Nashville union and dispatch. [volume] (Nashville, Tenn.) 1866-1868, 1867-07-20
THE REIGN OF TERROR.

] NhA1 AhAAaHN VI A6AAANOns
| Arrival of Two Hundred and Six Mi.
Iitia, with n BrindIe FIRg-They Open
the Bail I'm n GrOg-shOP-A BarSkeeper
Knocked Down with a dubbed Mus.
kef, and building Fired IntO--sOund.
ing Of n RiOt Alarm, and Gathering
Of the MISUNDERSTANDING 10 be Gar.
risOued.
The morning train from Chattanooga
yesterday brought several extra cars,
crowded with two hundred and six of the
Brownlow militia-HalPs company from
Knoxville, and a portion of Gresham S
company from Bristol, East Tennessee.
Halls command was uniformed in the Fed
eral blue of the United States army, were
well armed and equipped, and made a
better show than any equal number Of their
kind that has yet come this way. We I'M
derstand they are TO remain here as a gar
rison, the fifth cavalry and the forty
fifth infantry being considered INSULT
eient for public protection" Part of
Gresham's company had been sent to Fay
etteville, and the portion of it which was
drawn up on the platform at the depot
along with Halls command, was composed
Of as ragged and dirty a set of green look
ing pumpkins as ever went barefoot. 1t
was rather sight calling upon the pity and
sympathy Of the beholder than one Of the
war which despotism is striving to bring
about in this fair land. Their flag was
meant TO be a representation of the
national rrlraa mi lsAra
il was bogus. The stripes that alternated
with the dirty white we're Of dead brin.
die color, and Tennessee NoPs' in coarse
black letters was barely distinguishable
amid its gloomy folds.
In due time, both commands moved of,
leaving squad at the depot to guard their
baggage, and there were no signs of brew
ing trouble anywhere until between two
and three o'clock in the afternoon. The
guard had, in the meantime, been i'm
billing pretty freely of the mean
whisky from the dOggeries in the vicinity,
and some Of them expressed some emphatic
militia opinions while getting drunk.
-Four Of them, armed with muskets, re-
paired TO McEwen's saloon lust west
Of the railroad, and called for liquor.
They We're 80 far gone, however from the
effects of previous ibations, that the bar
keeper stoutly refused TO sell them any
more. Finding they could do nothing
with him by urging, they determined upon
taking possession of the whole concern,
and no sooner did this idea come than it
was acted upon. A crash of glass followed
the upraising of a dubbed musket, and in
an instant the barkeeper was stretched upon
the floor by a blow from the butt Of the
weapon. This seemed 10 have changed the
tactics Of the drunken devils, and they all
rushed into the street, one of them -four
ishing a revolver az he reached the open
air.
Deputy Marshal Spain, in passing the
saloon, saw what was going on, and know
ing the spirit by which these ingorant mer-
cenaries are controlled, and the detestation
in which they are universally held, feared
the difficulty might result in serious con-
sequences to the parties concerned, and
perhaps lead to another of the bloody riots
which have of late been so frequent in
other portions of the State He at once
started at a lively pace for the stationhouse
on the Square, and upon his arrival three
loud, quick strokes of the alarm bell told
the busy city that trouble was afoat, and
its continued ringing soon filled the streets
with moving masses Of excited people.
Meanwhile, the four militiamen were
masters of the field, and leid siege to the
saloon, confidently expecting that the
enemy would succumb before nightfall.
One Of them raised his musket and opened
fire, sending minnie ball whizzing through
the side Of the building and lodging it in
an old sofa inside. The attack thus
brilliantly opened, was, however, destined
to be cut short most ingloriously. Captain
Patterson and detachment of police had
set out from the stationhouse, and Church
street was rapidly filling with dense
throng, all moving toward the scene of the
trouble, expecting all sorts Of things, for
il had been widely rumored that the Burns
men and the Anti-Burns men,
of the Board Of Directors of the
Nashville and Chattanooga railroad, which
was holding a meeting in one of the depot
buildings, had finally come to a general
engagement, and that blood was flowing
freely. Other rumors had it that General
Duncan had ordered out the regulars to
quell a militia riot, and still other stories
said that the infantry had gone into the
railroad fight, but whether for Burns or his
opponents nobody seemed to know. Hap
PLY for the militia, they somehow got wind
Of what was coming, and in FIVE minutes
not one Of them was to be seen. The
clouds of battle rolled away toward the
azure canopy above, and when the police
came up not a soul was in sight but the
excited crowd which had accompanied it.
The saloon was closed, and not a word
could be learned of what had occurred,
nor was there the least visible sign of
what had,oocurred, save the shattered glass,
and the splinters where the bullet had
sped The crowd retired, so did the POI
lice. and not an arrest was made.