W CENTURY SERIES ♦ » t " ■/«" » » » .APHICAL x ORICAL ^H AND CLASSICAL LITERATURE && jf BIOGRAPHY 1 f T i f 1 Jackson " •%*«*■*• \ VL STRADLING & COMPANY PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA, PA* SECON'n COPY, I6b9. LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. nwp..4Z^ShSo Shelf. #3 UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. . THE STORY OF 44 OLD HICKORY" ANDREW JACKSON BY HENRY W. ELSON, A.M. m J. M. STRADLING & COMPANY PUBLISHERS PHILADELPHIA, PA. .^1 34637 Copyright, 1899 By J. M. STRADLING & COMPANY WESTCOTT & THOMSON, ELECTROTYPERS, PHILADA. CONTENTS. PAGE I. Birth and Boyhood ok Andrew Jackson 5 II. Jackson in the Revolution 8 III. Journey to the Far West 15 TV. Wild Life in Tennessee 18 V. Jackson in Congress 23 VI. Jackson becomes a Judge 26 VII. Old Hickory 31 VIII. Fighting Indians 36 IX. More Indian Fighting 39 X. Major-General Andrew Jackson 44 XI. Battle of New Orleans 48 XII. Echoes from the Battle 53 XIII. General Jackson becomes President 58 XIV. Jackson as President 63 XV. Jackson's Old Age 67 3 GENERAL ANDREW JACKSON THE STORY OF ANDREW JACKSON. I. BIRTH AND BOYHOOD OF ANDREW JACKSON. In 1765, two years after the French and Indian War had closed, a man named Andrew Jackson, with his good wife and two bright little boys named Hugh and Robert, came from the north of Ireland and settled in South Carolina. They landed at the port of Charleston and made a long journey through the wilderness, one hundred and sixty miles to the northwest They came to a settlement, called the Wax- haw Settlement, after a tribe of Indians of that name. Here Mr. Jackson made his home. He was not a rich man, but had means enough left to purchase a little farm, on which he built a little log-house and began to clear away the forest. The family rejoiced to have a home of their own though it was a rude one. In his native country Mr. Jackson had been only a tenant, 6 ANDREW J A CKSON. and his wife had helped support the family by weaving linen. Now they owned their home and looked for- ward to a long, happy life. But their happiness in their forest-home was soon to be ended, and their family life broken up forever. Scarcely had they been two years in their new abode when Mr. Jackson's health gave way ; he became ill and soon died. On the sad day of the funeral Mrs. Jack- son's brother-in-law took her and her two little sons to his own home, a short distance away; and here a few days later, on the fifteenth of March, 1767, another child was born into the family. The new baby was a boy, and his mother named him Andrew, after his dead father. The home of the Jacksons was in South Carolina, very near the State line; but the house of this relative was just across the line in Union County, North Carolina, and it was here that the future president was born. Mrs. Jackson was thus left with three little fatherless boys, and for them she must care as best she could ; but she was a noble woman, ANDRE W J A CKSON. J brave and industrious, and she left nothing undone that she could do for her children. Hugh and Robert were soon old enough to help earn the living, and with what they could do and what the mother could earn at her spin- ning-wheel, they managed to live with comfort. During the long winter evenings the broth- ers would often sit at their mother's knee and hear her tell of the oppression of the poor in Ireland, of their long voyage across the ocean to their new home in the widerness, and of their brave and generous father, whom Andrew had never seen. Mrs. Jackson was a devout Christian, and she desired that one of her sons should be- come a minister. Her choice fell upon Andrew, and he was sent to school in a little log meeting-house in a pine forest near their home. Here he spent a few months each year for several years, while his faithful mother earned enough to pay his expenses by spinning flax. Andrew learned readily, and was soon able to read and write. He was very fond of sports, especially riding, 8 ANDRE W J A CKSON, hunting, and wrestling, nor was there a boy to be found in all that region so full of courage as he. II. JACKSON IN THE REVOLUTION. While our young hero was attending school the Revolutionary War broke out, and many a brave colonist left his home and dear ones to lay down his life on the battle-field. But the South was not greatly harassed until near the close of the war. In 1780 the city of Charleston was captured by the British, and Lord Cornwallis passed through the Caro- linas and laid waste the country. In May of that year Colonel Tarleton, one of the most vicious and inhuman of the Brit- ish raiders, came right through the Waxhaw Settlement, suprised a camp of militia, and killed and wounded more than two hundred. The old meeting-house was now turned into a hospital, and Mrs. Jackson and her two sons became nurses and did all in their power to care for the wounded. ANDRE W J A CKSON. 