xt75dv1ck28g https://exploreuk.uky.edu/dips/xt75dv1ck28g/data/mets.xml Optic, Oliver, 1822-1897. 1894 books b92-168-30116834 English Lee and Shepard, : Boston : Contact the Special Collections Research Center for information regarding rights and use of this collection. Brother against brother, or, The war on the border / by Oliver Optic [pseud.] text Brother against brother, or, The war on the border / by Oliver Optic [pseud.] 1894 2002 true xt75dv1ck28g section xt75dv1ck28g
THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
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ARMY SERIES
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
IN THE SADDLE (IN PRESS)
A LIEUTENANT AT EIGHTEEN (IN PRESS)
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LEE AND SH-IEPARD PUBLISHERS BoSTON
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"THE OVERSEER ELEVATED HIS RIFLE." Page 274.
T a
By - TIC
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
tD
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7eE Blite and the Gray
Army Series
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
OR
THE WAR ON THE BORDER
BY
OLIVER OPTIC
AUTHOR OF THE ARMY AND NAVY SERIES" "YOUNG AMERICA ABROAD, FIRST
ANt) SECOND SERIES"" BOAT-CLUB STORIES"" THE GREAT WESTERN SERIES"
"TI1E ONWARI) AND UPWARD SERIES "THIE WOODVILLE STORIES"
"THIE STARRY FLAG SERIES" "THE YACHT-CLUB SERIES" " THE
LAKE SHORE SERIES" " THE RIVERDAI.E STORIES "THE ALL-
OVER-THE-WORLD LIBRARY a THE BLUE AND THE GRAY
NAVY SPRIES THE BOAT-BUILDER SERIES " ETC.
BOSTON
LEE AND SHEPARD PUBLISHERS
10 MILK STREET
1894
COPYRIGHT, 184, BY LEE AND SHIEPARD
All lights Reserved
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
EL.ECTROTrYIING BE' C. J. PETERS SON, BOSTON, U.S.A.
PRESSWORK BY S. J. PARKIEL. CO.
TO
ffp Son-n4Lab
GEORGE W. WHITE, ESQUIRE
ONE OF TWO WHO HAVE ALWAYS BEEN THE SAME TO
MIE AS REAL SONS
Zbix no0o
IS AFFECTIONATELY AND GRATEFULLY
DEDICATEl)
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PREFACE
" BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER" is the first of
"The Blue alld the Gray Army Series," which
will include six volumes, though the number is
contingent upon the longevity of one, still hale
and hearty, who has passed by a couple of years
the Scriptural limit of "1 threescore years and
ten" allotted to human life. In completing the
first six books of "1 The Blue and the Gray Series,"
the author realized that the scenes and events of
all these stories related to life in the navy, which
gallantly performed its full share in maintaining
the integrity of the Union. The six books of
"1 The Army and Navy Series," begun in the heat
of the struggle thirty years ago, were equally
divided between the two arms of the service ; and
it has been suggested that the equilibrium should
be continued in the later volumes.
In the preface of ";A Victorious Union," the
consummation of the terrible strife which the
7
PREFACE
navy had reached in that volume, the author
announced his intention to make a beginning of
the books which are to form the army division of
the series. Soon after he had returned from. his
sixteenth voyage across the Atlantic, he found
himself in excellent condition to resume the pleas-
urable occupation in which he has been engaged
for forty years in this particular field. It seems
to him very much like embarking in a new enter-
prise, though his work consists of an attempt to
enliven and diversify the scenes and incidents of
an old story which has passed into history, and is
forever embalmned as the record of a heroic people,
faithfully and bravely represented on hundreds of
gory battle-fields, and on the decks of the national
navy.
The story olpens in one of the Border States,
where two Northern families had settled only a
few years before the exciting questions which
immediately preceded organized hostilities were
under discussion. Considerable portions of the
State in which they were located were in a condi-
tion of violent agitation, and outrages involving
wounds and death were perpetrated. The head
of one of these two families was a man of stern
8
PREFACE
integrity, earnestly loyal to the Union and the
government which wvas forced into a deadly strife
for its very existence. That of the other, influ-
enced quite as much by property considerations as
by fixed principles, becomes a Secessionist, fully
as earliest as, and far more demonstrative than, his
bi'other on the other side.
