Hardened to Hickory: The Missing Chapter in Andrew Jackson's Life

by Tony L. Turnbow

A missing chapter in the biography of President Andrew Jackson based on unpublished documents. Written in a narrative that is "both original and thrillingly dramatic" (Kirkus), it provides "a fresh take on a familiar figure" (Publisher's Weekly). Unpublished documents reveal an Andrew Jackson who committed mutiny and shed tears as he thought his mistakes would lead to the deaths of teenagers under his command. Indians saved him. The backwoods Jackson, who had never commanded a battle, presumed to take on the mantle of General George Washington. Before Jackson became the next general to drive the British Army from American soil, he first had to defeat the commander of the U.S. Army, General James Wilkinson. Wilkinson embodied a privileged and unproductive establishment, and worse, he had sold his loyalty to work as a spy known as “Agent 13” on the payroll of a European enemy. It was a battle of wits and wills between two American titans. The missing piece of Jackson’s biography is how he was transformed into “Old Hickory” by challenges that would have crushed almost anyone else, an intense will to succeed, and an ability to recover from his own mistakes. The non-fiction Hardened to The Missing Chapter in Andrew Jackson’s Life is set in a seemingly apocalyptic time in American history when both settlers and Indians thought the world was coming to an end. For months, massive earthquakes caused the ground to open like jaws and swallow houses whole. The Mississippi River flowed backward. A comet appeared as a second moon. The northern lights turned blood-red. The plight of a poor young mother taken hostage by Indian rebels seemed to signal a wider and final destruction and mobilized Jackson’s state to go to war. Political parties had divided themselves into two camps and refused to trust each other. The establishment that had won the Revolution and produced a new nation was no longer producing prosperity. The fledgling country seemed to be tearing itself apart at the same time enemy powers threatened to invade. Out of the turmoil, strong leaders rose on the frontier— Shawnee Tecumseh, Chickasaw Colbert, Choctaw Pushmataha and Andrew Jackson. Most of them had learned to survive as orphans, without relying upon the privileges of the old establishment that seemed to be crumbling around them. The narrative follows Jackson’s young Tennessee Volunteers in their expedition down the Natchez Trace and Mississippi River as Jackson attempted to outwit and overpower Wilkinson for control of the Gulf Coast and ultimately the U.S. Army. The new information describes a human side of a more complex Andrew Jackson than has been presented as he overcame overwhelming obstacles to become “Old Hickory,” general, and president.

602 pages, Paperback

Published September 17, 2018

About the author

Tony L. Turnbow will release Jefferson's Spy: The Secret Life of Meriwether Lewis on January 24, 2026. The nonfiction will be book one in a two-volume series about the mysterious death of the famed explorer.

Turnbow is the author of the nonfiction Hardened to Hickory: The Missing Chapter in Andrew Jackson's Life and the young adult historical fiction series Fighting Devil's Backbone. He has studied the history of the Natchez Trace for more than 40 years.

He practices law in Franklin, Tennessee. With a Bachelor of Arts and a concentration in southern U.S. history from Vanderbilt University and a Juris Doctorate from the University of Tennessee College of Law, he has continued to use his training to explore unpublished primary sources about the Natchez Trace. He authored "The Natchez Trace in the War of 1812" in The Journal of Mississippi History, and he has published articles in the Tennessee Historical Quarterly and the Lewis and Clark Trail Heritage Foundation journal "We Proceeded On." He also wrote a full-length play, "Inquest on the Natchez Trace," about the mysterious death of explorer Meriwether Lewis.

Mr. Turnbow represented the Natchez Trace Parkway Association on the Tennessee War of 1812 Bicentennial Commission, and he was the recipient of the Tennessee Society U.S. Daughters of 1812 "Spirit of 1812" award.

He enjoys telling the stories of the old Natchez Trace.

Reviews

[Bill · Rating 4 out of 5]

In 1813, Andrew Jackson marched his troops down the Natchez Trace to assist in the defense of New Orleans. When he got there, he was told his services were no longer required, and was ordered to dismiss his troops right then and there. He refused to abandon his men, instead marching them home, earning the nickname "Old Hickory" in recognition of his tenacity.

Any history of the era, or biography of Andrew Jackson, must tell this tale, if only to explain how he acquired his famous nickname. But usually the story is not told in any greater detail than in the above paragraph. Even Robert Remini's epic three-volume Jackson biography devotes just about ten pages to this period in Jackson's life. After all, all he did was march his troops in one direction, then turn around and march them back, for no apparent purpose.

But Tony Turnbow expands this commonly-condensed story, giving it book-length treatment, showing how this experience played a crucial role in transforming Jackson from an unknown into a General and ultimately President. The subtitle "The Missing Chapter in Andrew Jackson's Life" may seem like hyperbole or salesmanship, but it's actually an apt description that is well-earned.

