The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1868-01-10
Unfortunate ARRAY.

Lambeth, merchant of this place, and q
negro by the name of Calvin Carter. Last
summer this negro went into Mr.. LIS store,
and from some cause difficulty occurred,
| and In pursuance of the right every man
has Of protecting his premises, thought pro-
per to expel him from the house with kick.
Ever since this occurrence, the negro and
several of his friends have been openly ma
king serious threats againet Mr. L., and on
The night before this occurrence, grossly
insulted and threatened him on the street,
whereupon Mr.. L. sought to cbsstise his
insulter. but he fed. Again on the morn
of the affray, he menaced Mr.. L. In front of
his own door, and when Mr. L. would hal
chastised him again, fed. Finally, du-
ring the day, large crowd of negroes con-
gregatcd at negro drinking saloon imme-
diately opposite the house Of Mr.. L. They
were drinking and carousing and making
many threatening demonstrations and re-
marks, intended for Mr.. L.; he, Mr. L., J
happening to pass by the grocery, was met
by negro making threatning demonstra-
tions towards him, which he resented and
demanded expianations-a quarrel ensued,
in which pistol was drawn upon Mr. L.,
aud snapped at him-whereupon he drew
his pistol and fred at the negro who ran
into the house, Mr.. L. following. Another
negro then appeared end fred upon Lam
beth. Mr.. L., who had stepped out upon
the street, returned the fire. Several of
Mr.. Lambeth's friends, seeing him in
difficulty, ran to his assistance, and many
other negroes appeared upon the opposite
side. The negroes again made the attack
by firing at Lambeth, whereupon, be and
two or three friends returned the fire. The
negroes retreated into the grocery and the
whites ceased firing; but the negroes in a
few moments re-appeared. having been re-
inforced by Orange Rodes and others, aud
made another attack--Orapge swapping a
pistol at the whites. The whites returned
the fire, some more Of Lamheth's friends
having come to his assistance, whereupon
number of shots were fred from each side;
but the negroes being much worsted, retrea-
ted in bad order. and there was no more
fighting.
There were six negroes wounded--iwo
seriOusly-one of whom, Orange Rodes,
has since died Another is very badly shot,
the rest are slightly wounded. One white
man received a small shot in one of his fin.
gers-a very slight injury. This was the
extent of the casualties.
We have given the above facts as we re-
ceived them from what we consider good
authority persons who were upon tie
ground aud saw the transaction. The whole
matteris beinginvestigated by Committing
Court, to-day, but the result of this inves-
tigaton, or the. facts proven, we are not
able to procure before going to press.
From all the facts and circumstances we
are satisfied that this difficulty was sought
aud desired by the blacks, so far as the at
tack upon Mr.. Lambeth is concerned, and
that they were organized and prepared for,
and had assembled at this Grocery for that
purpose. Some circumstances to prove it
are that the negroes, about twenty-five in
number, were we'll armed-most of them
there at the beginning, the others appearing
as soon az the affray began, and all showed
disposition to prosecute it to the bitter
end. On the other hand. there seemed to
be 10 concert of action on the part Of Lar :
beth's friends, as Lambeth was entirely
alone when the difficulty began, and it was
some time before his friends appeared, and
many of them came entirely uuarmed, and
rae for their arms afterwards. There were
only six or seven Of them altogether.
We were pleased to hear that many oil
our old citizens were upon the ground. and
exposing themselves to great danger, in
their efforts to suppress and quell the dis
turbauce, among whom we may mention
Maj. Thos. NJ. Jones, Maj. Amos R. Rich.
ardson, Mayor Balleutiue, Maj. Aymett,
chief of Police, Mr.. Malone, and Sheriff
Peden, the latter of whom promptly ar
rested the whole party of whites and all the
blacks that could be identified.
We are sorry indeed to chronicle this az
fair, and sorry that such a thing should
have occurred in our community; but hope
that it has resulted in some good and taught
lesson which will prevent repetition Of
such a scene. We hope that the negroes
will learn the lesson: that it is to their IN
terest to cultivate amicable relations with
the whites of this country, aud when one OF
their color has difficulty with q white man.
be he right or wrong, that they are not JUS
ti6able in banding themselves together to
defend him ~ ct Grnais
Many fears were entertained of renewal
of this difficulty, as the negroes had made
some threats, but our energetic city authoI-
tiles promptly organized a special police.