In each of these families are two sons, just com-
ing to the military age, who are not quite so prom-
inent in the present volume as they will be in
those which follow it. " Riverlawn," the planta-
tion which came into the possession of the loyal
one by the whill of his eldest brother, became the
scene of very exciting events, in which his two
sons took an active part. The writer has indus-
triously examined thol authorities covering this
section of the country, including State reports,
and believes he has not exaggerated the truths of
history. As in preceding volumes relating to the
war, he does not intend to give a connected narra-
tive of the events that transpired in the locality
lhe has chosen, though some of themn are introduced
and illustrated in the story.
The State itself, as evidenced by the votes of its
Legislature and by the enlistments in the Union
9
PREFACE
army, was loyal, if not from the beginning, from
the time when it obtained its bearings. As in
other Southern States, the secession element wYas
more noisy and demonstrative than the loyal por-
tion of the community, and thus obtained at first
an apparent advantage. The present volume is
largely taken up with the conflict for supremacy
betwveen these hostile elements. The loyal father
and his two sons are active in these scenes; and
the taking possession of a quantity of military sup-
plies by them precipitates actual warfare, and the
question as to whether or not a company of cavalry
could be recruited at Riverlawvn had to be settled
by what amounted to a real battle.
To the multitude of his young friends now in
their teens, and to the greater multitude now
grown gray, wvbo have encouraged his efforts dur-
ing the last forty years, the author renewedly
acknowledlges his manifold obligations for their
kindiiess, and wishes them all health, happiness,
and all the prosperity they call bear.
WILLIAM T. ADAMS.
DO1zCiiLS;rER, JUIY 4, 1894.
CONTENTS
PAGE
CHIAPTERI I.
TIROUBLESOME TIMES IN KENTUCKY . . . . 17
CHAPTER II.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE LYON FAMILY . 29
CHAPTER III.
A NORTIIERN FAMILY IN KENTUCKY . . . . 41
CHAPTER IV.
TiE ARRIVAL AND WELCO'ME AT RIVERLAWN . . 54
CHAPTER V.
THE DISTRESS OF AIRS. TITUS LYoN. 66
CHAPTER VI.
THE NIGHT ADVENTURE ON THE CREEK. 78
CHAPTER VII.
A STORMY INTERVIEW ON THE BRIDGE . . . 90
CHAPTER VIII.
AN OVERWHELMING ARGUMENT .102
11
CONTENTS
CHAPTER IX.
A MOST UNREASONArI.E BROTIIER
CHAPTER X.
TIIE SINK-CAVERN NEAR BAR CREEK
CHAPTER XI.
AROUSED TO TI1E SOLEMN DUTY OF THE HOUR.
CHAPTER XII.
THE NIGHT EXPEDITION IN TIlE MAGNOLIA
CHAPTER XLII.
AT THE HEAD WATERS OF BAR CREEK
CHAPTER XIV.
THE TRANSPORTATION OF TITE ARSs .
CHAPTER XV.
TuE ESTABLISHMIENT OF FORT BEDFORD
CHAPTER XVI.
THE UNION MEETING AT BIG BENDI
CHAPTER XVII.
TUE EJECTION OF THE NOISY RUFFIANS
CHAPTER XVIII.
THE DEMAND OF CAPTAIN TITUS LYON
. 186
. . . 108
. 210
. 222
CHAPTER XIX.
TIlE CONFERENCE IN FORT BEDFORD .
. 234
PA; EI
. 114
. 126
. 138
. 150
. 162
. 174
CONTENTS
P.XG 15
CIHAPTERI XX.
'rFIE API'ROACIL OF THlE RUFFIAN FORCES . . . 246
CHAPTER XXI.
TILE BEGINNING OF HOSTILITIES. 258
CHAPTER XXII.
TIIE FIRST SHOT FROM FORT BEDFORD . . . 270
CHAPTER XXIII..
TIlE PARTY ATTACKED IN THE CROSS-CUT . . 282
CHAPTER XXIV.
THIE ENCOUNTER WITH TILE RUFFIANS . . . 294
CHAPTER XXV.
TILE GRATITUDE OF Two FAIR MAIDENS . . . 306
CHAPTER XXVI.
