Chapter VI: Part 6

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.]