[...] Tom Carney, editor of Old Huntsville magazine, said the campaign for a U.S. congressional seat that pitted Republican William Manning Lowe against Democratic Gen. Joseph Wheeler was similar to this year's gubernatorial campaign, not just because of the mudslinging and the recount, but because politicians outside the state were pulling the strings. [...]

The author of a biography about Wheeler, John Dyer, said the dispute almost ended up in a duel a resolution thus far not suggested by Siegelman or Riley.

Dyer wrote in his 1941 biography "From Shiloh to San Juan: The Life of `Fightin' Joe' Wheeler," that Wheeler prepared for the expected duel with Lowe by ordering revolver ammunition and practicing on targets.

Siegelman and Riley settled for calling each other liars. [...]