St. Paul daily globe., 1888-01-30
A Few of the Bloodthirsty Exploits Of
Col. Alexander b. McClung in
Mississippi.
The Contests Of Man Of Wonderful
Nerve and Extremely DELHI
crate Aim.
Shoetings and Killings in the Legal and
: Editorial Professions in
the South.

IN statement, have recently
Z !: ! 8 s ! ]
been published regard |
~ - ing the dueling exploits
n.N(D fBA of ''Alex r. McCllel-
1EA lam" They even go so
"s far as to connect the
$ W&HB@ alleged duelist with
az Mrs. Clement c. Clay,
who recently married Judge ClOptOn, of
the supreme court OF Alabama, and who
was a noted figure in Washington So
ciety in days Of yore. BY Mcclellan,
the writers of these sketches evidently
mean Alex X. McClung, who was a
celebrated character in the Southwest
some forty-odd years ago. 1t is not i'm
possible that Mrs. Clay, who was then a
young lady, met and admired Nc
Clung, who was handsome enough
to catch any wOman's fancy.
and. besides, was gifted in mind,
wealthy, and had before him promis-
ing career. If there was anything more
than ordinary mountaineering be-
tween them, however, there is no rec
ord or recollection of the fact among
those who ought to know. it is also
mistake, and one common. too, among
people even in this locality, to charge
McCiung with being the veritable raw
head and bloody bones" of dueiists. So
far as anybody knows he was out only
four times On the ''feld of honor" and
but two of his antagonists met their
deaths at his hands. The first of the
four rencounters took place on the coast
of South Africa, when he was mid
Shipman in the navy, writes Memphis,
Tenn, correspondent of the st. Louis
Globe-DemOcrat. His antagonist was
Midshipman Hinton, afterward cOmmO-
>dOre of the Texas navy during Sam
Houston's presidency. On this occasion
McClung was wounded in the arm.
He next fought with young Marshall,
his cousin, by whom he had been chal-
lenged After receiving his adyer-
Sary's fire. he discharged his pistol in
the air, which, of course, ended the
affair.
He served as second for Henry S.
FOote-who, by the way, himself fought
four duels-at the latter'S second en-
counter with the gifted Sergt. S. Prem
tiSs, fifty-five years ago. On that occa-
sion FoOte fell, dangerously wounded
in the groin, and PrentisS was shot in
the shoulder. 1t was at the former duel
between the two that PrentiSs is re-
ported to have spoken pleasantly to a
group of little boys perched upon the
and warned them to leave, as Gov.
Foote was sin the habit of doing lot of
all and mighty wild shooting"
Meetings. third duel, and the first
which proved fatal to his adversary,
was fought with Gen. Allen, young
man, on the banks of Pearl river, near
Jackson, Miss. Each was armed with
six pistols, not rifles, as other stories
have it. There was large cOncourSe
of citizens of Jackson Oh hand to wit
ness the encounter, and OF course no at
tempt was made to prevent it. as duel
ing was a recognized institution of the
country. The two were placed sixty
PAGES apart at the beginning, but as had
been arranged by the seconds. they
were to advance at will. And here Nc
Clung showed the GOODNESS that brought
him out of many close corner. He
took one step forward and stopped, re-
serving his fire. Allen, hot and eager,
rushed forward. diScharging his pistol
as he went. McClung waited until the
other was within easy range, and, tax
ing deliberate aim, ,..,.. ,.,.......>.,..
a- SHOT HIM IN THE, MOUTH.
Aliens tongue was almost amputated
by the bullet, and he died after a brief
period of suffering.
McClung afterward killed James Men
ifee in duel, completing his grave
yard, but those who were familiar with
all the circumstances OF this case have
declared that McClung was in no way
to blame. So much for his record as a
duelist.
This man was born for better ca
reer than his proved to be. His life
brighten the future of SOutherner of
that day. 1t closed miSerably, and by
an act that attes ted his utter Wretched-
! ness. Such character could not be de-
velOped in the South at the present. 1t
was possible then only under the pecu-
liar conditions that Influenced society
| and public opinion in the Southwest of
| forty OF fifty years ago. Men fought
duels at that time for affrontS that
would now lead to fiSticuff or a street
| encounter. And. indeed, some of the
Old-timerS down this way contend that
| the revolution i'll public sentiment has
not mended matters much.
''We have" they say, ''Only eX-
| bound by some laws of fairness, for the
assassin, who shoots down his victim in
broad daylight in the street, giving him
no more chance for his life than the red
| Indian who lies in ambush. Give, me
McClung and his kind in preference to
the Stokeses and the Alstons and the
! BufOrdS."
But to return to McClung. He was
born in 1909 or 1910, in FauQuier county,
Va, the same locality in which many
more conspicuous men of a former gen.
Grafton first saw the light. Among
them were United States Senators James
| administration party in the senate dur
ing Buchanan'S administration, and
| Henry Stuart FoOte, of Mississippi
Gen. jeff Thompson, a partisan leader
| on the Southern side during the late
war, and subsequently chief engineer
| of the state of Louisiana, and others of
| note, but not now in the writer's mem
| Ory.
McClung was reared in Kentucky and
was educated for the navy, in which he
served several years as mfdShipman
| He was the son of the sister of Chief
Justice Marshall, of the United States
surrounded by all the refining influences
of cultivated society and lofty example
within the circle of his own kindred
AS young man he was distinguished
for his manly bearing and courteous
| manners, and later for the exhibition OF
a mind we'll stored with useful knOwl
I edge and even the graceS of education
! He was possessed of an ample fortune
/ and had, like all such, troops OF
friends" He studied law and was ad
1 mitted to the bar, but never practiced
his profession, so far as can now be re
/ called.
4 His first prominent appearance in
4 public was in the capacity of lieutenant
4 colonel of the First Mississippi volun
teers in the Mexican war under Col
! jefferson Davis, and in the celebrated
z assault on Monterey he was the frs
man to mount the Mexican works, kill.
Q ing Mexican who was Immediately
i opposed to him and losing two fingers
by a shot. He also greatly distinguished
himself at Buena Vista, where Col
Davis led his Mississippians in the
charge that won the day and made hin