TILE SKIRMISIL ON THIE NEW ROAD. . . . 318
CHAPTER XXVII.
AN UNEXPLAINED GATHERING ON TILE ROAD . . 330
CHAPTER XXVIII.
TILE RESULT OF TILE FLANK 'MOVEMENT . . . 342
CHAPTER XXIX.
TILE HUMILIATING RETREAT OF THE RUFFIANS . 354
CHAPTER XXX.
LEVI BEDFORD AND HIS PRISONER . . . 366
13
14
CONTPNTS
CHAPTEI'l XXXI.
DR. FALKIRK VISITS IIIVERLANVN
CHAPTER XXXII.
TIHE ARRIVAL OF TIHE RECRUITING OFFICER
CHAPTER XXXIII.
ONE AGAINST Tilh.EE ON TIlE ROAD .
CHAPTER XXXIV.
TuE Fil.E THAT WAS STARTED AT RIVERLAWN
CHAPTER XXXV.
A BATTLE IN PROSPECT ON TIlE CREEK
CHAPTER XXXVI.
THE SECOND BATTLE OF RIVERLAWN
PAg E,
. 378
. 391
. 403
. 415
. 427
. 438
ILLUSTRATIONS
" TILE OVERSEER ELEVATED HIS RIFLE" FRONTISPIECE
PAGIE
"TiHEN YOU MEAN I AM1 DRUNK". . . . . . . . 121
"'HE GRAPPLED WITH TIlE FELLOW. . . . . . . 212
"I HAD TO BE CAREFUL NOT TO lIlT TIlE LADY " . . . 299
"IT WON'T GO OFF AGAIN UNTIL YOU LOAD IT". . 372
" STOP, Boy! SHOUTED TilE MIAN . . . . . . . 413
" TIE BOYS CLIMBED A BIG TREE TO OBTAIN A BETTERVIEW " 431
This page in the original text is blank.
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
CHAPTER I
TROUBLESOME TIMIES IN KENTUCKY
"NEUTRALITY! There is no such thing as
neutrality in the present situation, my son! " pro-
tested Noah Lyon to the stout boy of sixteen who
stood in front of him on the bridge over Bar
Creek, in the State of Kentucky. " He that is
not for the Union is against it. No man can
serve two masters, Dexter."
"That is just what I was saying to Sandy,"
replied the boy, whom everybody but his father
and mother called " Deck."
" Your Cousin Alexander takes after his father,
who is my own brother; but I must say I am
ashamed of him, for he is a rank Secessionist,"
continued Noah Lyon, fixing his gaze on the
planks of the bridge, and looking as grieved as
17
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
though one of his own blood had turned against
him. "He was born and brought up in New
Hampshire, where about all the people believe in
the Union as they do in their own mothers, and a
traitor would be ridden on a rail out of almost any
town within its borders."
"Well, it isn't so down here in the State of
Kentucky, father," answered Deck.
- Kentucky was the second new State to be ad-
mitted to the Union of the original thirteen, and
there are plenty of people now wvithiin her borders
who protest that it will be the last to leave it,"
rel)lied the father, as he took a crumnpled newvs-
paper from his pocket. " Here's a little piece
from a Clarke County paper which is just the
opinion of a majority of the people of Kentucky.
Read it out loud, Dexter," added 'Mr. Lyon, as lie
handed the paper to his son, and pointed out the
article.
The young nman took the paper, and read in a
loud voice, as though lie wished even the fishes in
the creek to hear it, and to desire them to refuse
to be food for Secessionists: "Any attempt on the
part of the government of this State, or any one
else, to put Kentucky out of the Union by force,
18
TROUBLESOME TIMES IN KENTUCKY
or using force to compel Union men in any man-
ner to submit to an ordinance of secession, or any
pretended resolution or decree arising from such
secession, is an act of treason against the State of
Kentucky. It is therefore lawful to resist any
such ordinance."
"That's the doctrine ! " exclaimed Mr. Lyons,
clapping his hands with a ringinlg sound to
emphasize his opinion. " Those are my senfti-
ments exactly, and they are political gospel to
me; and I should be ashamed of any son of mine
who did not stand by the Union, whether he lived
in New Hampshire or Kentucky."
