Book Description

Excerpt from A Sketch of the Life of General Andrew Jackson: And of the Battle of New Orleans, With an Engraving of the Battle Ground Professional success immediately attended him, in consequence of the singular condition of the affairs of the settlers. Many of the young adventurers, who had traded on credit with the merchants of the town, were unable, or indisposed to fulfil their engagements, and had retained the only practitioner of the law then in Nashville, as their counsellor. The creditors had consequently no means of prosecuting their claims; but the moment of Jackson's arrival they availed themselves of his aid, and on the very next day he commenced seventy suits. This auspicious opening introduced him to a respectable business. He was soon after appointed attorney general of the district. The depredations of the Indians upon the new country frequently called him into active military service with his fellow citizens; among whom he was distinguished by his energy and valor. Thus conspicuous, he was selected, in 1796, as a delegate to the convention for forming a constitution for the state; and was in the same year elected to the lower house of congress. In the year following, he was delegated to the national senate, in which he took his seat, but resigned at the close of the session, alleging his distaste for the intrigues of politics. Within that period he was chosen major general of the Tennessee militia, and held the office until called to the same rank in the United States service in 1814. Upon his retirement from the national legislature, General Jackson was appointed to the bench of the supreme court of the state, an office which he accepted with diffidence and reluctance, and soon resigned, retiring from public life to his farm on the Cumberland river, near Nashville. Here he passed several years in the pursuits of agriculture, until summoned by the second war with Great Britain to take an active part in the defence of the country. He proceeded in the winter of 1812, at the head of twenty-five hundred volunteers, to the duty assigned him by the general government, of defending the lower states, and descended the Ohio and Mississippi to Natchez, where he had been instructed to await further orders. The danger of the anticipated invasion being dispelled, Jackson was directed by the secretary of war to disband his troops on the spot. But a large number of his men being then sick, and destitute of the means of returning home, he felt bound by obligations to them and their families to lead them back, and to disregard an order made without the knowledge of his peculiar circumstances. This purpose he effected, sharing with his men in all the hardships of the return. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.