The Billings gazette. [volume] (Billings, Mont.) 1896-1919, 1903-08-11
CASSIUS CLAWS DUELS
Noted KeEtuckian's Recollec:.
tons Of His Encounters.
BOWIE KNIFE A FAv0RITE WEAPON

desperate fAknt Win 81" HrOVVns
the Man Selected to Xiii Hiln-Out-
come of His Battle With Tu,4.cr.
His Reasons For Gaming DIR. De-
clarey.
AS a duelist. always victorious, the
late General Cassius Marcellus Clay,
minister to Russia under Presidents
Lincoln and Johnson, noted abolitionist
and author, was said to have been
implicated in more encounters and to
have killed more men than any other
fighter living.
When he was asked not long ago to
tell about his first fight he said it was
with a rival for the hand of Miss War
field. When the wedding day Of the
young woman and the general was
approaching the rival, DIR. Declarey,
wrote to her family a letter abusing
the successful sutton. The general
sought him out. with a second. and
gave him a cowhiding. Then he sent
a challenge. but Declarey. after failing
to respond, committed suicide.
He next recalled the case of Tom
Marshall. The Clays and the Marshalls
had been at feud for a long time. Tom.
according to General Clay, would not
fight when challenged to do so while
they were both fighting against the
Mexicans. Instead of agreeing to a
duel, Tom jumped into the river and
tried to drown himself.
1t was during his campaign for con-
gress against Wickliffe that General
Clay had his bloodiest encounter. in
which his only weapon was a bowie
knife. He once told the story to Il
newspaper man in these words:
During the campaign Wickliffe in
troduced my wife's name into one of
his speeches. l challenged him and
we fired at ten PAGES. Both Of us
missed, and l raised my pistol up into
the air and demanded a second fire.
The seconds would not permit this and
we left the grounds without a recon
Citation or an apology on either side.
"Well, Wickliffe here had the worst of
the fight, and during the canvass for
congress l was making a very good
opposition to him, much to the disgust
of the proslavery party. He had a
handful which he read during his
speech. We had our speeches together,
and when he brought out this bill |
always arose and asked if l might
interrupt him. He would politely con-
sent, and l would then say the handful
he had read was untrue and had been
proved 50.
"The proslavery 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 Wickliffe, a fellow named
Jacob Ashton and Ben Wood. a police
bully, held a consultation at which they
loaded a pistol which Brown was to
use on me the next day. l knew moth
ing of this, and had not my duel.ng
pistol with me. ! interrupted Wick
life. as usual. and as l did so Brown
struck me with his umbrella and told
me that my statement vas a lie.
II saw at once that it meant fight.
and, when | recognized Brown l knew
it meant a fight to the death. ! had a
long. sharp bowie knife in the breast
of my coat and l jerked this out. but
before l could strike, Browns friends
grabbed my arms from behind and
hauled me back about fifteen feet from
Brown. Brown now pulled his re-
volver and told them to get out of the
way and let him kill me. The crowd
got back and l stood alone. Brown
had his pistol pointed at me and l
started toward him. | could see him
looking along the barrel of the re-
volver. He took aim and waited until
he thought l was near enough to give
him Il sure shot and then fired. I felt
the ball strike me in the breast and I
thought it had gone through me, and
determined to kill him if l could before
l died. 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 IA not able
to fire. With one cut Of the knife
sliced his lose right in two, so that it
separated in the middle, and came out
as fiat as a pancake. With another
blow / cut off his ear SO that it hung
! by a shred, and with a third l put out
his eye. The conspirators now seized
me and I was struck with hickory
| sticks and chairs.
II 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 a stone fence
about Y feet high, and this ended
the fight. Though l was the assaulted
party, they afterward tried me for
.asxlAssa- a,Al - L. 4s;al Rnssxa sas