"You can count me in for the Union every
time, fatlher," said Deck, who had read all the
newspapers, those from the North and of the State
in which lie resided, as well as the history of Ken-
tucky and the current exciting documents that
were floating about the country, includingr the
long and illogical letter of the State's senator who
immediately became a Confederate brigadier.
I haven't heard your Cousin Artie, who is just
your age, and old enough to (do something on his
own account, say much about the troubles of the
times," added Mr. Lyon, bestowing an inquiring
19
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
look upon his son. " I have seen Sandy Lyon
talking to him a good deal lately, and I hope he is
not leading him astray."
"No danger of that; for Artie is as stiff as a
cart-stake for the Union, and Sandy can't pour any
Secession molasses down his back," replied Deck.
"I am glad to hear it. I lheard some one say
that Sandy had joined, or was going to join, the
Home Guards."
"iHe asked me to join them, and wanted me to
go down to Bowling Green with hin in the boat.
Ile had already put his name down as a member
of a company; but of course I wouldn't go."
" The Home Guards thrive very well in Bar
Creek; and I noticed that all whio joined them are
Secessionists, or have a leaning that way," added
the father. "The avowed purpose of these organi-
zations is to preserve the neutrality of the State;
but that is only another name for treason; and
when affairs have progressed a little farther, the
Home Guards will wheel into the ranks of the
Confederate army. President Lincoln made a very
guarded and non-committal reply to the Govern-
or's letter on neutrality; but it is as plain as the
nose on a toper's face that he don't believe in it."
TROUBLESOME TIMES IN KENTUCKY 21
" I think it is best to be on one side or the
other."
" Isn't Sandy trying to rope Artie into the
Home Guards, Dexter" asked Mr. Lyon with
al anxious look on his face.
" Of course he is, as he has tried to get me to
joiou."
" Artie is a quiet sort of a boy, and don't say
imnich; but it is plain that lhe keeps up a tremen-
douis thinking all the time, though I have not been
able to make out what it is all about."
"He is considering just what all the rest of us
are thinking about; but I am satisfied that he has
come out just where all the rest of us at River-
lawn have arrived, father. Ile and I have talked
a great deal about the war; and Artie is all right
nowv, though he may have had some doubts about
where he belonged a few months ago."
" But Sandy was over here no longer ago than
yesterday, and he was talking for over an hour
with Artie on this bridge where we are now,"
said Mr. Lyon.
"4They were talking about the Union meeting
to be held to-morrow night at the schoolhouse by
the Big Bend," added Deck.
21
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
"What interest has Sandy in that meeting
He does not train in that company."
"He advised Artie not to go to the meeting,
for it was gotten ul) by traitors to their State."
" That's a Secessionist phrase which he bor-
rowe(l from some Confederate orator, or at Bow-
ling Greeni, where he spends too much of his time
and his father had better be teaching him how
to lay bricks and mix mortar."
" But Uncle Titus is over there half his time,"
suggested Deck.
lie had better be attending to his business;
for the peolple over at the village say they wvill
have to get aniother mason to settle there, for your
uncle Titus don't work half his time, and the
people can't get their jobs done. There is a new
house over there waiting for him to build the
chimney."
"Why don't you talk to him, father" asked
Deck very seriously.
"Talk to hiimi, Dexter! " exclaimed Mr. Lyon.
"You might as well set your dog to barking at
the rapids in the river. For some reason Titus
seems to be rather set against me since we settled
in Barcreek. We used to be on the best of terms
TROUBLESOME TIMES IN KENTUCKY
in New Hampshire, for I lovawys lent him money
when he was hard pressed. I don't know what
has come over him since we came to Kentucky."
I do," added Deck, looking earnestly into his
father's face.
"Well, what is it, I should like to know I
have always done everything I could since I came
here for him."
"'Sandy told me something about it one day,
and seemed to have a good deal of feeling about
it. He says you wronged Uncle Titus out of five
thousand dollars," said Deck, wondering if his
father had ever heard the charge before.
" I know what Sandy meant. Of course Titus
must have been in the habit of talking about this
matter in his family, or Sandy would not have
known anything about it," replied AL. L-oni,
evidently very much annoyed at the revelation
of his son.