Most stories of war talk of strategy and battles, but not the seemingly mundane logistics required to move troops over long distances. Turnbow describes in detail the challenges and hazards the troops faced on the way to Natchez - everything from the weather, to lack of supplies, to hostile Native Americans. Perhaps it's too much detail for some. They are "mundane logistics," after all. But the long description of the long journey makes Jackson's triumphant arrival in Natchez that much more satisfying - and that much more frustrating when he, and the reader, begins to realize it was all for nothing.

The central focus of the book is the clash between Tennessee militia commander Jackson and U.S. Army commander James Wilkinson. This book does a better job of any I've read, in detailing the treachery and duplicity of Wilkinson as he sought to thwart his rival Jackson by engineering his dismissal upon his arrival in Natchez, only to be outsmarted in the end.

There are several good nuggets in the book that provide additional insight into Jackson's character. Turnbow draws a parallel between Jackson's hobby of racing and training horses, and commanding a fighting force, both of which required "instill(ing) enough discipline... to keep it under control while maintaining and spurring its competitive spirit." And he alludes to Jackson's later ruthlessness in disciplining deserters and mutineers, by describing his early failed attempts to deal with the problems more humanely.

Much of what made Jackson such a controversial figure occurred later - his Indian wars, his presidential administration - so Turnbow doesn't get into that or pass judgment on the quality of Jackson's character, other than to describe how this particular episode shaped him into a significant figure in our history. Think what you will of Jackson as a person and a leader, but Turnbow makes a convincing case that this story was a formative event in Jackson's life, and thus in the life of our early 19th century nation, that deserves to be told at the level of detail in which he tells it.

I did think the structure of the book was a little odd and hard to follow at first. It's a typical trope of history and biography to kick off with an exciting or pivotal event that occurs later in the chronology of the story, only to backtrack and restart the story at the beginning. Turnbow begins his story with Jackson and his troops beginning their march to Natchez, which then continues for several chapters, only to abruptly backtrack and provide six chapters of background and context before rejoining the chronology of events in Chapter 11, right where it left off in Chapter 4. It was hard to tell if the first few chapters were prologue, or the next six chapters were flashbacks. But it's a small complaint.

I'd love to know the backstory to this book - why it was self-published, and whether it was rejected or simply not submitted to a major publisher? I would ordinarily be wary of a self-published work of history written by a non-historian. But Turnbow has good credentials as someone with a deep interest and knowledge of the Natchez Trace, he's a very good writer, he gained access to previously unpublished material, and his sourcing is impeccable - I have never seen a book of this length with this many individual end notes (exactly 1,414 of them!) If a publisher rejected this, it's their loss, because it deserves to be read more widely by anyone interested in gaining a deeper understanding of how Andrew Jackson became Old Hickory.

[John Messamore · Rating 5 out of 5]

Tony Turnbow has written an engaging, well-researched history of a seminal period in the career and life of our 7th President. Through extensive use of primary sources, newspaper accounts, and insightful analysis, this book tells the story of how Jackson began his journey from backwoods lawyer, gambler, and land speculator to a highly respected military leader, Hero of the Battle of New Orleans, and later President.
Along the way, Jackson confronts and largely defeats a multitude of challenges that uniquely prepared him for his later exploits. He learns to recruit, train, discipline, defend, and lead-by-example an army of raw Tennessee volunteers. He learns to fight Army and federal government bureaucracy while simultaneously maintaining focus on his mission and his men. He learns that a commander must take risks, and yes even exceed orders, in order to fulfill his mission and take care of his soldiers in an unforgiving and dangerous frontier.
More than anything else, Jackson learns that his troops are worth fighting FOR in war and in peace. He learns that he can be that needed leader in all situations. That realization enables him to envision his calling to become the successful War of 1812 commander, and later the Champion of the Common Man on his way to the White House. The details of this easily forgotten, non-combatant but supremely preparatory, period in Jackson’s long career are the vehicle by which the development of his character occurs.
Tony supplies those details in delightful measure, which makes for page-turning reading. If you want to better understand Andrew Jackson and how he got to be Old Hickory to his troops, this book is a very enjoyable and informative must-read!

[Debra Jackson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I put off starting this. I had ill feelings towards Andrew as he is often compared to Trump, and Andrew’s treatment of slaves. Turns out he’s really nothing like the orange one and he did eventually save my beloved New Orleans.

I truly found this fascinating even if sometimes tedious most likely a reflection of the ordeal they endured. They were many passages I wanted to highlight but I as without a marker.

I purchased this book at the Hermitage gift shop. I feel sorry that he suffered so at the end, but I did kind of get a kick out of his slave Alfred Jackson.