by Nelson slapping Davis (Killed by a Brother Soldier.—Gen.
J. B. Fry.) in the face. But at the time, exactly
what had taken place just before the shooting was
shrouded in mystery by a hundred conflicting stories,
the principal and most credited of which was that Davis
had demanded from Nelson an apology for language used
in the original altercation, and that Nelson’s
refusal was accompanied by a slap in the face, at
the same moment denouncing Davis as a coward.
However this may be, Nelson, after slapping Davis,
moved toward the corridor, from which a stairway led
to the second floor, and just as he was about to ascend,
Davis fired with a pistol that he had obtained from
some one near by after the blow had been struck.
The ball entered Nelson’s breast just above
the heart, but his great strength enabled him to ascend
the stairway notwithstanding the mortal character of
the wound, and he did not fall till he reached the
corridor on the second floor. He died about
half an hour later. The tragedy cast a deep gloom
over all who knew the men, for they both had many
warm personal friends; and affairs at Louisville had
hardly recovered as yet from the confused and discouraging
condition which preceded the arrival of General Buell’s
army. General Buell reported the killing of Nelson
to the authorities at Washington, and recommended the
trial of Davis by court-martial, but no proceedings
were ever instituted against him in either a civil
or military court, so to this day it has not been
determined judicially who was the aggressor.
Some months later Davis was assigned to the command
of a division in Buell’s army after that officer
had been relieved from its command.
Two Confederate armies, under General Kirby Smith
and General Braxton Bragg, had penetrated into Kentucky,
the one under Smith by the way of Cumberland Gap,
the other and main army under Bragg by way of the
Sequatche Valley, Glasgow, and Mumfordsville.
Glasgow was captured by the enemy on the 17th of
September, and as the expectation was that Buell would
reach the place in time to save the town, its loss
created considerable alarm in the North, for fears
were now entertained that Bragg would strike Louisville
and capture the city before Buell could arrive on
the ground. It became necessary therefore to
put Louisville in a state of defense, and after the
cordon of principal works had been indicated, my troops
threw up in one night a heavy line of rifle-pits south
of the city, from the Bardstown pike to the river.
The apprehended attack by Bragg never came, however,
for in the race that was then going on between him
and Buell on parallel roads, the Army of the Ohio
outmarched the Confederates, its advance arriving
at Louisville September 25.