Andrew Jackson, destined to become a general and commander-in-chief of the American forces, was only 13 years old when he first felt the horror and exceitement of war. Charleston, South Carolina’s capital city, fell to the British on May 12, 1780. That summer the British swarmed over the colony, meeting little resistance except in the area now York, Chester, and Lancaster counties, the center of Scotch-Irish settlement in the upcountry.

Andy Jackson’s older brother, Hugh, joined men from the Waxhaws under the leadership of Lt. Col. William Richardson Davie and Capt. Robert Crawford. Hugh was mortally wounded at the battle of Stono Ferry.

On May 29, 1780, Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton of the British forces destroyed the Americans under Col. Abraham Buford, killing 113. Wagon loads of the wounded were taken to the Waxhaw Church. Andy helped his mother and brother, Robert, tend the wounded. Soon the Jacksons were fugitives, forced by the British to flee into North Carolina.

But Andy Jackson could not stay out of the war and returned for service. Andy and his 16-year-old brother, Robert, were at the Battle of Hanging Rock and returned to Waxhaw Church with the wounded. After that they spent some time in North Carolina as the Waxhaws were again occupied by the British.

Andy returned to the Waxhaws and on April 9, 1781, was with about 40 Waxhaw men assembled at Waxhaw Church. They were surprised by a company of British dragoons and Tories without uniform. The church was set afire and 11 of the Waxhaw Whigs were captured. Andy Jackson got to his horse, but was later captured.

An often-told incident followed his capture. The story was not told by Jackson himself but by others and goes like this: A British officer ordered Andy to clean his boots, and Andy refused. One writer said the fiery youth retorted: “I’ll clean the boots of no Englishman!” The officer lifted his sword and struck a blow that badly cut Andy’s head and hand. (A Matthew Brady photograph of Prresident Jackson plainly shows a scar across the left side of his face.)

The wounded boy was ordered to take the British to the house of a Whig leader named Thompson. Andy led his captors in such a fashion as to give Thompson a good view of the party from afar. Thompson was able to escape.

As punishment for his trickery, Jackson’s shoes and jacket were taken from him. He was marched to Camden without food or drink and placed in the Camden Jail, which was then serving as a military stockade. From his jail cell he witnessed the Battle of Hobkirk Hill through a small hole he fashioned in the plank of the boarded-over window.

Smallpox broke out in the crowded jail and the Jackson brothers, lodged in separate rooms, were both infected. Their mother came to Camden and begged that her sons be released to her care. Robert, with a severe head wound and bowel complaint, was held on a horse. Andy walked more than 40 miles, without shoes or jacket, in a cold rain.

Dangerously ill, Jackson became delirious and was very weak for five weeks. His brother died. As soon as Andy was on the road to recovery, his mother hastened to Charleston to nurse two nephews who were prisoners on a British warship. She died a few weeks later of ship’s fever (probably cholera) and was buried in an unmarked grave.

In the space of 14 months, 14-year-old Andy Jackson had witnessed two battles, been wounded by a British officer, was captured and held prisoner of war under harsh conditions, and nearly died of smallpox. Small wonder that a Currier and Ives print was titled, “Brave Boy of the Waxhaws!”