The Pulaski citizen. [volume] (Pulaski, Tenn.) 1866-current, 1885-02-05
BLOODY BEATTY.
Remarkable Record of a Member of
the Present Tennessee
Legislature.

Occupying the extreme back
desk nn the right side as you enter
the Legislative hall may be seen a
stout, healthy man, thirty-nine
years old, of medium stature, horid
com mplexion, heavy brow, reclining
forehead, fairly well dressed, wear
ing whiskers a ia Napolean Ill,
and of general intelligent appear
ance. That man is Hon. "Clabe"
Beatty of Fentress county. Proba-
bly, no man in the legislature has so
remarkable q record. To look at
him and talk to him one would not
suppose the quiet, unobstrusive leg
islator had killed nearly a score of
his fellow men, but such is fact.
He has killed eighteen men. He is
son OF the noted thinker Dave"
Beatty, and was one of his fathers
most trusted lieutenants during the
late war. The company of which
he was a member and his father
the captain killed more than five
hundred men of the class known as
''guerrillas" in the last two years Of
the war.
In the mountainous sections of
Tennessee and Kentucky the name
of " tinker Dave" was a terror up
to his death, and the many deeds
Of bloodshed and death in which he
participated are yet recOunted with
horror by the oder Inhabitants
thereof.
Prior to the war thinker Dave"
was peaceable citizen earning an
honest living in the mountains of
Fentress county. In the early part
of the rebellion the guerrillas in
that section raided the old noun
taineer's premises frequently and
made havoc of his property, tgreat-
ly mistreatiBg his family. Finally,
he swore revenge, and organizing a
company of 100 desperate and dar-
ing men, he set about to kill all of
the class that had annoyed him.
The slain of his bands are buried
ali over the mountains and in the
valleys of East Tennessee and Ken
lucky. "Clabe,'' the member of
the legislature referred to, was then
a boy about eighteen years old, and
enlisted with his father to kill and
dismay the enemy wherever fouEd.
Many were the bloody battles he
fought in savage disorder, some
times with the most unequal odds
against him, and sometimes awith
the "balance of power in his favor.
In his method of warfare 5here
was no surrendering, no taking of
prisoners, no ransom for the cap
tured. 1t was death. When an
enemy was captured he was shot
dead upon the spot. 1t is not, there
fore, wonderful that during nearly
three years of steady searching for
blood, he should have killed eigh-
teen men to his certain knowledge,
besides, probably, many others of
whom he did not know. In the
of White county a small
detached force of which he was
.eader struck a squad" of ''guer-
-Illas," and running fight ensued.
Ammunition soon became scarce,
and Beaty's men attempted to cap
.ure and subdue the fleeing party by
force In Chis they par
Tally succeeded. One of Beaty's !
men, however, caught large, stout |
'ellow who resisted, and a rough |
and tumble fight followed until the
Hon" 'Clane' turned to the res
cue, and leVeling his Enfield rife,
1red and shot the large man dead,
md left him gasping in the noun
,ain wilds. That entirely exhaust
I'd the ammunition and the question |
low arose, how were they to dis
pose of another man whom they |
had captured? Beatty hurriedly !
and summarily settled the discuss
on by picking up large club and
striking the man a deadly blow on
5he head, killing him instantly. In
Clay county he was accommodating
with ten of his fathers company
when an armed force Of about
seventy five men attacked him.
He returned the fire, almost every
shot killing its man, and then fed,
turning every few moments and
pouring a deadly volley into the
pursuing force. Such was the marks
Of his men that seldom
did a shot fail to kill a man, and
thus the little party of ten killed
nearly half of their pursuers and
repulsed the rest without losing a
man and only getting a few slight
wounds. On that same raid he was
completely surrounded at one time
by n company of Confederates un-
der Capt. Foote and Lieut.. Payne,
and with that desperate boldness
that characterized most of his ex-
ploits he made a "break" and es-
capped to the mountains unharmed.
The company existed and oper-
ated under nominal authority from
Cen. Thomas, and after the war,
when Tinker Dave" was tried in
the courts for some of these deeds,
be was acquitted in every case. The
Hon. L. c. Houk was his attorney,
and in recognition of his able servi
ces, tho old raider made him q
present of fine race horse, aside
from the large fee first paid in cash.
Young "Clabe" settled down to |
peaceful pursuits and soon after
married. BY hard work and fru-
gality he has acquired quite com
petence, and lived in such man
ner as to win the respect and con
fdence OF his fellows. When nomi-
mated for the legislature last fall a |
member of his party |
bolted and ran Independent. Thus
with the democratic candidate |
Beatty had two opponents, and he
got more votes than both. The Gu
rious feature of the canvass was
the brother of q man whom Beatty |
had killed heartily supported him,
and two sons Of another man whom
he shot dead in 1864 coming to the |