TWT #150 –

On May 30th, 1806, future US President Andrew Jackson faced Charles Dickinson in a duel and, after being shot in the chest, mere inches from his heart, shot and killed Dickinson.

Let’s set the stage.

Andrew Jackson was a busy guy, what with all the slave trading, slave driving, and slave punishing he was doing. Surprisingly he also found time to own and race horses.

In 1805, Jackson had a race scheduled against the horse belonging to one Joseph Erwin. When Erwin backed off at the last moment, Jackson demanded the $800 forfeit charge. After some quarreling and name-calling, Erwin finally paid… but not before Erwin’s son-in-law, Charles Dickinson, got his panties all in a bunch.

Dickinson himself was an attorney, author, and “expert marksmen,” with a penchant for getting his panties in a bunch.

Over the next few months Jackson and Dickinson traded insults and barbs, when finally Dickinson pulled the 1800’s equivalent of writing a mean blog post and published an article in a newspaper calling Jackson a “worthless scoundrel, … a poltroon and a coward.”

That was the straw that broke the slave-owners back. Jackson wanted a fight.

Since duels were technically illegal in Tennessee, the two men got themselves just across the border into Kentucky.

So here we are, exactly 213 years ago today, when Andrew Jackson faced down Dickinson.

Jackson’s strategy here was absolutely terrible: “Allow Big D to shoot first and assume that I wouldn’t be killed immediately.”

But….apparently it worked out!

Dickinson did fire immediately, and hit Jackson right in the chest, only inches from his heart (exactly as planned).

According to the crazy duel rules of the 1800’s, now that Dickinson had fired and Jackson had not, Dickinson had to stand still and wait for his opponent to do the deed.

So what’s Jackson’s move now? Does he shoot to merely injure Dickinson? Does he take the high road and shoot into the air?

Absolutely fucking not.

Jackson cocks his gun, takes aim, and shoots Dickinson right in the chest. Killing the guy.

I mean, c’mon, if a dude shoots me in the chest, I’m sure as hell not going to shoot him in the leg. I’m hitting right back tit-for-tat to that guys heart.

So kudos, Jackson. Nice shot.

The only downside? Jackson now had a bullet lodged next to his heart that surgeons could not take out, so he simply had to live with that pain for the rest of his life.

A small price to pay for victory.

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