9 I say her two sons, for there were now but two ; the oldest boy Hugh had joined the army some time before, and, after fighting in the battle of Stono, had died of heat and exhaustion. It was here while caring for the wounded that the heart of Andrew Jackson was fired with a love of his country and a hatred of its foes that burned in his bosom as long as he lived. Before the summer was over he and his brother Robert took up arms and joined the Patriot army. Andrew was only thirteen years old, but almost as tall as a man and as brave as a lion. For nearly a year the Patriots and Tories carried on war with each other, and there were many deeds of cruelty. The Tories did not belong to the English army; they lived in America, but favored the English side and fought against the Patriots, By and by Cornwallis, hearing that there were so many Patriots at Waxhaw, sent a body of troops to assist the Tories. Forty of the Patriots, including the two Jack- I O ANDRE W J A CKSON. son boys, assembled in the old meeting-house to prepare for defence, but a Tory told the troops where they were, and eleven of the forty were captured, the rest escaping, mostly on horseback. The Jackson brothers both escaped, but in different directions. Andrew had a companion in his flight, Thomas Crawford, his cousin. The two galloped along at headlong speed, hotly pursued by the British, till they came to a swamp into which they plunged. His cousin was taken captive in the swamp, but Andrew gained the other side and soon left his ene- mies behind. Toward evening as he was riding along in the lonely forest he saw some one in the dis- tance, and, on looking carefully, found it to be his brother Robert. What a happy meeting it must have been, for neither of them knew, before they met, that the other was alive ! That night was spent by these two brothers under the bank of a little creek. When morning came they were almost starved. Leaving their horses they crept slyly A NDRE W J A CKSON. I I to a farm-house to ask for food, but an enemy saw them and gave the alarm. The house was soon surrounded by English soldiers and the two brave lads were made prisoners. I am sorry to have to tell you how these sol- diers acted. There was no one in the house but a woman and her little children, besides the two captured boys; but these soldiers, acting more like brutes than men, broke to pieces all the furniture in the house, tore up the bedding and clothing — even the clothing of the baby in the mother's arms. While this was going on, the brutal officer in command ordered Andrew Jackson to clean his boots. Andrew answered: " Sir, I am a prisoner of war, and claim to be treated as such." At these words the man drew his sword and struck a terrible blow at the boy's head, but Andrew saved his life by throwing up his hand. His hand was badly cut, and he also re- ceived a severe wound in his head, the scars of which remained to the end of his life. 1 2 ANDRE W J A CKSON. The officer now turned to Robert and or- dered him to clean the boots, but he also re- fused, when the officer struck him with his sword and made a terrible gash in his head which afterward caused the boy's death. They were then placed on horses and taken to Camden, forty miles away, and during the long journey they were allowed nothing to eat nor to drink. At Camden they were thrown into prison with about two hundred and fifty other prisoners. Here they spent several weeks without hav- ing their wounds dressed, without beds, and with no food but bad bread. There was one whose efforts to get the two brothers out of prison never ceased, and that was their loving mother. At length she succeeded, but when she met her boys she hardly knew them, so haggard and weak they had become. They were in the first stages of small-pox, which had broken out in the prison. The doctors did not know in those days how to treat this disease as they do now, and many a poor captive died of it in the prison. ANDRE W J A CKSON. 1 3 The wound in Robert's head had not healed, and when set free he was unable to walk. His mother had two horses there and he was put on one of them, but he could not sit alone and two friends had to hold him during all that journey of forty miles to their home. The mother rode the other horse, and An- drew walked behind without hat or shoes and at the same time suffering with the small-pox. It was a long, terrible journey. A rain- storm overtook them on the way and their suf- ferings were increased. When at last they reached home, they were utterly exhausted, and poor Robert died within two days. Andrew had a long siege of sickness, and, for a time, lost his mind ; but the loving care of a tender mother brought him back to health though it was many months before he had fully recovered. What a noble woman was Mrs. Jackson! She had lost two sons and almost the third in defence of her country ; but she was not one to sit down and say that she had done enough. She could not rest