical misrule on the one

hand, and resistance to wrong on the other. Time did not change the

character of the Irish peasantry; they were no loyal subjects of

their new masters,--neither did they remit their efforts to regain

their independence. Among other expedients resorted to by the English

government, for confirming their ascendancy, was the confiscation of

all the lands in Ulster, and large portions of the other provinces.

These were granted to new proprietors, and measures were taken to

colonize them from England and Scotland.

The Jackson family emigrated from Scotland at a very remote period,

and settled in the county of Antrim. Whether it was on account of

their proximity to the ancient seat of the O’Neals, in Tyrone, or

their intermarriage and intercourse with the original natives of

the country, is unknown; but it is nevertheless certain, that they

soon became imbued with the spirit of disaffection that had so long

prevailed in that quarter; and when the colonists began to experience

the bitterness of oppression, they, too, learned to hate the name and

authority of England.

Hugh Jackson, the grandfather of General Jackson, was a linen-draper,

and resided near Carrickfergus, on the Lough of Belfast. He had four

sons, who were plain respectable farmers, liberal and hospitable,

of strict integrity, and, like their forefathers, firm in their

adherence to the Church of Scotland. Andrew, the youngest, married

Elizabeth Hutchinson, by whom he had two sons, Hugh and Robert,

born in Ireland. Tired of the ceaseless turmoil and confusion that

distracted the country, and despairing of the success of any attempt

to relieve the Irish people from the grievances of which they

complained, he sold his farm, and, in 1765, determined to seek a more

tranquil and peaceful home in the western wilderness. Accompanied by

three of his neighbors, James, Robert, and Joseph Crawford, the first

of whom had married a sister of his wife, he embarked for America

with his family, and landed in safety, at Charleston, South Carolina.

[Sidenote: HIS BIRTH.]

Dissatisfied with the low country bordering on the coast, the

immigrants pushed into the interior of the colony. Lands were

purchased, and they all settled near each other, on Waxhaw creek,

one of the branches of the Catawba, in Lancaster district, about

forty-five miles above Camden, and near the boundary line of

North Carolina. Here, in this fine and healthy region, agreeably

diversified with hills and dales, and drained by the romantic

Catawba, Andrew Jackson, the younger, was born, on the fifteenth day

of March, 1767.

Not long after the birth of his third son, the elder Jackson died,

leaving to his wife and children a limited property, yet with

an honest and unsullied name. A double duty now devolved on the

surviving parent. Faithfully and nobly was it discharged. To the

resolute firmness and unflinching fortitude of the Spartan mother,

she united the piety and resignation, the trustful faith and

confidence, of the devoted Christian. Naturally gifted with a strong

mind, early disciplined in the school of adversity, and strengthened

by Him who is ever the stay and helper of the widow and orphan, no

difficulties deterred her from the accomplishment of her high and

holy task.

The property of which Mrs. Jackson was left in possession, consisted

of a new farm, without slaves; and it required the constant practice

of the most rigid economy and prudence, to enable her to provide

for the maintenance and education of her three young sons. After

her husband’s death, she took charge of Mr. Crawford’s family,--her

sister, Mrs. Crawford, being in feeble health. Her two younger sons,

Robert and Andrew, remained with her, and the oldest went to reside

with a neighbor. Hugh and Robert received only a common-school

education; but Andrew was designed by the, perhaps, partial mother,

for a more enlarged sphere of usefulness. She intended him for the

church, and therefore sent him to the Waxhaw Academy, then under the

charge of Mr. Humphries, where he acquired a knowledge of the various

English branches taught at that time, and had made considerable

progress in the Latin and Greek languages, when the ravages of the

revolutionary war, approaching nearer to this remote settlement, put

an end to his studies.

Sentiments of patriotism were early imbibed by the sons of Mrs.

Jackson. Her instructions, and the example of their friends and

kindred, inspired them, in childhood, with an ardent love of

liberty. Reminiscences of “father-land” were often mingled with

her teachings; she recounted deeds of cruelty and oppression that

fired their youthful bosoms with indignation; she told them of the

injustice under which their ancestors had suffered, and from which

their father had fled; and she reminded them, also, that the same

tyrannical power which had perpetrated these wrongs, was endeavoring

to reduce the American colonists to a state of abject and hopeless

slavery. Soon they beheld the watch-fires of liberty blazing up

on every hill-top and mountain, and heard the deep thunders of

war echoing through the pine-barrens and savannas of their own

sunny clime. The young and middle-aged men, in the Waxhaws and its

vicinity, were enrolled in companies, and met frequently for military

discipline, while their gray-headed sires looked on approvingly, and

bade them never shame the blood from which they sprung.

Boys though they were, the young Jacksons became deeply imbued with

the prevailing spirit. This was especially the case with Andrew, who

longed for the hour to arrive, when he would be able to shoulder

a musket, and perform some doughty enterprise, in defence of the

liberties of his country.

[Sidenote: INVASION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.]

The officers charged with, what proved to be the Sisyphian task, of

subjugating the colonial rebels, made their first principal efforts

in the northern provinces.[14] Foiled, or beaten here, they turned

their attention to the South. Savannah was reduced in December, 1778,

and South Carolina invaded in the spring of 1779. Among those who

marched out to meet the enemy, was Hugh Jackson, the oldest of the

three brothers; he belonged to the company commanded by Captain,

afterwards Colonel Davie, and was present at the battle of Stono, on

the twentieth of June, where he lost his life from the excessive

heat of the day. Early in 1780, a more formidable effort was made by

the enemy, in South Carolina. Charleston was invested by a strong

force, under Sir Henry Clinton, on the thirtieth of March; General

Lincoln, then at the head of the southern army, stoutly defended the

post, but was compelled to capitulate on the twelfth of May.

After the surrender of Charleston, the British commander divided his

army into three columns; one being directed to move up the Savannah

river to Augusta, another up the Congaree and Saluda to Ninety-six,

and the third, under Lord Cornwallis, up the Wateree to Camden. At

this time, there were several detachments, belonging to the American

army, in the country, who were not included in the capitulation.

One of these, consisting of about four hundred men, with two pieces

of artillery, was commanded by Colonel Buford, who, on the advance

of Cornwallis, retired up the Catawba, towards Charlotte, in North

Carolina. Colonel Tarleton was immediately dispatched, with two

hundred and seventy mounted men, in pursuit; by making rapid marches,

he came up with the party under Colonel Buford, at the Waxhaw

settlement, on the twenty-ninth of May. A brief, but bloody contest,

took place; the Americans were soon overcome by the dragoons of

Tarleton; quarter was rarely given when demanded; upwards of two

hundred and sixty of the detachment were killed, or desperately

wounded; and their artillery, with their ammunition and stores, fell

into the hands of the enemy.

[Sidenote: DEFEAT OF COLONEL BUFORD’S PARTY.]

A great portion of the American soldiers wounded in this conflict

were paroled on the spot, and left at the Waxhaws, to the humanity

of the inhabitants. The latter were not wanting in kind and generous

feelings, and their sympathy was freely bestowed on those who had

suffered and endured so much in behalf of the common cause. The

meeting-house in the settlement was speedily converted into a

hospital; nurses were provided,--Mrs. Jackson offering her services

with others; and every attention was paid to the comfort and wants of

the unfortunate victims of the brutal ferocity of Tarleton and his

followers. This was the first lesson learned by Andrew Jackson from

actual observation, in regard to the horrors of war,--and it produced

a powerful impression on his mind. So far from being intimidated,

however, by the sufferings which he witnessed, his desire for taking

part in the struggle was only stimulated and quickened.

Not long after this bloody catastrophe, Lord Rawdon was dispatched by

Cornwallis into the Waxhaw settlement, with a large body of troops,

to practice the same sanguinary measures which had been adopted in

other parts of the province. Upon the fall of Charleston, marauding

parties of British dragoons were sent out to scour the country;

the timid were conciliated, and the refractory punished; rapine,

murder, and violence, were committed with impunity; members of the

same family were arrayed against each other, and all were made to

suffer the misery and wretchedness ever attendant on civil war. The

loyalists, or Tories, gladly hailed the appearance of the British

troops; others consented to take protection, as it was called, in

the hope, often a mistaken one, of enjoying an immunity from attack;

but there were many who refused to waver in their allegiance to the

Confederation.

Mrs. Jackson and her two sons, with a number of the Waxhaw settlers,

retired before Lord Rawdon, into North Carolina, where they remained

for several days, and until he was recalled to Camden. Resistance

had now nearly ceased; and the British officers began to flatter

themselves with the belief that the province was completely subdued.

But a few weeks elapsed, however, ere General Sumter, who resided

near the Waxhaws, returned from North Carolina, where he had also

been a voluntary exile, and raised the patriot standard, at the head

of his small but gallant band. Other partisan corps, under Marion,

Pickens, and Davie, were soon formed. Without pay; scantily supplied

with clothing and subsistence; provided with guns of every form and

calibre, and swords and lances fashioned out of the rude implements

of husbandry; and mainly relying for ammunition on their captures

from the enemy,--these brave yeomen rendezvoused in the swamps and

forests of South Carolina, where they bivouacked, night after night,

in the open air, and from which they darted forth on detached parties

of British and Tories, like the eagle on its prey.

[Sidenote: HIS FIRST BATTLE.]

On the thirtieth of July, General Sumter, with about six hundred

men, made an unsuccessful attack on the advanced post of the

British, at Rocky Mount. Three desperate efforts demonstrated the

impracticability of carrying the enemy’s fortifications, and being

entirely without cannon, he was obliged to draw off his command. He

was now reïnforced by a party of the Waxhaw settlers, under Colonel

Davie, and, on the sixth of August, proceeded against the post

at Hanging Rock, midway between Camden and the Waxhaws. The first

onset was attended with complete success. The enemy were driven

from their camp, and took shelter in the main work. Unfortunately,

many of Sumter’s men had fasted so long, that they preferred to

search for something to eat and drink, rather than to advance and

secure the victory, by carrying the post, which might then have been

easily accomplished. A quantity of liquor was found in the camp, and

they commenced drinking, in opposition to the urgent remonstrances

of their commander. Apprehending the worst consequences if they

remained, he resolved to retire to his encampment before they became

wholly ungovernable.

The corps of Colonel Davie particularly distinguished itself

on this occasion. Prominent among its members, were Lieutenant

James Crawford, and Robert and Andrew Jackson,--the latter a mere

stripling, but thirteen years of age; yet, in heart and soul, he was

a man. This was his first battle, and the accounts we have of it show

that both he and his brother rendered good service.

Ten days after this affair, General Gates was terribly defeated by

Lord Cornwallis, and, two days later, General Sumter, overburdened

with baggage and prisoners--having recently captured a convoy of

British stores, with their escort, coming up from Charleston to

Camden--was surprised by Colonel Tarleton, and his band routed and

dispersed. Following up the advantage he had gained, Cornwallis

marched with his whole army, on the eighth of September, in the

direction of Charlotte, whither the remnant of Gates’ army had

fled. On his approach to the Waxhaw settlement, Mrs. Jackson again

retired into North Carolina, passing through Charlotte, on her way to

Guilford county, on the morning of the day upon which the British van

approached the town. She was accompanied by her two sons, neither of

whom, on account of their youth, was yet permanently attached to a

military corps.

