At that time the University of Alabama, at Tuscaloosa, was controlled by the radicals and boycotted by the whites. A brother of Governor Smith was a regent of the institution, and this regent's son a student. One of the professors, Vaughan, had been persistently assailed by the _Monitor_, which charged him with incompetence and drunkenness. It was said that Vaughan enlisted Smith as a champion. Anyhow, the two sought Randolph on the streets and found him in conversation with a friend. While Vaughan stood some distance away, Smith approached Randolph and insultingly jostled him. Simultaneously and without hesitation, the two men drew pistols and began firing, each discharging five chambers of his revolver. One shot struck a thick book in Randolph's coat pocket and lodged therein; another struck above the knee and ranged up the thigh, his leg being crooked at the moment. This shot necessitated amputation of the injured limb. An innocent bystander on the opposite side of the street was killed by a stray bullet. Smith and Vaughan were arrested. The former was rescued by fellow students and fled to Utah. Randolph survived the reconstruction period and enjoyed the restoration of white supremacy. He died in 1903 from the effects of a fall in a streetcar. An incident of the military regime in Eutaw early embittered relations between the people and their rulers. An "undesirable citizen" was given a ride on a rail. In the court martial trial of the accused, James A. Steele, Thomas W. Roberts, F. H. Mundy, John Cullen, Hugh L. White, William Pettigrew and Mr. Strayhorn were sentenced to hard labor at Dry Tortugas for periods ranging from two to six years. The circumstances attending their treatment as prisoners exhibited harshness which aroused indignation. Handcuffed and chained, they were conveyed by a squad to New Orleans and thence by sea to the island prison. They were not permitted to communicate with their families or friends nor to receive funds to relieve their wants. Their sufferings and indignities were severe and humiliating. An appeal in their behalf, with a presentation of the facts connected with the trial, was made to General Meade, and that commander remitted the sentence. The return of the victims to their homes was made the occasion of a memorable demonstration of popular feeling. CHAPTER SEVEN THE UNION LEAGUE