when there was suffering around her. 1 4 ANDRE W J A CKSON. Hearing that the prisoners in the British ships at Charleston were in great distress, and some of them being her neighbors, she resolved to do what she could. She left her boy with friends and made the long journey, one hundred and sixty miles, that she might minister to the wants of those in distress. She truly believed the Saviours words: " Inasmuch as ye have done it unto one of the least of these, ye have done it unto me." Andrew Jackson never again saw his mother. She gave her own life, as well as that of her sons, to the cause of her country. When about to return home she was seized with a fatal fever and soon died. She was buried near the place where she died, and only God knows her burial-place. Her son Andrew searched for her grave in after years, but he never could find it. ANDRE W J A CKSON. I 5 III. JOURNEY TO THE FAR WEST. Andrew Jackson was thus left without parents or near relatives while still a boy, only fourteen years of age. But he never forgot his beloved mother and the lessons she had taught him. He loved to speak of her as long as he lived. Her life was so pure and so unselfish, her character so firm, so lovable, and so kind that her image was forever imprinted on his soul. Above all did she impress upon his mind a reverence for truth and child-like trust in God. Many years after, when he had become a great man, he would often quote some homely saying when in the heat of an argument, and then remark : " That I learned from my dear old mother." What a blessing for a boy to have a good mother. Many a boy who has such a mother does not honor her as he should. For several years Andrew Jackson remained in the Waxhaw Settlement. He taught school 1 6 ANDREW J A CKSON. for two or three years. His education was not what is now required of school-teachers. No doubt many a boy twelve years old now knows more than he did. When he was eighteen he decided to be- come a lawyer, and made a long journey to Salisbury, North Carolina. Here he entered the law office of Mr. McCay, one of the lead- ing lawyers of the State, and remained with him for two years. In 1788 there was a party leaving North Carolina for the far west, as it was called — that is, for Tennessee. The land west of the Mississippi River did not then belong to the United States. Tennessee was not then a State. It belonged to North Carolina and was called Washington County. Mr. Jackson, who was now a lawyer, twenty- one years old, resolved to go with them. The journey was a long one through hundreds of miles of dense forest and over rugged moun- tains. There were many wild animals and sav- age Indians in the way; but the men were strong and brave and they reached Nashville A NDRE W J A CKSON. 1 7 in October. Nashville is now a beautiful city; then it was a small village of log-cabins. As soon as Mr. Jackson reached Nashville he became public prosecutor — that is, the law- yer who brings criminals to justice. Before he came there was no one there who had the courage to do this. Many of the men in the country refused to pay their debts, and when asked to do so they were insulted and wanted to fight. They often fought with pistol or knife. But Andrew Jackson was a hero, and when sent to arrest them, if they wished to fight him, he was always ready for them. He loved justice and right, and the law- breakers soon came to fear and hate him. Many a time his life was in danger from these men, but he always came out ahead in the end. One day a gang of ruffians, who had long defied the law, were arrested by Mr. Jackson. When they came into the court they became insolent and defiant and refused to be tried. Jackson instantly drew his pistols and called upon the good citizens to assist him. When the ruffians saw what kind of a man 1 8 ANDRE W J A CKSON. they had to deal with they were awed and made no further trouble. They were then tried and punished according to law. IV. WILD LIFE IN TENNESSEE. Tennessee was a wild country one hundred years ago when Andrew Jackson first went there. It was like some of the mining regions of the Rocky Mountains at present. Many of the people were as rough and ig- norant as any of the cow-boys of our western prairies. Hostile Indians swarmed all around the settlers, and scarcely a week passed without some one being killed by them. Women and children never went away from home alone. The men all carried guns. If two men stopped in the road to talk, they would stand, each with his back to the other, one looking each way with rifle in hand ready for use. No one dared stoop to drink from a spring without having a comrade on guard. Boys and ANDRE W J A CKSON. 