American Lion

by Jon Meacham

  83 influenced by Tecumseh Ibid., 188.

  84 as a historian of Alabama Ibid., 190. The historian to whom Remini refers is Albert J. Pickett.

  85 settlers who had themselves attacked Ibid., 189.

  86 Red Sticks Ibid., 188.

  87 They sent for Jackson Ibid., 190.

  88 “We shot them like dogs” Ibid., 193.

  89 “We found as many” Ibid.

  90 “We have retaliated” Ibid.

  91 three fifths of modern-day Alabama Sean Wilentz, Andrew Jackson (New York, 2005), 26.

  92 Madrid (and London) were “arming” Ibid., 27–28.

  93 threatened Pensacola Remini, Jackson, I, 237. The Pensacola episode is covered on pages 239–45.

  94 toward New Orleans Parton, Life, II, 11–343, covers the whole of Jackson’s New Orleans experience and its aftermath.

  95 imposed martial law For Jackson’s defense of the action, see Papers, III, 312–14. Warshauer, Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law, is an incisive, thorough critique of Jackson’s actions and the subsequent controversy.

  96 defying a writ of habeas corpus Warshauer, Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law, 2.

  97 Lincoln would cite Abraham Lincoln, Abraham Lincoln: Speeches and Writings, 1859–1865 (New York: Library of America, 1989), 454–63. In addition to invoking Jackson directly, Lincoln’s justification echoed Jackson’s. Lincoln: “I concede that the class of arrest complained of can be constitutional only when, in cases of rebellion or invasion, the public safety may require them; and I insist that in such cases they are constitutional wherever the public safety does require them” (ibid., 459). Jackson: “Whenever the invaluable rights which we enjoy under our own happy constitution are threatened by invasion, privileges the most dear, and which, in ordinary times, ought to be regarded as the most sacred, may be required to be infringed for their security. At such a crisis, we have only to determine whether we will suspend, for a time, the exercise of the latter, that we may secure the permanent enjoyment of the former. Is it wise, in such a moment, to sacrifice the spirit of the laws to the letter, and by adhering too strictly to the letter, lose the substance forever, in order that we may, for an instant, preserve the shadow?” (Papers, III, 313).

  98 he was fined Warshauer, Andrew Jackson and the Politics of Martial Law, 2–3.

  99 he was at a party “Memoirs of Mrs. Eliza Williams Chotard Gould,” Maria B. Campbell Private Collection.

  100 “The dancing was over” Ibid.

  101 from a balcony overlooking Bourbon Street Ibid.

  102 Jackson “expressed his regret” Ibid.

  103 climactic battle on Sunday, January 8, 1815 Parton, Life, II, 186–222. See also Papers, III, 233–34.

  104 after the war had ended H. W. Brands, Andrew Jackson: His Life and Times (New York, 2005), 275.

  105 The British lost nearly three hundred men Ward, Andrew Jackson, 220. Ward’s statistics come from the official American and British reports printed in Arsène Lacarrière Latour’s Historical Memoir of the War in West Florida and Louisiana in 1814–1815, with an Atlas. Parton puts the number of British dead at 700, with 1400 wounded and 500 taken prisoner, and American dead at 8, with 13 wounded (Parton, Life, II, 209).

  106 “It appears that the unerring hand of providence” Papers, III, 258.

  107 as the cannon smoke lifted Wilentz, Andrew Jackson, 32.

  108 “the slaughter was shocking” Ibid.

  109 hidden beneath their fallen comrades’ red coats Ibid.

  110 “I never had” Ibid.

  111 “It is Him we intend to praise” Reid and Eaton, Life of Andrew Jackson, 406–7.

  112 “The attention and honors paid to the General” Parton, Life, II, 595. Her amazement at the glory that came to her husband was evident as early as a March 5, 1815, letter in which she described the “splendor,” the “brilliant assemblage,” the “magnificence of the supper,” and the “ornaments of the room” of a Washington’s birthday banquet at which an image of Jackson was given equal play (Papers, III, 297–98).

  113 “The Lord has promised” Parton, Life, II, 595.

  114 “I wish your carriage well repaired” Papers, III, 114.

  115 arranged Rachel’s wardrobe “Memoirs of Mrs. Eliza Williams Chotard Gould,” Maria B. Campbell Private Collection.

  116 “Bring with you my sash” Papers, III, 190.

  117 “I knew from the first how wrong it was” Papers, VI, 20–21. The letter is written from Washington on January 27, 1825.

  118 “His health is not good” Ibid., 21.

  119 Watching her husband playing EDT, I, 30–31.

  120 “He would have given his life for a child” Ibid., 30.

