Jackson, Andrew

Jackson, Andrew (1767–1845), War of 1812 general and seventh president of the United States.Jackson first experienced war at thirteen, fighting in the Battle of Hanging Rock, South Carolina (6 August 1780). Subsequently captured, he remained uncooperative and was slashed by a British officer, creating an antipathy as permanent as the scar on his face. Jackson's entire family perished in the Revolutionary War.

In 1788, Jackson moved to western North Carolina (now Tennessee), where he served as a field‐grade officer in the Tennessee militia and was elected, 1802, as major general—a post considered second only to that of the governor. In 1813, he commanded the Tennessee troops sent to subdue the Creeks in present‐day Alabama. After several minor victories that significantly weakened the Indians, Jackson delivered a devastating blow at the Battle of Horseshoe Bend, 27–28 March 1814.

Thereafter, Jackson was given a major generalship in the U.S. Army and put in charge of the Gulf Coast region. He seized Spanish Pensacola in the fall of 1814 and then marched to New Orleans to counter a British invasion. After a series of largely successful preliminary engagements, on 8 January 1815 he and his troops won the main Battle of New Orleans, one of the severest defeats ever suffered by a British army. Jackson emerged a national hero.

Retaining his major generalship after the war, Jackson in 1818 pursued Indians into Spanish Florida and again occupied Pensacola. The Monroe administration reluctantly supported him, using the conquest to force Spain to sell the Floridas to the United States. Jackson resigned his commission in 1821. Except while acting as commander in chief during his presidency, he never held another command.

Jackson was a superb general. Although unschooled in theory, he was a competent tactician and strategist. He thoroughly prepared for battle and acted quickly and resourcefully to take the war to the enemy and to catch him by surprise. Among his greatest assets as a leader was an indomitable will, which earned him the nickname “Old Hickory” in 1813 when he continued to campaign despite a nearly crippling case of dysentery. He expected the same devotion to duty from others. During the War of 1812, he sanctioned the hanging of seven militiamen for disobedience or desertion, and jailed several New Orleans officials (including a federal judge) who challenged his decision to continue martial law after the British had left. Jackson often inspired fierce loyalty in officers and enlisted men alike; even his critics followed him into battle, if only because they feared him more than the enemy.

Jackson was the first westerner to become a national military hero. Like few of his contemporaries, he demonstrated a talent for commanding militia and volunteers no less than regulars, and showed equal skill in conducting conventional operations against European regulars and unconventional warfare against Indians.
[See also Commander in Chief, President as; Native American Wars: Wars Between Native Americans and Europeans and Euro‐Americans; Seminole Wars.]

Bibliography

Robert V. Remini , Andrew Jackson, 3 vols., 1977–84.

Donald R. Hickey