Before the war there were a great many coal boatmen traveling on
the river. I was coming up at that time with Captain Forsyth, on
the steamer _Cambria_. Some of the coal boat crew traveled in the
cabin, and others on deck. I got into a game with one of their
bullies. They said he was the best man in Pittsburg. In the play
I bested him out of a few hundred dollars, and he did not like it
a bit. He went down on deck and told his party there was a BOY up
stairs who had won all his money. "If he comes on deck I will let
you know, and we will throw him down and take the money away from
him." The news came to me, and I prepared for the boys by putting
my money and jewelry in the office, took my pistol and went down
on deck. The bully was there; he pointed me out to the gang. They
commenced to gather around me. I backed up against a hogshead of
sugar, telling them not to come any nearer to me or I would hurt
some of them. They took the hint, but began to abuse me. The mate
and some of the boat's crew came back into the deck-room, and then
I commenced to open out on them. "Now," said I to the bully,
"perhaps you can whip me, but I can tell you in a few words you
never saw a boy more willing to fight than myself; and if you will
give me a boy's show, we will see who is the best of the two." He
said, "I can whip you in a minute;" and so saying, he took off his
coat. I threw mine off in quick time, ready for a fight. It was
a good one. He hit me as hard as ever Sullivan hit a man; but I
kept dodging my head, so he would hit that, and he soon had his
right hand as big as any man's head. I at last commenced to give
it to him about the head pretty lively. And talk about a head!
His looked like the hind-quarter of a beef. Finally one of the
crew called out enough for him, for he was not able to do so. They
carried the big bully up stairs and laid him in his bed. To tell
the truth, he was the toughest man I ever had anything to do with;
for he was a powerful man, weighed two hundred pounds, and could
hit like a jack a-kicking. The Pittsburgers did hate to see their
man get whipped, as he was their leader. The news went to Pittsburg,
and they could hardly believe that he could get the worst of a
rough-and-tumble fight.
At one time I was crossing the levee at New Orleans about 6 o'clock
in the evening, when a big fellow jumped from behind a cotton bale
and struck me on the head with an iron dray-pin, which he held in
both hands. The blow staggered me, and I fell on my knees. I
caught hold of the dray-pin until I recovered myself, when I got
hold of him and took the pin out of his hand. I downed him; and
was just getting ready to go to work, when the police rushed in
and pulled me off. I would have given $100 if they had let me
alone just half a minute. They took us both to the lock-up. I
put up money for both of us to appear, as I wanted to get at him
again; but he called on the police to accompany him to his place
of business. He was a boss drayman, and a particular friend of a
stevedore I had whipped a year previously, and he had it in for me.