John Adair

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John Adair : biography

January 9, 1757 – May 19, 1840

Apparently unaware of Adair’s request, that evening, Jackson ordered 400 unarmed Kentucky militiamen under Colonel John Davis to march to New Orleans to obtain arms, then reinforce the 450 Louisiana militiamen under David B. Morgan on the west bank of the Mississippi River.Gillig, p. 182 When they arrived in New Orleans, they were told that the city’s arms had already been shipped to Adair.Smith, p. 98 The citizens collected what weapons they had – mostly old muskets in various states of disrepair – and gave them to Davis’s men. About 200 men were thus armed and reported to Morgan as ordered, just hours before the start of the Battle of New Orleans. The remainder of Davis’s men returned to the main camp, still without weapons.

As the British approached on the morning of January 8, it became evident that they would try to break the American line through Carroll’s Tennesseans, and Adair advanced his men to support them.Smith, p. 77 The main American line held and repulsed the British attack; in total, only six Americans were killed and seven wounded.Gillig, p. 178 Meanwhile, Davis’s Kentuckians on the west bank had, upon their arrival in Morgan’s camp, been sent to meet the advance of a secondary British force. Outnumbered, poorly armed, and without the benefit of breastworks or artillery support, they were quickly outflanked and forced to retreat. Seeing the retreat of the Kentuckians, Morgan’s militiamen abandoned their breastworks; Adair would later claim they had never even fired a shot. The British quickly abandoned the position they had just captured, but Jackson resented the setback in an otherwise spectacular victory.

Governor of Kentucky

Adair’s participation in the War of 1812 and subsequent correspondence with Jackson restored his reputation. He continued to serve as adjutant general until 1817, when the voters returned him to the state House of Representatives. He was nominated for Speaker of the House during that term, and, although he was not elected, he drew support from members of both parties, largely because of his correspondence with Jackson.Gillig, p. 180

In the aftermath of the Panic of 1819 – the first major financial crisis in United States history – the primary political issue of the day was debt relief.Doutrich, p. 15 The federal government had created the Second Bank of the United States in 1817, and its strict credit policy hit Kentucky’s large debtor class hard. Sitting governor Gabriel Slaughter had lobbied for some measures favored by the state’s debtors, particularly punitive taxes against the branches of the Bank of the United States in Louisville and Lexington.Doutrich, p. 14 The Second Party System had not yet developed, but there were nonetheless two opposing factions that arose around the debt relief issue.Doutrich, p. 23 The first – primarily composed of land speculators who had bought large land parcels on credit and were unable to repay their debts due to the financial crisis – was dubbed the Relief Party or faction and favored more legislation favorable to debtors. Opposed to them was the Anti-Relief Party or faction; it was composed primarily of the state’s aristocracy, many of whom were creditors to the land speculators and demanded that their contracts be adhered to without interference from the government. They claimed that no government intervention could effectively aid the debtors and that attempts to do so would only prolong the economic depression.

Adair was the clear leader of the Relief faction, and his popularity had been enhanced thanks to his lengthy and public dispute with Jackson. In the 1820 gubernatorial election, he was elected as Kentucky’s chief executive over three fellow Democratic-Republicans.Harrison and Klotter, p. 110 Adair garnered 20,493 votes; U.S. Senator William Logan finished second with 19,497, fellow veteran Joseph Desha received 12,419, and Colonel Anthony Butler mustered only 9,567 votes.Young, p. 127 Proponents of debt relief measures also won majorities in both houses of the General Assembly.