DOMESTIC
General Jackson’s wife was Rachel Donelson. She first contracted a marriage with Lewis Robards, who lived in the territory of Kentucky, then under the jurisdiction of Virginia. The marriage was not a happy one and she returned to her paternal home near Nashville. Robards presented a petition for divorce to the Legislature of Virginia, alleging desertion. At that time Legislatures passed upon and granted divorces. The news came in 1791 that the divorce had been granted. Later in the year Jackson and Mrs. Robards were married. It subsequently developed that the Virginia Legislature had not granted the divorce outright, but had authorized a court in the Kentucky territory to do so upon hearing of the facts. The divorce was not made effective until late in 1793. Immediately thereafter in 1794 Jackson and his wife were remarried. While this irregularity was without intent on the part of either, it was in after years used as the basis of attack upon Jackson by his political enemies, being especially stressed by them in the acrimonious campaign of 1828. These attacks were met by a plain statement of the facts to the country by Judge Overton, General Jackson’s close friend and one-time law partner.
The attacks gave deep distress to Mrs. Jackson, who was a truly good and noble woman and greatly beloved by all who knew her. One of the outstanding features of General Jackson’s life was his tender devotion to her. After her death this devotion continued to her memory until he was laid by her side. It was given beautiful expression in the epitaph which he himself wrote and which is carved upon her tomb in the Hermitage garden. No student of Jackson should fail to read and reread this epitaph.
Mrs. Jackson died December 22, 1828, just after her husband’s election to the Presidency. As he sat at her bier, he said: “What are all the world and its honors to me since she is taken from me?”
A great demonstration planned in Nashville in celebration of Jackson’s election was cancelled on account of Mrs. Jackson’s death.
General and Mrs. Jackson had no children. In 1809 they adopted the infant son of Severn Donelson, brother of Mrs. Jackson, and named him Andrew Jackson, Jr. He bore that name and became heir to all the estate.
An Appraisal of Jackson
He was absolutely without fear, having not only superb physical courage but moral courage of the same degree.
He was intensely patriotic, and having been cradled in the Revolution in which as a boy he took part, he was imbued with the underlying spirit of that conflict, and carried that spirit throughout his life and expressed it in his acts.
He agreed with Thomas Jefferson’s construction of the fundamental purposes of government and became an active, dynamic exponent of Jefferson’s democratic ideals; for example, believing in the doctrine of special privileges to none, with his first message to Congress he began the fight against renewal of the charter of the United States Bank, then grown into a great financial and political power, and continued until he finally destroyed that beneficiary of privilege.
He had what might be called a dominating personality, inspiring a devoted and confident following, as is the case with a leader who always knows just where he is and why he is there; he had an iron will which surmounted difficulties and mastered his own physical infirmities.
He had at times a violent temper, but it was always subject to his will.
He had the power of forming quick, comprehensive, and just judgment, and the faculty of putting judgment once formed into immediate execution.
In manner he was considerate and scrupulously courteous, being called by one writer the most polite gentleman in the world.
The rare devotion of his friends and those nearest in contact to him gives attestation to a warm and kindly nature, probably nothing giving stronger evidence of this nature than the letters of fatherly advice written from the White House to his youthful ward, Hutchins.
His messages are among the strongest papers of all the Presidents, breathing lofty statesmanship and patriotism inspiring to all who read.
His two terms as President marked a distinct advance in popular government, and ushered in a new era.
No appraisal of Jackson could be complete without inclusion of reference to the military phase of his remarkable career. His military genius was little short of marvelous. It aimed at and achieved success in every campaign he commanded. It gives him rank as one of the greatest generals of our history. It was conspicuously and gloriously displayed in saving the Republic at a critical hour. But that military genius was never exercised except for his country’s defense, being subordinated at all times to high conception of his country’s good. If, on the other hand, he had loved military glory for that glory’s sake, if he had been of the Man-on-Horseback type, that genius and his powers of leadership might have carried him far in the lists of the world’s military chieftains. We are told that Napoleon Bonaparte, during the hundred days of his return from Elba, studied Jackson’s defense of New Orleans.
The Duel With Dickinson
The mock heroic challenge of one Thomas Swann, to which he responded by a public caning of the challenger, Jackson regarded as inspired by Dickinson, and in his letter to Swann (before Swann’s challenge) he charged that Dickinson was the instigator. Dickinson responded, using this language in conclusion: “As to the word ‘coward,’ I think it is as applicable to yourself as to anybody I know. And I shall be very glad when an opportunity serves to know in what manner you give your ‘anodynes,’ and hope you will take in payment one of my most moderate cathartics.” After sending this letter Dickinson left for New Orleans, where he remained four months. In the meantime Jackson had a newspaper controversy with Swann, in which he did not hesitate to connect Dickinson with Swann and to ascribe to them sinister motives. After Dickinson’s return he gave a communication to the press in which he denounced Jackson as “a worthless scoundrel, a poltroon, and a coward.” Jackson immediately challenged Dickinson to a duel, and the challenge was accepted before the day ended. General Thomas Overton was Jackson’s second, and Dr. Hanson Catlet the second for Dickinson. The meeting was arranged for Friday, May 30, 1806, at Harrison Mills on Red River, Logan County, Kentucky, the hour being seven o’clock in the morning. Here is the language of the agreement: “The distance shall be twenty-four feet, the parties facing each other with their pistols down perpendicularly. When they are ready, the single word ‘Fire’ is to be given, at which they are to fire as soon as they please. Should either fire before the word is given, we pledge ourselves to shoot him down instantly. The person to give the word to be determined by lot; also the choice of positions. We mutually agree that the above regulations shall be observed in the affair of honor depending between General Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson, Esq.” The place fixed for the meeting was a long day’s ride from Nashville and the duelists were obliged to start about twenty-four hours in advance of the hour set. Dickinson, in addition to his second, was accompanied by a gay party of friends. On the journey he is said to have performed feats with his pistol, which were related to Jackson and Overton, who followed. After spending the night in neighboring cabins both combatants were on the field at the hour appointed. Overton won the right to give the word. As soon as he called “Fire,” Dickinson shot and the dust arose from Jackson’s coat. While badly wounded, Jackson, with deliberation, aimed and fired, and Dickinson reeled, shot through the body. He died that night. Jackson was hit in the left breast. He suffered from the wound at periods years afterwards.
ANDREW JACKSON, JR.
MRS. SARAH YORK JACKSON