240 ANDREW JACKSON 



a hundred yards away from the spot that Jackson 

 opened his coat and disclosed his wound, whereat 

 Overton expressed the greatest surprise that, after 

 such a hurt, he should have been able to remain stand- 

 ing and return his adversary's fire. In Jackson's reply 

 there was a touch of hyperbole. " By the Eternal," 

 said he, " I would have killed him if he had shot me 

 through the brain." The unfortunate Dickinson died 

 that night, cursing his fate and unspeakably chagrined 

 by the belief that he had not hit his enemy. Perhaps 

 it would have consoled him somewhat if he could have 

 known that, after nearly forty years and in a ripe old 

 age, the death of Andrew Jackson was to be caused 

 by the wound received that morning. Such incidents 

 are far from pleasant to tell ; indeed, they are revolting 

 in the extreme. But perhaps nothing could better 

 illustrate the unconquerable spirit that carried Jack- 

 son through every kind of vicissitude. 



About this time Jackson was visited by Aaron Burr, 

 who was then preparing his mysterious Southwestern 

 expedition. Since 1801 Jackson had been commander- 

 in-chief of the Tennessee militia, and Burr seems to 

 have wished, if possible, to make use of his influence 

 in raising troops, but without indicating the purpose 

 for which they were wanted. In this he was unsuccess- 

 ful. Jackson was not the man to be used as a cat's 

 paw, but he seems to have regarded the charge of 

 treason afterward brought against Burr as ill-founded. 

 At Richmond, while Burr's trial was going on, Jack- 

 son made a speech reflecting upon Jefferson, and thus 

 made himself obnoxious to Madison, who was then 

 Secretary of State. Afterward, in 1808, he declared his 

 preference for Monroe over Madison as candidate for 



