The simultaneous measurement of neutrons and charged particles produced in peripheral and mid-peripheral collisions in a heavy-ion cross-bombardment reaction at intermediate energy, ^124,136Xe + ^112,124 Sn at E/A = 50 MeV, was performed at the Grand Accélérateur National d’Ions Lourds facility in Caen, France. The charged-particle and neutron detectors used in this measurement, and their subsequent calibration, is described. Analysis of dynamical decay, a common feature of such reactions, has allowed an extraction of the decay timescale as a function of the charge-asymmetry; the correlation between the composition of the lighter fragment, the size of the lighter fragment and the decay orientation is examined. Size-symmetric ternary decay of the excited projectile-like fragment is observed and characterized; the size correlation and the composition of the ternary fragments are compared to statistical model calculations. Analysis of resonant decay of the first excited state of ⁸Be produced in peripheral and mid-peripheral collisions of ¹¹⁴Cd + ⁹²Mo at E/A = 50 MeV shows a dependence of the relative energy of the two α particles on the alignment of their decay. This phenomenon is interpreted in terms of Coulomb and nuclear tidal forces acting on the decaying ⁸Be* as well as a modification of the lifetime of the ⁸Be* through its interaction with the diffuse surface of the nucleus that emitted it.