To

HONORABLE LELAND STANFORD

EX-GOVERNOR OF CALIFORNIA
AND
President of the Central Pacific Railroad

\Amicus hutnani generis\

THE

FIELD OF HONOR:
BEING

COMPLETE AND COMPREHENSIVE HISTORY OF DUELLING IN ALL COUNTRIES;

INCLUDING

The Judicial Duel of Europe, the Private Duel of Civilized World, and Specific Descriptions of All the Noted Hostile Meetings in Europe and America.

the

By MAJOR BEN
Author of

C.

TRUMAN,
CALIFORNIA,
Etc.

"THE SOUTH AFTER THE WAR," "SEMI-TROPICAL

"OCCIDENTAL SKETCHES,"

NEW YORK
1884.

FORDS, HOWARD, & HULBERT.

COPYRIGHT,

1883,

By

BEN

C.

TRUMAN.

R
JT75
'-7

CONTENTS.
PAGE

INTRODUCTION
CHAPTER
I.

DUELLING IN FRANCE DUELLING IN ENGLAND

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND
DUELLING
IN

19

II.

30
39
54
76 118

III.

IV.

GERMAN COUNTRIES

V. DUELLING IN AMERICA
VI. INDIANS, MEXICANS, CUBANS, JAPANESE
VII. VARIOUS

MODES OF FIGHTING

130
147
161

VIII.

CLERGYMEN AND WOMEN

IX. DUELLING IN

THE DARK

X.

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS

Continued

179

XI. EUROPEAN DUELS

XII.
XIII.

204
221

EUROPEAN DUELS EUROPEAN DUELS

Continued

Concluded

242 258

XIV. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

XV. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

XVI. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS
XVII. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS
XVIII. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

Continued

280 300
334 366

Continued Continued

Continued

8
CHAPTER

CONTENTS.
,

PAGB

XIX. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

Continued Continued
Continued

374
383 392
411

XX. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

XXI. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS
XXII. NOTED AMERICAN DUELS
XXIII. BLOODLESS DUELS

Concluded

421

XXIV. THE RAREST KIND OF BRAVERY

434
448

XXV. DUELLISTS OF MANY TYPES

XXVI. REMORSE OF DUELLISTS
XXVII. NOTABLE ESCAPES
XXVIII. PATHOS AND SENTIMENT

476
485

493
504
528

XXIX. THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING

XXX.

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE FIELD

Concluded

XXXI. HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE FIELD

553

INTRODUCTION.

DUELLING, as

it is

more or

less resorted to,

even to-

day, in civilized countries, undoubtedly took its rise from the judicial combats of Celtic nations, and was
first

introduced

among

the Lombards, in 659.

Un-

meetings which have grown out of the original system, the early duel appears to have been a trial by combat of two individuals for the determination either of the guilt or the innocence of the person charged with crime, or for other purposes of decision. This early mode of appeal to arms as an alternative for the trial by ordeal, as the reader
like the hostile will

modern system

perceive, although it gave birth to the of combat, is somewhat different

more
from

those conflicts of the present age which are the culminations of voluntary challenges or defiances
resorted to for the purpose of settling disputes supposed to involve the honor of gentlemen and which
last

custom was

first

elevated to the dignity of an

institution in 1308, in France, by one Philip le Bel. It is proper to state, before proceeding further, that

the writer

tain that duelling may be traced and to other ancient peoples ;

combats

aware that there are those who mainback to the Hebrews and that the mortal between David and Goliath, 1063 years
is

INTR OD UCTION

Pittacus and Phyrnon, 547 B.C.; Jonathan and Pudens, also at an early date the Horatii of the
B.C.;
;

the Curatii of the Albans, 667 B.C.; and other lesser scenes of mortal combat, have been

Romans and

But he prefers acquiescence views entertained by those eminent authori" no trace of the duel as an ties who declare that institution is to be found in the history of the classical nations of antiquity." It is an historical fact that Antony sent a challenge to Caesar still, duelling as an institution undoubtedly took its rise, as has been heretofore stated, about the middle, or possibly at the commencement, of the seventh century, although
characterized as duels.
in the
;

authorized, according to Blackstone, in 501 by

bald, king of the Burgundians.

Gunde-

Simply, the appeal to arms, as we may justly term the judicial combat, was an appeal to high Heaven, or to God and none were exempt from the trial by
;

battle but

and the maimed, and perabove sixty; while ecclesiastics, priests, and monks were permitted to produce substitutes (or champions, as they were

women, the

sick

sons under

sixteen years of age and

called in that day) in their stead. All of the arrangements for the judicial duel were of the most solemn

character,
belief.

and elaborate and dramatic almost beyond This custom of appeal to the judgment of God seems to us, in the present day, as something wild and ridiculous, and more sacrilegious than restill, as will be seen by the description of ligious the judicial battle which is presented, the voice of
;

reason, authority, and prudence was heard, though its dictates were utterly mistaken; and it will also be seen that the combatants seemingly met without

anger,

and

left

vengeance

to

the Great

Arbiter.

INTRODUCTION.
Even

II

affairs of

before the practice of duelling for settling honor took its rise, however, the judicial

battle had degenerated into a convenient pretext for the ceremonious meeting of hostile and revengeful

men under protection of law. The general practice of duelling for settling affairs of honor may be said to have commenced in the year
breaking up of a treaty between the V. and King Francis I., the former Charles Emperor Francis' herald to acquaint his commanded having sovereign that he (Charles) would henceforth con1527, at the

sider Francis as not only a base violator of public faith, but as a stranger to the honor and integrity becoming a gentleman. Francis, too high-spirited to

bear such an imputation with composure, had recourse to an unusual expedient to vindicate his character and instantly sent back the bearer with a
;

which he gave Charles the lie in and form, challenged him to single combat, requiring him to at once name the time and place of the proposed encounter, and the weapons with which he
cartel of defiance, in

chose to

fight. rival in spirit

;

lenge

but,

Charles, not inferior to his turbulent or bravery, readily accepted the chalafter several messages concerning the
all

arrangement of

the circumstances relative to the

hostile meeting, with mutual reproaches, all thoughts of a duel, more becoming heroes of romance than the

two greatest monarchs of the age, were entirely

aside.

laid

But the example drew such general

of

attention,

two personages so illustrious and carried with it so

it created an important change Europe; and duels, which had hitherto been fought under judicial appointment, were freely

much
all

authority, that

over

IN TROD UCTIOtf.

indulged in without the interpretation of jurisprudence, and in cases to which the laws did not extend. From that moment, upon every affront or injury which seemed to touch his honor, a gentleman considered himself entitled to draw his sword and

demand

reparation from his adversary.

of fierce courage

The

result

was that men

also those of

and high spirit, and rude manners, were quick to give and
;

take offence with fatal consequences

best blood of Christendom

much

of the

was brutally spilled, many valuable lives were surrendered, and at some periods war itself was scarcely more destructive than these So cruel and outrageous so-called contests of honor. did the custom become, that noted professional duelof whom prided themselves upon the had taken who had neither wit, they advantages wisdom, face, figure, nor fortune, came into great
lists

many

favor with

women

in

England and France

and the

sovereigns of Europe became so alarmed, at this juncture, at the dreadful depopulation of chivalry and gentry, that they took highly aggressive action
in favor of its

abatement.
influence of the
to

The power and

despotism
of

Roman

Catholic

Church, even, was exerted

restrain
;

the bloody code and, of the of Trent, it was session Council twenty-fifth decreed that the custom was detestable, and the Council decreed the excommunication of seconds and
all

the bloody during the

associates, as

lookers-on at a duel.
created

well as principals, and even the It claimed that the custom was

by Satan for the destruction of body and and it excommunicated "all advisers, supsoul, porters, witnesses, and all others in any way concerned."

INTRODUCTION.
But there has been,
really,

13

no time

when

duelling has not had

many

in its history earnest and eminent

chivalry

opponents, notwithstanding the esteem in which true and valor have always been held in every
;

age and country and notwithstanding the popular reign of the custom itself for hundreds of years. When Octavius Caesar received a challenge from Marc Antony to engage him in single combat, he very calmly answered " If Antony is weary of life, tell him there are other ways to death than the point of my sword." This was the noble reply of one of the most illustrious men of the age in which he lived, and must have commanded the admiration of all who loved to behold exhibitions of discretion and gallantry. Joseph II. of Germany, a most amiable monarch, was a conspicuous enemy to duelling, and has left his " The sentiments on record custom is detestable," he once declared, "and shall not be permitted to I despise men who send and thrive in my army. meet each other in mortal comto accept challenges bat. Such men, in my estimation, are worse than the
: :

Roman

gladiators.