  121 the Jacksons had taken charge Mark R. Cheathem, Old Hickory’s Nephew: The Political and Private Struggles of Andrew Jackson Donelson (Baton Rouge, La., 2007), 10. EDT, I, 29–81, is good on Andrew and Emily’s background, as is “Biographical Sketch of Andrew Jackson Donelson” by Pauline Wilcox Burke, Andrew Jackson Donelson Papers, LOC. For Andrew in particular, see also Cheathem, Old Hickory’s Nephew; Robert Beeler Satterfield, Andrew Jackson Donelson: Jackson’s Confidant and Political Heir (Bowling Green, Ky., 2000), 234; Charles Faulkner Bryan, Jr., “The Prodigal Nephew: Andrew Jackson Donelson and the Eaton Affair,” The East Tennessee Historical Society’s Publications 50 (1978), 92–112.

  122 when a well-off planter Cheathem, Old Hickory’s Nephew, 10.

  123 Rachel’s brother Severn Donelson’s wife had twin boys Papers, II, 218.

  124 “The sensibility of our beloved son” Papers, II, 353–54.

  125 found a small boy, Lyncoya, on the battlefield Papers, II, 444; see also Papers, II, 494–95.

  126 “for” Andrew junior as a playmate Papers, II, 444.

  127 “Keep Lyncoya in the house” Ibid., 516.

  128 dying of illness in 1828 Remini, Jackson, I, 144; see also Papers, II, 414.

  129 General Daniel Smith Walter T. Durham, Daniel Smith: Frontier Statesman (Gallatin, Tenn., 1976), is an excellent account of Smith’s life.

  130 Jackson had helped her elope EDT, I, 25.

  131 built a house named Rock Castle “Biographical Sketch of Andrew Jackson Donelson” by Pauline Wilcox Burke, Andrew Jackson Donelson Papers, LOC. Burke wrote in Emily Donelson of Tennessee: “It was the first stone house in this section and for a number of years the most pretentious” (EDT, I, 19).

  132 continued his battles against the Indian tribes Remini, Jackson, I, 341–50.

  133 between 1816 and 1820 Wilentz, Andrew Jackson, 36.

  134 escaping to a fort occupied by blacks Remini, Jackson, I, 344; see also Wilentz, Andrew Jackson, 36–37.

  135 another American general, Edmund Pendleton Gaines Remini, Jackson, I, 345.

  136 The Seminoles declined to leave Ibid., 345–46.

  137 dated Sunday, December 28, 1817 Ibid., 348–49.

  138 the executions of two British subjects Ibid., 358–59.

  139 claimed he had authorization Ibid., 348.

  140 In Monroe’s Cabinet Ibid., 366–67.

  141 In the House of Representatives Ibid., 372–73.

  142 a congressional probe failed Ibid., 374.

  143 The diary of a young woman from South Carolina Julia Ann M. Conner Travel Journal, September 3, 1827, Conner Family Papers, South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston. In another unpublished recollection, William R. Galt of Virginia, who was ten years old at the time, recorded his memories of a stay at the Hermitage in 1828 with his father. Galt remembered being at the house when news came that a critical state had voted for Jackson (election returns came in piecemeal then), prompting the large company to cheer. “General, we must drink your health on this glorious news!” it was said, and they adjourned to a mahogany sideboard for a toast. Mrs. Jackson struck the young Galt most forcibly. Dressed plainly and, to the boy, “rather an elderly lady, but still retaining traces of her former beauty,” she appeared genuine and unaffected. �
��Children know good people by instinct, and I was devoted to Mrs. Jackson,” Galt recalled (“Recollections of the Hermitage in 1828,” William R. Galt, Virginia Historical Society, Richmond).

  144 “venerable, dignified, fine-looking man” Julia Ann M. Conner Travel Journal, September 3, 1827, Conner Family Papers, South Carolina Historical Society, Charleston.

  145 Rachel led her guests into the drawing room Ibid.

  146 “pronounced with much solemnity” Ibid.

  147 The brace of pistols Lafayette had given to Washington Ibid.

  148 “The manners of the General” Ibid.

  149 Jackson “stood at my side” Ibid.

  150 “The General is at peace” Papers, III, 327.

  151 “His temper was placable as well as irascible” Benton, Thirty Years’ View, 737.

  152 “The character of his mind” Ibid. 38 “No man” Parton, Life, I, 113.

  153 “He was a firm believer” Benton, Thirty Years’ View, 737.

