Page:The American Cyclopædia (1879) Volume IX.djvu/506

 488 ANDREW JACKSON further engagements should bo made with Burr, and wrote to him, demanding to know the truth. lie also wrote a warning letter to Governor Olaiborne of Orleans territory, and another to President Jefferson, tendering the services of his militia division to the general government. Burr arrived at Nashville Dec. 14, and sought Jackson, whom he assured of the falsity of the charges against him. They had a pecuniary settlement,, and Burr departed, taking but two of the eight boats for which he had contracted. Shortly after his departure the president's proclamation denouncing him arrived, and he was burned in effigy. On Jan. 1, 1807, Gen. Jackson received orders from the government at Washington to hold his command in readiness to act. The revolu- tionary veterans in Nashville tendered their services to Jackson, who accepted them. He exerted himself with his usual energy; but his active loyalty did not save him from the suspicion that he was leagued with Burr. Summoned to Richmond as a witness in the trial of Burr, he acted as one of Burr's most zealous partisans. "There he harangued the crowd in the capitol square," says Mr. Par- ton, "defending Burr, and angrily denoun- cing Jefferson as a persecutor. There are those living (1859) who heard him do this. He made himself so conspicuous as Burr's cham- pion at Richmond, that Mr. Madison, the secre- tary of state, took deep offence at it, and re- membered it to Jackson's disadvantage five years later when he was president of the United States, with a war on his hands. For the same reason, I presume, it was that Jackson was not called upon to give testimony upon the trial." Jackson at this time belonged to that portion of the democratic party which sought to have Mr. Monroe nominated as President Jefferson's successor, the president himself preferring Mr. Madison. For some years he held no office, liv- ing at the Hermitage, and devoting himself to agriculture. His life was not altogether quiet, however, as, besides lesser disputes, he had an an- imated quarrel with Mr. Dinsmore. agent of the Choctaw Indians. When, in 1812, war was de- clared against England, Gen. Jackson promptly, tendered his services, and those of 2,500 men of his division of Tennessee militia, to the na- tional government, and the offer was as prompt- ly accepted ; but it was not until Oct. 21 that the government requested Gov. Blount to send 1,500 men to New Orleans. Jackson appoint- ed Dec. 10 for the meeting of the troops at Nashville. A force of infantry and cavalry, 2,070 strong, was organized, and on Jan. 7, 1813, the infantry embarked, while the cavalry marched across the country. On Feb. 15 the little army assembled at Natchez, where it re- mained by direction of Gen. Wilkinson. At the close of March Jackson received an order from the secretary of war to dismiss his corps, but he conducted his force back to Tennessee before disbanding it. It was on this march that the soldiers gave him the name of " Hick- ory," because of his toughness, and in time this was changed into " Old Hickory." He tendered his corps for an invasion of Canada, but no answer came from Washington, and on May 22, at Nashville, the men were dismissed. Government allowed his transportation drafts to be protested, and his private fortune would have been irretrievably ruined had not his friend Col. Benton made " an appeal from the justice to the fears of the administration." When the administration found that the state of Tennessee would be lost to it if this scanda- lous act were persisted in, justice was done. In 1813 Jackson's friend William (afterward Gen.) Carroll became involved in a quarrel with Mr. Jesse Benton, a brother of Col. T. II. Ben- ton, and challenged him. Carroll asked Jackson to be his second, which he declined, until Carroll told him there was a conspiracy "to run him (Carroll) out of the country," when he resolved to interfere. At first he was successful in his remonstrances with Benton, but the latter finally resolved that the duel should go on. Jackson acted as Carroll's second. Benton sent an offensive account of the affair to his brother, who was then serving Jackson so well at Wash- ington. Other enemies of Jackson sent him similar accounts. This led to an angry corre- spondence between Gen. Jackson and Col. Benton, and the latter made use of the harsh- est language in speaking of the former, all of which was reported to the general, who threat- ened to horsewhip the colonel the first time they should meet. On Sept. 4 Jackson, accom- panied by Col. Coffee, met the Bentons in the streets of Nashville. Bidding him defend him- self 1, and avowing his purpose, Jackson ad- vanced upon Col. Benton, who sought to draw a pistol, but was anticipated by his antagonist, who drew one and aimed at him. Benton re- treated, and Jackson followed him, until they reached the back door of the city hotel, when Jesse Benton fired at Jackson, shattering his left shoulder, the pistol being charged with two balls and a slug. Jackson fell ; and Cof- fee, who entered on hearing the report, fired at Col. Benton, but missed his aim. He was then about to strike down the colonel, when the latter stumbled down a staircase. Meantime Mr. S. Hays, a nephew of Mrs. Jackson, who knew that it was Jesse Benton that fired at the general, volunteered in his relative's aid, and a fierce conflict ensued between him and Jesse, he making use of a sword cane first, and then of a dirk, and throwing him down. Benton was wounded in several places, and would have been killed had not a bystander caught Hays's hand. Nothing but Jackson's own resolution prevented the loss of his left arm, as all the doctors but one recommended amputation. The massacre of Fort Mimms by the Creek Indians, Aug. 30, 1813, created an extraordinary excitement throughout the southwest. Jackson addressed the volunteers, and appointed Fort St. Stephen as the rendez- vous for all who would arm themselves to