I
is

am

resolved

that this bar-

worthy of the age of Tamerlane and Bajazet, and which is so often fatal to the peace of families, shall be punished and suppressed,
though
II.
it

barous custom, which

should cost

me

half

my

officers."

Henry

of

France, after

the death of his beloved Chas-

taignerie, made a solemn vow never, during his reign, to admit of another duel on any pretext whatever.

Henry himself, however, met his death by a blow from Montgomeri's lance during a tournament given in honor of the marriage, by proxy, of Elizabeth to Philip II., at Paris. Queens Anne and Elizabeth, Charles II. and George III., of England, all issued

14

INTRODUCTION,

vigorous edicts against duelling.

It may be interposed that Elizabeth, upon receiving the intelligence of the marriage of Charles, her royal lover, declared " if she were a man, she in a state of great rage that would have defied him to single combat." So she But Elizabeth had been jilted, the reader must did. understand, and she was necessarily violently angered. She was a "woman scorned," to the fullest degree, and was not in her proper state of mind. So, too, when Essex after his fondness for Elizabeth had somewhat cooled was wounded by Blount (who had been made the recipient of some mark of the Queen's

haughty daughter of Henry declared, diswas gratified to know " that some one had been found who could take down the arrogant Earl and teach him certain proprieties." Alexander Hamilton, the most eminent American
dainfully, that she

favor), the

ever killed in duel, left a paper containing his opinions of the custom, in which he stated: " My religious

and moral principles are strongly opposed to the practice of duelling; and it would ever give me pain to shed the blood of a fellow-creature in a private
combat, forbidden by the laws." And yet, in twentyfour hours after the ink had become dry with which those imperishable words had been written, this illustrious statesman and general had fallen mortally wounded, and had yielded up a noble life a victim to the very custom whose adamantine mandates he did not possess sufficient greatness of character under the circumstances to resist. The writer has never been able to comprehend how it was possible for Hamilton to have met Burr in mortal combat how it was possible for any man to have chanced^ the extension
of the circle of

widows and orphans who, twenty-four

INTRODUCTION.

hours before his fall from an antagonist's bullet, had " written My wife and children are extremely dear
:

to me,

and

my

life

is

of the

utmost importance to

them, in various views."

What
Senator

a contrast was the course of United States

Rhett, of South Carolina the and political Hotspurs during antein his answer to Senator Jeremiah Clebellum days mens, of Alabama, on the 28th of February, 1852 Rhett had declared, in a speech, a few days before, in the Senate of the United States, that he was in favor of the exercise of the right of secession and claimed of the we "without live under a secession, that, right

Barnwell

home

of sectional

consolidated despotism." Clemens, in reply, charged the South Carolinian with knavery and treason and,
;

again, replying to further remarks from Rhett, " said He says that I called him a knave and a traiin
:

tor.

No man who

heard that speech of mine ever

entertained such an opinion but himself. The allusion to knavery was an illustration, not a charge.
But,
if

had done
justifies

so,

Senator

me

in

the subsequent course of that adding the epithet of coward

traitor.

to that of

knave and

the character of a man.

He does not deserve No man, with the feeling of

man

in his

bosom, who believed such a charge was

pending against him, would have sought redress here : he would have looked for it elsewhere /" This was, indeed, wrathful and inflammable and the portion italicized is incapable of but one meaning it was an unmis; :

takable invitation for Greek to meet Greek

least,

or, at

a savage intimation that the turbulent Alabamian was awaiting a challenge from the impetuous
Carolinian.
All of

Rhett, in the

which elicited the following from course of an elaborate reply " But my
:

INTRODUCTION.

second reason for not calling the Senator from Alabama into the field was of a still higher and more For twenty years I have been a controlling nature. member of the Church of Christ. The Senator knows it everybody knows it. I cannot and will / frankly not dishonor my religious profession. admit that I fear God more than I fear man. True courage is best evinced by the firm maintenance of our principles amidst all temptations and all trials." There was an exhibition of true bravery which, while it may have spoiled a sensation, saved the commission of a crime, displayed exceeding nobility of
; ;

character,

more

than

and possibly kept woe and mourning from one domestic altar. Volumes might

be written, interspersed with anecdotes or illustrations similar to the foregoing, to demonstrate the
characteristic

earnestness of the opposition to duelling, and the and lasting aversion in which certain

notorious persons are held, or have been held,

who
their

have enjoyed the

fellow-man.

"

honor" of politely killing

Duelling, however, it is claimed by many, has had some advantages, especially in England, Ireland, and America and to the custom may, in a degree, so it
;

is

claimed, be ascribed the extraordinary gentleness

re-

and complaisance of modern manners, and that spectful attention of one man to another which
present renders the
civilized

at far

social

intercourse

of

life

more agreeable and careful than among the most and cultivated nations prior to the commencement of the century in which we live. Those
few people
in

English-speaking countries

who defend
it comand are

duelling at present do so on the ground that pensates for the insufficiency of legal justice,

IN TROD UC TION.

barbarism.

not inclined to look upon the custom as a relic of They assume that law is not as efficaIn the eradication of the evil they

cious as lead.

believe that an offended party has of repairing the injury put upon

no positive means him or, in other

;

words, that nothing but a hostile meeting can

pate the offence.

dissi-

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER
I.

DUELLING IN FRANCE.
Description of the Judicial Duel Prohibition of Judicial Duelling in France Rage of Private Duelling among the French Startling Statistics Customs in France at the Present Time

The Skewer-Duel
Paris

in the

French

Army

The Fencing-Schools

of

Capricious Vigeant

Rochefort, Cassagnac, Chapron, and

Clemenceau.

THERE
duels in

is

all civil

a very ancient edict in France forbidding causes, and in criminal causes limitfive cases.

ing them to

all restrictions;

St. Louis afterward took off but his grandson, Philip the Fourth, incited by a motive deserving praise, and with the hope of decreasing the amount of bloodshed, restored the restrictions in 1303, though in 1308 he estab-

lished the

combat in criminal cases. As nearly as can be ascertained, the custom of judicial combats was kept up in France for upward of nine hundred The great years say from about 660 until 1547. Due de Sully, who did all in his power to urge his master, Henry IV., to repress duelling, has left the
best account of the

manner

in

which the ancient

(or

judicial) duel was fought that can be found.

2O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

"

"In the first place," says De Sully, nobody, however offended, might take vengeance in his own right. They had their judges before whom he that thought
himself injured was to give an account of the wrong suffered, and demand permission to prove, in the way of arms, that he did not lay upon his enemy a false
accusation.
It

desire blood for blood.

was then considered as shameful to The judge, who was com-

monly the

lord of the place,

made

the person accused

appear before htm; and never allowed the decision of which was demanded by throwing a glove (or battle

some other pledge) upon the ground but when he could get no other proof of either guilt or innocence. The pledges were received, and the judge deferred the decision of the quarrel to the end of two months, during the first of which the two enemies were delivered, each of them, to common friends, upon security for their forthcoming; and then their friends endeavored,

by

all sorts

criminal, and

to give

of means, to discover the person him a sense of the injustice of

maintaining a falsehood, from which he could expect nothing but the loss of his reputation, of his life, and of his soul ! for they were persuaded, with the utmost degree of certainty, that Heaven always gave the victory to the right cause; and, therefore, a duel, in their opinion, was an action of which the event could be When the two determined by no human power. months were expired, the two rivals were put into a
close prison

and committed

to the ecclesiastics,

who

employed every motive to make them change their If, after all this, they still persisted, a day designs. was at last fixed to end their quarrel. When the day was come, the two men were brought, fasting in the morning, before the same judge, who obliged both of

DUELLING IN FRANCE.
them
after

21

to declare

upon oath

that they said the truth,

eat; they were then armed in the presence of the judge, the kind of arms being likewise settled; four seconds, chosen with much ceremony, saw them undressed and anointed all over the body with oil, and saw their beards and hair

which they were permitted to

They were then conducted into an enclosed and ground, guarded by armed men, having been made to repeat, for the last time, their assertions and accusations. They were not even then suffered to advance to the combat; that moment their seconds joined them at the two ends of the field for another ceremony which, of itself, was enough to make their weapons drop from their hands, at least if there had remained any friendship between them. Their seconds made them join hands, with the fingers of one put between the fingers of the other; they demanded justice from one another, and were conjured on each
cut close.
side not to support a falsity; they solemnly promised to act upon terms of honor, and not to aim at victory

by fraud or enchantment. The seconds examined their arms, piece by piece, to see that nothing was wanting, and then conducted the principals to the two ends of the lists, where they made them say their prayers and make their confession; then, asking each of them whether he had any message to send to his adversary, they suffered them to advance, which they
did at the signal of the herald, who cried, from without the lists, Let the brave combatants go /' After this,
'

they fought without mercy, and the vanquished, dead or alive, incurred all He the infamy of the crime and the punishment. was dragged upon a hurdle for some time and afterward hanged or burnt, while the other returned, honit is

true," concludes

De

"

Sully,

22

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

ored and triumphant, with a degree that attested him to have gained his suit, and allotted him all manner
of satisfaction."