  154 called a cool calculator Wise, Seven Decades, 117. “No man was cooler in his calculations than he was,” Wise said of Jackson. “He would sometimes seem to fight most rashly, but no one ever knew him to fight at all unless there was a stake up worth fighting for.”

  155 “My Philosophy is almost worn out” Papers, VI, 494.

  156 Control over how one appeared For an excellent discussion of these issues, see C. Dallett Hemphill, Bowing to Necessities: A History of Manners in America, 1620–1860 (New York, 1999), especially 65–103.

  157 “What makes the gentleman?” Parton, Life, I, 66.

  158 as a schoolboy, George Washington David McCullough, 1776 (New York, 2005), 44–45.

  159 one hundred and ten Charles Moore, ed., George Washington’s Rules of Civility and Decent Behavior in Company and Conversation (Boston and New York, 1926), ix–xv, is a thorough history of the maxims that came down to Washington.

  160 General Daniel Smith … advised young men in his family Durham, Daniel Smith: Frontier Statesman, 262. See David Roberts, ed., Lord Chesterfield’s Letters (New York, 1992), for Chesterfield himself.

  161 Jackson, who believed in self-mastery For a general exploration of the idea, see Hemphill, Bowing to Necessities, 81.

  162 “You cannot have forgotten” Papers, VI, 190–91. The letter was to Richard Keith Call.

  Chapter 3: A Marriage, a Defeat, and a Victory

  1 “Emily, it is hoped” EDT, I, 114. The observation by Catherine Martin, Emily’s sister, was written on the back of an August 1824 letter of Emily’s.

  2 Educated at West Point Cheathem, Old Hickory’s Nephew, 13–24.

  3 Andrew Donelson delivered a July Fourth oration Ibid., 112–13; Satterfield, Andrew Jackson Donelson, 13.

  4 According to family tradition EDT, I, 108–9.

  5 her log schoolhouse on Lebanon Road Ibid., 70–71.

  6 known as “the Mansion” in the family Ibid., 34.

  7 Donelson happened across Ibid., 71.

  8 “On the way” Ibid.

  9 “Present me affectionately to Miss E.” Papers, V, 340. Jackson also referred to Emily as “your little girl” in correspondence (EDT, I, 101).

  10 “I sincerely thank you” Papers, V, 388.

  11 “I hold no correspondence” Ibid., 389.

  12 To be with Jackson probably meant a move to Washington EDT, I, 109. Burke’s rendering of the Donelson courtship is the only surviving account of the sequence of events that led to their marriage that I have been able to locate.

  13 “Romance was not a stranger” Ibid., 110.

  14 Jackson gave them a large tract Papers, V, 311.

  15 the Reverend William Hume Ibid., 117.

  16 outside Harrodsburg, Kentucky Emily Donelson to her sister, December 23, 1824, Andrew Jackson Donelson Papers, LOC.

  17 “The tongue snapped” Ibid.

  18 “a splendid ball” Ibid.

  19 on to Washington Papers, V, 453. In a letter to Major Lewis dated December 8, 1824, Jackson wrote: “I reached this city yesterday morning at 11 o’clock, all in good health, after a continued travel of 28 days without resting one day.”

  20 Emily watched Lafayette and Jackson Emily Donelson to her sister, December 23, 1824, Andrew Jackson Donelson Papers, LOC.

  21 “crowded with company” Ibid.

  22 “boarding at an excellent house” Ibid.

  23 “We are very comfortably” Emily Donelson to Mary Donelson, December 13, 1824, Mrs. John Lawrence Merritt Collection.

  24 at the more fashionable Episcopal church Papers, V, 456.

  25 “Much visiting in the grandest Circles” EDT, I, 134–35.

  26 plays such as Virginius … and The Village Lawyer Papers, VI, 19.

  27 “The extravagance is in dressing” EDT, I, 128–29.

  28 There was John C. Calhoun I drew on PJCC; Merrill D. Peterson, The Great Triumvirate: Webster, Clay, and Calhoun (New York, 1987); Charles M. Wiltse, John C. Calhoun: Nationalist, 1782–1828 (I), and Nullifier, 1829–1839 (II) (New York, 1944, 1949); Margaret L. Coit, John C. Calhoun: American Portrait (Boston, 1950); Gerald M. Capers, John C. Calhoun, Opportunist: A Reappraisal (Gainesville, Fla., 1960).

  29 Henry Clay of Kentucky I drew on PHC; Peterson, Great Triumvirate; and Robert V. Remini, Henry Clay: Statesman for the Union (New York, 1991).

