The Anaconda standard. [volume] (Anaconda, Mont.) 1889-1970, 1898-01-02
ON THE FIELD OF HONOR
Old General Cassius M. Clay Has
Fought Many Duels.
HE'S A MAN OF NERVE
Away Ready % Accommodate GeE-
tleman Who Didn't Agree With Him.
Some OF His Numerous Ex-
PLOTS With the Gun.

General CaSSfuS MarcelluS clay.
statesman, writer thinker, duellist,
minister to Russia during the first ad
ministration of Abraham Lincoln; a
relic of the days that are past, whose
recent troubles with the child wife that
left him alone in his fortified castle,
Whitehall, in Madison county, Ken
lucky, has a cold blooded way of al
luding to the numerous bloody ARRAYS
in which he has been a principal. An
old friend of his says that he met the
battle-scarred warrior not long ago aft
er long separation. He congratulated
General Clay on his robust health.
Yes the sage of Whitehall re-
piled, Il have not been confined to bed
for over 30 years. except once, which
was from a slight indsposition occa-
stoned by a rencounter with man
named Turner at Foxtown.
General Clay killed Turner with a
bowie knife i'll the ..rencounter.' and the
| slight indisposition' was caused by
Is knife wounds, his antagonist hay
ing repeatedly driven his bowie to the
hilt in Clay's breast and side. Turner
died in an hour, confidently believing
! that his foe had preceded him to the
unknown beyond.
| General Clay is not communicative,
and the privilege of listening to him
relate his experience on the field of
honor is one accorded very few persons,
| and it is something long to be remem-
| bered.
My first duel" General Clay said
not long ago, occurred when / was %
| years old-nearly 65 years ago-and
| terminated without either party firing
| a shot. / was engaged to be married
! and rival sutton, who had been disap-
| pointed, wrote a letter To my sweet
hearts mother The man was a doctor
| and his name was DecIarey | went to
/ I .1tiS Ia "a nd Il nd
| friend James S. Rollins with me. AS
| soon as | got there | went TO cooper
/ shop and got good, tough hickory
cane about as thick as your finger
/ Well, sir, ! saw Or. Deciarey on the
| street i went up to him and asked
| him if his name was Declarey. He re-
| piled that it was and then l told him
| that / would like to have a talk with
| him. This was on one of the main
streets of Louisville, and. although I
| intended to cane him. I did not intend
| to do 1t where a crowd would rush in
and prevent my giving him the punish
ment he deserved. So | quietly turned
our promenade off into side street
/ I'm the meantime my friend walked
| along the other side of the street and
| watched me. When we reached side
street / said DR. Declarey, | am Cas-
| sius M. Clay. about whom you have
| taken the trouble to write in this letter,
and ] would like to know if you can
/ give me any explanation of your ae-
| ton. He said nothing, SO ! raised my
cane and began to strike him. He cried
| out and a crowd soon collected, but
| Rollins, by spreading out his arms and
running in again and again, pretending
to separate us, actually kept the crowd
back until | was able to give him
good Gaming. few hours later / got
challenge from him. We fixed a
place in Indiana, just over the river.
| and the next day l was there on time.
A great mob of Declarey's friends was
on the ground and General Rollins re-
fused to let the fight go on. We there
/ upon chose another place, but Declar-
/ eys mob followed us there.
The next day was to be my wedding
day and l had to be on hand. Declarey
| wanted me to come back after j was
married, but / had decided objections to
| breaking up my honeymoon in that
way. He afterward said he intended to
cowhide me the next time he saw me
and | went to Louisville to give him a
| chance | went into the dining-room of
his hotel and leaned against pillar to
wait for him. As / stood there ] heard
someone behind me rise. | turned and
| saw Declarey. He was as pale as deaf
and | saw the coward in his eye He
walked out of the room and did not
return. A man who acted like that
could not, in those days, be respected in
Kentucky, and Declarey committed
suicide the next morning by cutting his
| arteries.
| Curious. isn't it," unused the general.
that man will have the bravery 10
commit suicide and still not have
enough physical courage to fight? |
have had A number of such instances in
my life. II was SO with Tom Marshall,
who was 50 famous an orator in Ken
lucky. There had been for years A
feud between The clays and the Mar
shalls. Henry CLAW. YOU know. had a
duel with Humphrey Marshall, and
Tom Marshall and myself were enemies
for years. My first trouble with him
was at the time ] was editor of The
True American, and Marshall headed
the mob which was raised to kill me
and demolish the paper. Well. the mob
attacked me. but / was not killed.
Soon after this | went TO the Mexi-
can war captain Of another company
of the same regiment, and | decided To
settle my trouble with him before we
got through the war. He was drunk
about half the time, and | believed he
often simulated drunkenness in order 10
say mean things and not he called 10
account for them. | expected to have a
duel with him. and ] got stone and
| Sharpened my sword until 1T Shone like
a razor ! gave him one or Two chances
10 challenge me. but he did not do 50.
At last. one day, when we We're pitch
ing camp. Marshall rode into my quar-
tiers. He may have been drunk and he
may have mistaken my company foT
his. At any rate. he came np 10 me
and made some insulting remark.
rose and said: Tom Marshall We may
as well settle our feud, and now il as
good a time as any. Get down from
your horse and We will fight IL out.
He replied: Not now: some other
time
Il here drew my sword and said: The
time for men who wear swords is now.
You chose your own time to mob me AT