Henry

Judicial combats were prohibited in France by the death of II., by an edict issued in 1547

Francis de la Chastaignerie from injuries sustained at the hands of Guy Chabot de Jarnac having greatly affected the King, with whom the fallen Chastaignerie had been a great favorite. Besides, the appeal to

was growing unpopular on and combats upon points of general principles; honor, as obscurely established by Philip le Bel, in no 1308, were getting to be of every-day occurrence less a personage than Francis I., who had been defeated and taken prisoner at Pavia, on February 24,
high Heaven, as
it

were,

1525, having, in 1528, sent a challenge to the Emperor Charles V., just before the Peace of Cambray. Henry III. (who was murdered by a friar named Jaques Cle-

ment, on August i, 1589) made no effort during his reign to check the growing evil, while the custom had grown to involve seconds as well as principals; so

during the reign of Henry IV. who issued " that had already edict after edict against a custom " more gentle blood cost France," says some writer, than thirty years of civil war" the dreadful mania
that,

had swept away

lation of

nearly twenty thousand valuable lives!

Louis XIII., however, beholding the gradual depopu-

some provinces of their most illustrious personages, proceeded against the custom with unprecedented severity, and caused many wounded duellists to be dragged violently from the so-called field of

honor

to the

scaffold

of dishonor.

This mode of
cre-

bloody and otherwise violent dealing, however,

ated very
little

abatement; rivulets of gentle blood

DUELLING IN FRANCE.
still

23

continued to murmur silently away; and it was not until Louis XIV. attained his majority that an impediment was successfully raised against the alarming mania the movement having been the voluntary compact of noblemen, and others of undoubted courage and punctiliousness, to abstain from the bloody Louis XIV., perceiving the lull that had practice.

taken place, created a court of chivalry in 1644 (the members of which were the marshals of France), which was to decide on all those questions of honor

which had formerly been settled permanently on sanguinary fields. From that time until the present there has been a general slacking off of the bloody custom, and there is a law now in France making killing in duels punishable as homicide, and permitting civil action on the part of friends of persons slain, while officers of the army and navy (and their
seconds) participating in duels may be cashiered. Still, duelling in France has never received a quietus: and never will, so long as army officers permit
private soldiers to meet in mortal combat and mutilate each other with skewers; and so long as the fenc-

ing-schools of Paris may be counted by the score the flippant pen of " Mark Twain" to the contrary

notwithstanding. To be sure, Louis Veuillot humor" ously declares that amongst the amusements of Paris must be counted duels between journalists."

He undoubtedly means that all such conflicts whether sanguinary or not are amusing to the noncombatants, just as
it is

fun for the boy

who

stones

the frogs. French army officers, who are not permitted by law themselves to meet in mortal combat,

claim that

it would be impossible to maintain disciand in the pline dignity army without from ten to

24
fifty

THE FIELD OF HONOR,

skewer-duels per regiment annually among their men. The skewer-duel is brought about and carried on as follows: Two soldiers have a misunderstanding, and possibly exchange sharp words; a non-commissioned officer learns of the offence, and imprisons the
offender for twenty-four hours; then they are led from durance vile, and furnished with seconds and

skewers; and, after having been stripped to the skin of all their apparel but their shoes and trousers, they are directed to thrust away at each other with said implements of culinary use until one or the other is wounded and the honor of each is satisfied. "If it

were not for the prospect of that pointed rapier besome writer, " these soldiers might sometimes kick and maul each other to death." As it is, these duels do not infrequently terminate tragifore them," says
cally.

Theodore Child, writing to the New York Sun from Paris in December, 1882, after touching upon the practice of duelling in the French army, says:

Among civilians duelling is defended on the ground that generally it compensates for the insufficiency of legal justice. This is, of course, a matter of opinion. I am not discussing I am simply explaining the French point of view, and accounting for a phenomenon which we Anglo-Saxons are
:

will

upon as a relic of barbarism. The duel, it be objected, does not give the offended party the means of repairing the wrong that has been done him. Materially, no morally, yes. Opinion has ordained that the single fact of the combat washes away the offence. Evidently, if a man were thirsting for vengeance, assassination would be a surer means but precisely the equality of the danger and the loyalty of the combat give to the duel a color of chivalry which prevents all but the most prejudiced minds from confounding it with a criminal manoeuvre. The present French legisinclined to look
; ;

DUELLING IN FRANCE.
lation has

2$

no special law against duelling; the duellist can only be prosecuted as a murderer. The consequence is that the authorities rarely or never interfere. Opinion has sanctioned duelling, and, in spite of the edicts of Henry IV., of
Richelieu, of Louis XIV., in spite of the eloquent protestation of Jean Jacques Rousseau, and of the philosophers of the eighteenth century, it continues to be, in France, an

important social institution. Just now there is a kind of epidemic of duels in France. Every day in the week there are meetings in the woods in the environs of Paris. The combatants no longer cross the frontier as of old. In the first place, the journey to the Belgian, German, or Spanish frontier is costly; in the second place, a Parisian wit has given out that if the combatants cross the frontier it is because they count on the engagement being interrupted

by the gendarmes. Xhanks to the toleration of the police, engagements may safely take place around Paris and not long ago a large crowd witnessed a duel between two famous fencing-masters Pons, of Paris, and the Baron de San de Mulato, of Naples. This duel took place on the race-course In point of fact, most of these encounters are at Vesinet.
;

not very serious

affairs.

The

journalists of Paris often fight

to get themselves and their papers talked about. For the benefit of duellists of this class an ingenious formula has to

been devised. An official report of every duel is forwarded in this all the newspapers and signed by the seconds report it is stated that, after a combat of such and such duration, one of the antagonists received a scratch, or worse and the seconds, considering that the wound would render the chances unequal, felt themselves called upon to terminate the encounter and declare " honor to be satisfied." Nevertheless, the frequency of duels, from whatever motives, has had the effect of causing a large part of the population of France to frequent the fencing-rooms, for the fashion set by Paris is followed in the provinces, and the provincial journals also have their head-line, "Duels," like their Parisian models. A new journal, called L'Escrzme, has been founded under high patronage to meet this new want of
;

26
French
society,

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and there
exists a splendid

volume, called which a Parisian expert in matters of fencing (the Baron de Vaux) has analyzed the form, the style, and the performance of the most famous contemporary swordsmen. In short, every man who respects

"The Men

of the Sword," in

every young fellow who pretends to be stylish must pass an hour or two every day in the fencing-rooms under the orders of his trainer. The fencing-room is fashionable and public opinion or, rather, the opinion of society under the Third Republic is that the duel preserves honor, reputation, and dignity. The fencing-rooms of Paris are counted by the score, and the profession of fencingmaster is held in high honor. The most celebrated of the
himself
;

gentleman-master, as he is called Vigeant is a handsome young fellow who affects the airs of Achilles in his sulking moods. He is very touchy, reserved, and capricious. Some say he poses. He lives in a handsome apartment in the second story at 91 Rue de Rennes. You ring, and the door is opened by a fine muscular man, whom you at once recognize as a provost of
guild is Vigeant, the by the Anglo-maniacs.

the profession. He introduces you into the cabinet of the master. On the chimney-piece is a seventeenth-century
St. Michael, the patron saint the side of this picture is another of Don Quixote, sword in hand, gravely studying in some book of chivalry thrusts that are no longer secret. In the corners are rapiers of all kinds on the walls, engravings of fencing-

wood-engraving representing
of fencers.