  30 There was John Quincy Adams I drew on Paul C. Nagel, John Quincy Adams: A Public Life, a Private Life (New York, 1997); Leonard L. Richards, The Life and Times of Congressman John Quincy Adams (New York, 1986); Samuel Flagg Bemis, John Quincy Adams and the Union (New York, 1956); David McCullough, John Adams (New York, 2001); and Jack Shepherd, The Adams Chronicles: Four Generations of Greatness (Boston, 1975).

  31 By 1828, nearly all states Sean Wilentz, “Property and Power: Suffrage Reform in the United States, 1787–1860,” in Voting and the Spirit of Democracy: Essays on the History of Voting and Voting Rights in America, ed. Donald W. Rogers (Urbana and Chicago, 1992), 32–33. See also Florence Weston, The Presidential Election of 1828 (Philadelphia, 1974), 1–3.

  32 a surge in eligible voters Weston, The Presidential Election of 1828, 3.

  33 Turnout rose from 27 percent Susan B. Carter, ed., Historical Statistics of the United States, Earliest Times to the Present (New York, 2006), V, 165.

  34 The men who gathered in Philadelphia I owe much of my discussion of the Jacksonian journey from republicanism to democratic thought to Robert V. Remini, The Legacy of Andrew Jackson: Essays on Democracy, Indian Removal, and Slavery (Baton Rouge, La., 1988), 7–21. I also learned much from Latner, Presidency of Andrew Jackson; Feller, Jacksonian Promise, 160–84; and Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy.

  35 best articulated by James Madison and Alexander Hamilton See, for instance, James Madison, Writings (New York, 1999), 160–365; Ralph Ketcham, James Madison: A Biography (Charlottesville, Va., 1990); and Garry Wills, James Madison (New York, 2002).

  36 congressional caucuses on Capitol Hill James Sterling Young, The Washington Community, 1800–1828 (New York, 1966), 113–17; see also Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy, 246–47.

  37 could not see how “killing” Weston, Presidential Election of 1828, 18.

  38 “certainly the basest, meanest” Papers, VI, 243.

  39 Clay, not surprisingly, decided to support Adams Remini, Henry Clay, 251–72, covers the episode well. See also Nagel, John Quincy Adams, 291–98, and Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy, 254–57.

  40 “It shows the want of principle” Papers, VI, 20.

  41 Five days later Remini, Jackson, II, 98.

  42 “the Judas of the West” Papers, VI, 29–30. The letter to Lewis is dated February 14, 1825.

  43 “If at this early period” Ibid., 37. The letter to Lewis is dated February 20, 1825. The scene of Jackson greeting Adams (see below) predates the revelation of the precise terms of what Jackson and his supporters would call the “corrupt bargain” with Clay—that is, the evening party at the White House occurred on February 9, the day
of the presidential balloting in Congress. But we know from Jackson’s letters that he understood forces in Washington were working against his election. “It was stated to me yesterday,” he told Lewis on January 11, “that if I was elected, it would be against the whole Cabinet influence, combined with that of the speaker” (Papers, VI, 15). So while Jackson’s grace on the night of the ninth came without his knowing the specific detail of Clay’s appointment, Jackson did well understand that he, the people’s choice, had been done in by some backstage maneuvering.

  44 “terrible place” Ibid., 21.

  45 had struck a deal It is much more likely that Adams and Clay were politically stupid rather than politically corrupt. Here is Remini on the question: “Was there a corrupt bargain between Clay and Adams? Probably not, although absolute proof does not exist and most likely never will” (Remini, Henry Clay, 270). Clay had said he would support Adams in mid-December, and though the two met on January 9, 1825, it is unlikely that a quid pro quo was discussed. “During the weeks leading up to the House vote, Adams and his lieutenants had given what they discreetly called ‘assurances’ to various potential supporters in Congress,” wrote Wilentz. “Among the least questionable of these understandings was reached with Clay. Both Adams and Clay were too sophisticated to strike any explicit bargain, either during their private meeting on January 9 or at any other time. None was needed. Clay brought with him congressional influence, charm and geographical balance, all things that the New Englander required” (Wilentz, Rise of American Democracy, 255).

  46 Jackson appeared at a party Parton, Life, III, 68–69.

  47 “by himself” Ibid., 69. Parton’s source for the White House scene and commentary is S. G. Goodrich.

  48 “How do you do, Mr. Adams?” Ibid.

  49 “Very well, sir” Ibid.

  50 “It was curious to see” Ibid.

  51 “You have, by your dignity” Papers, VI, 56.

  52 the boarding bill Ibid., 35.

  53 “Genl. Jackson’s friends” Charles M. Wiltse, ed., The Papers of Daniel Webster. Series One: Correspondence, 1824 (Hanover, N.H., 1974), I, 235.