The Montgomery advertiser., 1901-11-21
FULL OF WARM WORDS
Implies Challenge to Fight
 Duel with His Colonel.
The Letter is One of the Specifications Col. Higdon Used in His Request for Courtmartial Which
 Has Been Called.

The xAdjutant General of the Alabama National Guard, Colonel w. W. Brandon. yesterday forwarded to Colonel Francis G. Caffey, Judge Advocate General or the Guard the charges and specifications Tn the complaint by Colonel T. L. Higdon of the 3rd Infantry against Lieutenant Col onel OEce ola Kyle of the same command. The specifications are forwarded to Col cnel Caffey along with a copy of the or der calling a general courtmartial to con- vene in Montgomery December 10 Tor the purpose of trying Lieutenant Colonel Kyle who is charged with disobedience to or ders and neglect ot duty.
 While Colonel Caffey declined to make public any of the specifications or to dis cuss the case 1t Is known that some or the specifications are of very grave na- ture and that much bitterness exists De- tween the two officers.
 The specifications. for example, include a letter written to Colonel Higdon by Lieutenant Colonel Kyle in which the junior officer brands the senior officer as a coward and implies a challenge to hght duel. In this letter Lieutenant Colonel Kyle tells his senior officer that he dis obeyed his order to accompany him-the ColoneI-on an inspection tour because he the Lieutenant Colonel-reserves the right to choose his company and he did tbSOONAf~NG officer.
 The Lieutenant Colonel questions the right of the Colonel to command the regi- ment and says that he was elected by fraudulent practices. He says that the Colonel hopes that he-the Lieutenant Colonel will resign his commission but he does not intend to do so. He adds that he hopes a Board of Courtmartial will be convened to investigate into the merits of ha haraI1Sa a hQQ hQan longing for an opportunity to show to the public and to his fellow officers the manner of man who holds 8 commission as Colonel of the Srd Alabama Infantry.
 Finally Lieutenant Colonel Kyle tells his superior officer in this letter that some of his statements may be regarded as in- snlting. He adds that they are intended as insults and serves notice upoi issrn that he or his friends can communicate with him-the lieutenant Colonel-at his home in Decatur. The letter Is dated in August and Is the outcome of persist ent efforts on the part of Colonel Higdon to get some satisfaction out of Lieutenant Colonel Kyle concerning his military duty.
 The specifications include numerous orders sent to Lieutenant Coloney Kyle the regiment claims that these orders were ignored
 The controversy between Colonels Hig- den and Kyle dates back to the Spanish American war. Colonel Higdon com manded the 1st Alabama Volunteers in which branch of the service Colonel Kyle commanded a battalion as a major. There was a factional fight between the officers of. the regiment while it was en- camped in Miami. Fla. Colonel Higdon led one faction and Colonel, then Major Kyle, was prominent in the opposing faction.
 The trouble which led up to the filing of charges against Lieutenant Colonel Kyle by Colonel Higdon has been brew ing for some time. almost every since in the Spanlsh-Amerlc war, in fact, and friends of both of the principals have endeavored to heal the wounds Several months ago. it is said. Colonel Higdon desired to prefer charges against his junior officer but mutual friends inter Vened.
 Colonel Kyle is not only an officer of high rank in the State military. but he is Judge of the Eighth Judicial Circuit and has long been prominent in Alabama politics. Colonel Higdon has been one of the most prominent officers in the Ala bama Guard fifteen years. On account of the prominence of the officers the courtmartlal will attract widespread at- tention. Colonel Brandon said yester- day that the courtmartial might hsve public sessions at the capitol but that the Board alone governed it's regulations
 The contents of the sensational letter written to Colonel Higdon by Lieutenant Colonel Kyle have been known to a number of officers who have been acting as friends of the two principals for some time The grave statements made by Colonel Kyle came near leading to personal difficulty, but 1t is said that friends intervened and 1t was decided to let the merits of the case be passed upon by A Board of Courtmartial.