By

a full-length portrait of the master, by Carolus Duran right and left two book-cases containing a unique collection of everything that has been written on fencing for the past three hundred years in the middle a table covered with books, an inkstand, a pen, and a rapier. It is here that
scenes;
;

Vigeant gives consultations on his art. Next in reputation to Vigeant is Merignac, who rarely exhibits his skill in public. Then, after these two stars, follow the lesser celebrities

Mimiague, Rouleau, the brothers Robert, Cain, Gatechair, and others. Furthermore, the millionaires have their private fencing-rooms, one of the most splendid
Pellerin, Lautieri,

DUELLING IN FRANCE.
of which
tlfie

2/

is

that of

M. Edmond
of

Rue Presbourg, where an

in presence
is

Sunday
Dollfus
assault

mansion in arms took place last the Mite of Parisian high life. M.
Dollfus, in his assault at

also the President of the Fencing-Club.

This

was a most imposing affair. The proces verbal of it, printed in gold letters on parchment, and given to those who took part in the tournament, is a beautiful work of art. Drawn up in the style of the middle ages, this document records the details of the different encounters, and thus describes the managers of the tournament " The Tribunal
:

that directed this historical festival of the noble art of fencing, to wit His Excellency the General of the
of
:

Arms

French Armies Verge, grand master; and Messieurs Mimiague et Pons's nephew, masters of arms of the first class and nobles of the sword, chancellors, assisted in their high and delicate functions as judges of the camp by H. E. the high and puissant Monsignor Canrobert, Marshal of the French armies by H. E. M. the Marquis de Alta-Villa de la Puente, grand marshal of the court of her Majesty the Queen-Mother Dona Isabel de Borbon y Borbon, Catholic, Caesarian, and Imperial Majesty of the Spains and the Indies, Lady of Biscay and Queen of Navarre; by H. E. M. the Count Ferdinand de Lesseps, entitled the great Frenchman by the sieur Legouve, member of the French Academy by the noble and puissant signiors the Baron Antonio de Ezpeleta, the Count Potocki, and G. de Borda, and by the sieurs Wasckiewicz, Dollfus senior, and Paul Granier de In the above extract Cassagnac, also noble signiors." from this fantastic and aristocratic document will be found some of the great names among the amateur swordsmen. The five reputedly best amateurs are MM. Alfonso de Aldama, Ezpeleta, the Comte de Labenne, the Comte Lindemann, De Wackiewicz, and De Ferry d'Esclands. Among the journalists and poets who are famous fencers and duellists may be mentioned Aurelien Scholl, Leon Chapron, Henry Fouquier of the XIX. Siecle, the Baron HardenHickey of the royalist journal Le Triboulet, Arthur Paul de Cassagnac, Ranc, Jean Richepin, Albert de Saint-Albin
; ; ;

28

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

(Robert Milton of the Figaro), Rene Maizeroi, and ArSilvestre. Among painters the finest blades are Alfred Stevens and Carolus Duran. In Carolus Duran's studio, in the Rue Notre Dame des Champs, the most conspicuous objects on the walls, besides the pictures and sketches, are a mask, glove, and rapier, and a guitar. Carolus is a very brilliant swordsman, of whom his master, Vigeant, speaks only with respect. This celebrated artist, with his swaggering gait, his lace sleeve-ruffles, his fine

mand

his varied accomplishments, ought to have been the sixteenth century. He is too picturesque for our prosaic times. Alfred Stevens, too, is a man of the type of the gallant knight of old. I need not say that fencing does not hurt the talent of either of these excellent painters. For

voice,

and

born

in

that matter, they have illustrious predecessors

in the

who

excelled

two arts. Raphael Sanzio was a first-class fencer. Benvenuto Cellini, Velasquez, and Salvator Rosa handled the sword in perfection and the Spaniard Ribera, who was killed in a duel, was the most celebrated bravo of all the Spains. In a list of Parisian duellists the names of Henri Rochefort and Dr. Clemenceau must not be omitted. But neither of these men is a fencer the latter is a dead shot
;

with the pistol the former is never wanting in pluck whatever be the weapon chosen. In the combats of the present day the pistol is very rarely used. The fashionable weapon It is different from the days of is the rapier or the sabre.
;

the famous Lord Seymour, when the gilded youth of Paris found it necessary to be accomplished in the art of boxing,
to a

and the savate, a brutal art of kicking which is Frenchman what fisticuffs are to an Anglo-Saxon. The reader may, perhaps, remember that Eugene Sue, in his " Mysteries of Paris," relates how Prince Rudolphe was able to vanquish his enemies by his knowledge of^the manner in which the lower classes settle their differences when they Those refrain by mutual consent from using their knives. were the days when the Due de Grammont-Caderousse and his friends used to sup at Philippe's in the Rue Montorgueil, and the natural conclusion to the carouse was a hand-^osingle-stick,

DUELLING IN FRANCE.
hand
fight with the

2$
polished youth

market

porters.

The

of to-day take no delight in such turbulent sports. Under the direction of Saint-Michael, Don Quixote, and Master

Vigeant, the present duelling and fencing mania

is

as likely

as not to lead to a renaissance of chivalry. The French under the Third Republic will have their tournaments and

courts of arms, their knights and nobles of the sword, to correspond to the aesthetic eccentricities of their neighbors across the Channel. There will then be a chance for "some " witty Tybalt with his pen prepared to write a companionpiece to "Patience" or the "Colonel," all bristling with secret thrusts and full of the tac-tac and clashing of the

weapons of

satire

and

ridicule.

Some
(as

of the

famous French

duellists

have appeared
pistol) in

so often in the arena that their names are as familiar

doughty champions of the sword and

the United States as in France.

Of

these are the

famous Paul de Cassagnac and Henri Rochefort. Dr. Clemenceau is also a terror to his foe, as he is a deadly expert with the pistol and no mean swordsman. For anybody to meet Paul de Cassagnac is a sure
passport to the hospital or the grave pretty much as this leonine newspaper-man chooses to be merciless or lenient. Rochefort is also a very effective duellist,

although he once showed his fear of the Imperialist

bully Cassagnac by declining to accept his challenge except with the understanding that they should fight

with loaded

pistols, breast to breast

a proposition

which partook

of the profession of the butcher rather

than of the journalist, and which Paul very properly declined. Fatal duels, however, are rare events nowadays in France, there having been but eight deaths
out of 545 duels fought since 1869.

30

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER
*

II.

DUELLING IN ENGLAND.
Rise and Fall cf Judicial Duelling (or Trial by Wager of Battle) Mode of Combat Statistics of Private Duelling The Duke of

Lord Howard and the Duchess of Shrewsbury Colonel Fawcett and Captain Munroe Lieutenants Seton and Hawkey Article of War against Duelling in the
British

Hamilton and Lord Mohun

Army.

THE custom of Judicial Duelling (or Trial by Wager of Battle) was introduced into England for accusations of treason (if neither the accused nor the accuser
could produce good evidence) during the reign of William II., in 1096. Out of this custom grew a law in England whereby a man charged with murder
fight the appellant for the purpose of making proof of his guilt or innocence. This law was upon the English statute-book for two or three hundred

might

years,

but was struck from

off

said

statute-book

during the reign of George III., in 1819 and on account of the following incident: In 1817 one Abraham

Thornton was charged with the murder of, a young maid named Mary Ashford, and in an appeal claimed
his right
Act),

by the "wager of battle" (the title of the which the court allowed; but the appellant (the brother of the murdered girl) refused the challenge (on account of his youth), and the accuser escaped all

punishment.