Cornwallis soon found great difficulty in maintaining himself at

Charlotte. His communications with the seaboard were cut off, and his

supplies intercepted, by the partisans; and his position became still

more embarrassing, upon the defeat, and almost total annihilation,

of Major Ferguson’s command, at King’s Mountain, on the seventh of

October. He therefore determined to retreat, before he was entirely

surrounded by the aroused and patriotic militia of the Carolinas. On

the fourteenth of October, he retraced his steps to the Waxhaws, and

shortly after established himself at Winnsborough, where he awaited

the arrival of reinforcements.

Besides other affairs, of minor importance, but equally honorable

to the American cause, the battle of the Cowpens, and the masterly

retreat of General Greene, took place during the ensuing winter,

while Mrs. Jackson and her sons, with other Waxhaw settlers, remained

in North Carolina. Early in February, 1781, Cornwallis crossed the

Yadkin, in pursuit of Greene; and she and her friends thereupon

returned to their homes, although they were in the immediate vicinity

of the British posts, and the country around was full of armed

parties of Tories, whose cruelties and enormities were every day

becoming more barbarous and revolting.

[Sidenote: DARING AND RESOLUTION.]

The struggle now began to assume, especially in the Carolinas, a yet

more direful aspect. A fierce war of extermination was waged between

Whigs and Tories. The two parties, or factions--call them what we

may--could not exist on the same soil. The former had imperilled

everything in the effort to secure their independence, and they

fought for the safety, not merely of themselves, but of their wives

and children, their property, their all! Boys, as well as men,

engaged in this bloody warfare, and it was amid its trying scenes,

that the stern and inflexible daring and resolution were formed and

manifested, which distinguished Andrew Jackson in after life.

The two young Jacksons kept their horses and guns, like their

neighbors, and were always ready for any enterprise of danger or

difficulty. Among other services which they performed, was that

of keeping guard at the houses of the Whig officers who resided

near them, when they desired to visit their families. The conduct

of Andrew on one of these occasions,--his rapidity of thought and

action,--afforded a signal presage of future ability:--

A captain in the colonial service, by the name of Lands, desired to

spend a night with his family, at his house, on the right bank of the

Catawba, a short distance below the mouth of the Waxhaw. Robert and

Andrew Jackson, one of the Crawfords, and five other men, including

a recent deserter from the British army, constituted his guard. With

the captain, there were nine men, and but seven muskets. Having no

apprehensions of an attack, they laid down on their arms, upon the

floor of the house, and all went to sleep, except the deserter, whose

fears of a recapture kept him awake. Meantime a party of Tories, who

had been apprised of Lands’ return, were on the way to surprise and

kill him. The house was approached on the south, by a road leading

through a wood. The Tories gained the rear of the stable, that stood

in one corner of the inclosed yard around the house, unobserved.

Behind this their horses were tied, and, dividing into two parties,

they then advanced against the dwelling, which had two doors; one

facing the east,--in front of which was a forked apple tree,--and the

other the west.

The deserter, who remained on the watch, hearing a noise about the

stable, went out to discover from whence it proceeded. He had gone,

but a few steps from the door, when he descried the party of Tories

approaching the east end of the building. Instantly darting back,

he caught Andrew Jackson, who lay nearest the door, by the hair,

crying out in alarm, “The Tories are upon us--the Tories are upon

us!” Andrew was on his feet in a moment; seizing his gun, he darted

out of the house, and thrusting the piece through the fork of the

apple tree, loudly hailed the advancing party. No answer was given.

He repeated the hail,--still there was no reply. He then fired,

and at the same instant a volley was returned by the enemy, which

killed the deserter, who stood at his side. This prompt movement on

his part, however, saved the inmates of the house. The first party

of Tories were brought to a stand, and, in the darkness, their fire

was mistaken by their comrades, who were moving towards the west

door, for that of a sallying party. The latter also halted, and a

brisk fire commenced between the two parties. After discharging his

piece, Andrew Jackson returned into the house, and, with two others,

commenced firing from the west door. Both his companions were shot

down, one of them being mortally wounded; but he escaped untouched.

The two bands of Tories still continued to pour their volleys into

each other, and upon the house, till they were alarmed by the notes

of a cavalry trumpet, sounding the charge, in the distance, when they

mounted their horses, and fled in hot haste. The charge was sounded

by a Major Isbel, who was in the neighborhood, but had not a single

man with him. He had heard the firing, and, presuming that Lands’

house was attacked, had taken this means to alarm the assailants,

which fortunately proved effectual.

[Sidenote: ATTACK ON THE WAXHAW SETTLERS.]

After the departure of Cornwallis from South Carolina, Lord Rawdon,

whose head-quarters were at Camden, was left in command. By this

time, the stubborn patriotism of the Waxhaw settlers was well

understood; and on being advised of their return, he dispatched

Major Coffin, with a corps of light dragoons, a company of infantry,

and a number of Tories, to capture them. On being informed of

their danger, the settlers resolved that they would no longer fly,

but maintain their ground at all hazards. A day was appointed for

the male inhabitants in the settlement, capable of bearing arms,

to assemble at the Waxhaw meeting-house, which was fixed upon as

the place of rendezvous. Punctual, at the time and place, about

forty of the settlers,--Robert and Andrew Jackson being among the

number,--had collected, and were waiting for a friendly company,

under Captain Nesbit, when they saw what they supposed to be the

expected reïnforcement,--but which, in reality, was the detachment

of Major Coffin, with the Tories, who wore the usual dress of the

country, in front,--approaching at a rapid rate. The deception was

not discovered, till the British dashed in among them, cleaving down

all who stood in their way. Eleven of the party were taken prisoners;

the remainder sprang upon their horses, and most of them made their

escape.

Andrew Jackson was accompanied in his flight, by his cousin,

Lieutenant Thomas Crawford; but, in passing over a piece of marshy

ground, the horse of the latter mired and fell, and he was wounded

and taken prisoner. Young Jackson shortly after encountered his

brother, who had also eluded pursuit. They remained together

during the night, and, at dawn on the following morning, concealed

themselves in a dense thicket, on the bank of Cain Creek, near the

house of Lieutenant Crawford. During the day they became very hungry,

and, deeming themselves secure, ventured out to the house. A boy was

directed to watch the road; but while* they were satisfying their

hunger, a band of Tories and dragoons, who had discovered their

retreat, and captured their horses and guns, which were left behind

them, suddenly made their appearance, and surrounded the house.

Resistance could be of no avail, and escape was impossible. They

therefore surrendered themselves prisoners of war.

[Sidenote: TAKEN PRISONER TO CAMDEN.]

Not content with the capture of the two young men, the dragoons

and Tories commenced abusing and maltreating Mrs. Crawford and her

children. The crockery and furniture in the house were broken in

pieces; and the beds and bedding, and all the clothing of the family,

including that of an infant at the breast, was torn into shreds.

While the work of destruction was going on, the British officer, in

command of the party, directed Andrew Jackson to clean the mud from

his boots. As might be supposed, he indignantly refused to do the

menial office. Enraged at this reply, the officer drew his sword,

and aimed a dastard blow at the head of his unarmed prisoner. The

latter parried it with his left hand, but, in so doing, received a

cut, the scar of which was carried to his grave. Disappointed in the

spirit of the intrepid youth, the officer turned to his brother, and

required him to perform the task. Robert likewise refused; a furious

blow from the infuriated Briton, was the consequence; and a wound was

inflicted, from the effect of which his victim never recovered.

Andrew Jackson was then placed on a horse, and directed, under

a threat of instant death if he refused, to guide the party to

the house of Major Thompson, a well-known Whig, who lived below

Crawford’s, on the same side of the stream. Fearing that Thompson

might be at home, our hero resorted to a stratagem to save him;

which, though it might naturally have suggested itself to his mind,

seems strange enough when we reflect that it was not only conceived,

but executed, by a lad scarcely fourteen years of age.--Leading the

party by a circuitous route, he brought them within full view of

Thompson’s house, at the distance of a half mile. Nothing more was

necessary. The dragoons spurred onward, but they were still several

hundred yards distant, when they saw the major issue forth, mount

his horse, which, as was then customary, was kept ready saddled, and

dash towards the creek. The British darted after him in pursuit, but

reached the stream only in time to hear his loud shout of defiance,

as he rode leisurely off along the opposite bank. The current was so

much swollen by the influx during the rainy season, that they dare

not attempt to cross it, and therefore reluctantly abandoned the

chase.

After this unsuccessful attempt to capture the Whig officer, the

two Jacksons, with about twenty other prisoners, were mounted on

captured horses, and the party set out on their return to Camden. Not

a mouthful of food, or drop of water, was given them on the road; and

when they reached Camden, they were thrust into a redoubt surrounding

the jail, in which some two hundred and fifty prisoners, besides

those taken at the Waxhaws, were confined. Here they were stripped of

part of their clothing,--Andrew losing his jacket and shoes; their

wounds were undressed; no attention was paid to their wants; and when

the relationship between the two Jacksons and Lieutenant Crawford was

discovered, they were instantly separated, and kept in ignorance of

each other’s fate. The Provost was a Tory from New York, who, it was

afterwards said, took the provisions intended for the prisoners, to

feed a number of negroes whom he had collected from different Whig

plantations, with the intention of disposing of them for his own

benefit. Be that as it may, the prisoners were but sparingly supplied

with bad bread; and to add to their wretchedness, the smallpox

appeared among them, and made frightful ravages.

Amid the accumulated horrors of his prison-house, with sickness

and starvation staring him in the face, the groans of the dying

constantly ringing in his ears, and hourly exposed to the

ill-treatment of his captors,--Andrew Jackson never lost the

fearlessness of spirit which ever distinguished him. Availing himself

of a favorable opportunity, he boldly remonstrated with the officer

of the guard, in behalf of himself and his suffering companions. His

remonstrances had the desired effect; meat was added to the rations,

and, in other respects, the condition of the prisoners was decidedly

improved.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF HOBKIRK’S HILL.]

Matters were in this situation, when General Greene returned from

North Carolina, in April, 1781, and encamped, with his army, on

Hobkirk’s Hill, a little over a mile north of Camden, waiting only

the arrival of his cannon, before making his dispositions to assault

the post.

On the morning of the twenty-fourth of April, Andrew Jackson

discovered indications of a design to attack General Greene. The jail

and redoubt stood on the eminence upon which Camden is situated, and

a fine view would have been afforded of the encampment on Hobkirk’s

Hill, had not the British taken the precaution to construct a

high and tight plank fence on the redoubt, immediately after the

arrival of the American army in the neighborhood. He was determined,

nevertheless, to obtain a view of the anticipated conflict; and, by

working nearly all night, with an old razor-blade, furnished the

prisoners to cut their rations, he succeeded in digging out a knot in

one of the planks. When Lord Rawdon led out his men, on the morning

of the twenty-fifth, for a bold stroke at the American leader,

Andrew mounted the breastwork, and placed himself at the look-out,

while his fellow prisoners gathered in groups below him, listening

attentively, as he detailed the varied incidents of the day.

