The daily Gate City. [volume] (Keokuk, Iowa) 1855-1916, 1866-01-12
A Cowhiding Caeo. In waning.
rwashinfton Cor. Cin0l1hsel

Gen. Sol. Meredith recently appeared, q he
thinks. no doubt, to great advantage in cow
hiding affair at Richmond, Ind. He made .
hero of himself, in his own estimation, BY Of.
lacking q rnan Who was entirely mprepefed
for such an emergency, in manner thai does
not stamp him as very courageous person.
The General appears before one of the city
courts to- day, as the personation of an entirely
different character, in . performance very
similar 10 thstin which he figured so con-
spiculously in Indiana. In fact, he appears
as the prosecutor Of young man, about half
his weight in avordupois, who, he alleges,
terminated personal controversy with him at
the Nationsl Hotal last summsy, by resort to
the qyItmentum ad bocslinun. The facts, as
nearly as can get at them, are these: While
Meredith was in command at Paducah, he
offered repeated indignities to Col. Mcbride,
of Ohio for no other cause, as the Colonel
alleges, than that he (McBride) was COM
mander of negro regiment. "On one oc.
casion,'' says the Colonel, Meredith was
about to give party in Padueah, and issued
invitations freely to all the officers under him.
Just before the event came OH, some OF the
secesh women of Psducah notified Meredith
that if officers Of negro troops were to be ut
the entertainment, they must decline grazing
the occasion, as they did not consider such
gentlemen fit company for Kentucky ladies.
Meredith immediately withdrew the invita-
tons he had extended to Mcbride and others
in order to remove all obstacles to the charm
ing presence of the snuff dipping aristocracy,
and Of course his conduct was regarded as an
insult to every officer affected by his unman-
ly trucking to a contemplate prejudice. This
and other matters of ike spirit were duly
debited to him in Col. McBride's mental
ledger, but no favorable opportunity for
settlement presented itself until last summer,
when the offended and the offender met at the
National Mcbride spoke few words to
Meredith, who replied in spirit OF pacifica-
ton evidently not expecting what was so soon
to follow. A cowhide leaped as if BY magic
from the breast of Mcbride to the back of the
General, upon which it reappeared at inter
walls of few seconds at least twenty times
The stalwart Solomon was as q lamb before
Dutch butcher: he raised not his hand nor
scarce opened his mouth, but after the man
ner of little boy who runs off to tell his
mamma, he started for Judge Wylie's court,
where he entered complaint against Mcbride
for assault The case has been continued
from time TO time until to-day when 1t is set
for trial.
What have stated above is what appears
in general terms in McBride's version, and
from the general recollection of others: of the
main facts, to-wit: that Meredith was cowhi-
ded by a man about half his size, and that he
attempted no other resentment than a law
suit, there is no room for doubt. There may
be some mistake about the secesh ladies and
the party, but Mcbride avows it is true as
3 stated And it is well known that while in
command at Paducah, Meredith had alto
gether too much regard for the feelings of
rebels and too little for the feelings of Union
officers.
Whatever there may be in the case, it is
very certain that the Secretary of War sees
much in it to amuse him, for the clerks of the
War Department say that the walls of Mr..
Stanton Office fairly shook with the laughter
evoked from the divinity who presides there,
while Col Mcbride related the circums stances
of the case in his hearing yesterday Edwin
repeatedly interrupted the narrative to de-
clare that it was the best thing he had ever
heard in his life; and when it came to de-
scription of Meredith's appearance while the
fogging was going on, there was for a short
time great danger of a vacancy in the Cabinet,
owing to the hysterical conduct of the War
Minister.