The Plymouth weekly Democrat. (Plymouth, Ind.) 1860-1869, 1867-08-01
THE RIOT AT ROCKVILLE, TENN.
ARMED RADICALS BREAK
UP A CONSERVATIVE
MEETING,
AND fare on EMERSON ETH
EREstGE.
FIVE HUN DRIED MEN IN DEAD.
LY CONFLICT.

FIVE HUN DRIED MEN IN DEAD
LY CONFLICT.
From the Nashville CTenn.) Dispatch July 26.
Again the soil of Tennessee has drunk
deeply of the blood Of its prosecuted clti-
zens. Again the myrmidons of Brown
low have brought death and desoation to
its peaceful homes, and still they are per-
mtted by this great government Of ours to
revel on in the carnival OF blood which
they have inaugurated throughout the
State, and still the infamous militia is rec
ognized as among the regularly cOnstitut-
ed authorities" The corpse Of the mar
tyred Cody scarce grows cold, ere the It'd
in9s of a still more sanguiuary conflict than
that which placed Franklin in mourning
comes to Us from East Tennessee.
On a branch of the East Tennessee and
Virginia railroad, leading from Rageryillc
Junction, is the little village of Rogcrville.
1t is the capital of Hawkins county and
has about 700 inhabitants, and is distant
24 miles from Knoxville, the home of
Brownlow. Like many other places in
Tennessee, it has its clique OF radical
time servers. who are as bitter and relent-
less i'll their hatred of every conservative
as Satan in his hatred Of everything good.
1t had been announced through the news
papers that on Tuesday of this week, EN-
erson Etheridgc, the conservative candid
ate for Governor of Tennessee, would adj
dress the people at that place, and, when
the announcement reached the village, the
radicals swore that he should never mount
the stand to speak to crowd there az long
as trusty guns and men could be found
who would use them. These threats OF
repeated outrage, however. failed to move
the great conservative chief one jot, and
he determined on filling his appointment,
come what may. Everybody anticipated
trouble, and when the day arrived the peo-
pie poured in from all quarters, armed
with muskets, shot guns, revolvers and 9th
er weapons, the radicals bent on riot and
blood shed, and the conservatives deter
mined to defend themselves to the last,
should they be assai!ed.
With | o'clock came Etheridge, and a
mass Of not less than 500, half of them
coored, gathered about the Court House,
on the square, to listen to the speech As
he proceeded, his terrible denunciation
and thorough exposition of Brownlow cor
ruption fired the radical heart to such a
degree that he had spoken but an hour
when one of his sentences was picked up
By Tom King, notorious partisan, who
shouted back, "That's damned lie -
Not knowing who had flung the insult into
his teeth, Mr.. Etheridge hurled back a
whitening epithet, which he scarce had ut
tered ere a whistlng bullet cut the air in
dangerous proximity to the place where he
was standing, and this was quickly follow
ed by others in all parts Of the assem- olage.
The crowd at once broke, the radicals NOV
inc to one side of the square, shouting and
yelling like demons Of the lower pit, and
the conservatives going in an opposite di
rection, both parties firing as they went
They soon drew up in position and the
work of death commenced in earnest, vol
ley after vollcy of minnie balls, large aud
small shot and the contents Of numberlcss
revolvers, being poured in in rapid sue
cession, every round carrying wounds and
death into the ranks Of the combatants un-
III 'hOy ooCdn ~ ""'Ci; OiS'th iheo H'I "'uS
and move from the square, keeping up a
scattering fire as they slowly retreated.
Mr.. Etherdge, holding in his hands a
revolver, stood firm, throughout, never
moving an inch from the position he had
first taken.
The battle lasted about twenty minutes,
by which time the square was cleared, and
only random shots were being fired in 9TH
err portions of the village. The first man
to fall was a white conserva tive. bullet
crashing thro' his brain and killing him in
stanly. A radical negro was the next, a ball
entering ais side and passing nearly through
him. He died in few minutes after lie
fell. Seven other persons were mortally
wounded, while twenty-five or thirty re-
ceived wounds more or less serious The
wounded were conveyed to hotel, where
they remained until other means could be
provided for their care. 1t is said that the
radicals suffered most, but we have learned
nothing reliable in regard to their loss.
As soon as the firing ceased, Mr. Ether
eridge left the Court House, and proceed
ed to his hotel. He left town by the night
train for Snecdsville, to fill an appoint
ment there.
Trouble is anticipated in other portions
of East Tennessee, as in many places the
Brownlowites have sworn that Mr.. Ether
idgc shall not speak, but he will not for a
moment shrink from the duty before him.
He will neither be inundated by their
threats nor driven away by their bullets.
No such measures of the Brownlow des-
potism can put down free speech in Ten
nesseee, though backed by the militia of
his dcspicablc service.