His voice was tremulous with apprehension, as he informed his

companions, that the Americans had been taken unawares, and their

pickets were driven in; it was pitched to a louder key, when the

cannon of Greene opened their brazen throats, and vomited forth

torrents of flame and iron, tearing and rending through the British

columns; again it sank, as the enemy rallied, and pushed boldly

forward; it rose once more, when the regiments of Ford and Campbell

pressed gallantly upon their flanks--when Washington and his brave

dragoons came thundering down in their rear--and he caught sight of

the glistening bayonets of the 1st Maryland, and the Virginians, as

they prepared to charge home upon their assailants; it fell again,

as the veteran regiment of Gunby recoiled before the British fire,

and died away into a whisper, when all hope of deliverance vanished,

as the beaten, but not routed Greene, retired slowly over the hill,

and the pursuit was only checked by the timely charge of Washington’s

cavalry.

[Sidenote: RELEASE FROM CAPTIVITY.]

The Jacksons were not deserted by one friend, in their

confinement--the mother who had reared them to serve their country,

and who knew no prouder joy, than to see them do their duty well. She

followed them to Camden, to aid and succor them, and, soon after the

battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, procured their exchange, with five of their

neighbors, for thirteen British soldiers, captured by a Whig partisan

captain, by the name of Walker. Pale, emaciated, barefooted, almost

naked, and infected with the smallpox, they presented themselves

before their surviving parent. The wound in Robert’s head had never

been dressed; and this, in connection with hunger, and the disease

that had fastened itself upon him, had reduced him so low, that he

was unable even to ride, except as he was held on a horse.

There were but two horses for the whole party, consisting of

Mrs. Jackson and her sons, and the other released prisoners, who

accompanied them home. Mrs. Jackson rode one, and Robert was

supported on the other by his companions. Thus wearily and sadly,

did they perform their melancholy journey of more than forty

miles, through a country blighted by the ravages of war, as if the

lightnings of Heaven had scathed it. Within two hours’ ride of the

Waxhaws, they were overtaken by a shower of rain, by which the

company were completely drenched. The smallpox was driven in on

both the boys; Robert died in two days; and Andrew at once became

delirious. The fever raged violently for several days, and his

case was regarded nearly hopeless. The kind nursing of his patient

and devoted mother, and the attentions of his physician, at length

triumphed over the disease, and restored him to consciousness and

health.

He had scarcely recovered his strength, when his mother, with

characteristic energy and fortitude, in company with four or five

other ladies, providing themselves with such necessaries as could

be conveniently carried on horseback, set out to visit a number

of the Waxhaw settlers, including some of the Crawfords, who had

been taken by the enemy, and were confined on board the Charleston

prison-ship--whose history, like that of the Old Jersey, at New

York, is but a tale of unmitigated horror and suffering. These good

Samaritan women reached Charleston, obtained permission to visit

the vessel--a privilege that had always been refused to relatives

and friends of the other sex--and delivered the supplies which they

had brought. Mrs. Jackson, however, never returned from this errand

of love and mercy. Enfeebled by constant care and privation, worn

down by the numerous hardships and fatigues which she had endured,

she was seized with the fever prevailing among the prisoners, which

soon terminated her existence. She was buried near the enemy’s

lines, in the vicinity of Charleston, in an unknown grave;--but her

memory, in after times, was doubly honored, as that of the noble,

self-sacrificing mother, of Andrew Jackson!

Solitary and alone, her orphan son, at the time when he most needed

the care and advice of a parent, was cast upon the world, to buffet,

as he might, the billows of adverse fortune. His home was, indeed,

desolate. Like Logan, there ran not a drop of his blood in the veins

of any living creature. Mother and brothers,--all had perished--the

victims of English cruelty!--Is it to be wondered, then, that he

cherished such a feeling of animosity towards the British name; or

that he hated everything akin to oppression, with a hatred so deep

and fervent?

[Sidenote: CLOSE OF THE WAR.]

Early in the summer of 1781, the British voluntarily evacuated, or

were driven from, all their advanced posts outside of Orangeburg.

General Greene retired with his army, during the hot season, to the

hills of Santee, but again made his appearance in the lower country,

near the close of the month of August, with his command refreshed

and reïnvigorated. In September, he fought the indecisive battle at

Eutaw Springs. The palm of victory was disputed, but the substantial

advantages of the action were his; and when the campaign closed, the

enemy were cooped up in Charleston and Savannah.--In October, the war

was finally terminated, by the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown.

After the evacuation of Camden, the Waxhaw settlers, or rather,

those of them who had survived the perils of war, found the security

and repose which had so long been denied. Andrew Jackson remained,

for some time subsequent to the death of his mother, at the house

of Major Thomas Crawford; but, in consequence of a difficulty with

Captain Galbraith, an American commissary, whose quarters were at

the same place, and who became offended with him for some trifling

cause, he afterwards entered the family of Mr. Joseph White, an uncle

of Mrs. Crawford. Mr. White’s son was a saddler, and Andrew, though

suffering all the while with the fever and ague, entered his shop,

and assisted him as far as he was able.

Unfortunately for him, the enemy still remained in the possession of

Charleston, and many of its wealthiest and most polished citizens

resided, temporarily, at the Waxhaws, and in the neighborhood. It

was quite natural, in the reäction of his ardent temperament, after

the first shock of his sad bereavement had passed away, that a

carelessness and recklessness of disposition should be manifested.

His associates were the young men from the city, and, with them, he

spent most of his time in idle sports and amusements. The studies,

which had been necessarily interrupted during the war, were totally

neglected; his books were thrown aside; and a large portion of his

little patrimony was squandered, in the vain effort to compete with

his more wealthy associates, in the liberality of his expenditures.

When they returned to Charleston, in the winter of 1784, he followed

them on a fine mare belonging to him. He found some of his old

companions in the tavern where he stopped, with whom he engaged in a

game of dice, called “Rattle and Snap.” His mare was staked against a

sum of money--and he won. Inspired by a sudden thought, he pocketed

the money, paid his bill, and returned home; with a determination, to

which he inflexibly adhered, to change his course of life.

How many there are, who would have yielded, like Andrew Jackson, to

the Circean charms and fascinations of a career of dissipation!--how

few, like him, would have paused at the very entrance of the vortex,

and, in an instant, effected an entire reformation!--The descent to

Avernus is easy, said the Cumæan Sibyl:--

“Sed revocare gradum, superasque evadere ad auras,

Hoc opus, hic labor est.”

Had he remained in Charleston another day, perhaps another hour, he

might have gone down to an early grave, unhonored and unlamented.

Though he came off conqueror in a dozen well-fought fields, this was

the noblest of his victories--the conquest over himself!

[Sidenote: EMIGRATES TO TENNESSEE.]

Arrived at the Waxhaws, young Jackson collected together the remains

of his small property, and, bidding adieu to his friends, repaired

to Salisbury, in North Carolina; where he commenced the study of

the law, in the office of Spruce McCay, an eminent counsellor, and

afterwards a distinguished judge of that state. His untiring industry

and zeal, his talents, and his correct and manly deportment, soon won

the favorable esteem of Judge McCay, and other prominent citizens

of North Carolina, whose acquaintance he formed. His professional

studies were completed under Colonel John Stokes, and, in 1786, he

was admitted to the bar. He remained in the state about two years

subsequent to this, constantly gaining ground in the regard of his

new friends and acquaintances; and in 1788, at the age of twenty-one,

without solicitation on his part, he was appointed by the governor,

solicitor for the western district, which afterwards became the state

of Tennessee.

Near the close of the year 1788, in company with John McNairy,

the newly appointed judge of the western district, he crossed the

mountains, for the purpose of entering upon his official duties, and

establishing himself in practice. Jonesborough was then the principal

seat of justice, and they remained there for several months.

The country was rapidly filling up with the hunters of North Carolina

and Virginia,--“the pioneers of civilization,”--who fearlessly

entered the unbroken forest, with the axe in one hand and the rifle

in the other. The territory lying between the Ohio and Tennessee

rivers had long before received the name of Kentuckeè, or the

“Bloody Land,” on account of its being the battle, as well as the

hunting ground, of the Northern and Southern Indians. The valley

of the Cumberland river contained some of the most fertile and

beautiful lands, and abounded in the finest game. The principal

tide of emigration, therefore, naturally turned in this direction,

notwithstanding the settlers thereby brought upon themselves the

animosity of both parties of Indians.

In 1789, Judge McNairy, and his friend, first visited the infant

settlements on the Cumberland, including that at French Creek,

near the present site of Nashville. Most of the settlers resided

in stations,--frequently built on the _stamping grounds_ of the

buffalo,--which were usually connected by the _traces_ of the wild

beasts, that everywhere intersected the surrounding forests. The log

cabin was the abode of all classes,--but these primitive dwellings

were, perhaps, oftener tenanted by happiness and joy, than the marble

palaces of the great and opulent. Theirs was a life of peril, indeed;

but it was well suited to Jackson’s adventurous disposition, and he

gladly shared their dangers and vicissitudes, and participated in

their sports and festivities.

He was still undecided in regard to locating permanently in the

district, when he arrived at the settlements on the Cumberland. He

found, however, that the debtor class constituted a large proportion

of the population, and that, having retained the only lawyer in West

Tennessee in their interest, they were enabled to set their creditors

at defiance. The latter flocked around him in crowds, and in a few

days after his arrival he issued a great number of writs. Threats of

personal violence were employed, in vain, to intimidate him; they had

only the opposite effect, and induced him to remain, and establish

himself in the neighborhood of Nashville. At that time there were no

hotels, or regular boarding-houses, in the country, and none were

needed,--as travellers, men of business, and professional men, were

cheerfully entertained by private families. Jackson, and the late

Judge Overton, boarded together, with Mrs. Donelson, the widow of

Colonel John Donelson, who had, some years previous, emigrated from

Virginia to Kentucky, and thence to Tennessee.

[Sidenote: ADVENTURES IN THE WILDERNESS.]

Business of a public, or private nature, often called Jackson to

Jonesborough, about two hundred miles distant from Nashville, from

which it was separated by a dense wilderness, with only here and

there a small station. In those days, a journey was not the pastime

which it has latterly become; and the traveller enjoyed few of

the comforts, and none of the luxuries, which modern civilization

has introduced. A horse; a rifle, to be slung over the shoulder;

a hunting knife; a portmanteau, containing a few clothes and

provisions; and a blanket,--constituted his preparations for the

road. Sometimes journeys were performed singly, but, more generally,

in companies. At night, the travellers lighted a fire with a

tinder-box, or the flash of a rifle; and their horses were picketed.

If they were supplied with bacon, or game, it was roasted on a stick;

otherwise, jerked meat, parched maize, and the tough corn-dodger,

formed their frugal repast. After partaking of this, sentinels were

posted, if an attack from the Indians was apprehended; and, wrapping

themselves in their blankets, they lay down to sleep, with naught but

the blue canopy of heaven over their heads.

