The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1860-04-07
8itlI,llaah 4ispattb.
SATURDAY MORNING. APRIL :. 1891 !.

4tfyI1datu Btspatfg.
= SATURDAY MORNING. APRIL :. 1891
1.-THE Greatest Duei 81 Record"
We published under this heading, 'hs Other
day, the following article. 1t pufpors W
have been furnished to the woodvtils Miss
Rspsbises. BY an old Mississfrptan:
"TAe famous duel in which forty or more gen
,Iemen we're engaged in 1893, 10 still remembered
in N.tchex. Cor. jim Bowie. the famous fighter
and INVENTOR Of the knife which hears hia name,
used to spend great deal Of his time in Natchex.
He was CHALLENGED by agentieman Of Alexandra.
La, ~hcse friends tn the number Of twenty or
more, accompanied him TO Natchez to see fair
play, knowing BowIE was . desperate man, and
had his own friends about him. All parties went
upon the field. The combatAnts took their places in
tho centre, separated from their friends in the rear
ar enough not to endanger them with their halls.
Behold the battle array thus Twenty armed Louis
tanians hlty yards behind their champion and his
conds and surgeon. and opposite them, ~ far be-
hind Bowie and his seconds and surgeon. twenty
armed Miasissippans. Behold the heights Of
Naschcz thronged with spectators, and = steam
.er in the river rounded to. Its decks black with
passengers watching with a deep interest the
scene. The pan Of fight was to exchange shots
twice with pistols. and to close with knives BOWIE
being armed with his ow n terrible weapon. At the
krs. FIRE both parties escaped. At the second the
I.ouisi anan was too quick and took advantage of
Bowie, who waited the word At this BowiE's
second cried I" foul play ~ and shot the Louisian-
ian dead The second Of the latter instantly killed
the STAY of his principal. Bowie drove his knife
into this man. The surgeons now crossed blades,
while, with loud battle cries, came the two par
ties Of friends, the light of battle in theireyes In
a moment the whole number were engaged in a
L.. D..l.-
nsed with fatal effect, until ono party drove the
other from the field. do not know how many
were killed and wounded in all, but it was dread
full Slang liter. Bowie fought like hon, but fell
covered with wounds For months he fingered at
the Mansion House. before he fully recovered"
1t is strange that an occurrence 30 remarka.
bic rs the Eight on the Sand Bar at Natchezn
full account Of which was published at the
time in the Natchez papers, and thence copied
into every paper in the United States, should
be SO entirely misunderstood at the distance
of only thirty-two years from the time at
which it took place. Stranger still is it, that
the Misrepresentation should have appeared
in Il paper published not more than a days
steaming from the scene of the tragedy
Strangest of oil is it, that it should have oc-
Cured with regard to a person so remark
able and so we'll known Colonel JAMES
Bowie. There is hardly one single state
INIT in the above statement that is pure
ly and absolutely correct. In his younger |
er days, while most Of the parties that sur |
vived the fight on the Sand Bar were still |
alive, the writer Of this article was a resident |
of both Mississippi and Louisiana. With seve- !
raj Of these persons he became we'll acquaint- |
ed although he never heard either Of them |
speak Of the affair under consideration. What |
he lacked of hearing from them, however, he |
gathered from others, some Of whom had |
heard the statements of the different parties |
concerned and others had been on the field a |
few hours after the battle had been fought. |
In one word, "Col. jim BowIK'' did not "in-
vent the knife which bears his name - he was |
not challenged by any gentleman of Alexan.
dria, and his friends, &c, did not 60 to see him
have fair play. The fight was between Louisi-
anians alone, and they of the Parish of RAJ ides
Not Mississippian was engaged in it, 1t
did not take place on the heights of Natchex
nor was there a crowd to witness it, The
whole description is as veridical as any COM
bat described by HOMER, and not one particle
more so. As the occurrence is a matter of
historical interest, affording a lively picture
Of the times and country, we take the oppor-
tunity to state it with as much accuracy as |
our memory can supply.
In the Parish of Rapides, and more par
ticularly in its principal town, Alexandria
situated on the Red River, there had existed
from the time of the purchase Of Louisiana.
two strong and hostile parties, the one com.
posed Of the Creole population, with MANY
American auxiliaries, and the other composed |
in great measure, of American settlers. with.
probably, the addition of a fec Creoles s
The i'll will Of the parties was stimulated to {
An intense degree, by numerous disputes with
regard to land titles, arising ont Of what were l
Known at the time as the Washita claims
Frequent acts of violence signaliZed the ex i
stence Of these parties, who, as is always the v
ase with factions OF every description a few l.
ears previously to 1e2e, drew to a head under
he actual, though nnacknowledged leader.
hip of two master spirits-men who seemed n
ormed, by nature, for stormy times !,
The first of these, Col. CRANE. 1--WE do not re- n
ollect his first name,) was a native of Eau. ii
uier or Loudoun county, in this State. He +,
vas a tall, thin man, quite lame, of no great y
hysical strength, we presume from his size
nd figure, but of strong mind, powerful will. n
nd undaunted courage. He removed to Lou. r,
siana about the year 1915, and was, at the n
me we write OF, planter in the parish of o..
apides. He was regarded as the leader of
lie American faction. The other was Col II
AMEs BOWIE who was native of MARYLAND | O,
here the name is quite common, but had re- 4.
owed in early youth to Louisiana. He re-
mbled Col. CRANE in many PARTICULARS He to
Id powerful, but not very cultivated nm a,
was shrewd judge, and a most
hcient manager of men; possessed. like q
RANE great physical courage, but differed "
ON him in that his frame and strength were r
the gigantic scale. We have heard persons,
no had served with him in Texas saw that | :,
addition TO his other qualifications as a =,
rider chief, he had a degree of military tai. 81
It's which would, under other circumstances
ID in different service, have made him
nsummate commander. He was cool, perse. 70
ring and prudent, and held it as a maxim ne.
r to strike blow without some important oh. j.
1t in view. He was lying i'll in the town Of San m
ntonio when the Mexicans advanced upon -;
and was carried on q bed into the Alamo. or
I'd he been in health, We have heard Texans =.
y, the massacre at the Alamo would not co
We taken place, for he would have insis tad n.
retreating from that dangerous advanced do
sition and falling back on the settlements.
least a week before SANTA ANNA came on
ring to the extreme Of rashness, where dar. VI
was required, he was too much Of a sol. Al
r to expose has mea in position SO far in 10
vance OF all succor, where, if they were de. ="
ted, they must be inevitably destroyed. To ne
urn, however, to the thread of our narrative tn
mere was. Of course deadly animosity be. OF
cen CRANE and BOWIE. but they did not i'm. MI
ed,afely come into conflict. Their partixans. tu
viewer, Were continually fighting On one lei
c0slon, General CiiNxy of Rou,-,. lite