The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1897-11-21
THE wIGFALL-BROOKs DUEL.
Fought on an Island in the Savan-
nah River by Two Boys Who Be
came Famous.

| Fought on an Island in the Savan-
nah River by Two Boys Who Be
came Famous.
From the Augusta Herald.
In the Savannah river, some eight or
ten miles above Augusta, was, fifty or six
ty years ago, a large and dreary sand
bank, known as Goat Island, covered with
drifting and shifting dunes, the home of
the crane, the kingfisher and the heron.
Precisely fifty-six years ago one of the
most noted duels that ever illustrated the
| code of honor took place on Goat Island
sort of neutral ground amenable per-
haps neither to the laws of Georgia nor
South Carolina. The principals and sec
onds in this duel, save one, were all Edge
| field men of high descent, and of the cav
aller class, who believed in and practic-
ed the code duello.
The principals were two handsome and
brilliant young lawyers, Louis T. Wig
| fall, aged 23 years and Preston S. Brooks
! aged %. The casus bell in this famous
duel grew out of political strifes and am
billions. Wigfalls second was John Lau-
| rens Manning of Sumter county, South
Carolina. Brooks second was Pierce Ma
son Butler of Edgefield. All these four
men became famous characters in the his
| tory of their state-indeed in the history
of the south-as is abundantly proved by
the chronicles and encyclopedias that
have been written or amended since.
In the very earliest hours of the dim,
gray dawn of a fall morning of the year
1Si1-to avoid notice and perhaps arrest
two close carriages are driven out of Au-
gusta. They leave the door of the late
| Thomas Barrett, who is himself an occu
| pant of one of the carriages These two
| coaches convey Wigfan Manning, Bar
rett, a physician and three eoloTed men,
| servants, to the vicinity of Goat Island,
| Brooks and Butler, with their physicians
| and servants, come from the Edgefield
side, accompanied by the late Maj. An
| drew Hammond of New Richmond.
The duel took place at $50 o'clock in the
| afternoon. The actors in the bloody
| drama were taken from either shore to
| the island in one of the long pole boats of
| that day. Two shots were exchanged.
| The result of the second shot was the
| wounding of Wigfan through both thighs
| and the whizzing of a bullet into Brooks
| hip, the bullet ranging round into his
| back and lodging there. Both men were
| painfully and very seriously wounded
| Both sank to the ground and soon became
almost unconscious from loss of blood.
And now comes the dramatic and some
what weird part of my story. Both
wounds having been temporarily dressed
| both men were lifted tenderly into the
| pole boat and, lying almost side by side
were rowed down the night-mantled
| stream to the city. In this boat with the
| wounded men were the seconds. Mr. Bar
] rett, Maj. Hammond, the physicians, and
| five negro men. Imagine this funereal
| barge, illuminated by lightwood torches
| sometimes faring bright, sometimes burn
| ing blue, as it ghded down the broad, still
| river in the blackness of darkness bearing
| on its bosom two noble, brave and bleed
| ~to1 lie hcF,,
| the journeys end, might be called to
| stand before their God
| Arriving at Augusta, Louis Wigfall was
| taken to the residence of Mr. Thomas
| Barrett, whose wife and mother-in-law
| the late Mrs. Harriet Glasscock, were
| family connections of his and there nurs>
| ed back to health with tender care and
motherly watchfulness. Preston Brooks
was taken to Boards hotel, in Hamburg
| whence, after a few days, he was taken
to his home in Edgefeld.
Louis 7. Wigfal married brilliant
belle of Providence. r. l., and, after liv-
| ing in Edgefield a few years, subsequent
| which state he very soon represented in
/ the United States Senate where he
| achieved Il national reputation as an ora
| tor and statesman. The war, of course,
| found him devoledly and enthusiastically
on the side of his native south. He be-
came 4 nero III lne IleIuOIaDle ana lDlIlal
siege of Fort Sumter. a brigadier general
| in the confederate army, senator from
| Texas in the confederate congress, and an
| intimate friend and adviser of jefferson
| Davis. He died in Galveston, Tex, some
ten or twelve years after the close of the
| war.
| Preston S. Brooks married daughter
of Gov. Means of South Carolina, and
continued to live in Edgeheld. He became
| so popular among the people of Edgefield
| and the neighboring districts that they
| sent him to represent them in congress
Previous to this, however, he had led Com
pany d of the Palmetto Regiment
| throughout the Mexican war, and hal
| reached the highest rank as a wise and
| brave soldier. While he was a member of
| the lower house of congress his cousin
| Judge Andrew Pickens Butler, was the
| South Carolina senator. In the Senate
| about this tme-it is a matter of national
history-the famous Massachusetts sena>
tor, Charles Sumner, made a speech re-
| hecting in an insulting manner upon Sen
ator Butler, who was a man many years
! his senior This insult to his venerable
!Sinsman so aroused the ire of the fiery
| BROOKS that he publicly caned Sumner in
| the Senate chamber. The matter became
almost a national issue, and aroused in
the northern mind much of that hatred
of the south that led TO the war. Preston
| s. Brooks, in his third term as congress-
man, died in Washington in 1857.
Pierce M Butler became governor of
| South Carolina, then United States COM
missioner to the Indians, and subsequent
" the devoted and illustrious leader Of
the renowned Palmetto Regiment in the
Mexican war. He fell at the head of his
regiment, with a bullet through his brain,
al the memorable siege of Churubusco.
John Laurens Manning married an aunt
of the present Gen. Wade Hampton. He
was at the time the wealthiest and the
| handsomest man in South Carolina. He
became governor of his state as his father
and grandfather had been before him, ana
proved himself throughout all his years
hero and a patriot of the highest type
| He died eight of ten years ago.
Accounting for Gt.-"George Winding is
an enigma to me. Being a preachers son
| it would naturally seem that he ought to
: -.-nrihln.s 80. -.