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Andrew Jackson
Chuck Ormsby
Andrew
Jackson: Teenage revolutionary, land speculator, lawyer,
judge, adulterer, storekeeper, horse breeder, slave
holder, slave trader, dueler, militia leader, Indian
fighter, war hero, defender of slavery and protector of
the union, and, finally, president.
Born on March 6,1767, Andrew Jackson arrived just in time
to take part in America’s War of Independence. He
was just 13 years old when British forces led by Lt. Col.
Banastre Tarleton brutally massacred American freedom
fighters at Waxhaw near the Jackson family home on the
North Carolina – South Carolina border. One witness
remarked, “Not a man was spared … for fifteen
minutes after every man was prostrate, they went over the
ground plunging their bayonets into everyone that
exhibited any signs of life.”
At thirteen, Andrew Jackson, seeking revenge, joined the
rebel militia. Before it was over, Jackson would bear a
deep scar from a British saber across his skull …
and even deeper scars from months of depravation in a
British prison.
“Andrew Jackson, His Life and Times,” by H. W.
Brands, provides a wonderful bridge connecting America’s
Revolutionary War period to the annexation of Texas in
1845.
Jackson started from the most meager of beginnings. His
immigrant family had few possessions and it went downhill
from there: his father died before he was born and his
mother passed away only months after Jackson was released
from a British prison. Despite this inauspicious start,
Jackson had a knack for getting into the middle of events
that would later be retold in our history books.
Jackson was frequently engaged with Aaron Burr during the
events leading up to Burr’s conspiracy to separate
our western frontier from the union. While initially
friendly with Burr, Jackson was an ardent supporter of
the union and opposed any intrigue that would lead to a
loss of American territory.
As General of the Tennessee Militia, Jackson led the
massacre of the Indian settlement at Horseshoe Bend.
Earlier, Indian leaders known as The Prophet, Tecumseh,
and William Weatherford had precipitated an all out war
against white settlers. Raids on settlements were
frequent and usually ended in all the settlers being
brutally murdered.
As the War of 1812 neared, the British encouraged the
Indian revolt. Both Davy Crockett – with his
sidekick, George Russell – and Sam Houston (leader
of the Texas War for Independence from Mexico and first
president of Texas) fought under Jackson against the
Creek nation. On March 27, 1814 Jackson’s forces
stormed the well-fortified and heavily defended Indian
encampment at Horseshoe Bend on the Tallapoosa River.
What resulted was the bloodiest battle between whites and
Indians in American history. No Indians escaped; roughly
800 were killed. Indians who tried to flee across the
river were systematically shot until “the river ran
red with blood.”
Jackson gained national prominence with this highly
publicized victory over the Creek nation, at the time a
British ally in the War of 1812. But the massacre at
Horseshoe Bend was just a prelude to Jackson’s rout
of British forces in the Battle of New Orleans.
Although the battle was fought after U.S. and British
representatives had agreed on peace terms in Ghent on
Christmas Eve 1814, it was a glorious victory for
American forces. Few thought that a general, whose
greatest success was the decimation of an Indian fort,
could lead poorly trained American forces against Britain’s
professional army.
An observer of the battlefield, after a ceasefire was
declared, remarked, “Within the narrow compass of a
few hundred yards were gathered nearly a thousand bodies,
all of them arrayed in British uniforms.” An
American officer taunted the British who came to claim
their dead that American losses “amounted only to
eight men killed and fourteen men wounded.” For
many, it was the battle that cemented American
Independence.
Battles against Spanish Florida, a national financial
calamity, the struggle over slavery and the Missouri
Compromise — among other notable events — led
up to Jackson’s run for the presidency. Along the
way you get a glimpse of the other political leaders of
the time: Madison, Monroe, Henry Clay, John C. Calhoun,
Daniel Webster, John Quincy Adams, and Martin Van Buren.
Andrew Jackson lived a remarkable life during a
remarkable period of U.S. history. It is a history worth
knowing.
“Andrew Jackson, His Life and Times,” by H. W.
Brands, is published by Doubleday, a Division of Random
House, © 2005 by H. W. Brands.
*Send your questions comments to ValleyPatriot@aol.com
The May, 2006 Edition of
the Valley Patriot
The Valley Patriot is a Monthly
Publication.
All Contents (C) 2006, Valley Patriot, Inc.
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