Numerous anecdotes are related of the fearlessness and intrepidity

displayed by Andrew Jackson, when performing these weary pilgrimages

through the forests of Tennessee. On one occasion, in the month

of March, he was on his way from Jonesborough to the Cumberland,

with three companions, and reached the east side of the Emory, just

below the gap in the mountains, shortly after dark. The fires of a

large party of Indians being discovered on the opposite bank, he

instantly assumed the direction of affairs, and, enjoining silence

upon his comrades, led them back some distance into the mountains.

They then left the road at different points, in order to elude

pursuit,--reunited again, and proceeded up the stream, until two

o’clock in the afternoon of the following day, when they attempted to

cross it, at a basin between two cataracts.

A raft was constructed of logs bound firmly together with hickory

withes, upon which their clothes, blankets, saddles, rifles and

ammunition, were placed; Jackson and one of his companions intending

to cross first with these, and then, at a second trip, with their

comrades, to swim the horses over alongside the raft. But on pushing

from the shore, the under-tow seized the frail craft, and hurried

it rapidly down the stream. Jackson and his friend vainly exerted

themselves to arrest its progress; they were fast nearing the brink

of the cataract, when the former, wrenching one of the rude oars

from its fastenings, sprang to the stern, and braced himself there;

at the same time holding out the oar to his companions on shore.

They eagerly seized it, and drew the raft safe to land, just as it

was quivering on the edge of the fall. On being chided for his too

venturesome disposition, Jackson replied, “A miss is as good as a

mile; you see how near I can graze danger--come on, and I will save

you yet.”--The route up the stream was now resumed, and, after

spending another night, supperless, in the woods, they found a ford

the next day, at which they crossed, and ultimately reached a log

cabin on the road, about forty miles in rear of the Indian encampment.

[Sidenote: DESERTED BY HIS GUIDE.]

At another time, he reached Bean’s Station, the appointed rendezvous

of a party with whom he designed to cross the wilderness, on the

evening after they had left. Nowise daunted by the perils of the

way, he provided himself with a guide, and set out to overtake

them. He travelled all night, and, in the gray of the morning,

came to the fires just deserted by the party before him. Pushing

on, with increased speed, he soon discovered the trail of a body

of Indians, twenty-two in number, who were evidently pursuing his

friends in front. He still followed on, until he was close upon the

savages, when the guide began to hesitate about advancing further,

and finally refused, absolutely, to proceed. This was an unexpected

dilemma, but Jackson neither feared danger, nor was he the man to

desert his friends. Dividing provisions with his timid guide, the

latter returned to the station, and he continued on cautiously, in

the opposite direction. Presently he found that the Indians had

turned off to the right, as he supposed, to get ahead of the party,

and lay an ambush for them, or attack them at night. He at once

hastened forward with greater rapidity, and came up with his friends,

as they were preparing to encamp for the night. Being apprised

of their danger, in a few moments they were again in motion, and

continued their march without halting, till the evening of the next

day. Nothing further was heard from the Indians, till the party had

reached their destination, in safety; when it was ascertained that

a company of hunters, who had refused to shelter them in their log

cabins, had been murdered by the same band of savages from whom they

had so fortunately escaped.

Besides crossing the wilderness intervening between Jonesborough

and the Cumberland twenty-two times, while the country was yet new,

Jackson frequently volunteered, with others, to go out and meet

parties of emigrants from Virginia, or the Carolinas, who were

escorted half way by their friends in the states, or the settlers in

East Tennessee. The same service was often performed for emigrants,

or travellers, going from Nashville to Lexington. An occasion of

this kind furnished him an opportunity to display his gallantry as

well as bravery:--He was proceeding with a company, from Nashville

to Lexington, among whom was a lady going to join her husband at the

latter place. The second night out, she was suddenly taken sick, and,

in the morning, was unable to proceed on her journey. Disregarding

her situation, a number of the party prepared their horses as usual,

and were about to resume the march. Jackson earnestly remonstrated

against leaving the woman alone in the forest, but, finding words

of no avail, and that they insisted on proceeding, he levelled his

rifle, and solemnly declared that he would shoot the first man who

put foot in the stirrup. His companions cowed before the chivalric

rage that lighted up his cheek, and kindled in his eye; and they

consented to remain for a day at the encampment, at the expiration of

which the lady was able to travel.

As the settlers in Kentucky were exposed to the irruptions of the

Shawanese, so those in Tennessee were liable to similar visitations

from the Choctaws and Cherokees. Whenever the savages had committed

any depredations, volunteer parties were always formed to pursue

them. Andrew Jackson was usually one of the first to make his

appearance at the rendezvous. He once accompanied a party, between

forty and fifty strong, under Colonel Elijah Robertson, on an

expedition of this character, to the head of a creek flowing into

Duck river. It was then proposed, that a part of the company should

penetrate through the cane-brakes, a distance of ten miles, to the

river, where the Indians were supposed to have encamped. Colonel

R. Weakly, with Jackson and fifteen others, volunteered for the

enterprise. It was accomplished with great gallantry; the savages

were surprised, and fled without firing a gun,--leaving their camp,

and their arms and ammunition, in the hands of their pursuers.

Jackson was repeatedly engaged in affairs of the same kind, and

acquired a high, and wide-spread reputation, for his bravery and

skill. He also became well-known to the red warriors, and received

from them the epithets of “Sharp Knife” and “Pointed Arrow.” The

most important expedition in which he was concerned, was undertaken

in 1794, when a large party from Nashville and its neighborhood,

including himself, proceeded against the Indian town of Nickajack,

near the Tennessee river, and razed it to the ground.

[Sidenote: RACHAEL DONELSON.]

When Andrew Jackson entered the family of Mrs. Donelson as a

boarder, her daughter, Rachael, who had married a man by the name

of Robards, in Kentucky, but had separated from him on account of

his violent temper and vicious habits, resided with her. Judge

Overton and himself occupied another cabin, a few steps distant from

that in which Mrs. Donelson lived, but met with her family, at the

same table. Mrs. Robards was as distinguished for her beauty, her

sweetness of temper, and her winning deportment, as was her husband

for the possession of the opposite qualities. Through the mediation

of Judge Overton, Robards was at one time reconciled to his wife,

rejoined her at Mrs. Donelson’s, and commenced preparations for

erecting a cabin, on a tract of land that he had purchased, in which

he intended to reside.

Jackson was then a young man, frank and engaging in his manners,

and fond of female society. He undoubtedly paid Mrs. Robards many

flattering attentions, which--neither thinking aught of evil, or

cherishing an impure thought--were reciprocated as they deserved,

with kindness and friendly esteem, but nothing more. So far from

rendering her husband more morose and ill-tempered, this should only

have led him to appreciate better her charms and social virtues, and

encouraged him to become more pleasing and agreeable. But Iagos were

not wanting to instil the doubts and suspicions of jealousy, had

not his gloomy and distrustful temperament predisposed him to such

impressions. She was, in consequence, rendered very unhappy. On being

made acquainted with this fact, Jackson sought an interview with her

husband, and remonstrated with him, in a manly and honorable way.

This was of no avail, and he then left Mrs. Donelson’s, and took

board at Mansker’s Station.

The excited jealousy of the husband could not be allayed, however;

and, in a few months, he abandoned his wife a second time, and

started for Kentucky,--declaring to a companion on the road, that

he designed never to return. Mrs. Robards now determined that the

separation should be final; and on being afterwards informed,

that he intended to visit Tennessee and take her back with him to

Kentucky, under the advice of her friends, she accompanied the

family of Colonel Stark to Natchez, in the spring of 1791. Stark

was an elderly man, and fearing that the Indians might attack him,

he invited Jackson to make one of the party. The latter, perhaps

unwisely,--though he certainly never regretted it,--accepted the

invitation, and descended the rivers with them, to Natchez.

[Sidenote: HIS MARRIAGE.]

Robards had previously applied to the Legislature of Virginia for

a divorce, and, soon after the return of Jackson to Nashville, the

intelligence was received that his application had been granted.

Desirous of testifying to the world, in the highest and most solemn

manner, his confidence in her purity and innocence--pleased, alike,

with the charms of her person, and the graces of her mind--and

deeming her at perfect liberty to form a new connection--Jackson

forthwith repaired to Natchez, and tendered his hand to Mrs. Robards.

She at first hesitated, but finally accepted him. They were married

in the fall, and she returned with him to the Cumberland, where she

was greeted with the warm and affectionate congratulations of her

relatives and friends.

Two years after his marriage,--in December, 1793,--Jackson was

on his way to Jonesborough, with Judge Overton, when he learned,

for the first time, equally to his chagrin and surprise, that

the intelligence received in 1791, and upon which he had acted,

was incorrect.--Robards had, in 1791, procured the passage of an

act in the Virginia Legislature, authorizing a suit to be brought

for a divorce in a court in Kentucky, which suit had just been

determined in his favor,--no opposition, of course, being made to

the proceedings. Communications between the Atlantic country and

the interior were then very irregular, and the exact particulars of

the affair were not known, or inquired into, as it was universally

supposed in Tennessee, that the divorce had been actually granted. On

his return home, in January, 1794, Jackson took out a license, and

was now regularly married.

The circumstances of his acquaintance and marriage with Mrs.

Robards, were long after seized upon by his opponents, when he

became connected with the political controversies of the day, as

a candidate for the presidency, and were made the foundation of

unmerited and groundless calumnies. There were features in the case,

which, unexplained, might appear suspicious; but the evidence of

all who were personally acquainted with them, whose assertions are

worthy of a moment’s consideration, acquit both parties of blame,

and bear witness to the correct demeanor of Mrs. Robards, and the

chivalric conduct of Andrew Jackson.--“While he would have sacrificed

his life,” says his biographer, “to prevent Mrs. Robards’ falling

unwillingly into the hands of her cruel tormentor, her husband

though he was, he never cast a look upon her, or indulged a thought,

unworthy of the purest knight in the days of honorable chivalry.

But, when no longer restrained by law, honor or religion, pity,

admiration, and a species of regret, though free from guilt, yet akin

to remorse, kindled into love as pure and as holy as ever glowed

in the heart of man. Nor was the object unworthy of this exalted

passion. The united testimony of all who had the pleasure of her

acquaintance, the happiness which during life she shed over the

domestic circle, radiating into the cabins of her servants and the

houses of her neighbors, and, above all, the sacred fervor with which

the bosom on which she rested in youth, cherishes her memory, bear

unequivocal testimony, that she was one of the best of those beings

whom God has given as the companion and solace of man.”[15]

[Sidenote: ANIMOSITY OF THE DEBTOR CLASS.]

After his marriage, Jackson devoted himself with more assiduity than

ever, to the practice of his profession. His firm and independent

course in espousing the cause of the creditors, though it elevated

him in the esteem of the better part of the community, rendered the

debtors peculiarly inimical towards him. His daring and prowess were

so well known, however, that those who were nominally his equals in

standing, dared not assail him; but they stimulated others to do so,

belonging to the very lowest class of bullies and desperadoes, so

many of whom are always to be found in a new country, who had neither

character nor self-respect to lose, but were not deficient in that

brutal courage, which the philosopher of Ferney terms, “a fortunate

quality, of which fools partake as well as great men.”

