The Life of Andrew Jackson

by Robert V. Remini

The bullet fired by Jesse Benton in 1813 stayed in his arm for nearly twenty years and caused him periods of intense discomfort. By 1831 the bullet had worked itself downward in the inner side of his arm and stationed itself below the wound and less than an inch from the surface of the skin. It could be easily felt and moved. In April 1831 he thought of going to Philadelphia “to get the bullet cut out of his arm,” and he “would have gone but for the political motives which he knew would be imputed.”11 Nine months later the pain intensified and disturbed his work schedule. Since it was so near the skin’s surface his friends and family believed that it could be extracted quite easily and that its extraction would not only end the pain but have a beneficial effect on his general health. Old Hickory agreed, and so Dr. Harris of Philadelphia was summoned to perform the operation. The procedure was swift. No anesthesia was available, of course, so Jackson simply bared his arm, gritted his jaws, grasped his walking stick, and said, “go ahead.” The surgeon made an incision, squeezed the arm, and out popped a “half ball” of the ordinary pistol size. The metal was “a good deal flattened by the contusion upon the bone and hackled somewhat on the edge.” The wound was dressed and Jackson went right back to work. What awed everyone over the next three days was that the operation in no way interrupted his attention to business, notwithstanding his long bout with the flu.12