Editing Andrew Jackson (section)

===War of 1812===
On June 18, 1812, the United States declared war on the United Kingdom, launching the [[War of 1812]].{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=46}} Though the war was primarily [[Origins of the War of 1812|caused]] by maritime issues,{{sfn|Hickey|1989|p=72}} it provided white American settlers on the southern frontier the opportunity to overcome [[Native Americans in the United States|Native American]] resistance to settlement, undermine British support of the Native American tribes,{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=175}} and pry [[Florida]] from the [[Spanish Empire]].{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=166}}

Jackson immediately offered to raise volunteers for the war, but he was not called to duty until after the United States military [[War of 1812#Invasions of Canada, 1812|was repeatedly defeated]] in the [[Old Northwest|American Northwest]]. After these defeats, in January 1813, Jackson enlisted over 2,000 volunteers,{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=173}} who were ordered to head to [[New Orleans]] to defend against a British attack.{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=179}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/rbpe.17400200/?sp=1 |title=General orders .... Andrew Jackson. Major-General 2d Division, Tennessee. November 24, 1812. |publisher=Jackson Papers, LOC |access-date=June 27, 2017}}</ref>{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=23–25}}<ref>{{cite web |url=https://www.loc.gov/resource/maj.03120/?sp=1&st=text |title=Journal of trip down the Mississippi River, January 1813 to March 1813 |last=Jackson |first=Andrew |date=January 10, 1813 |publisher=Jackson Papers, LOC |access-date=July 3, 2017}}</ref> When his forces arrived at [[Natchez, Mississippi|Natchez]], they were ordered to halt by General Wilkinson, the commander at New Orleans and the man Jackson accused of treason after the Burr adventure. A little later, Jackson received a letter from the [[United States Secretary of War|Secretary of War]], [[John Armstrong Jr.|John Armstrong]], stating that his [[Natchez Expedition]] volunteers were not needed,{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=22–23}} and that they were to hand over any supplies to Wilkinson and disband.{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=184}} Jackson refused to disband his troops; instead, he led them on the difficult march back to Nashville, earning the nickname "[[Hickory]]" (later "Old Hickory") for his toughness.{{sfn|Meacham|2008|p=23}}

After returning to Nashville, Jackson and three of his kinsmen, [[John Coffee]], [[Stockley D. Hays]], and Alexander Donelson, got into a tavern brawl over honor with the brothers [[Jesse Benton Jr.|Jesse]] and [[Thomas Hart Benton (politician)|Thomas Hart Benton]]. Nobody was killed, but Jackson received a gunshot in the shoulder that nearly killed him.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=23}}

====Creek War====
{{Further|Creek War}}

Jackson had not fully recovered from his wounds when Governor [[Willie Blount]] called out the militia in September 1813 following the August [[Fort Mims Massacre]].{{sfn|Owsley|1981|pp=61–62}} The [[Red Sticks]], a [[Creek Confederacy]] faction that had allied with [[Tecumseh]], a [[Shawnee]] chief who was fighting with the British against the United States, killed about 250 militia men and civilians at Fort Mims in retaliation for an ambush by American militia at [[Battle of Burnt Corn|Burnt Corn Creek]].{{sfnm|Davis|2002|1pp=631–632|Owsley|1981|2pp=38–39}}

Jackson's objective was to destroy the Red Sticks.{{sfn|Owsley|1981|p=40}} He headed south from [[Fayetteville, Tennessee|Fayetteville]], Tennessee, in October with 2,500 militia, establishing [[Fort Strother]] as his supply base.{{sfn|Remini|1977|pp=192–193}} He sent his cavalry under General Coffee ahead of the main force, destroying Red Stick villages and capturing supplies.{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=197}}{{sfn|Owsley|1981|pp=63–64}} Coffee defeated a band of Red Sticks at the [[Battle of Tallushatchee]] on November 3, and Jackson defeated another band later that month at the [[Battle of Talladega]].{{sfn|Remini|1977|pp=196–197}}

By January 1814, the expiration of enlistments and desertion had reduced Jackson's force by about 1,000 volunteers,{{sfn|Owsley|1981|pp=72–73}} but he continued the offensive.{{sfn|Kanon|1999|p=4}} The Red Sticks counterattacked at the [[Battles of Emuckfaw and Enotachopo Creek]]. Jackson repelled them but was forced to withdraw to Fort Strother.{{sfn|Owsley|1981|pp=75–76}} Jackson's army was reinforced by further recruitment and the addition of a regular army unit, the [[39th Infantry Regiment (War of 1812)|39th U.S. Infantry Regiment]]. The combined force of 3,000 men—including Cherokee, Choctaw, and Creek allies—attacked a Red Stick fort at Horseshoe Bend on the [[Tallapoosa River]], which was manned by about 1,000 men.{{sfn|Owsley|1981|p=79}} The Red Sticks were overwhelmed and massacred.{{sfn|Kanon|1999|p=4–10}} Almost all their warriors were killed, and nearly 300 women and children were taken prisoner and distributed to Jackson's Native American allies.{{sfn|Kanon|1999|p=4–10}} The victory broke the power of the Red Sticks.{{sfn|Owsley|1981|p=81}} Jackson continued his [[scorched-earth]] campaign of burning villages, destroying supplies,{{sfn|Owsley|1981|p=81}} and starving Red Stick women and children.{{sfn|Brands|2005|p=220}} The campaign ended when [[William Weatherford]], the Red Stick leader, surrendered,{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=27}} although some Red Sticks fled to [[East Florida]].{{sfn|Owsley|1981|p=87}}