A flax-breaker, of great strength and courage, was the first person

instigated to attack Jackson; but the latter soon tamed his spirit

with his own winding-blades, the only weapon within reach. A noted

bully next assaulted him, while he was conversing with a gentleman

on business, at a court in Sumner County. Jackson seized a slab, and

in a few seconds obliged the desperado to make his escape into the

woods.--These encounters resulted so unfavorably to those who were

induced to come in contact with him, that he was ever after exempt

from annoyances of a similar character.

In the course of his practice as a lawyer, Jackson discovered

that extensive frauds had been committed in the North Carolina

Land-Office, which he deemed it his duty, as the former attorney of

that State, to expose. Through his instrumentality, the perpetrators

were indicted and punished. Some of the most prominent citizens of

the western district were directly, or indirectly, concerned in these

transactions, and had profited largely by them. Consequently, he

incurred their hostility; and they sought by every means to injure

him. In the state of society then existing, a man, like him, exposed

to the hatred of powerful enemies, may be said to have constantly

carried his life in his hand. Unawed by threats, he pursued his way

steadily and unerringly--daily adding to the number of his friends,

and gaining ground in the confidence and regard of the wise and good.

The necessary preliminary measures for the formation of a state

government, were taken by the citizens of Tennessee, in 1795;[16] and

Andrew Jackson was chosen one of the delegates to the convention,

without even offering himself as a candidate. The forest Solons and

Numas composing that body, met at Knoxville, in the wilderness, on

the eleventh of January, 1796, and adjourned on the sixth day of

February following; having, in the short space of less than four

weeks, framed and adopted a state constitution, which, for its

republican simplicity, compared most favorably with those of other

states.

[Sidenote: REPRESENTATIVE AND SENATOR IN CONGRESS.]

On the first day of June, 1796, Tennessee was admitted into the Union

as a State, and became entitled to one representative in Congress.

Andrew Jackson was elected to the office, with great unanimity,

and took his seat in the House of Representatives on the fifth of

December, 1796. His reputation and popularity continuing to increase,

he was chosen a senator in Congress the following year, when he had

just reached the age prescribed by the Constitution. He appeared in

the Senate of the United States on the twenty-second of November,

1797. At this session, the alien and sedition laws were passed.

Jackson coïncided and voted with the republican members, and was

therefore in the minority. During the session, he became so much

dissatisfied with the course of the administration, to which he was

opposed in sentiment, that he returned home in April, 1798, and

shortly after resigned his seat. He was succeeded by his friend and

neighbor, Daniel Smith.

Upon his resignation of the office of senator, Jackson was appointed,

by the Legislature of Tennessee, Judge of the Supreme Court of Law

and Equity. The office was conferred on him unsolicited, and was

accepted with reluctance. As a lawyer, he had been distinguished for

his fair and honorable dealing; for his abhorrence of low tricks and

artifices; and for the ability with which he seized the strong points

of a case, and presented them to a court or jury:--as a judge, he

became equally well known, for his firmness and independence; for his

integrity of purpose; and his plain, common sense adjudications.

His first court was held at Jonesborough, at which a man, by the

name of Russell Bean, was indicted for cutting off the ears of his

infant child, in a drunken frolic. The sheriff dared not arrest the

offender, who was notorious for his strength and ferocity, though

present in the courtyard, and returned to the court, that he would

not be taken. Judge Jackson told the officer that such a return was

an absurdity, and that the man must be taken, even though it became

necessary to summon the _posse comitatus_. When the court adjourned

for dinner, the sheriff summoned the judge and his colleagues, as

part of the _posse_. Jackson saw that the officer desired to avoid

performing his duty, and therefore accompanied him. Learning that

Bean was armed, he provided himself with a loaded pistol. At sight of

him, the former attempted to make his escape; but the judge directing

him to stop and submit to the law, in a tone that showed he was not

to be trifled with, his weapons were thrown down, and he quietly

surrendered. This incident was not lost upon other turbulent spirits

who had previously treated courts and officers with contempt, and

nothing of the kind was afterwards attempted.

His health beginning to fail under the severe labor, both mental and

physical, required of him in the performance of his official duties,

Jackson determined to resign the judgeship; but, when his intentions

became public, he was urged, in such flattering terms, to abandon

his design, in a communication addressed to him by some of the most

prominent citizens of the state, and a large number of the members of

the Legislature, that he consented to remain in the office.

[Sidenote: DIFFICULTY WITH GOVERNOR SEVIER.]

In 1801, an election was held by the brigadiers and field-officers

of Major General Conway’s division, to fill the vacancy occasioned

by his death. Andrew Jackson, and John Sevier, formerly governor of

the state, were competitors for the office; and the vote was equally

divided between them. The appointment then devolved upon Governor

Roane, who wisely conferred it on Andrew Jackson.

Governor Sevier was connected, to some extent, with a combination

of land jobbers at Nashville, associated together for the purpose

of manufacturing fraudulent grants of land, which Jackson had aided

in breaking up. This circumstance, and the preference of Governor

Roane, rendered him a most implacable enemy and opponent. In 1803,

he was a candidate for re-election as governor, and in the course of

the canvass, his antipathy towards Judge Jackson, was imbibed by his

party friends. This was particularly the case in East Tennessee. In

the fall, the Judge proceeded to Jonesborough, to hold his court;

and, having been taken seriously ill on the road, he retired to his

room, immediately after his arrival, and lay down on the bed. In a

few moments he was waited on by a friend, who begged him to lock his

door--informing him that a large mob had collected, under a Colonel

Harrison, and loudly threatened to tar and feather him. Jackson

declined securing his door, but throwing it wide open, sent his

friend to Colonel Harrison, with the message, that he was ready to

receive him and his party, whenever they chose to wait on him, and

that he hoped the colonel’s chivalry would induce him to lead his

men, and not follow them.--This bold message operated like a charm;

the mob dispersed; Colonel Harrison apologized for his conduct, and

thereafter remained on good terms with Jackson.

The next court held by the latter, was at Knoxville, where the

Legislature were then in session. They had just investigated the land

frauds, of which mention has been made, and had found some evidence

tending to implicate Governor Sevier. His excellency evinced a great

deal of exasperation, and on leaving the courthouse, on the first day

of the term, Judge Jackson found a large crowd gathered in front of

the building, in the midst of which was Governor Sevier, with a sword

in his hand, haranguing them in a violent manner. An altercation

ensued between them, in which the governor was the aggressor, and

the Judge sent him a challenge. This was accepted, but the governor

failed to give the promised meeting, and Jackson at once published

him in the usual form. A second meeting was then appointed to take

place, though without any formal arrangement.

Jackson repaired to the designated spot, but the governor failed to

meet him. After waiting two days, he set out to return to Knoxville,

but had proceeded only a short distance, when he encountered Governor

Sevier, escorted by about twenty men, and armed with a brace of

pistols and a sword. His friend instantly bore a challenge to the

governor, who refused to receive it. Jackson was provided with a

brace of pistols and a cane. On the return of his friend, with the

insulting message of the governor, he levelled his cane, as the

knight, in olden times, couched his spear in the rest, and dashed

furiously upon his opponent. The latter hastily dismounted, in

order to avoid the shock, but, in so doing, trode on the scabbard

of his sword, and was thus rendered incapable of resistance. In the

governor’s escort there were mutual friends of both parties, who

interfered to prevent any further collision, and Jackson accompanied

them back to Knoxville.

[Sidenote: RETIRES TO PRIVATE LIFE.]

Although Jackson was always prompt to defend himself from insult or

injury, these altercations and disputes were by no means congenial

to his spirit, and, anticipating their more frequent recurrence, for

the reason that a number of cases, growing out of the fraudulent land

sales, were about to be brought before him for decision, he concluded

to retire from the bench; and his resignation was accepted by the

Legislature, on the twenty-fourth of July, 1804, about six years

after his original appointment.

Previous to his resignation of the judgeship, the services of

General Jackson, in a military capacity, were invoked by the General

Government, in consequence of the threatening aspect of its relations

with Spain, who had taken umbrage at the purchase of Louisiana from

France. Preparations were made to reïnforce General Wilkinson, then

at Natchez, at the head of a small force, with fifteen hundred

men from the upper country, including five hundred cavalry from

Tennessee. In October, 1803, General Jackson was requested to

procure, without delay, a sufficient number of boats to transport the

troops to New Orleans, and to keep them in readiness. The request was

complied with; the boats were procured; and the general tendered his

services to the government if they should be needed.

The firmness, caution, and prudence, of Jefferson, rendered a

resort to arms unnecessary; and in February, 1804, General Jackson

sold the boats prepared for the expedition down the Mississippi.

After resigning the office of judge, General Jackson retired to a

plantation on the Cumberland, which he had purchased; to enjoy,

what he had long coveted, the quiet scenes of domestic life, its

gentleness and tranquillity, and the society of his devoted wife. His

fortune was not large, but amply sufficient to satisfy his wants.

He devoted most of his time to superintending the labor on his

plantation, setting an example of methodical industry, and careful

economy, worthy of general imitation, and often wielding the axe,

or guiding the plough, with his own hands. Fond of society, and

frank and generous by nature, he was distinguished far and wide for

his hospitality; and it was remarked of him, that, “though he was a

private citizen, he was the most public man in Tennessee.”

He was passionately fond of fine horses, and took every pains to

improve his stock, by importations from the Atlantic States. Like

other planters around him, he brought his favorite animals out upon

the race-courses, and, though not a sportsman, in the ordinary

acceptation of the term, made many a venture upon their relative

speed. A circumstance of this kind gave rise to a most unfortunate

affair:

[Sidenote: HOSTILE MEETING WITH DICKINSON.]

A match race was agreed upon by him, and a Mr. Erwin and his

son-in-law, Charles Dickinson, between their two horses, for a

wager of two thousand dollars, with a forfeiture of eight hundred

dollars, to be paid in cash notes. Erwin and Dickinson subsequently

chose to pay the forfeit, and withdraw their horse. Some difficulty

arose in regard to the character of the notes offered, but it was

finally adjusted, to the apparent satisfaction of all parties. But

the enemies of Jackson were anxious that he should fight a duel

with Dickinson, who was reputed to be the best shot in the country.

Through them, the dispute was revived. Several publications appeared

in the newspapers, Dickinson grew more and more insulting, and at

length made a direct imputation of cowardice. Jackson could endure

his provocations no longer, and on the twenty-third of May, 1806,

sent him a challenge. It was accepted by Dickinson, and the meeting

was arranged to take place at Harrison’s Mills, Kentucky, on the

thirtieth instant.

Dickinson spent the intervening time in practicing; frequently

boasting how often he had hit his opponent chalked out on a tree, and

offering to bet that he would kill him. This was reported to General

Jackson, and the effect on his excitable temperament may be imagined.

The parties met, as had been agreed on. At the word, Dickinson fired,

and the dust was seen to fly from the clothes of his antagonist.

Jackson fired the next instant, and the other fell mortally wounded.