1 9 girls could not go out berrying without the at- tendance of armed men. One dark, lonely night Mr. Jackson was riding through the woods alone in the heart of the Indian country. The rain had fallen for some hours, and he came to a stream that he could not ford. He did not dare to light a fire, lest the Indians should see it, nor even to let his horse move about to browse. So he took off the saddle, put it at the root of a tree, and sat upon it all night, holding the bridle in one hand and his rifle in the other. Thus he sat in silence, and when morn- ing dawned he mounted his horse and soon reached his home. At another time he travelled through the forest for sixty hours without sleeping, the Indians being on his trail. Then he wrapped himself in his blanket, lay down on the ground, and soon fell asleep. It was midwinter, and when he awoke in the morning he found that six inches of snow had fallen on him. But the Indians had lost his track and he escaped. 20 A NDRE W J A CKSON. Besides the Indians there were many white men who would defy the law and do as they pleased. A new country always attracts per- sons of this kind. There were many deeds of violence. Not only the law-breakers but the farmers and everybody were quick to resent an insult, and it was a common thing to see men or boys fighting. When two men got into a quarrel they would often settle the matter on the spot with pistol and knife, and sometimes one or both were killed. Any one living in such a country very long is almost sure to become like the rest of the people ; and so it was with Andrew Jackson. He lived many years in this wild, half-civ- ilized country, and we find him as ready as anyone to engage in a fight. There was very little money in Tennessee at this time, and the people had to use other things instead of money. They used sugar and the skins of animals and different kinds of liquors for money. ANDRE W JA CKSON. 2 1 For example, a coon-skin or fox-skin was worth a half-gallon of whiskey or twelve pounds of sugar. Three coon-skins equalled a gallon of peach brandy, and four gallons of peach brandy were worth an otter-skin. The otter-skin was the most valuable piece of money they had. When large sums of money were to be paid, the soft money — that is, the liquor, was con- veyed in large jugs, and the hard money, the skins, in wooden boxes. To save the trouble of opening the box to count the money every time it changed hands the tail of each skin was left sticking out of a small opening for the purpose. But sometimes a dishonest person would fill his box with coon-skins with otter's-tails tacked on them and thus deceive the unwary. One of the worst features of social life a hundred years ago was duel fighting. When a man felt himself insulted by another, he would challenge him to fight a duel. Then they would meet on the field of honor, as they called it, stand some distance apart, and fire at each other with pistols. Sometimes 2 2 ANDRE W J A CKSON. they would use knives or swords. It often happened that one or both were killed or dis- abled. If a man refused to fight a duel, or did not send a challenge when insulted, he was called a coward, and was looked down upon by the people. Many took pride in the num- ber of duels they had fought. There was more duelling in a new settle- ment like Tennessee than elsewhere, but the practice existed in all the States. It had been introduced from Europe. It was by duelling that Alexander Hamil- ton, Stephen Decatur, Senator Broderic, and hundreds of others lost their lives. Andrew Jackson fought several duels, and at various times narrowly escaped being killed. With all his courage he had not the moral courage to defy public opinion and refuse to fight a duel. Happily this barbarous practice has almost entirely died out. ANDRE W J A CKSON. 2 3 V. JACKSON IN CONGRESS. In 1796 Tennessee became a State. At the close of the Revolutionary War there were but thirteen States in the Union. The first to be admitted after this was Vermont. Ken- tucky came next. This made fifteen ; now Tennessee becomes the sixteenth State. Before a territory becomes a State the peo- ple elect men to meet and frame a constitution — that is, a writing which is to be the basis of the laws. Andrew Jackson was one of the men elected to make the Constitution of Tennessee. When this was done and the State was ad- mitted into the Union, the people elected Mr. Jackson to Congress. Congress is composed of two houses, first, the Senate, or Upper House, and second, the House of Representatives, or Lower House. It was the Lower House to which Jackson was elected. He now had a long journey to make, nearly 24 ANDRE W J A CKSON. eight hundred miles, to Philadelphia, where Congress then met. It was not until the year 1800 that Congress met in Washington City. There were no railroads in those days, and Jackson had to make this journey on horse- back. It took about six weeks. As he crossed the mountains his mind must have gone back to the time, eight years before, when he had crossed the same mountains, seeking his fortune in the far western country. He reached Philadelphia in December just in time to hear President Washington make his last speech to Congress. It was the custom then for the President to speak sometimes be- fore Congress, but he never does so now. This was Jackson's first appearance in a great city. He must have looked like a true backwoodsman. He was described as a tall, lank, uncouth-looking person with long hair done up in a cue and tied at the back with an eel-skin. The only important thing that Jackson did in this Congress was to secure payment to the people of Tennessee for an expedition against the Indians three years before. ANDRE W J A CKSON. 