Jackson, Andrew

Andrew Jackson began his military career at the age of 13 when he joined the men and boys of his community to fight off the British at Hanging Rock during the last year of the American Revolution. He entered a law career in North Carolina, then he turned it into a political career in Tennessee. He was known as an able, industrious and skillful man who was relentless, straight-forward and plain spoken. Jackson was a local celebrity in Tennessee and a major general in the Tennessee Militia. He and his Tennessee riflemen fought two bitter campaigns against the Creek Indians in the winter and spring of 1813. His exploits became nationally known. In 1814 Jackson was commissioned a major general in the Regular Army of the United States to fight the British at Pensacola. Within a month he stormed Pensacola, and a month later he fought the long-remembered Battle of New Orleans. It was during this battle that Jackson improvised on the arts of war with an unusual combination of Creole Louisiana militia, sharpshooting Tennessee riflemen, free black soldiers, Lafitte’s pirates, and city volunteer militia units. In 45 minutes the British were defeated. Andew Jackson became the seventh president of the United States of America in 1829.