The Democrat. (Scotland Neck, Halifax Co., N.C.) 1884-1896, 1885-04-02
GENERAL NATHANIEL LYON.
An Exciting Inrifent in his Early
Will AIRY Career

| Mill AIRY Career.
DR., William A. Hammond gives, II
the Naqasiue Of american History, some
"reminiscences of General Nathaniel Lyon
the Federal officer who was killed at the
battle of Wilson's Creek, Mo-, in 1861
DIR. Hammond was surgeon of frontier
garrison where Lyon was a captain long
| before the war Upon one occasion, say
the writer, Captain Anderson, of the
| Second dragons. afterward major
| general IN the Confederate service, gave
a dinner party, AT which were present
! several of tie officers cf the garrison as
we'll as the members of a general court
IN rtial that wa. then i'll session at the
post. CAPTAIN Lyon ard myself were
among the number
Although Capt. Anderson was q
citizen Ct South Carolina. and his ness,
| LYON plunged as soon as he could get
the opportunity in O a harahgne again i
! the South and It's rccl:liar institution, in
which he used al! the powers Of lnvcc-
| tive that be possessed ill SO great a de
| gree. Among the guests were General
| Mansfield. killed At Antlctam; General
! RAMSEY. chief of ordinance during the
war; Co.oncl c. +. Smi II. Who'll lie had
| lived would certainly havc given Soou
| account o himself on the side OF the
Union aud General Casey, who SO hlghiy
distinguished himself Il: the battle OF
Fair Oaks All of these were Northern
men who had 10 liking for slavery, bat
thew were all dlimufounded at the vlo-
iencc and viru!cnce OF Lyons attack. AS
for thc Southelncrs. they looked lndIg-
nant, Of course, ali but the host, Captain
Anderson, who sat at the head OF his
table smiling sercnely IA Lyons abuse,
and bv occasionally add csSlng word
or two to those nearest TO him, trying to
make The occasion pass as pleasantly as
was 30 sib G under the circumstances.
But that evening, while several OF u.
Including Captain Lyon, were sitting IN
Major Merrill's quarters, Anderson
entered the room. He looked around
him. and his eyes at once lighted Gil the
man of whom he was evidently in sea oh,
and whom he had not found in his OVID
quarters
CAPTAIN Lyon" he said, approaching
his an agonist, ''you took occasion to-
day, when l from my post on was help
less to repcl your insults, 10 commit an
outrage, for which am now going to
punish you. | do not mean 10 heap
personal abuse on you, for every one
here present knows what | think of you,
and that kind of retaliation would do
You very little harm; am going to- thrash
you" -
He took a step toward Lyon, who
hearing this speech, lad remained quiet
ly in his chair g.aring at his adversary,
and evidently worked up to the point of
doing mischief. AS Andersoni came
nearer, Lyon, still wi hout moving a
limb, said, with as much composure as
he could command: -"
''Cap:ain Anderson, if You cone a
step nearer I'll xii you"
Instantly several Of us rushed between
the two. and Anderson, without word
further. withdrew.
About an hour afterward | was
reused from bed by some one at the door,
and on going down stairs found Captain
Lyon. [ at once suspec. ed what had
happened, but | was not allowed to- re
main long, in Il state of uncertainty.
''Ai derson has challenged me,n, he
said
You will have to accept" 1 an
swercd
'No, [ shall not accept; I have con-
scientious scruples about duelling. and,
| beside, it is contrary to law, and am o
| law abiding man. ~
Then YOU Will be sent to Coventry
without delay. You have grossly in
suited Anderson in his own house, and
you must give him satisfaction, or you
will be run out of the army
| 81 don't care; l am -wilineto- endure
| IL ion, fy,p tlln co1-r Of
lions. | shall not fight him. If he at
tacks1ne, / shall kill him the; same as I
would a dog.
iargued the matter with him-I was
many years younger than l am now =
and tie result was that he finally CON
sented to meet Anderson, provided |
would act as his second, and that the
duel should take place with pistols
across a table.
l demonstrated with him on this latter
point, and tod him that l was quite
sure Major Siblev, Anderson's second,
would reremptoriIy refuse to a low his
principal to fight after such murderous
fashion. He was firm, however o ]
had a conference early the following
morning with Major Slbley, and ;,s had
expected, Lyons terms were regarded by
nm as altogether outside the pale of the
laws OF duel ing. and as being barbarous,
numerous, unusual, and ungentlcmanly.
There was nothing left for Anderson
to do but to ho"scwhip Lyon or intiict
some other gross indlgnity on him, and
this he would certainly have attempted
but for the fact that Sibley and | got
him and Lyon to agree that the matter
should be referred to council of O ulcers
whose decision should be binding. This
body, after due deliberation, decided
that Captain Lyon had been guilty of 3
grave offence, and that he should apollo
glze to Captain Anderson in the presence
OF every officer of the post
This was a bitter dose for LYON tf
swallow, but there was no escape. He
declared to me that he would rather cut
off his right hand than do VIII It it had
been decreed he must do. He fumeo
and fretted over the matter till ht
worked himself up to such state of ex.
c1tement as made me fear for the strength
OF his mind to resist it, but he final,
cooled down and began to look at the
matter philosophically.
Mrs. Hammond and | were to have 8
reception that evening for the members
of the court martial. ard they and all the
officers Of the garrison and their wives
would accordingly be together at m,
quarters. 1t was decided that at
O'Clock Captain Lyon should tender hi:
apology in their presence. Every one
was there. at 8 o'clock Captain Ander
son stationed himself at one end OF the
| Tjrnv