Happy Birthday!

7th president, "Old Hickory"

Andy Jackson

was born 3/15/1767
(d. June 8, 1845)

At the Battle of New Orleans on Jan. 8, 1815, it was Jackson's forces that inflicted a decisive defeat upon the British army and forced it to withdraw. It wasn't really his fault the war was already over and the peace treaty had been signed at Ghent 12/24/1814. Added to his great prowess and nationwide fame for killing indians, this made him a shoe-in for president.

          I s'pose you've read it in the prints,
          How Packenham attempted
          To make Old Hickory Jackson wince,
          But soon his scheme repented;
          For we, with rifles cock'd,
          Thought such occasion lucky,
          And soon around the General flock'd
          Oh! Kentucky, the hunters of Kentucky,
          The hunters of Kentucky.
  
                  "The Hunters of Kentucky"

The song is, of course, about the Kentucky contingent that went down to New Orleans to join the fun. By the way, the tune was traditional but became well-known when it appeared as the tune for a curtain-closer in the bad London comic opera, "Love laughs at locksmiths" in 1803. It opened four years later in NY and went immediately into tradition in both countries.

ALSO: In Centerville, Texas, (Sam) Lightnin' Hopkins was born 3-15-1912 (d.1-30-1982)
            [thanx Doug Henkle]

Early warning notice: This series of the Happy File noncontinues beginning April 16.
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