2 5 The Indians had become so hostile that the people could not wait for orders from the gov- ernment, so they took their guns and drove the Indians back. Now they asked that the government pay them for this, as it did in other territories. Some were opposed to doing this ; but Jack- son stuck to it and won his case. The gov- ernment paid nearly twenty-three thousand dollars to the Tennessee Indian fighters. At the end of this session of Congress Jack- son went back to his home. Soon after this there was a vacancy from his State in the Sen- ate, and he was appointed to fill it. So the next year, 1797, when he went back to Philadelphia, he was a United States Senator. But Senator Jackson did not like the business of law-making, and he resigned from the Sen- ate within a year, returned to Tennessee, and became a private citizen. 26 ANDRE W J A CKSON. VI. JACKSON BECOMES A JUDGE. Soon after Jackson had left the Senate he became a store-keeper. He would purchase goods in Philadelphia and send them to Pitts- burg in wagons, a distance of three hundred and fifty miles ; from there they were sent down the Ohio River in flat-boats, and thence car- ried on pack-horses, through the wilderness, to Nashville. This was certainly keeping store under diffi- culties, and we can imagine that the store was not a very extensive one. But Jackson was not left long in private life. He was elected to a seat in the Supreme Court of the State. He did not desire to be a judge, but he had always said that a citizen should not seek nor decline public duty. He there- fore accepted because he felt it his duty to do so. He held the office several years, when he resigned. During this time he had to travel over the State and hold court in different towns, A NDRE W J A CKSON. 2 7 and many were his thrilling adventures among those half-civilized people. The criminals and ruffians hated the judge, because they knew it was his business to deal justice and to punish them when they de- served it. A judge had to be a man of iron nerve, or the ruffians would intimidate him. Jackson was just such a man. When he was angry his eyes shone like fire and no criminal could stand before him. He loved justice and despised crime and the oppression of the poor. One of the most thrilling incidents in his life was at the trial of a criminal named Russell Bean. Bean was a very bad man ; he would commit almost any brutal crime ; he even cut off a baby's ears to spite its mother. One day a warrant was issued for his arrest. Jackson was in the court room ready to give him a trial, but Bean refused to be arrested and de- fied the sheriff. As he was armed with pistol and knife, the sheriff was afraid of him. The sheriff came in and told Jackson that the man sat on his horse 2 8 ANDRE W J A CKSON. with drawn pistol and swore he would shoot anyone that came near him. " Then summon a posse," cried Jackson. The sheriff went out again, but soon re- turned and told Jackson that the men were all afraid to lay hands on the man. " Then summon me," roared Jackson. The anger of Judge Jackson was now at its highest pitch ; he leaped from the bench, ran out to where the desperado, Bean, w r as blustering and threatening, pointed his pistol at his head, and ordered him to surrender. Bean's nerve failed him ; he dropped his pistol and said : " There's no use, Jedge, I give in." He was then brought before the court and punished. He afterward said that no man could stand before the flashing eye of Judge Jackson. One of the stories told of Jackson while he was judge is quite amusing, and shows how cool he was at a critical moment. He was rid- ing along a lonely road in his gig when he met a ruffian who had been punished in court by him years before. The man now thought he would have some ANDRE W J A CKSON. 