DUELLING IN ENGLAND.
The
first first

3!

battle

The latter had been acof Eu. cused of high treason by Baynard in 1096, and was subsequently conquered in combat, and therefore deemed convicted. This system was brought to an end in 1631 by Charles I., who prevented a similar encounter between Lord Reay and David Ramsay.
of the latest English episodes of the trial by battook place during the reign of Queen Elizabeth, in 1571, in which the defendant in a civil case instituted for the recovery of manorial rights in the Isle of Hartic, Kent, offered to maintain his right to possession by the duel. This somewhat astonished the court;
tle

William and William, Earl

the judicial duel ever fought in England by single combat was that fought before II. and his peers between Geoffrey Baynard

One

but, as

it

admitted that

it

had no power
the challenge,

of refusal,

petitioners accepted champions were appointed, and the proper arrangements forthwith made perfect for the judicial combat; and, although an edict had been issued by the Queen (who wished to see no bloodshed) that the parties compromise, as a matter of justice to the defendant, who had demanded the battle, and to maintain the authority of the law, it was decided that the duel must be permitted to proceed. This was the last judicial combat in England in a civil case, although one occurred in a court of chivalry in 1631, and a similar one still later, in 1638.

the

Like the judicial duel in France, the form and manner of waging battle upon appeal in England were characterized by remarkable ceremonious proceeding,

more

while the oaths of the two combatants were vastly The appellee, when apstriking and solemn.

pealed of felony, pleaded

"Not

guilty,"

and threw

32

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

down
the

his glove and declared that he would defend same by his body. The appellant then took up the glove and replied that he was ready to make good

the appeal, body for body. And thereupon the appellee took the Bible in his right hand, and in his left the right hand of his antagonist, and swore as " Hear follows: this, man, whom I hold by the

callest thyself John by the name of baphand, that I, who call myself Thomas by the name of tism,

who

baptism, did not feloniously murder thy father, William by name, nor am any way guilty of the said felony; so help me God and the saints; and this I

defend against thee by my body, as this court award." To which the appellant replies, holding the Bible and his antagonist's hand in the same
will

shall

manner

as the other:

"Hear

this,

O man whom

hold by the hand, who callest thyself Thomas by name of baptism, that thou art perjured; and therefore perjured because that thou feloniously didst murder my father, William by name; so help me

God and the saints; and this I will prove against thee by my body, as this court shall award." A day is then set for the battle, arms selected (batons), and
the

same oaths administered

as

in

French courts

against the use of amulets and sorcery. In the com" if the appellee be so far vanquished that he bat,

cannot or will not fight any longer, he shall be adjudged to be hanged immediately; and then, as well as if he be killed in battle, Providence is deemed to have determined in favor of the truth, and his blood But if he kills the appellant, or shall be attainted. can maintain the fight from sun-rising till the stars appear in the evening, he shall be acquitted. So,
also,
if

the appellant

becomes recreant, and pro-

DUELLING IN ENGLAND.

33

nounces the horrible word craven (which means that he craves or begs for his life from his antagonist), he shall lose his liberam legem (that is, he shall lose his

become infamous; and the appellee damages, and also be forever quit, not only of the appeal, but of all indictments likewise
right of law), and shall recover his
for the

same

offence."
is

taken from " Cobbett's 'Complete Collection of State Trials" (vol. iii., p. 515), .published in London in 1809, and has reference to the manner of combat: "And forthwith there shall be an oyez or proclamation made, that none shall be so bold but the combatants to speak or do anything that

The following

shall

disturb the battle:

and whosoever

shall

do

against this proclamation shall suffer imprisonment for a year and a day. Then they shall fight with or bastons tipt with horn, of an

but with two staves ell long, both of and each of them a equal length, target, and with no other weapon may they enter the lists. And if the defendant can defend himself till after sunset, till you

weapons, but not with any

iron,

may

see

the stars in the

if

firmanent,

and demand

he ought to fight any longer, then there judgment must be judgment given on the defendant's side." Verstegan, the antiquary, in his curious book entitled

"

tiquities

Restitution of Decayed Intelligence in Anconcerning the Most Noble and Renowned

trial

English Nation," says: "In the

by single com-

bat, or camp-fight, the accuser was with the peril of his own body to prove the accused guilty, and, by

offering him his glove, to challenge him to this trial: the which the other must either accept of or else ac-

knowledge himself culpable of the crime whereof he was accused. If it were a crime deserving death,

34

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

then was the camp-fight for life and death, and either on horseback or on foot. If the offence deserved imprisonment and not death, then was the camp-fight

accomplished when the one had subdued the other, by making him to yield, or unable to defend himself, and so be taken prisoner. The accused had the liberty to choose another in his stead, but the accuser must perform it in his own person, and with equality The priests and people that were spectaof weapon. tors did silently pray that the victory might fall unto the guiltless. And if the fight were for life or death, a bier stood ready to carry away the dead, body of him that should be slain. None of the people might
noise, or give any sign stood beside the executioner whatsoever; off the right hand with an axe to cut judges, ready and left foot of the party so offending. He that (being wounded) did yield himself was at the mercy of
cry,

shriek out,
as

make any

the

the other, to be killed or to be let live. If he were then was he carried away and honorably buried; and he that slew him reputed more honorable than
slain,

before.

But if, being overcome, he were left alive, then was he by sentence of the judges declared utterly void of all honest reputation, and never to ride on

horseback nor carry arms." [If the reader wishes to inform himself very fully upon this subject, he may consult Lord Coke's 3d
Inst., c.
19,
4,
2,

p.
c.

26; also Blackstone's

27,
3; also

Comm.,
s

b. iv., c.

Complete Collection of State Trials," vol. iii., pp. 483, 511, and 518; also an account of the "Trial by Battle from Minshew's Dictionary."] Duelling did not prevail as a custom in England
until late

and

"

Cobbett

during the reign of Queen Elizabeth; at

DUELLING IN ENGLAND.

35

which period Vincentio Saviolo, a little Italian fencing-teacher of violent temper and affected punctil" A iousness, published a small volume entitled Treatise of Honor," which was at once adopted
(1594)

by

certain parties as a standard

"

work

of refer-

honor involved." From 1594 until 1713 much precious blood was spilled in England, " Scotland, and Ireland upon fields of honor," most of the combats during that time having been carried on by the use of small swords, which had been introduced into England in 1587. But the fatal duel between the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun (which was fought with small swords in Hyde Park on November 15, 1712, and in which the latter was killed on the spot, while the Duke expired of his wounds as he was being conveyed to his carriage) created much sensation throughout England, and an attempt was made in the House of Commons a short
ence in cases of

time afterward to enact a duelling, which 'was an

bill

for the suppression of

effective

entering wedge,
reading.

although

the

bill

was

lost

on the third

however, until the present, con-*tinued efforts have been made in England to constitute duelling an offence; and in 1679 Charles II. issued a proclamation that any person killing another in a duel should be held for trial, and upon conviction should not be pardoned and yet, during this
Charles's reign (from May 29, 1660, to February 6, 1685), there took place 196 duels, in which 75 per-

From

that time,

sons were killed and 108 wounded, upon English soil. Indeed, duelling was carried to its greatest possible excess during the reigns of James I. and the two
Charleses; and in the reign of the latter the seconds always fought as well as the principals in fact the

36

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

seconds with regard to

latter generally selected their

their courage
It

and adroitness.

was during the reign of Charles II. that Lord of Carlisle, gave a grand fete-champetre at Spring Gardens, near the village of Charing the Vauxhall of that day. This fete was to facilitate an intrigue between Lord Howard and the profligate Duchess of Shrewsbury; but the gay and fascinating
Howard,
Sidney flirted with the Duchess, abstracted her attenfrom Howard, and ridiculed the festivities. Early on the following day, Howard sent a challenge to Sidney, who chose as his second a young giant named Dillon, a noted furious and adroit swordsman, while his Lordship selected a young gentleman
tion

named Rawlings, who had

of

just

come

into possession

an estate with an income of ^10,000 a year. Sidney received three serious thrusts from Howard, and was taken from the field dangerously wounded, whilst his second was run through the heart and left dead in his tracks. Upon the receipt of this news the Duke of Shrewsbury became greatly excited, and challenged the infamous Buckingham for intriguing with his wife. The challenge was, of course, accepted, and the Duchess, disguised as a page, accompanied
fought
der;

Buckingham to the field, and held his horse while he and killed her husband. The slaying of Shrewsbury was characterized as a cold-blooded murstill,

from the
In

the King, in spite of every remonstrance Queen, received Buckingham with open

arms a short time

after this brutal outrage. 172 duels fought in England during a stated period, 69 persons were killed (in three, neither of the combatants survived); 96 persons were wounded,
'

48 desperately and 48 slightly,

and 188 escaped

DUELLING IN ENGLAND.
unhurt.
lives,

$?

Thus, rather more than one fifth lost their and nearly one half received the bullets or
It

thrusts of their antagonists.

appears, also, that,

out of this number of duels, eighteen trials took place; six of the arraigned were acquitted, seven were found guilty of manslaughter, and three of murder; two were executed, and eight were imprisoned for
different periods.

The custom was checked

in the

army

in 1792, dur-

ing the reign of George III., but received its severest check in the army and navy of Great Britain in 1844,

by an
offence

article

of

war which

rendered

duelling an

punishable by cashiering: and which was urged through Parliament on account of the sanguinary meeting of Colonel Fawcett and Captain Munroe (at which the former was killed), July i, On May 20, 1845, however, two army officers 1843. (Lieutenant Seton and Lieutenant Hawkey) met in This hostile encounter, and the former was killed. to the a affair renewed opposition produced tragic " for the of duela and custom, society discouraging ling" was at once established; and since that time, on account of the influence of public opinion and the
terrors of the law, the practice of duelling in England may be said to have almost wholly ceased to
exist.

