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Maybe
the historical image of Texas that endures along
with cowboys and Indians and the
Alamo is the classic gunfight. The showdown at high noon on the dusty main
street of a Western town has its roots in the “gentlemanly” duels cultivated almost
to an art form in the South for decades. Dueling was a major issue during the
Republic of Texas years when the army tried to crack down on the practice, which
usually resulted in the loss of at least one fighter to what might be called unfriendly
friendly fire.
The editor of the Austin Sentinel newspaper responded
to an 1837 duel between two Army officers by writing, “We would opine that there
was enough fighting to be had on the frontier without resorting to private combats.”
Albert Sidney Johnston, Commander in Chief of the Army following
Sam Houston, was particularly vexed by duels. He once had to slap the pistol
from one officer’s hand to keep him from shooting another officer. Another time,
a colonel called on Johnston to serve as an impartial judge in an impending duel
with a rival officer. Before Johnston could remind the colonel that dueling was
against army regulations, the other duelist arrived and opened fire.
Though
Johnston was largely responsible for enforcing the Texas Army’s ban on dueling,
he was not one to let a challenge to his own honor go unanswered. When General
Felix Huston challenged Johnston to a duel, Johnston accepted.
Johnston
and Huston could both be termed “Fighting Kentuckians” since both men hailed for
that state. Their duel came on Feb. 5, 1837, not long after Sam Houston appointed
Johnston as the Texas’s Army’s senior brigadier general, making him the Army commander.
Huston was forced to relinquish command by becoming a junior brigadier general.
Huston’s foul mood over the matter turned murderous when Johnston had
the general order announcing his appointment read to the assembled troops. Huston
was so offended he challenged Johnston to a duel, and Johnston accepted.
The
duelists met on the Lavaca River in Jackson County, near a large oak tree that
has become known as Dueling Oak, to settle a matter that, to our eyes now,
seems to have already been settled. In recognition of Huston’s reputation as an
expert marksman, Johnson’s second (sort of a reserve duelist as it were) suggested
that the two men agree to fire at each other from the hip, and that is how that
particular duel was fought.
Johnston intended to wait until Huston took
aim before firing his own pistol, hoping the sound of his gun would upset Huston’s
aim and timing. Johnston and Huston each fired three times at the other until,
on the third exchange, Huston shot Johnston through the hip. The attending physician,
noting that the ball had injured Johnston’s sciatic nerve, assured Johnston that
he was going to die.
Huston approached his fallen foe, offered condolences
and said he would be happy to serve under him. How much comfort this actually
gave Johnston isn’t known, but he never held the duel or its results against Huston.
Johnston lingered near death for several months and eventually recovered
and resumed command of the Texas troops. He would go on to wider fame as a Confederate
General during the Civil War. Huston soon left the Army and returned to the United
States. |
As
was often the case, Sam Houston
was contrary to ordinary when it came to the matter of dueling. If such records
were kept, Houston would certainly be the hands-down winner for most challenges
to a duel declined. He responded to one challenge by saying, “This is number twenty-four.
The angry gentleman must wait his turn.” He turned down a challenge from former
Texas President David G. Burnett by saying he “never fought downhill and never
will.”
Texas passed a bill that outlawed dueling in 1840, and for the
next 99 years all state officials were required to take an oath asserting that
they had never taken part in a duel. By that time the gentlemanly dueling pistols
had been replaced by rapid fire revolvers and eventually machine guns, which made
“duels” more a matter of superior firepower and a good place to take cover.
Nearsighted
W.T. Jack might have actually seen a glimpse of that future. When he was challenged
to a duel he agreed but only if the duel took place with shotguns across a table.
Under those terms, dueling would never have been much of a problem in the Texas
or any other army.
© Clay
Coppedge
"Letters from
Central Texas" February
24, 2010 Column | |
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