On June 8, Jackson was appointed a [[Brigadier general (United States)|brigadier general]] in the United States Army, and 10 days later was made a [[Brevet (military)|brevet]] [[Major general (United States)|major general]] with command of the Seventh Military District, which included Tennessee, Louisiana, the Mississippi Territory, and the Muscogee Creek Confederacy.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=222}} With President [[James Madison]]'s approval, Jackson imposed the [[Treaty of Fort Jackson]]. The treaty required all Creek, including those who had remained allies, to surrender {{convert|23,000,000|acres|ha|abbr=on}} of land to the United States.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=26}}

Jackson then turned his attention to the British and Spanish. He moved his forces to [[Mobile, Alabama|Mobile]], Alabama, in August, accused the Spanish governor of [[West Florida]], [[Mateo González Manrique]], of arming the Red Sticks, and threatened to attack. The governor responded by inviting the British to land at Pensacola to defend it, which violated Spanish neutrality.{{sfn|Remini|1977|pp=236–237}} The British attempted to capture Mobile, but their four warships were repulsed at [[Fort Bowyer#First battle|Fort Bowyer]].{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=238}} Jackson then entered Florida, defeating the Spanish and British forces at the [[Battle of Pensacola (1814)|Battle of Pensacola]] on November 7.{{sfn|Owsley|1981|pp=116–117}} Afterwards, the Spanish surrendered, and the British withdrew. Weeks later, Jackson learned that the British were planning an attack on New Orleans, which was the gateway to the [[Lower Mississippi River]] and control of the American West.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=28}} He evacuated Pensacola, strengthened the garrison at Mobile,{{sfn|Owsley|1981|p=118}} and led his troops to New Orleans.{{sfn|Remini|1977|pp=244–245}}

====Battle of New Orleans====
{{Further|Battle of New Orleans}}
:[[File:HNOC 1958.98.6 - Battle of New Orleans.jpg|thumb|upright=1.5| Colored [[wood engraving]] of Jackson rallying the troops, from ''Ballou's Pictorial Drawing Room Companion'', 1856 (Historic New Orleans Collection)|alt=diverse men in frontier outfits with their backs to the viewer, facing ranks of British soldiers marching towards them.]]

Jackson arrived in New Orleans on December 1, 1814.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=247}} There he instituted [[martial law]] because he worried about the loyalty of the city's [[Louisiana Creole people|Creole]] and Spanish inhabitants. He augmented his force by forming an alliance with [[Jean Lafitte]]'s smugglers and raising units of free African Americans and Creek,{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|p=29}} paying non-white volunteers the same salary as whites.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=254}} This gave Jackson a force of about 5,000 men when the British arrived.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=274}}

The British arrived in New Orleans in mid-December.{{sfn|Owsley|1981|p=138}} Admiral [[Alexander Cochrane]] was the overall commander of the operation;{{sfn|Owsley|1981|pp=134, 136}} General [[Edward Pakenham]] commanded the army of 10,000 soldiers, many of whom had served in the Napoleonic Wars.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=29–30}} As the British advanced up the east bank of the Mississippi River, Jackson constructed a fortified position to block them.{{sfn|Remini|1977|pp=268–269}} The climactic battle took place on January 8 when the British launched a frontal assault. Their troops made easy targets for the Americans protected by their [[parapets]], and the attack ended in disaster.{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=31–32}} The British suffered over 2,000 casualties (including Pakenham) to the Americans' 71.{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=285}}

The British decamped from New Orleans at the end of January, but they still remained a threat.{{sfn|Owsley|1981|p=169}} Jackson refused to lift martial law and kept the militia under arms. He approved the execution of six militiamen for desertion.{{sfn|Tregle|1981|p=337}} Some Creoles registered as French citizens with the French consul and demanded to be discharged from the militia due to their foreign nationality. Jackson then ordered all French citizens to leave the city within three days,{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=309}} and had a member of the Louisiana legislature, Louis Louaillier, arrested when he wrote a newspaper article criticizing Jackson's continuation of martial law. U.S. District Court Judge [[Dominic Augustin Hall|Dominic A. Hall]] signed a writ of ''[[habeas corpus]]'' for Louaillier's release. Jackson had [[Arrest of Dominic Hall and Louis Louaillier|Hall arrested]] too. A military court ordered Louaillier's release, but Jackson kept him in prison and evicted Hall from the city.{{sfn|Tregle|1981|pp=377–378}} Although Jackson lifted martial law when he received official word that the [[Treaty of Ghent]], which ended the war with the British, had been signed,{{sfn|Remini|1977|p=312}} his previous behavior tainted his reputation in New Orleans.{{sfn|Tregle|1981|p=378–379}}

Jackson's victory made him a national hero,{{sfn|Wilentz|2005|pp=29–33}} and on February 27, 1815, he was given the [[Thanks of Congress]] and awarded a [[Congressional Gold Medal]].<ref name="US Congress Bio">{{cite web|url=http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=j000005|title=Andrew Jackson|publisher=Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress|access-date=April 13, 2017|url-status=live|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20131218110615/http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=J000005|archive-date=December 18, 2013}}</ref> Though the Treaty of Ghent had been signed in December 1814 before the Battle of New Orleans was fought,{{sfn|Meacham|2008|p=32}} Jackson's victory assured that the United States control of the region between Mobile and New Orleans would not be effectively contested by European powers. This control allowed the American government to ignore one of the articles in the treaty, which would have returned the Creek lands taken in the Treaty of Fort Jackson.{{sfn|Owsley|1981|pp=178–179}}