Andrew Jackson’s Magnificent Truxton

Andrew Jackson loved horses since early boyhood

AJ: Rider and Racer

The story of 12-year-old Andrew Jackson serving as messenger in the Continental Army and later captured and imprisoned is true, told in every history book. Besides his daring and rash personality and general knowledge of the woods and trails in the Carolinas, it was his superb riding skill that got him the messenger job.

He had a good way with horses from the start. By 15, he was considered an excellent judge of horseflesh, and a savvy trader. He also discovered the spirit of the speculator within himself. It cost him his modest inheritance. Nevertheless, the Sport of Kings would always be a passion with Old Hickory.

He came to Nashville, TN when he was twenty, having read law sufficiently to pass the South Carolina bar. In pre-statehood Tennessee, lawyers were a welcome commodity. There was land to purchase…