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They say that the way General Jackson came to be nick-named "Old Hickory" is as follows:—During the Creek War he had taken a severe cold, and his soldiers had made a shelter for him of hickory bark.
The next morning a tipsy soldier, not knowing what he was about, kicked at the bark shelter and over it went.
Jackson, speechless with rage, sprang out of the hickory heap and rushed towards the drunken offender.
"Why I didn't know you were in there, Old Hickory!' shouted the soldier.
For an instant a shout of laughter broke from the camp; but one soldier, quicker-witted than the others, called "Three cheers for Old Hickory."
The drunken soldier was saved a punishment, Jackson's temper was quieted, his dignity maintained—and he received a new name.