2<) fun with the one who had sentenced him to punishment. He drew his pistol and ordered Jackson to dismount. Jackson coolly got out of the gig. " Now, dance for your life," said the man. " How can I dance with these heavy boots on," answered Jackson, "let me get my slip- pers." " All right," said the man, and Jackson quietly went to his valise. But instead of the slippers, he drew his pistol, whirled upon the man, and pointed it to his head. The man was so taken back that he lost his aim at the judge and stood trembling before him. " Drop that pistol," shouted Jackson, and he dropped it. " Now, dance," demanded Jackson, and the ruffian began to dance, Jackson pointing his pistol at him all the time. When the man had danced a long time and began to slacken his efforts from fatigue, Jackson said, " Keep on dancing." So he made him dance till he could stand up no longer and fell helpless to the ground, and Jackson drove off. 30 Andre w ja ckson. I shall close this chapter by relating one other incident, showing how faithful Jackson was to a friend. A large crowd had met at a place called Clover Bottom for the annual horse-races. The landlord of the tavern set a long table in the open air and hundreds of men gathered around it. Indeed the crowd was so dense on both sides of the table that no one could get through it. Judge Jackson was at the head of the table and a friend of his named Patten Anderson was at the other end, several rods away. An- derson had enemies there who created a dis- turbance, drew their pistols, and were about to shoot him. Jackson saw the great danger of his friend, but the crowd was such that he could not get to him. What could he do ? Well, if ever there was a man who could always find a way to do what he wanted to do, it was Andrew Jackson. He leaped from his seat, sprang upon the table, and ran among the dishes the whole length of the table, shouting, " I'm coming, Patten." ANDRE W J A CKSON. 3 1 As he ran he put his hand into his back coat pocket as if for a pistol, but he had no pistol. He had, instead, an old steel tobacco- box with a stiff spring, which made a click similar to that of a pistol. This he drew out and snapped. The men thinking this a pistol, and seeing the terrible flash in Jackson's eye, instantly dispersed, and Anderson was saved. VII. OLD HICKORY. The store and farm of Judge Jackson were so neglected by his being away from home a large part of each year that he decided to resign the judgeship and take personal charge of his affairs at home. This he did in 1804. His finances had also suffered greatly through the failure of a man in Philadelphia whose notes Jackson held. By this failure he lost about seven thousand dollars, and to meet it he was forced to sell a large tract of land. 3 2 ANDRE W J A CKSON. Jackson owned at one time more than twenty- five thousand acres of land, but it was not cul- tivated ; its value therefore was not very great. A large part of this now had to be sold to pay his debts. He then moved, with his wife, to a large farm not far from Nashville, and this became their permanent home. On this farm Jack- son built in later years a fine house and named it The Hermitage. This house is still standing and is looked upon as the most interesting place in Tennessee. Before Jackson had been sent to Congress he was married to Mrs. Rachel Robards. Their married life was a long and happy one. Jackson thought his wife the best woman in the world, and was fondly devoted to her as long as she lived. From the time that Jackson ceased to be a judge till the War of 1812 began, he lived the quiet life of a planter and store-keeper. There was little in his life during this period that would interest the reader. But his experience during the war is highly interesting to every American. He had been ANDRE W J A CKSON. 3 3 chosen some years before as the leader of the Tennessee militia. The militia of a State are the men who are drilled and practised for warfare, though they do not belong to the regular army. Volunteers are men who offer to fight for their country in time of war, though they do not belong to the militia. Early in the summer of 1812, only a few days after war was declared, General Jack- son offered to raise a body of troops and lead them into the field. His offer was accepted, and in a few months he had over two thousand volunteers ready for service. He was ordered to lead them down the Mississippi River, as it was supposed there would soon be an enemy in that part of the country. After a long journey down the river they came to the town of Natchez in February. Here they stopped and went into camp. They drilled for many weeks and prepared for a campaign, but no enemy appeared. At length, late in the spring, the general re- ceived a letter from the Secretary of War. It 34 ANDRE W J A CKSON. was very brief and very discouraging. It sim- ply stated that there was no further need of the troops under Jackson, and ordered him to dis- miss them at once and turn over their arms to another general, then commanding at New Orleans. General Jackson was very indignant when he received this letter. He said it was cruel and outrageous to lead men five hundred miles from their homes and then turn them out to find their way back through the wilderness, without money, without arms, without food. Many of them were young men, and he had promised their parents that he would be a father to them and bring them back to their homes, if in his power. And, besides, one hundred and fifty of them were sick, and fifty-six of them could not lift their heads from the pillow. What a strange thine it would have been to turn these out without protection ! But General Jackson made up his mind that he would not obey this order of the Secretary of War. He said he would march the men back to Tennessee, if he had to pay the ex- ANDREW JACKSON. 