Uncle Harry was there; and when
the three men saw him they began to draw pistols. Harry's gun spoke first, and Hickox “ bounced from his saddle like a
squirrel shot from a tree.” The other two men fired at Uncle Harry,
but missed, and ran out of town being shot at by a large number of people.One of the horses was shot, the official unhorsed just outside of Dover, and did not stop running until he got to Russellville, four miles away.
It may sound cruel, but good women in the town of Dover looked at the
dead man lying in the street, and rejoiced, feeling that the
greatest enemy to their peace had been killed. An “over the body”
inquest was held, and Harry was not charged..
But this did not fly in Rusellville.
Later, a 30 man posse was deputized to go to Dover and Arrest Uncle
Harry. They found him, two pistols strapped on, a double barrel
shotgun in his hand, leaning against a tree in downtown Dover. Lots of Dover people were around, friendly as
could be to the posse. After showing Harry the arrest warrant, Harry
said he was willing to be tried if they could guarantee his safety.
He was told they could only guarantee it to the best of their
ability. They asked for his guns. Harry's reply made him a
legend..
“I will only give up my guns with my life, and I will make
the man who takes it pay a heavy price.”
Much discussion among the deputies
followed. It was said, “These people would kill Jeff Davis himself
to prevent us from taking Harry by force.” And that was true.
Behind the scenes, many of the women had armed themselves, and swore
to fight to the end for Harry. The men were determined that Harry
would not be taken. Finally, the Deputy turned to a friend of Harry's
and said, “I hereby deputize you, and order you to hold Harry under
arrest until we get back to you.” And they left. One deputy said
on the way out of town, “Well, if that is an arrest, we have
arrested him. I don't think it was much of an arrest, but we have
discharged our duty as best we could, safety considered.”
The army kept peace for periods,
during which times the town was practically deserted. Only a couple
of killings were recorded for awhile. One of the army officers was particularly disliked by the citizens. A store owner proposed, "If you can get him to come into my store, I will kill him there." The officer didn't fall for that, however. One man went to his office door, told the officer he wished to talk to him. The officer, seeing he was unarmed, went to the door. The man grabbed him and pulled him into the hall. As the officer drew his gun, a second man, waiting in the hall, shot him.
Warrants
were issued for ten citizens of Dover, but they could not be
arrested. Finally, the Militia agreed to let the ten men bring in ten
bodyguards each, if they would come into Rusellville to stand trial.
It was agreed. 110 Men, armed to the teeth, rode in, dismounted,
walked in the courtroom and the ten men announced themselves ready
for trial.
Now I revert back to the rebel
version, which gives a better look at the inside goings on. The trial
commenced, and proceeded with until the noon hour, at which time John
F. Hale proposed that they should go back to the courtroom and kill
out the entire court and officials, leaving no one to tell how it
happened but their friends. It was agreed to, but they postponed the
act until the following morning, in order, as they said, that they
might be completely organized in every detail, and not kill someone
that ought not to be killed. However, from some sort of conduct, or
for some reason, the court became suspicious. Court adjourned that
afternoon to reconvene the following morning. The defendants and their
guards returned the next morning. To be Continued
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