The age-herald. [volume] (Birmingham, Ala.) 1897-1902, 1897-12-19

either side. As I look over the matter
now, L don't believe our seconds had load
ed the pistols with balls, and L did not see
how / could have missed.
"Well, Wickliffe here had the worst of
the fight, and during the canvass for con-
gress l was making very good opposi-
ton to him, much to the disgust of the
pro-savery party. He had a handful,
which he read during his speech. We had
our speeches together, and when he
brought out this bill also arose and asked
if 1 might interrupt him. He would po-
litely consent and 1 would then say the
handful he had read was untrue and had
been proven so.
'"The pro-slavery men got tired of this,
and they decided to kill me. They sent
for Sam Brown, who was one of the most
noted DULLES in Kentucky. 1t is said that
he had had forty fights and had never lost
a battle. Brown came, and he and Wick
life, q fellow named Jacob Ashton and
Ben Wood. police bully, held consulta-
ton, at which they loaded a pistol Which
Brown was to use me the next day. 1
knew nothing of this, and I had not my
duelling pistol with me. 1 interrupted
Wickliffe as usual and as 1 did so Brown
struck me with his umbrella and told me
that my statement was a lie.
II saw at once that it meant fight, and
when l recognized Brown L knew it meant
fight to the death. 1 had long sharp
bowie knife in the breast of my coat, and
l jerked this out but before could strike
Browns friends grabbed my arms from
behind and hauled me back about fifteen
feet from Brown. Brown now pulled his
revolver and told them to get out of the
way and let him kill me. The crowd got
back and I stood alone. Brown had his
pistol pointed at me, and started toward
him. I could see his looking along the
barrel of the revolver. He took aim and
waited until he thought l was near enough
to give him a sure shot, and then fired.
1 felt the ball strike me in the breast and
I thought 1t had gone through me, and 1
determined to Kill him if l could before 1
died. I came down on his head with a
tremendous blow of the bowie knife, but
did not split open the skull. struck him
again and again, and stunned him so that
he was not able to fire. With one cut of
the knife I sliced his nose right in two
so that it separated In the middle and came
out as fiat as pancake. With another
blow 1 cut off his ear SO that it hung by a
shred, and with third put out his eye.
The eonspirators now seized me, and was
struck with hickory sticks and chairs, some
of the blows of which 1 still feel. :
81 broke loose from my captors and again
made for Brown, and they, to keep him
out of my way, picked him up and threw
him over stone fence about seven feet
high, and this ended the fight Though
1 was the assaulted party, they afterward
tried me for mayhem, and at his trial
Clay defended me. OF course / was not
convicted, but felt very friendly to Brown
and wrote him a note thanking him for
his evidence and telling him l was willing
to be friends with him if he cared to be So
He refused however, to bury the Ratchet,
and when remembered his condition 1
did not wonder at it, The doctors had
patched him up pretty well, but he was
Notwithstanding object, and expected that
he would insist upon a duel with me or
would attack me and have his revenge l
met him several times afterward, how
ever, and he never touched me. have no
doubt that he stayed in Lexington intend
ing to kill me- but that the probability Is
that he had not the moral courage to at
tack me-
where did Browns ball strike you. gem
eral?''
at struck me just over the heart" re-
piled Gen. Clay, "and would have been
killed but for one thing. The scabbard
of my bowie knife was tipped with silver,
and in jerking the knife pulled this scab-
bard up so that it was just over my heart.
Browns bullet struck the scabbard and
embedded itself in the silver, and we found
the ball there. There was a red spot just
over my heart. and the whole seemed al
most providential."
Although Gen. Clay never Travelled with
out brace of pistols In his satchel, his
favorite weapon was a bowie knife, which
he always carried concealed under his coat.
During a fight at a political meeting once
he was stabbed in the lung. He drew his
bowie knife and rushed upon the man who
had been responsible for the outbreak.
The crowd got out of his way. and he
found a clear path to the man who had in
cited the riot. with shout Of anger he
plunged the knife into the mans abdomen
and then, exclaiming. II die for my coun-
try" he fell fainting to the floor. He was
carried home, and for many days-hung