" I did not know what Sandy meant, and I
thought I had better not ask him ; for of course
I knew there was not a particle of truth in the
charge," added Deck, surprised to find that his
father kiiew something about the accusation.
'"I don't talk with my children about trouble-
23
24 BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
some family matters, Dexter, and your Uncle Titus
ought not to do so. "1 I shall only say that there
is not the slightest grain of reason or justice in
the charge against me ; and Titus knowvs it as
wvell as I do. If aiiybody has wronged him, it was
Xo-mr deceased Uncle Duncan. Let the matter
drop there, at least for the present. Why does
Sandy wish to prevent Artie from attending the
Union meeting to-morrow night"
"lHe said it was likely to be broken up by the
Home Guards."
"Then lhe probably knows something about a
plot to interfere with the gathering. I rode up to
the village this morning, and I was quite sur-
prise(l to find that several whom I knew to be
loyal men did not intend to be present. When
I sUrged them to be there, they hinted that there
vould be trouble at the schoolhouse."
At this moment a bell wvas rung at the side-door
of the mansion, about ten rods from the bridge
where the father and son had been discussing the
situation. It crossed the creek a quarter of a
mile from the river, which has a course of three
hundred miles throu-gh the State, and is navigable
from the Ohio two-thirds of its length during the
TROUBLESOME TIMIES IN KENTUCKY
season of high water. The mansion was the resi-
dence of Noah Lyoni; and after the green field,
ornamented with stately trees, which extended
from the house to the river, it had taken the namne
of ";Riverlawn " in the timiie of the former pro-
prietor. The plantation extended along the creek
more than half a mile, includiiig over five hundred
acres of the richest land in the State.
Above the bridge was a little village of negro
houses, so neat ajid substantial that they deserved
a better name than "1 huts," generally given to the
dwellings of the slaves of a plantation. Each had
its little garden, fenced off and well cared for. It
was evident that the occupants of these cottages
were subjected to few if any of the hardships of
their condition. Many of them were just return-
ing from the hemp fields and the horse pastures of
the estate; and they seemed to be happy and con-
tented, with no care for the troubles that were
then agitating the State.
The bell had been rung at the side-door of the
mansion by a black woman, very neatly dressed.
Back of the dwelling was the kitchen in a separate
bl)ilding, according to the custom at the South.
Mr. Lyon, though he was the present proprietor
25
26 BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
of this extensive estate, was dressed in very plain
clothes, and had none of the air of a Kentucky
gentleman. Deck was clothed in the same man-
ner; but both of them looked very neat and very
respectable in spite of their plain clothes.
They came from the bridge at the sound of the
bell. On the left of the entrance was the dining-
room, a large apartment, with the table set for
dinner in the middle of it. Two young octoroon
girls were standing by the chairs to wait upon
the family, which consisted of six persons.
"You have been shopping this forenoon, haven't
you, Ruth " asked Mr. Lyon, addressing his wife,
vho was seated at one end of the table while he
was at the other.
"I did not do much shopping; but I called
upon Amelia, and found her very much troubled,"
replied rIrs. Lyon, alluding to the wife of Titus
Lvon.
"I should think she might be troubled," replied
M1r. Lyon. " She does not take any part in poli-
tics; but one of her brothers is a captain in a Newv
Hampshire regiment, and another is a major, and
aIll her family are loyal to the backbone. She has
not said much of anything, but I know she does
TROUBLESOME TIMES IN KENTUCKY
not approve the attitude of her husband and her
two sons. The last timne I saw her, she was afraid
they would enlist in the Confederate army. Titus
won't hear a word of objection from her."
"She told me an astonishing piece of news this
forenoon," continued Mrs. Lyon.
"I shall not be much astonished at anything
Titus does," added the husband. "But what has
he done now Has he enlisted in the Confederate
armv"
"Not yet; but Amelia says he has been offered
the command of a company of Home Guards if he
will pay for the arms and uniform of it. He agreed
to do so, and has already paid over the money, five
thousand dollars."
"I Is it possible ' - exclaimed Mr. Lyon; and the
two boys dropped their knives and forks in their
astonishment. 'I did not think he would go as
far as that. He could not be a ranker Secessionist
if he had lived all his life in South Carolina, in-
stead of nine or ten years in Kentucky."
