This public notice pronouncing General Leigh Read to be a coward was posted by Whig party leader William Tradewell in March, 1839, after Read refused to apologize or duel following an argument. General Read, a leading Democrat, remarked at the time that if he were going to fight someone, it would be the head of the Whigs, Colonel Augustus Alston.
Hearing this, Colonel Alston challenged Read to a duel. This offer was accepted and the duel set for December 12, 1839. Alston was a seasoned duelist and Read was considered to be as good as dead.
General Read chose the unusual "Yager" hunting rifle with a sensitive hair-trigger with which to duel. The over-confident Colonel Alston, unused to this heavy weapon, lost his balance and fired before he was able to aim. Read then calmly shot Alston in the chest, killing him.
Although the Alston-Read duel was considered "fair", Alston's grieving sisters thought of it as murder. They removed the bullet from Alston's body, and had it melted down and poured into a press to reshape it. They sent it to their older brother-insisting he avenge his brother's death using the same bullet. General Read was shot and killed by Willis Alston in April, 1841.
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