The following

is

the article of

war referred

to

for the repression of duelling in the armies of Great Britain (and there are other laws of a similar character) "
:

Every

officer

who

or

who

shall accept

shall give or send a challenge, any challenge, to fight a duel with

another

officer, or who, being privy to an intention to a shall not take active measures to prevent duel, fight such duel, or who shall upbraid each other for refus-

38
ing,

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

or for not giving, a challenge, or who shall or advise the rejection of, a reasonable propo-

reject,

sition

made

for the honorable adjustment of a

diffi-

convicted before a general liable, to be court-martial, cashiered, or suffer such other as the court may award." punishment
culty, shall
if

be

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

39

CHAPTER

III.

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

The
Irish and Scotch Passion for Duelling Qualifications of Irish Respectability: "What Family is he of? Did he ever blaze ?" Sir Jonah Barrington's Felicity Two Irishmen

How

met Two Gentlemen from London Melancholy and Furious Encounters in Scotland The Troubles of a Royal Husband The Law of Combat by the Best AuthoritiesA Codification
that covers Delicate Questions.

THE Emerald Isle may be said to be dotted all over with " fields of honor," so thick and fast and furious have been the deadly encounters among the "wearers of the green;" particularly during the days of the old Parliament in College Green, Dublin, at which time it was deemed not injudicious for the aspiring barrister to purchase a case of pistols and the Indeed, it necessary law-books at the same time.
is

lege (himself a noted duellist), that,

related of Hutchinson, the Provost of Trinity Colwhen a certain

student approached him with importunities regarding a course of legal study, he directed the young
aspirant to
use;

buy a

case of pistols and to learn their

"as," added Hutchinson, "they will get you along faster than Fearne or Blackstone." This was
literally

"teaching the young idea how to shoot." O'Connell, Curran, Grattan, McNamara, Castlereagh,
Sheridan,

Barrington,

Fitzgibbon,

Flood,

O'Brien,

4O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

of note, have

O'Gorman, and many other Irishmen

all

fought within the

lists.

Judicial duelling was established in Ireland in the year noo, and flourished until 1631, during which time

many sanguinary combats occurred; one of the most remarkable, as well as one of the most tragic, having been that which took place in 1533, at Dublin Castle, before the lords justices and council, between Connor
and Teig MacGilpatrick which the former was severely wounded many times, and was ultimately despatched and had his head cut off and presented to the lords justices by the victorious Teig. It was after the degeneracy of the judicial duel, however, that the custom in Ireland took on its most desperate shape, and became popular as an institution; and it was long after its general deO'Connor,
in

MacCormack O'Connor

cline in

England that lovers

of duelling in Ireland

grudgingly relinquished their fondness for a custom that had brought into the field so many intrepid felIt has been stated by lows and capital shots. some writer on the subject that no duels are palatable to both parties except those that are engaged in from motives of revenge. From a general standis undoubtedly true; and your Irish duelwas seldom an exception. But one of the greatest and most distinguished of all the Irish fighters (Curran) was probably the least ferocious, at least after the preliminaries of combat had been perfectly arranged. Curran's charming impudence and humor never abandoned him he may have met Hobart, Fitzgibbon, and Burrowes with hostility in his eye, but he must also have met them with a smile upon his When the second of Peter Burrowes stated to lips. Curran's second that his principal was in a very feeble

point this
list

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

condition,

41

and wanted to be allowed to lean against a milestone during the exchange of shots; and Curran, after listening to the invalid's ingenuous request,
Certainly, provided I am allowed to lean against the next milestone," there must have been twinkles in his eyes as well as smiles at his lips. At the present time duelling is at a great discount in

responded,

"

Ireland,

and the laws against the custom are pretty

Judge of the High Court of Admiralty in Ireland (a noted duellist in his day), in " Personal Sketches of his Own Times," devotes his two chapters to Irish duellists and duelling, and says that " Single combat was formerly a very prevalent and favorite mode of administering justice in Ireland;

rigidly enforced. Sir Jonah Harrington,

and not being considered so brutal as bull-fights, or other beastly amusements of that nature, it was authorized by law, and frequently performed before the high authorities and their ladies bishops, judges, and other persons of high office generally honoring the spectacle with their presence. Two hundred and memorable and official duels have actutwenty-seven
ally

been fought during

time the

my

In

my

number

of killed

grand climacteric. and wounded among

.
. .

the bar was very considerable. It is, in fact, incredible what a singular passion the Irish gentlemen (though
in general excellent-tempered fellows)

formerly had

fighting each other and immediately making A duel was, indeed, considered a friends again.
for

necessary part of a young man's education, but by no for future animosity with his opponent. When men had a glowing ambition to ex-

means a ground
.
.

cel in all

manner of feats and exercises they naturally conceived that manslaughter, in an honest way (that

42

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

is, not knowing which would be slaughtered), was the most chivalrous and gentlemanly of all their accom-

No young fellow could finish his educahe had exchanged shots with some of his The two first questions always acquaintances. asked as to a young man's respectability and qualifications, particularly when he proposed for a lady wife, were, 'What family is he of?' and 'Did he
plishments.
till

tion

ever blaze?'

Tipperary and Galway were the

ablest schools of the duelling science. Galway was most scientific at the sword, and Tipperary most

and prized at the pistol; Mayo not amiss at while Roscommon and Sligo had many proeither, fessors and a high reputation in the leaden branch of
practical

Our elections were more prolific any other public meetings; they very seldom originated at a horse-race, hunt, or any place I think I may challenge any of amusement. ... country in Europe to show such an assemblage of gallant judicial and official antagonists at fire and sword as is exhibited in the following partial list: The Lord Chancellor of Ireland, Lord Clare, fought the Master of the Rolls, Curran. The Chief-Justice K. B., Lord Clonmel, fought Lord Tyrawly (a Privy The Councillor), Lord Llandoff, and two others.
the pastime.
.
.

in duels than

judge of the county of Dublin, Egan, fought the Master of the Rolls, Roger Barrett, and three others. The Chancellor of the Exchequer, the Right Honorable Isaac Corry, fought the Right Honorable Henry Grattan (a Privy Councillor) and another. A Baron
of the Exchequer, Baron Medge, fought his brotherin-law and two others. The Chief-Justice C. P., Lord

Norbury, fought Fire-eater Fitzgerald and two other gentleman, and frightened Napper Tandy and seve-

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

ra.

43

The judge of the Prerogative Court, besides. Dr. Duigenan, fought one barrister and frightened another on the ground. The Chief Counsel to the
Revenue, Henry Deane Grady, fought Counsellor O'Mahon, Counsellor Campbell, and others. The Master of the Rolls, Curran, fought Lord Buckinghamshire, the Chief Secretary. The Provost of the University of Dublin, the Right Honorable Hely Hutchinson, fought Mr. Doyle, Master in Chancery,

and some

others.

The

Chief-Justice

C.

P.

Patter-

son fought three country gentlemen, one of them with swords and the others with guns, and wounded
all

of them.

The Right Honorable George Ogle

(a

Privy Councillor), fought Barney Coyle (a distiller), Thomas Wallace, K.C., because he was a papist. The fought Mr. O'Gorman, the Catholic Secretary.

Customs of Dublin, the Honorable FranHutchinson, fought the Right Honorable Lord Mountmorris. The reader of this dignified list will surely see no great indecorum in an admiralty judge having now and then exchanged broadsides, more especially as they did not militate against the law of
Collector of
cis

nations."

In the reign of Queen Anne party spirit ran very high, particularly in the city of Dublin, where duels were fought almost daily on account of politics. Two

gentlemen of London Major Park and Captain Creed who valued themselves highly on their skill in fencing, hearing of the frequency of "affairs of honor"
Dublin, like true knights-errant, resolved to go there in quest of adventures. On inquiry they learned that Mr. Mathew, of Thomastown, in Tipperary, who
in

had recently arrived from France, had the character of being one of the finest swordsmen in Europe.