The steadiness of nerve exhibited by General Jackson on this occasion

has often been the subject of commendation, even with those who

condemned the practice, then not only tolerated, but actually

encouraged, by nearly all classes and parties, in the section of

country in which he resided. It afterwards appeared, that he was

himself severely wounded, at the time he fired; but his feelings had

been so wrought upon, and the ardency of his temper was such, that he

was insensible to physical suffering, and he declared to a friend,

that he would have killed Dickinson, if he had been shot through the

brain!

Several years later,--in the summer of 1813,--General Jackson was

concerned in an affray with Colonel Thomas H. Benton, so well and

widely known, for many successive years, as a Senator in Congress,

from the State of Missouri. The former had acted as the second of

Governor Carroll, in a duel with a brother of Colonel Benton, which,

the latter thought, was inconsistent with the friendly relations

existing between himself and the general. An angry correspondence

passed; bitter recriminations were made on both sides; and they

afterwards encountered each other, and interchanged shots, at a

public house in Nashville. In the affray, General Jackson’s left

arm was shattered by a pistol shot, and he was confined to his room

for several weeks. The imbittered feelings engendered during the

progress of this controversy, were cherished for many years after

the encounter, but they were subsequently entirely allayed; and when

General Jackson became President of the United States, he had no

firmer supporter, or warmer friend, than Colonel Benton.

These personal controversies and altercations have been mentioned

here, not because they afford valuable examples worthy, at this day,

of imitation, but rather, for the reason, that they are not more

illustrative of Jackson’s nice sense of honor, his stern will, and

his indomitable courage, than of the rude state of society in which

he lived. If, like General Wayne, he manifested “a constitutional

attachment to the decision of the sword,” he, too, had a warm and

generous heart; and, though like the aroused lion, when he felt

himself the object of wrong or injustice, no man possessed more of

the gentler and softer affections of our natures. As Sir Walter Scott

said of the Covenanter: “His faults were those of his times and

associates, his virtues were eminently his own.”

[Sidenote: AARON BURR.]

Aaron Burr made his first appearance in the western country, prior

to the completion of his arrangements for his mysterious expedition,

in the spring of 1805, and, on two occasions, during the summer,

spent several days in the family of General Jackson. The people of

Tennessee, like all the residents in the valley of the Mississippi,

were exceedingly hostile to the Spaniards; and so long as Burr was

supposed to be concerned in making arrangements for the invasion

of Mexico, in the event of a war with Spain, General Jackson, with

most of the influential citizens of that section, warmly seconded

his projects. In 1806, Burr returned to the west and began his

preparations. In the fall, the suspicions of General Jackson were

awakened, and the friendly intercourse between them entirely ceased.

Whatever may have been the designs of Burr, he dared not reveal them

to General Jackson, though he ever entertained a high opinion of him,

and always mentioned him in terms of respect. His patriotism was

much too earnest and sincere to be tempted; and, notwithstanding

his previous intimacy with Burr, the special agent dispatched by the

President to secure the arrest of the latter, was directed to call on

him, with instructions to order out a military force, if necessary.

General Jackson promptly ordered out twelve companies, but Burr had

already left the mouth of the Cumberland, and was on his way down the

Mississippi; and on ascertaining this fact, he dismissed his troops,

and reported his proceedings to the government.

Not long after General Jackson retired to private life, he entered

into partnership with a merchant in Nashville. For a time their

business appeared to be prosperous; Jackson took no active part in

its management, but trusted everything to his associate. Some slight

circumstances at length aroused his fears, and, upon examination,

he found that the firm was not only insolvent, but that their

liabilities exceeded their assets, by many thousand dollars. But

one course--that dictated by honor and right--could be pursued. He

instantly closed the business, sold his fine plantation where he

lived, paid off the debts of the firm, and removed to a log cabin

on another plantation, to begin the world anew. By the exercise of

strict economy and prudence, in a few years he once more gathered

around him the fruits of prosperous industry.

In 1811, General Jackson had occasion to visit Natchez, to bring up

a number of negroes, who had become his property as the surety of

a friend, or belonged to a nephew; and, on reaching the station of

the Choctaw agency, along which the road passed, he found seven or

eight families of emigrants, and two members of the Mississippi

Legislative Council, whom the agent had detained, upon the pretence

that it was necessary to have passports from the governor of

Mississippi Territory. Justly indignant at this outrage, Jackson

demanded what right he had to stop American citizens who were

travelling on a public road. The agent replied, in a sharp tone,

by inquiring whether he had a pass? “Yes, sir,” said the general,

warmly; “I always carry mine with me:--I am a free-born American

citizen; and that, under the constitution and laws, is my passport to

go wherever my business calls me!” He then told the emigrants to gear

up their wagons, and if any one attempted to obstruct them, to shoot

him down. He himself set the example, and proceeded on his journey,

utterly regardless of the threats of the agent.

Upon his return from Natchez, he was informed that the agent had

collected fifty white men, and one hundred Indians, and intended to

stop him unless he produced a passport. On approaching the station,

he armed his blacks with clubs and axes, and directed them to regard

no order unless it emanated from him. The agent was at first inclined

to stop him, but, being overawed by his firm and determined manner,

made no attempt to oppose him. He afterwards reported the conduct of

the officer to the President, and he was removed from the agency.

[Sidenote: WAR WITH GREAT BRITAIN.]

The period now arrived which Jackson had long anticipated.--War

was declared against the enemy of his country and his race, on the

eighteenth of June, 1812. It is easy to conceive the emotions which

the intelligence must have awakened in his bosom. Recollections of

the past came rushing and thronging into his mind. The cycles of Time

rolled backward. Again he stood upon the threshold of his desolate

home,--on “the forest-clad banks of the Catawba,”--orphaned by the

cruelty of British officers and agents. Let him not be reproached,

if motives of revenge quickened and sharpened his patriotism. His

desire for vengeance was almost holy in its character--it was based

on fraternal affection, on filial love!

When the tocsin of war was sounded, the glad, prolonged echoes, came

up from every valley and hamlet; but in no quarter of the country

was the response more enthusiastic, than in the valley of the

Mississippi. General Jackson immediately issued a stirring address to

his division, twenty-five hundred men of which volunteered to follow

wheresoever he saw fit to lead them. A tender of their services was

made to the President, through Governor Blount, on the twenty-fifth

of June, which was accepted on the eleventh of July. No immediate

duty being required of the patriotic volunteers belonging to his

division, General Jackson became impatient to participate in the

struggle, and solicited the appointment of brigadier general in

the regular army, which was conferred on General Winchester. Could

President Madison have foreseen the sad catastrophe that occurred

on the banks of the Raisin, in the following January; or had he

possessed any correct idea of the military qualifications of General

Jackson, we may well suppose that the latter would have been his

choice.

[Sidenote: EXPEDITION TO NATCHEZ.]

An opportunity, however, was soon presented to Jackson, for taking

the field. On the first of November, Governor Blount issued an

order, in conformity with a requisition from the War Department,

directing him to organize and equip fifteen hundred infantry and

riflemen, with whom he was instructed to descend the river to New

Orleans, and reïnforce General Wilkinson, then commanding that

department. The necessary proclamation was issued, and, on the tenth

of December, upwards of two thousand men rendezvoused at Nashville,

many of whom had come miles upon miles, through cold, and sleet,

and snow, undaunted by the rigors of the climate, and intent only

on obeying the call of their country. On the thirteenth instant,

the organization of the command, which consisted of one regiment

of cavalry, not embraced in the requisition, but enrolled with the

consent of Governor Blount, under Colonel Coffee, and two regiments

of infantry, under Colonels Hall and T. H. Benton, was fully

completed.

Numerous difficulties were yet to be encountered before the troops

could be put in motion. Arms had been sparingly furnished by the

government, and funds for the payment of the men had not been

provided. Discontents naturally arose, and a mutiny was threatened.

The firmness and determination of General Jackson prevented any

outbreak, and his energy and perseverance ultimately overcame every

obstacle. On the thirty-first of December, Colonel Coffee commenced

his march with the mounted men, six hundred and seventy strong, by

the overland route, to Natchez. On the seventh and eighth of January,

1813, General Jackson embarked on the Cumberland, in flat boats,

with the two infantry regiments, numbering about fourteen hundred.

Descending the rivers slowly,--his progress being constantly impeded

by large masses of floating ice,--he reached Natchez on the fifteenth

of February, near which he found the cavalry under Colonel Coffee.

At this point, General Jackson was met by a request from General

Wilkinson, whose headquarters were at New Orleans, to halt his

command, and report to him his force and instructions. Wilkinson held

the rank of brigadier general in the regular army, with the brevet

of major general; and it is not unlikely, that he suspected it was

the intention of the government, that Jackson should supersede him.

His request, doubtless, was prompted by this apprehension. As there

was no indication of an attack on New Orleans, Jackson cheerfully

complied with it. Natchez was a much more salubrious position for his

troops, and having disembarked them, he marched to Washington, a few

miles distant, where a cantonment had been previously established by

a corps of regulars. The troops were placed in comfortable quarters,

and a strong guard was detailed to protect the boats at Natchez.

[Sidenote: RETURN HOME.]

Camp regulations were now adopted, and strict orders issued by the

commanding general, to proceed with the discipline and instruction

of the troops. Becoming impatient for active duty, he wrote to the

Secretary of War on the first of March, suggesting the employment

of his force on the northern frontier, if there was no prospect of

invasion in the south, or if Congress did not authorize the taking

possession of Florida. This suggestion was repeated in a second

letter written on the seventh of March. Before these letters reached

Washington, an order had been issued from the War Department,

directing him, on the receipt thereof, to consider his force

dismissed from the service, and to take measures for the delivery

of all articles of public property in his possession, to General

Wilkinson. This unfeeling mandate concluded with a cold tender of

thanks to himself and the corps under his command.

Jackson was fairly astounded at the blow. His whole command, officers

and men, joined in denouncing, in unmeasured terms, the Secretary of

War, General Armstrong, by whom the order was issued. He was still

more indignant, when he discovered the probable key to the movement,

in a letter from General Wilkinson, who suggested his encouraging

the regular recruiting service from the troops he commanded, “in an

appropriate general order.” Jackson did no such thing;--but, when

a recruiting officer made his appearance, informed him that if he

attempted to seduce a single volunteer from the corps, he would drum

him out of the camp.

The patriotic volunteers who had accompanied General Jackson to

Natchez were mostly young men--the flower of West Tennessee--the

sons and brothers of his dearest friends and neighbors. The order he

had received, required him to abandon these men, who looked up to

him as a parent, in a strange land, five hundred miles from their

homes; to deprive them of their arms, their tents and provisions;

and to leave the sick uncared for, and unattended. This he could

not, and did not do. He immediately wrote to the Secretary of War,

denouncing his order, in no very honied words, and to the President,

complaining of its barbarity, and giving his reasons for partially

disregarding it. The necessary orders were then given to provide

wagons and supplies; the men were directed to retain their arms; he

borrowed five thousand dollars of a merchant in Natchez, on his own

responsibility, to make up deficiencies; and, as soon as everything

could be got in readiness, set out on his return march with his whole

command,--declaring that not a single man should be left behind, “who

had any life in him.”

