Friday, July 29, 2022

The General, a long, haggard man, with limbs like a skeleton, and Madame la Generale, a short, fat dumpling, bobbing opposite each other like half-drunken Indians.


A few days after the announcement of peace, Jackson’s wife, Rachel, and their adopted son, Andrew, Jr., arrived in New Orleans, much to the general’s delight. Rachel had grown into an extremely stout, dark-complexioned, forty-seven-year-old woman whose religious views bordered on fanaticism. In no time at all she came to regard the city as a veritable “Babylon-on-the-Mississippi,” given over to every sin in the Decalogue. At one grand ball which she was obliged to attend with her husband, complete with transparencies, flowers, colored lamps, a sumptuous dinner, and dancing, Rachel could scarcely believe the brilliance of the setting. After dinner, Jackson and his lady led the way to the ballroom and there treated the guests to “a most delicious pas de deux,” country-style. “To see these two figures, the General, a long, haggard man, with limbs like a skeleton, and Madame la Generale, a short, fat dumpling, bobbing opposite each other like half-drunken Indians, to the wild melody of ‘Possum up de Gum Tree,’ and endeavoring to make a spring into the air, was very remarkable, and far more edifying a spectacle than any European ballet could possibly have furnished“

It was a grand finale to a spectacular victory. A few days later, on April 6, 1815, Jackson, Rachel, and their son left New Orleans and returned to their home in Tennessee.
 

No comments:

Post a Comment