44

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

on the

Park, rejoicing to find a worthy antagonist, resolved, first opportunity, to have a trial of skill with

him. This was soon the case, and the parties met at a tavern, Mathew accompanied by a Mr. Macnamara, and Major Park attended by his friend Creed. The

doors being secured, Park and Mathew, without parley or explanation, drew their swords; but Macna-

mara stopped them and

spectator;

said that

it

was impossible

remain a cool and then, addressing himself to Captain Creed, continued: "If you please, sir, I shall have the honor of entertaining you in the same manner." Creed, who desired nothing better, replied by drawing his sword, and at it the four champions went. The conflict was of long duration, and was maintained with remarkable skill and obstinacy by the two officers, notwithstanding the great effusion of blood from At length, the many wounds they had received. completely exhausted, they both fell, and yielded the
for him, in cases of such a nature, to

victory to the superior skill of The number of wounds received

their antagonists.

by the vanquished parties was very great; and, what seems almost miThe surraculous, their opponents were untouched. at once the who were called, seeing desperate geons, state of their patients, would not suffer them to be removed from the room in which they had fought, but had beds immediately taken into it, on which the two wounded officers lay many hours in a state of danger and insensibility. When they were able to see visitors, Mathew and Macnamara called and attended them daily; and a close friendship and intimacy afterward ensued, as they found their fallen antagonists gentlemen of strict honor and integrity, and of the
,

best dispositions, except in their Quixotish fondness

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

45

for duelling, of which they had, however, become completely cured. Scotland never took the same popular interest in

duelling as

its

1580, although licenses for mortal

impetuous neighbor; and, as early as combats could be

.obtained from the Crown, the killing of a person in a duel without a license could be called murder. Judi-

duelling was introduced into Scotland about the year noo, and flourished for over five hundred years.
cial

When

the character of the laws against duelling in

Scotland

is considered, it is readily understood why the custom did not prevail to the same popular extent among the Scots as among their more roistering

neighbors; for

when a duel took

place

upon a

chal-

lenge in Scotland and was followed by the death of one of the parties, the survivor was charged with mur-

however fair and equal the combat may have been conducted; and the better to repress such irreguder,
larities,

the legislature, by the statute of 1600, raised

the bare act of engaging in a duel to the same rank of a capital crime as the actual slaughter, without

distinguishing whether any of the parties did or did not suffer any wound or material harm on the occasion; and, to complete the restraint, it was by the
statute of 1696 made punishable with banishment and escheat of movables to be concerned in the giving,

sending, or accepting a challenge, even though no combat should ensue.

total

the same difficulty was experienced in the abolishment of the custom in Scotland as in some other countries; and few duels have been accompanied with more melancholy circumstances than one fought near Edinburgh, in 1790, between Sir George Ramsay and Captain Macrae, which origiStill,

46
nate

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in the following seemingly trivial circumstance: servant of Sir George, keeping a chair at the door of the Edinburgh Theatre, was directed by Captain

Macrae to remove it; and, upon his declining to do so, words ensued, and the fracas was ended by a severe chastisement of the servant at the hands of the enofficer. Meeting next day with Sir George, Macrae insisted upon the dismissal of the servant from his service, which was politely refused on the

raged

ground

that,

whatever

may have been

the nature of

the offence, the offender had already received suffiA challenge was the immediate cient punishment.

consequence, and the parties met on Musselburgh

by Sir William Maxand Macrae by Captain Hay. The former fired first, but without effect. Captain Macrae returned the fire, and lodged his bullet near the heart of his antagonist. Sir George languished a few days in great agony, when he expired. The poor fellow on whose account this duel happened no sooner heard of his master's death than he fell into convulsions and died in three hours; and Captain Macrae at once fled
Links, Sir George accompanied
well,

the country.

The following story illustrates the fighting qualities of the Scotch, In the year 1396 a cruel feud existed
between the Clan Chattan and the Clan Kay, which Robert III. had vainly endeavored to reconcile. At length the Earls of Crawford and Dunbar proposed that the differences should be determined by the
sword, by thirty champions upon each side. The warriors were speedily selected, the day of combat fixed, the field chosen, and the King and his nobility assembled as spectators. On reviewing the combatants it

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND. 47

was found that one of the Clan Chattan was missing, when it was proposed that one of the Clan Kay should withdraw; but such was the spirit of these brave
fellows that not one could be prevailed upon to resign the honor of the day. At length a saddler named

Wild,

who happened accidentally to be present, offered to supply the place of the missing Mackintosh, and was accepted. The combat was at once commenced, and by the prowess of Wild victory declared itself in favor of the champions with whom he fought. Of the Clan Chattan only ten and the volunteer were left alive, and all were dangerously wounded; while of the Clan Kay only one survived, who, after declining either to surrender or to proceed further in so unequal a contest, threw himself into the Tay and swam

This combat has been immortalized by Sir Walter Scott, in his novel, "The Fair Maid of Perth." During the civil wars Sir Ewan Lochiel, while Chief of the Clan Cameron, sent a challenge to Colonel Pellew, an English officer, who accepted it and named swords as weapons. The fight took place the following day; and, after two hours' combat, Lochiel disarmed the Englishman, the sword of the latter flying
across.

nearly twenty feet into the air. They then clinched, and wrestled more than half an hour, when they fell

The latter, although together, Lochiel underneath. the smaller and weaker of the two, managed to fasten his teeth into the throat of his antagonist, and tore
away several ounces of flesh, which he held in his mouth like a wild beast until he left the field: and
to his

dying day Sir

Ewan

declared that

it

was the
in Scot-

sweetest morsel he had ever tasted in his

In 1567 a great commotion

life.

was produced

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

land on account of the cnarge of Lord Herries that Morton and Maitland were the murderers of Lord

Queen Mary. This charge Lord Herries from Lord Lindsay, who declined, however, to meet only those whom Morton and Maitland and two he had accused.
elicited a challenge to

Darnley, the husband of

brothers

Duke

of Orkney,

named Murray subsequently accused the James Hepburn Bothwell (the one

Mary, afterward married), as the real murderer who, in turn, challenged all gentlemen of honorable standing who accused him of the murder of the former husband of the Queen, or who believed him to have been in any way whatever a participant
of Darnley;

whom

and claimed, further, that his trial and acquittal should be accepted as conclusive evidence regarding his innocence. No person of rank took
in the crime;

notice of this general challenge; and, at last, while at the head of the army so constant was the annoyance

Bothwell published a cartel of upon many of his prominent enemies and offered to prove his innocence by by name), This of battle. brought out a score or more of wager
defiance (calling

from his adversaries

men of acknowledged rank, and among them Lords Morton and Lindsay, who elected to fight with two-handed swords. The Queen, however, interfered, and commanded tranquillity; and so the guilty Bothwell was spared from the weapons of scores of enraged swordsmen of Grange and Tullibarden, who were only too willing to take a hand in sending the
gallant

Duke to his The Irish

final

account.

code duello

from which

all

other codes

(in the English language) have been written or made /'with modifications suited to the times and coun-

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND. 49

persons who have adopted it) was adopted Clonmel Summer Assizes, 1777, for the government of duellists, by the gentlemen of Tipperary, Galway, Mayo, Sligo, and Roscommon, and pretries or

at the

for general adoption throughout Ireland. These rules," says Sir Jonah Harrington, " brought the whole business of duelling to a focus, and have been much acted upon down to the present day." They were, in Galway, called the twenty-six commandments, and are as follows:
"
first offence requires the first apolthe retort may have been more offensive ogy, though than the insult. Example A tells B he is impertiI.
:

scribed

RULE

The

yet A must make apology, because he gave the first offence, and (after one fire) B may explain away the retort
nent, etc.
first

retorts that he lies

the

by subsequent apology. RULE II. But if the parties would rather fight on, then, after two shots each (but in no case before), B may explain first and A apologize afterward. N. B. The above rules apply to all cases of
offences in retort not of a stronger class than the ex-

ample.

RULE

III.

If

a doubt exists

who gave

the

first

If they offence, the decision rests with the seconds. will not decide or cannot agree, the matter must

proceed to two shots, or to a hit

quires
it.

if

the challenger reis

RULE

IV.

When

the

lie

direct

the

first

offence,

the aggressor

must either beg pardon in express terms, exchange two shots previous to apology, or three shots followed by explanation, or fire on till a severe hit be received by one party or the other.

SO

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

RULE V. As a blow is strictly prohibited under any circumstances among gentlemen, no verbal The apology can be received for such an insult. are: The offender alternatives, therefore, handing a
cane to the injured party to be used on his back, at the same time begging pardon; firing until one or both are disabled; or exchanging three shots and then begging pardon without the proffer of the
cane.
If swords are used, the parties engage until well blooded, disabled, or disarmed, or until, after receiving a wound and blood being drawn, the

N. B.
is

one

aggressor begs pardon.