Two hundred miles of the route lay through the Choctaw and Chickasaw

country, and the only essential service rendered by the expedition

was this homeward march, which overawed the Indians, and deterred

them from joining the hostile Creeks and Cherokees.--Jackson paid

every attention to the comfort of his soldiers, up to the last

moment, strictly fulfilling his solemn pledge not to abandon one of

them. Frequently he gave up his own horse to the sick, or exhausted

soldier, and trudged along on foot, cheering all by his example, and

ever ready with a kind word, to encourage those who faltered.

[Sidenote: CESSION OF LOUISIANA.]

Deeply chagrined though he was, at the result of the expedition to

Natchez, General Jackson was still anxious to take part in the active

scenes of the war. The disasters on the northern frontier in 1812,

and the failure of the projected winter campaign under Harrison,

in consequence of the incautious advance of General Winchester to

Frenchtown, had produced a deep impression on his mind. His proud

spirit smarted under the discredit of defeat; and, on the eighth

of April, when on his way home, he wrote to the Secretary of War,

informing him that he should be glad to execute any orders of the

government in Canada, with his detachment, which could be augmented,

if necessary. “I have a few standards,” said he, “wearing the

American eagle, that I should be happy to place upon the ramparts of

Malden.”

About the middle of May, the Tennessee volunteers reached home and

were discharged. The Secretary of War informed General Jackson

that the order to dismiss his force was designed to reach him at

Fort Massac, near the mouth of the Cumberland; it being supposed

that he had not yet moved down the river. Though this explanation

appeared inconsistent with the orders at the same time issued to

General Wilkinson, its sincerity was not questioned by General

Jackson. It was sufficient for him that his conduct was sanctioned

by the government, and that he was relieved from the pecuniary

responsibilities he had incurred.

Within a few months after his return from Natchez, General Jackson

was again called from his retirement, to lead a large body of troops

into the Indian country on the southern borders of Tennessee.

By the treaty of San Ildefonso, concluded on the first day of

October, 1800, Louisiana was ceded by the Spanish government to

the French republic. The territorial rights thereby acquired, were

transferred to the United States, by a treaty concluded at Paris,

on the thirtieth of April, 1803. Spain was highly incensed at the

assignment of the territory, and threw every possible obstacle in

the way of its occupation by the authorities of the United States.

For a long time she refused absolutely, to yield up a large tract of

country lying between the Perdido and Mississippi rivers, upon the

pretence that it belonged to Florida.

During the war on the European continent, a community of feeling

and interest was established between Spain and England; and it

was only by the assistance and coöperation of British fleets

and armies, that Ferdinand VII was able finally to preserve his

throne. When hostilities commenced between the United States and

Great Britain,--though solemnly bound by the provisions of a

treaty concluded with the former, in 1795, to restrain the Indians

on the frontiers of Florida, by force, from attacking American

citizens,--Spain, through her officers, permitted British agents sent

from Canada, to establish themselves at the posts belonging to, or

occupied by her, and countenanced, or connived at, their efforts to

stir up the savages to begin an exterminating warfare.

[Sidenote: THE SOUTHERN INDIANS.]

The principal Indian nations in the southern part of the Union

were the Cherokees, Creeks, Choctaws, and Chickasaws. The two last

mentioned tribes, together about thirty-five thousand strong, resided

on the Yazoo, Pearl, and Pascagoula rivers, in the Territory of

Mississippi; and after the occupation of Louisiana, and the march

of General Jackson through their country, with his large army,

on his return from Natchez, they could not be induced to take up

arms against the Americans. The Cherokees, also, who occupied the

mountainous country, where the two Carolinas, Georgia, Tennessee,

and Alabama,--the last a part of Mississippi Territory at the time

of which I am speaking,--adjoin, or approach each other, with the

exception of a very small portion of the younger members of the

tribe, remained on friendly terms with their white neighbors. The

Creeks, numbering near twenty-five thousand, inhabited the fertile

and beautiful Aulochewan country; their settlements extending from

the Gulf of Mexico to the Tennessee river, and from the Chatahoochee

to the Tombigbee, in the centre of which was the famous Hickory

Ground, a rich tract of land lying in the forks of the Coosa and

Tallapoosa, which its aboriginal occupants, from time immemorial,

held peculiarly sacred. Besides these tribes, there was the Seminole

band, an off-shoot of the Creeks, who had their homes in the swamps

and hummocks on the borders of Georgia and Florida.

The Creeks and Seminoles, from their situation, in the vicinity of

St. Augustine, St. Marks, Pensacola, and Fort Condé, were rendered

particularly liable to be influenced by the British agents at those

posts. In the winter of 1811–12, Tecumseh visited the Creeks, and

exhorted them earnestly to dig up the hatchet. After his departure,

prophets arose among them, who practiced the same rites and

incantations with the brother of the Shawano Chief, and, like him,

professed to have received important revelations from the Great

Spirit.[17] The older and wiser warriors were exceedingly averse

to war, but, through the influence and machinations of British and

Spanish officers who attended their councils, they were overruled by

the younger and more ambitious spirits of the tribe.

Soon after war was declared, the Seminoles commenced their

depredations; but in the following winter, a body of Georgia militia,

with two hundred volunteers from East Tennessee, followed them into

Florida, burned several of their towns, and returned home again

in the spring of 1813. Matters were not yet ripe for a general

outbreak, although it was confidently anticipated, as English vessels

were known to be sent from the Bahamas to Florida, laden with arms,

clothing, and ammunition, for the hostile Indians. In January,

1813, President Madison requested authority from Congress, to take

possession of the territory claimed by Spain, lying west of the

Perdido. After some delay, an act was passed, and on the fifteenth of

April, General Wilkinson appeared before Fort Condé, near Mobile, and

demanded its surrender. The Spanish commandant made no resistance,

and the American standard was for the first time planted in the

disputed territory. Other prominent points in the vicinity of Mobile

were also occupied by the American troops.

Occasional outrages were committed during the summer of 1813, and

the white settlers residing in the neighborhood of the Creeks and

Seminoles lived in a state of constant alarm and agitation. On the

fifteenth of August, Governor Blount, of Tennessee, was directed to

detail fifteen hundred of the militia of that state, and hold them in

readiness for immediate service. These troops were not called out,

however; and as time wore on without the occurrence of any serious

calamity, the border inhabitants began to fancy themselves almost

secure from attack. They were soon aroused from their lethargy, by

the glare of burning villages, and the rattling war-cry of the Indian

warrior.

[Sidenote: WAR WITH THE CREEKS.]

On the thirtieth day of August, 1813, Fort Mims, about forty miles

from Mobile, on the left bank of the Alabama river, and a short

distance above its junction with the Tombigbee, was surprised

by a party of Creeks, seven hundred strong, under their chief,

Weatherford; the garrison, consisting of one hundred and fifty of the

1st Mississippi volunteers, under Major Beasely, and twenty white

families who had taken refuge in the fort, with their negroes, in

all about three hundred and fifty persons, were cruelly massacred.

But seventeen of the whites made their escape. The perpetration of

this horrid tragedy excited the utmost consternation at the forts and

stations on the Tombigbee, of which there were nearly twenty within

a distance of seventy miles above Fort Stoddart. Most of the forts

were abandoned, and the affrighted fugitives fled down the river to

Mobile, which was itself extremely insecure.

General Claiborne, and Governor Holmes of the Mississippi Territory,

immediately called out a small militia force,--all that it was in

their power to bring into the field,--for the protection of the

Mobile country. In Tennessee, the alarm was universal, and the whole

population were aroused. But little aid could be expected from the

General Government, all whose means and energies were employed in

the prosecution of the northern campaign, and the defence of the

Atlantic coast from the ravages of the more civilized, but not less

brutal enemy. A public meeting of the citizens of Nashville was held

on the eighteenth of September, at which resolutions were passed,

urgently recommending the adoption, by the State Legislature, of

prompt measures for the invasion of the Creek country. In accordance

therewith, an act was passed on the twenty-fifth instant, authorizing

the governor to call out thirty-five hundred men, in addition to the

fifteen hundred already required by the General Government, who were

to be immediately put in service, and pledging the faith of the state

to pay them, if Congress should refuse. A resolution was also adopted

on the twenty-seventh instant, directing the governor to tender the

services of the Tennessee troops to the United States.

The public sentiment, with one accord, fixed upon Andrew Jackson

as the leader of this force. He was still confined to his room, on

account of the arm fractured in the affray with Colonel Benton,

which has been mentioned; but when his country called him to the

field, he was ready to obey her behest. On the twenty-fourth of

September, Governor Blount directed him to call out, without delay,

two thousand men of his division, to rendezvous at Fayetteville,--and

to order Colonel Coffee into immediate service, with five hundred

cavalry previously raised. The necessary instructions were issued,

on the same day, to Colonel Coffee, who was further instructed, to

incorporate with his regiment any companies of volunteer riflemen

that might present themselves. He also ordered into service the

volunteers who had accompanied him to Natchez, together with one

thousand militia from his division.

On the twenty-fifth of September, General Jackson directed a part

of the cavalry to repair to Huntsville, by forced marches. On the

twenty-sixth, Colonel Coffee was ordered to move upon the same point

and wait further orders, and on the twenty-eighth, he was instructed

to proceed to Fort St. Stephen’s which was said to be threatened by

the enemy. The state of his health did not permit the general to

appear at Fayetteville on the fourth of October, the day appointed

for the rendezvous; but he was represented on that occasion, by his

aid, Major Reid, through whom he delivered to the assembled troops a

most eloquent and spirited address. On the seventh instant he reached

the place of rendezvous, with his arm in a sling, where he found

a dispatch from Colonel Coffee, who had marched a short distance

beyond Huntsville, with near thirteen hundred men, informing him that

the Creeks had divided their forces,--one portion moving towards

the Georgia line, and the other advancing upon the frontiers of

Tennessee,--and that, in consequence of this, he had not proceeded to

Fort St. Stephen’s.

[Sidenote: TROOPS IN THE FIELD.]

It had been generally supposed that the next blow would be struck at

Mobile--more particularly, because of the facilities which would have

been afforded to the Indians, by its possession, of communicating

with their British allies; but the report of Colonel Coffee allayed

all the fears that had been entertained in regard to the safety of

that post. Relieved on this point, General Jackson commenced his

preparations for taking the field. Delay, however brief, was hardly

admissible, as he desired to terminate the campaign by a few bold and

decisive movements, but it was necessary, in order to furnish the

volunteers and militia, who had rendezvoused at Fayetteville, with

the requisite arms and supplies.

The hostile Creeks, or Red Sticks, numbered only about four thousand

warriors, and they were now surrounded by an American force large

enough, had it been properly provided, and directed by a single

commander, like General Jackson, to have driven them into the Gulf

of Mexico, or exterminated them in a very few weeks. On the west of

their settlements, there were six hundred Mississippi volunteers,

under General Claiborne; the 3rd regiment of regular infantry, six

hundred strong, under Colonel Russell; and two hundred militia, at

Fort St. Stephen’s. On the north, were the Tennessee volunteers and

militia, five thousand in number,--twenty-five hundred from West

Tennessee, with General Jackson in person, and twenty-five hundred

from East Tennessee, under Generals Cocke and White,--all under

the orders of General Jackson; and in addition to these, there was

a force of two hundred Mississippi volunteers, near Huntsville,

under Colonel Perkins. On the east were twenty-five hundred Georgia

militia, commanded by General Floyd. Besides the troops mentioned,

there was a body of Cherokees and friendly Creeks, sometimes with one

party and sometimes with another, and varying, at different times,

from one or two, to seven or eight hundred.