"This happened a month ago, and Amelia says
the arms are hidden somewhere on the river."
"D Does she knowv where "
" She did not tell me where if she knew.
27
28 BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
More than this, she says he is drinking too much
whiskey. al.d that the Secessionists have made a
fool of him. She is afraid he will throw away all
his property."
i; I have noticed several times that he has been
drinking too much, though he was not exactly
intoxicated."
"Oh ' Amelia said he meant to make you pay
for the anls 1(and uniformus," said Mrs. Lyon, with
some excitement in her manner. "l He insists that
von owe himii five thousand dollars.7
"If I did, he gives me a good excuse for not
pavinug it ; but I do not owe him a nickel. Home
Guards and Confederates here are all the same
and no money of imiine shall go for arming either of
them."
"Titus's wife says you are denounced as an abo-
litionist, Noah, and they wA-ill drive you out of the
county soon," added Mrs. Lyon.
"When they are ready to begin, I shall be
there," replied Mr. Lyon with a smile.
The dinner was finished, and the family sepa-
rated, Deck and his father returning to the bridge,
followed by Artie.
SOMETHING ABOUT THE LYON FAMILY 29
CHAPTER II
SOMETHING ABOUT THE LYON FAMILY
THE grand mansion and the extensive domain
of Riverlawn had been occupied by the Lyon
family hardly more than a year when the politi-
cal excitement in Kentucky began to manifest
itself, though not so violently as in some of the
more southern States. Abraham Lincoln had been
elected President of the United States, and south
of Mason and Dixon's line lie was regarded as a
sectional president whose term of office would be
a mnenace and an absolute peril to the institution
of slavery. Senator Crittenden of Kentucky pro-
posed certain amendments to the Constitution to
restore the Missouri Compromise, by which slavery
should be confined to specified limits, and Con-
gress prevented from interfering with the labor-
system of the South.
Before Christmas in 1860, South Carolina had
unanimously passed its Ordinance of Secession, the
intelligence of which was received with enthusi-
30 BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
asin by the Gulf States, all of which soon followed
her example. The more conservative States held
back, and all but the four on the border seceded
in one form or another after some delay.
In Kentucky the wealthy planters and slave-
holders, with many prominent exceptions, were
inclined to share the lot of the seceding States;
but the majority of the people still clung to the
Union. Both sides of the exciting question were
largely represented, and the contest between them
was violent and bitter. For a time the specious
compromise of neutrality was regarded as the
panacea for the troubles of the State by the less
violent of the people on both sides. Home Guards
w ere enlisted and organized to protect the territory
from invasion by either the Federal or the Con-
federate forces.
The occupation of Columbus and Hickman on
the Mississippi River by Southern troops, imme-
diately followed by the taking of Paducab by
General Granit with two regiments of Union sol-
diers from Cairo, practically dissolved the illusion
of neutrality. The government at Washington
never recognized this makeshift of those who
loved the Union, but desired to protect slavery.
SOMIIETHING ABOUT THE LYON FAMILY 31
It was honestly and sincerely cherished by good
men of both parties, who (lesired to preserve the
Union and save the State froll the horrors of
civil war.
The governmnent did not regard the seceded
States as so many independent sovereignties, as
the Secessionists claimed that they were, but as
part and parcel of a union of States forminig one
consolidated nation, with no provision in its Coii-
stitution for a separation of any kind. or for the
withdrawal of one or more of the individual mem-
bers of the Union. The States which had pre-
tended to dissolve their connection with the other
members of the compact were considered as re-
fractory members of the Union, in a state of
insurrection against the sovereign authority of the
nation, who were to be reduced to obedience and
subjection by force of airms; for they had appealed
to the logic of bayonets and cannonballs in carry-
ing out their disruption.
WVith the duty of putting down the insurrection
and subduing the refractory elements in the
South on its hands, the government could not
respect or even tolerate a neutrality which placed
the State of Kentucky, four hundred miles in
32 BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
extent from east to wvest, between the loyal and
the disloyal sections of its domain. If for no
other purpose, armies of Federal troops must cross
the country south of the Ohio in order to reach
the seat of the Rebellion.