35 penscs himself. And so they started in a few days. The sick were put on the few wagons and horses which they had ; the rest walked. The general had three good horses of his own ; but he gave them all to the sick, while he walked with the others. Jackson was a good walker and bore the trip well, though he was not a strong, hearty man. One day as they were jogging along some one said, " The general is tough ; " another said, "As tough as hickory/' From this he soon came to be called " Old Hickory," a name he retained as long as he lived. The army reached their homes after march- ing about a month. The sick men had re- covered on the way, and they were all glad to meet their friends again. The government afterward bore the expense of the trip and thus saved General Jackson from financial ruin. 36 ANDRE W J A CKSON. VIII. FIGHTING INDIANS. General Jackson was very popular in Tennessee after returning with his army from down the river. The people liked the way he had treated the soldiers, and his praises were sounded on every side. Now it happened that the Creek Indians be- came involved in the War of 1812. They were led to fight against the Americans by a noted Indian chief from the north named Tecumseh, who was a friend to England. It was very wrong for the Creeks to fight on the British side, for they were, at that time, receiving a pension from the United States. One of the first acts of these Indians was to commit a horrible crime — the massacre of Fort Mims. This occurred in August, 1813. The fort was in the southern part of Alabama, was built of wood, and covered about an acre of ground. When the white people of the neighborhood heard the Indians were hostile they gathered ANDRE IV J A CKSON. 3 J here, men, women, and children, until there were about five hundred in the fort. One day a thousand Indian warriors, hideous with war-paint, rushed upon the fort and mur- dered the people, women and children as well as men, until only a few were left ! The news spread through Tennessee, and the wildest excitement prevailed. What could be done ? The people felt that the murder should be avenged and their own homes protected. " Raise an army and march into the Indian country," was the cry throughout Tennessee. Who would lead the army ? Jackson was their general ; but he had been engaged in a street- fight, and his left arm was terribly shattered with a pistol-ball. He had not been out of bed for some weeks, and no one thought he would be able to lead them. But as soon as he heard what was going on, he got up and said he was ready to go. He was a man of wonderful nerve and courage. His arm had not yet healed, but within a few days he was on his horse marching with an army into the Indian country. His left 38 A NDRE W J A CKSON. arm was in a sling and he had to be lifted on and off his horse. The army marched into the Indian country a hundred miles or more and encamped at a place called Fort Strother. Here the general learned that the Indians were encamped at a place called Talladega, about thirty miles away. He now hastened with his army to the place, covering nearly the whole distance in one night. Next morning he met the Indians, and the battle of Talladega was fought. The Indians were put to flight in a short time and Jackson returned to his camp. But there was one serious trouble with which he had to contend and that was a want of provis- ions for his soldiers. There being no railroads, it was not easy to get supplies to the army and they had to wait for several weeks with almost nothing to eat. The result was that the men grew restless and wanted to go home. Jackson pleaded with them to stay with him until the Creeks were subdued, and at times he would have half the army watch the other half to keep them from going. ANDRE W J A CKSON. 39 At last the men vowed they would go home, even after supplies had reached them, and be- gan to move off in a body. Jackson's old fighting spirit now arose. He rode in front of the moving column, laid his gun across his horse's neck with his right hand, his left still being in a sling, and said he would shoot the first man that made another step. Not a man stirred for some minutes. At length they gave it up and agreed to return to their duty. It was afterward found that the musket that Jackson had at the time was too much out of order to be discharged. IX. MORE INDIAN FIGHTING. The troops now under Jackson were so dis- contented, that he thought it unwise to force them to stay longer. They were not regular soldiers, had never been in war before, and soon grew tired of it. They had won an important victory and now longed to go back to their farm and their 4