[Sidenote: DESIGNS OF THE BRITISH.]

Had they not been grossly deceived and deluded by their prophets, the

Creeks could never have hoped to accomplish anything against this

formidable array. Indeed, they seem to have been strangely infatuated

throughout; for, instead of concentrating their whole force in an

attack on Mobile, or the Mississippi or Georgia troops, neither of

whom were yet fully prepared for the field, they advanced with their

main body, weakened by a detachment sent towards the frontiers of

Georgia, against the column under General Jackson, who was ready to

meet them at any odds, and determined to defeat, when he did meet

them. It is not probable that the British agents who instigated the

Creeks to hostilities, anticipated that the latter would achieve any

certain success. They only supposed that the savages would hold the

Americans at bay, until a British army could be brought to succor

them. The resistless energy and perseverance of General Jackson,

defeated any such project. Long before England was able to dispatch a

considerable force to the Gulf, he had fallen upon the Creeks like a

thunderbolt, scattered their warriors, who escaped the deadly aim of

his rifles, like chaff before the wind, spread terror and devastation

through their settlements, and forced them, as suppliants, humbly to

beg for peace.

About one o’clock in the morning of the eleventh of October, an

express from Colonel Coffee,--who had crossed the Tennessee river

south of Huntsville, at Ditto’s Landing, and posted his command on

a high bluff on the opposite shore,--arrived at Fayetteville, with

the information that the Red Sticks were rapidly approaching his

position. Jackson instantly replied, that he would be on the march to

reïnforce him, in two hours. It had been sometime before understood,

between General Jackson and General Cocke, that the latter would

send supplies down the river, from East Tennessee, where provisions

were abundant, to meet the other column at Ditto’s Landing. Hoping,

rather than believing, that he would be supplied with provisions,

in sufficient quantities, if he advanced into the enemy’s country,

Jackson ordered all his disposable force under arms, and left

Fayetteville early in the morning of the eleventh.

Rumors of Indian massacres and outrages reached the command at every

stage of their progress. They scarcely halted during the day, and at

eight o’clock in the evening were in Huntsville, thirty-two miles

distant. Here General Jackson ascertained that the report in regard

to the advance of the Creeks was not well founded; and he therefore

concluded to rest his men till the following morning, when he resumed

his march, and in the evening effected a junction with the troops

under Colonel Coffee.

From the positive assurances contained in letters received from

Generals Cocke and White,--the latter of whom had concentrated

about eight hundred and fifty men, at Highwassee Garrison, in the

Cherokee country, on the fourth of October,--General Jackson was

led to believe that he should find ample stores of provisions when

he reached the Tennessee river. On the thirteenth of October, he

dispatched Colonel Coffee, with six hundred men picked from his

regiment, against Blackwarriors’ Town, on the Blackwarrior river,

about one hundred miles south of Ditto’s Landing. Day after day

passed by, and still the supplies did not arrive. The time was

profitably spent, under the circumstances, in drilling the troops,

but the delay was, nevertheless, intolerable. Repeated messages

were received from Chenubby, Pathkiller, and other friendly chiefs,

informing him that they and their families were liable to be cut off,

at any moment, by the Red Sticks, who were collecting in force near

the Ten Islands, on the Coosa River, and urging him to hasten to

their assistance. He at length determined that he would not longer

remain inactive.

[Sidenote: ADVANCE TO THOMPSON’S CREEK.]

As his contemplated route to the Coosa lay, for some distance, up

the Tennessee river, he resolved to advance, hoping to meet the

stores which he supposed were descending the stream; and so confident

was he upon this point, that he sent forward expresses to stop them

at Thompson’s Creek. On the nineteenth of October, he commenced his

march for that point, with scarcely a week’s rations on hand, having

previously dismissed the former contractors for his army and supplied

their places with others.

He was obliged to cut a road for the passage of his wagon train

through dense forests, and over almost impassable mountains; but he

only smiled at obstacles when he possessed the means to overcome

them. On the twenty-second instant, he arrived at Thompson’s Creek,

but it was only to be again disappointed. No supplies were to be

found, and nothing could be heard of any. Other generals would have

given up in despair; but it was not in his nature to falter. Though

environed by difficulties, which might well have appalled a braver

spirit, he formed the stern resolution to breast them nobly and

manfully. To retreat now, would be to abandon the friendly Creeks,

of whose danger he was again reminded, by a message from Pathkiller,

at Turkey Town, to their fate,--and to leave the southern frontiers

of Tennessee exposed to the ruthless ravages of the savage enemy.

Though the hideous monster, Famine, stared him in the face at every

step, he resolved to advance to the Ten Islands, and then sweep down

through the country where the hostiles, or Red Sticks, as they were

called, in allusion to the emblems which they had adopted, were

concentrating, to the forks of the Coosa and Tallapoosa.

He addressed earnest and importunate letters to the governors of

Tennessee and Georgia, to Colonels Meigs and McKee, the Cherokee

and Choctaw agents, to General Flourney, the commander of the

seventh military district, to the friendly chiefs, and several

private citizens of wealth and influence, urging them to leave no

means untried to throw forward the necessary supplies for his army,

and pledging himself, if properly furnished in this respect, to

terminate the war in a very few weeks. While at Thompson’s Creek, he

received a letter from General White, who had increased his force at

Highwassee to about thirteen hundred men, besides one or two hundred

friendly Cherokees, informing him that no flour could be spared at

that post. He immediately dispatched expresses to Generals Cocke and

White, apprising them of the condition of his troops in regard to

provisions, and requiring them to join him as soon as possible in the

Creek country.

On the twenty-fourth of October, Colonel Coffee returned from his

expedition, having destroyed Blackwarriors’ Town, and captured three

hundred bushels of corn, though he had not seen an Indian. The

provisions of his men were so nearly exhausted, that, during the

last four days of their excursion, they were obliged to subsist on

parched corn. In the evening of the twenty-fourth, the preparations

of General Jackson for a forward movement were completed; a dépôt

was established at Thompson’s Creek, called Fort Deposit, and means

provided for forwarding such supplies as might arrive; and, on the

morning of the twenty-fifth, he put his army in motion for the

interior, marching, as was his invariable custom, in three columns,

so arranged that they could be instantly formed in order of battle,

if attacked in front or in rear, or on either flank.

In two days General Jackson reached Wills’ Creek, a tributary of the

Coosa, where he encamped till the morning of the twenty-ninth, to

collect corn from the neighboring Indians,--his army being entirely

out of bread. On the twenty-eighth instant, Lieutenant Colonel

Dyer was detached with two hundred cavalry, against the village of

Littefutchee, which he attacked the following night; the village was

burned; twenty-nine prisoners were taken; and considerable corn,

and a number of beeves, were collected from the vicinity. While at

Wills’ Creek, Jackson was again obliged to remove his contractors,

and employ others. On the thirtieth instant, he reörganized his

troops. General Hall was placed in command of the first brigade,

consisting of the first and second regiments of volunteer infantry,

under Colonels Bradley and Pillow; and General Roberts in command

of the second brigade, consisting of the first and second militia

regiments, under Colonels Wynne and M’Crory. General Coffee, promoted

from colonel, was placed in command of the cavalry brigade, which

consisted of the volunteer regiment, Colonel Alcorn, and the mounted

rifles, Colonel Cannon.

[Sidenote: BATTLE OF TALLUSCHATCHEE.]

The march was then resumed for the Ten Islands. While General Jackson

was cutting his way over the Coosa mountain, General Coffee was

ordered to cross the river, at the fish-dams, with one thousand

men of his brigade, to scour the country in the direction of the

Ten Islands, and attack the Indian town of Talluschatchee, about

thirteen miles distant, in an easterly direction, where a large

force of the enemy had collected. The orders issued to General Coffee

were gallantly executed. On the morning of the third of November he

approached the town; the savages in vain attempted to oppose his

march; and they were driven rapidly back upon their buildings, in and

about which a fierce and bloody contest took place, that terminated

in their complete rout and overthrow. Both men and women fought with

the utmost desperation. One hundred and eighty-six of the enemy,

including one of their prophets, and a number of women and children,

were found dead on the field of battle; and there were eighty-four

taken prisoners, all of whom were women and children. General Coffee

had five men killed and fourteen wounded. Having destroyed the town

and buried his dead, he rejoined the main army, at the Ten Islands,

in the evening of the same day, with his wounded and prisoners.

[Sidenote: KINDNESS TO THE ORPHAN.]

Harassed by constant care and anxiety,--exposed, at every turn,

to vexatious delays and hindrances, that fretted and annoyed

him,--General Jackson never lost that kindness and gentleness of

spirit, which bloomed, bright and pure, amid the intenser passions

that burned and blazed around it. Among the prisoners taken at

Talluschatchee, was an infant boy found clinging to the breast of

his dead mother. He was brought to camp with the others, and General

Jackson endeavored to hire some of the captive women to take care

of him. They refused, saying, “All his relations are dead; kill

him too!”--Jackson then caused him to be fed with sweetened water,

and afterwards sent him to Huntsville, where he was nursed at his

expense. After the close of the campaign, he took the little orphan,

who was named Lincoyer, home with him to the Hermitage, where he was

reared and educated with parental care and kindness. At a proper age,

he was apprenticed to a saddler in Nashville; but he never lost his

Indian tastes. His health began to fail before he reached the age of

manhood, and he was removed to the Hermitage. He sunk rapidly into

a consumption, and soon died, sincerely mourned and lamented by the

general and his wife, who had watched over his sick bed with untiring

assiduity.

At the Ten Islands, General Jackson established a post, called Fort

Strother, on the right bank of the Coosa, opposite the mouth of

Talluschatchee creek. The prisoners brought in by General Coffee

were forthwith sent to Huntsville. No supplies had yet arrived;

the army could not be furnished with regular rations; and it was

hardly known, one day, what they were to subsist on the next. Once

more the commanding general appealed to the contractors, by every

consideration of humanity and patriotism, to forward the provisions

which could alone save his troops from starvation. He likewise again

wrote to General White, who had arrived at Turkey Town, twenty-five

miles above Fort Strother, to join him immediately. His dispatch was

written on the seventh of November, and, late in the evening, before

it was closed, a runner came in from Lashly’s fort, at Talladega,

about thirty miles south of Fort Strother, and a short distance east

of the Coosa, with the intelligence that a large body of Red Sticks

had encamped near that place, which was occupied by friendly Indians,

and were preparing to destroy it and the inmates. General Jackson

could not hesitate to grant the desired succor. He determined to

march forthwith; the urgent circumstances which induced him to

advance, were mentioned in the dispatch to General White; and the

latter was entreated to lose no time in reaching Fort Strother, to

protect his dépôt and cover his rear.