The Home Guards were powerless to prevent
the passage of the loyal armies through the State;
and any attempt to do so would have been to fight
the battle of the Confederate armies, and would
have at once robbed neutrality of its transparent
mask. A portion of these military bodies were
doubtless honest in their intentions. Those who
were not for the Uniion in this connection were
practically against it. Later in the course of
events, the Home Guards were incorporated in the
armies of the Rebellioi ; and no doubt these organ-
izations were used to a considerable extent to
recruit the forces of the enemy.
For a period of several months the State was not
in actual possession of either party in the conflict.
One was struggling within its territory to keep
it in the Union, and the other to force it into
the Southern Confederacy. Irresponsible persons
formed vhat they called a " Provisional Counlcil,"
elected a governor, and sent delegates to the
SOMETHING ABOUT THE LYON FAMILY 33
Confederate Congress, who wvere admitted to seats
in that body.
During this chaotic state of affairs, Kentuckians
were joining both arniies, though the great body
of them enlisted in the forces of the Union. At
the close of 1861 it was estimated that Kentucky
lhad twenty-six thousand men, cavalry and infantry,
enrolled to fight the battles of the loyal nation,
including those who had joined the regiments of
other States.
Deeds of violence were not uncommon in many
parts of the State, growing out of the excited
state of feeling. Confederate emissaries were
busy in the territory, and armed bodies of them
foraged for provisions and fodder in the southern
portions. Unpopular men were hunted down and
shot or hanged, and the reign of disorder pre-
vailed. Such was the condition of Kentucky
soon after the Lyon family took possession of
Riverlawn; and some account of its several mem-
bers becomes necessary.
The first of the name in America had been
one of the earliest English settlers in Massachu-
setts; but one of his descendants, more than a
hundred years later, bad moved to the colony
34 BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
of New Hampshire. Early in the present cen-
tury, one of his grandehildren was a farmer in
Derry, in that State. This particular Lyon had
four sons, twvo of whom have already been mei-
tioned in. this story.
Duncan Lyon was the eldest of them, and
seems to have been the most enterprising of
the four; for he emigrated to Kentucky, and
purchased the extensive tract of land which nowv
formed the estate of Riverlawii. He became a
lalater in due time from his small beginnings,
raising hemp, tobacco, and horses, without neg-
lecting the productions necessary for the support
of his lhouselihld.t He was very prosperous in
his undertakings; and being a manl of good sense
and excellent judgment, lie became a person of
some distinction in his county. Ile was known
as "Colonel Duncan Lyon," though he never
held any military position; but his title clung
to him, and even his brothers in New Hampshire
always spoke of him as the "colonel."
He never married; but he made a modest for-
tune of one hundred thousand dollars, including
the value of his estate, though not including the
value of about fifty negroes, men, women, and
SOMETHING ABOUT THE LYON FAMILY 35
children, which for some reason he never dis-
closed, he did not put into the inventory that
accorn)panied his will.
The coloniel's estate was on Bar Creek, at its
jUImCtiOn with Green River. Onie mile from River-
lawnvi was the village of Barcreek, a place with
three churches, several stores, a blacksmith's and
a wheelwright's shop, with a carpenter and a
mason. It supplied the needs of the country in
a circuit of eight or ten miles. In fact, it wvas a
sort of market town.
There was not a great deal of building done
in this region ; but the mason residing there had
ma(le a comfortable living, jidlfiiig and erecting
an occasional chimney, till lie lied in 1852. The
colonel notified his brother, Titus Lyon, who was
a mason in Derry, that there was an opening for
one of his trade in Barcreek, but lie could not
advise him to move there.
Titus was not a prosperous man; for he was
rather lazy, and greatly lacking in enterprise.
The colonel did not believe lie would do any
better in a new home than in the old one, and
lie bluntily wrote to him to this effect. The
planter had a suspicion that his brother drank
BROTHER AGAINST BROTHER
too much whiskey, for he could not account for
his poverty in any other way; but he had no
evidence on the point. Titus decided to move
to Kentucky; and he did so, though he had to
borrow the money of his brother Noah to enable
him to reach his new home.
Business in his trade happened to be usually
good after his arrival, and for several years he
did tolerably well. Then he desired to buy a
house and some land which were for sale in Bar-
creek. The colonel loane