RULE

VI.

If

gives

the

blow (being the two greatest

a severe

tion can take place till after hit, after which B may

and B retorts by a offences), no reconciliatwo discharges each or

lie

beg A's pardon for

the blow, and then A may explain simply for the lie, because a blow is never allowable, and the offence of the lie, therefore, merges in it. (See preceding
rule.)

Challenges for undivulged causes may be ground after one shot. An explanation or the slightest hit should be sufficient in such cases, because no personal offence transpired. RULE VII. But no apology can be received in any case after the parties have actually taken their ground without exchange of shots. RULE VIII. In the above case no challenger is obliged to divulge his cause of challenge (if private)

N. B.

conciliated on the

unless

required by the challenged so to do before

their meeting. RULE IX. All

imputations of cheating at play,

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

races,
etc.,

51

but

may

to be considered equivalent to a blow, be reconciled after one shot, on admitting

and begging pardon publicly. insult to a lady under a gentleman's care or protection to be considered as by one degree
their falsehood

RULE

X.

Any

a greater offence than

sonally,

if given to the gentleman perbe regarded accordingly. RULE XI. Offences originating or accruing from the support of ladies' reputation to be considered as

and

to

less

and

unjustifiable than any others of the same class, as admitting of slighter apologies by the

aggressor. This is to be determined by the circumstances of the case, but always favorably to the lady.

RULE

XII.

No dumb

firing or firing in the air is

admissible in any case. The challenger ought not to have challenged without receiving offence, and
the challenged ought, if he gave offence, to have made an apology before he came on the ground;
therefore children's play one side or the other, and

must be dishonorable on
is

accordingly prohibited.

Seconds to be of equal rank in society with the principals they attend, inasmuch as a second may either choose or chance to become a principal, and equality is indispensable. RULE XIV. Challenges are never to be delivered at night, unless the party to be challenged intends
XIII.

RULE

leaving the place of offence before morning; for it is desirable to avoid all hot-headed proceedings. RULE XV. The challenged has the right to choose
his own weapons unless the challenger gives his honor he is no swordsman, after which, however, he cannot decline any second species of weapon 'proposed by the challenged.

52

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The challenged chooses
his

RULE XVI.

ground,

the challenger chooses his distance, the seconds fix the time and terms of firing.

RULE XVII.

The seconds load

in

presence of each

mutual honors that they have charged smooth and single, which shall be held
other, unless they give their
sufficient.

RULE XVIII.
signal;

Firing

may be
of

regulated,

first,

by

secondly, by word

command;

or, thirdly, at

be agreeable to the parties. In the may fire at their reasonable leisure, but second presents and rests are strictly propleasure, as

may

latter case the parties

hibited.

RULE XIX.. In all cases a misfire is equivalent to a shot, and a snap or a non-cock is to be considered
as a misfire.

RULE XX.

Seconds are bound

to

attempt a reconsuffi-

meeting takes place, or after cient firing or hits as specified.

ciliation before the

RULE XXI. Any wound sufficient to agitate the nerves and necessarily make the hand shake must end the business for that day.
RULE XXII. If the cause of meeting be of such a nature that no apology or explanation can or will be received, the challenged takes his ground and calls
on the challenger to proceed as he chooses.
In such

cases firing at pleasure is the usual practice, but be varied by agreement.

may

RULE XXIII.

In slight cases the second hands his

principal but one pistol, but in gross cases two, holding another case ready charged in reserve.

the seconds disagree and resolve to exchange shots themselves, it must be at the

RULE XXIV.

When

DUELLING IN IRELAND AND SCOTLAND.

same time and
thus:
s

53

at right angles with their principals,

with swords, side by side, with five paces' interval. No party can be allowed to bend his knee or cover his side with his left hand, but may
If

RULE XXV.

present at any level from the hip to the eye. RULE XXVI. None can either advance or retreat
if

the ground

is

measured.

If

no ground be mea-

sured, either party may advance at his pleasure, even to the touch of muzzles, but neither can advance on
his adversary after the
fire, unless the adversary steps forward on him. N.B. The seconds on both sides stand responsible for this last rule being strictly observed, bad cases having occurred from neglecting it. N.B. All matters and doubts not herein mentioned will be explained and cleared up by applica-

tion

to the Committee, who meet alternately at Clonmel and Galway at the quarter sessions for that

purpose.

CROW RYAN, President. JAMES KEOGH, AMBY BODKIN, Secretaries.

54

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

IV.

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

Anecdote of Frederick the Great The so-called " University " How an American Student gave Three German Youths Duel Fatal Effect of forcing a Fight upon an American Satisfaction
Challenging the Wrong Englishman Twenty-one Duels in One Day A Romantic Event and the Causes which led to it An American Boy's Description of a German-Student
Student

Duel Duelling Elsewhere in Europe Anecdote of Gustavus Adolphus of Sweden Potemkin and Orliff Heckeren and
Pouchkin.

THE
600,

judicial duel
its rise

and had
and

was known in Germany early in and fall in pretty much the same
its

manner
rise

as has been presented in descriptions of

fall in

those countries heretofore mentioned.

The

private duel, however, did not follow with the

vim which characterized its introduction into England and France; and, if an exception is made of the so-called " university duel," the custom of giving and accepting challenges in German countries has
never been cordially recognized as a popular institution.

Germany

is

indebted to

many

of

its

monarchs

for

this state of affairs, and especially to in August, 1771, wrote as follows to

Joseph II., who, a commanding

officer: "General: I desire you to arrest Count K. and Captain W. immediately. The Count is of an

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

imperious character, proud of his high birth, of false ideas of honor. Captain W., who

55
full

and
is

an old soldier, thinks of settling everything by the sword or He has done wrong to accept a challenge the pistol. from the young Count. I will not suffer the practice
of duelling in my army, and of those who seek to justify
for officers
I
it.

despise the arguments

I

have a high esteem

to

who expose themselves courageously

all

the enemy, and who, on

selves intrepid, valiant,

occasions,

show themin attack as

and determined

which they honorable to themselves and useful to their country; but there are men ready to sacrifice everything to a spirit of revenge and hatred. Let a council of war be summoned to try these two officers with all the impartiality which I demand from every judge, and let the most culpable of the two be made an example by the rigor of the law. There will still be left men who can unite bravery with the duties of I wish for none who do not faithful subjects. respect the laws of their country." An anecdote has been related of Frederick the Great, <3f Prussia, which accounts in a vividly dramatic way for the unpopularity of the custom in that country at the very time when duelling in England and France was carried to murderous extremes, and where every private resentment was permanently settled at the point of the sword. No greater enemy to the custom ever sat upon a throne than Frederick; and, at one time during his reign, believing that duelling was on the increase in his army, he made up his iron mind to put a stop to it. So he issued an order that the first party engaging in a duel without his consent should be summarily punished. A very
well as in defence.
face death
is

The

indifference with

56

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

offi-

short time after the publication of this order an

cer of

his Majesty's presence and asked for permission to challenge a brother-officer to mortal combat; to which Frederick gave his gracious

good rank sought

consent, provided that his Majesty should be notified beforehand of the time and place where the duel was At the time appointed for the arrival to be fought.

upon

the

ground

of

the

belligerents

all

parties

promptly appeared; and, to their amazement, there sat Frederick near a gibbet that had been newly erected upon the spot; and the longer the parties
gazed upon the scene the greater became their consternation; until the challenger, at last, in great embarrassment, appealed

know

respectfully to his king to of the spectacle, who replied as follows: "It means, sir, that I intend to witness your

the

meaning

one of you has killed the other, and hang the survivor!" It is hardly necesthat the proposed duel was not fought; add to sary
battle
until
will

then

and

that, henceforth, duelling was a rare event in the Prussian army. The new code of Prussia contains

severe provisions against duelling and the sending of

challenges.

Regarding what is termed the "university duel," the most that can be said against it is that it is ridiculous, although there is scarcely a German of prominence whose face does not bear witness to encounters of this sort; and these reminiscences of student-days may be seen engraven upon the faces of judges and
senators and advocates, the same as upon officers of It is understood that there must be just the army.

about so much fighting, and therefore challenges are given and accepted every day. The duels at the capital take place at a garden three miles out of Berlin,

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

in

57

an arena or

hall, fifty

by

thirty feet.

Sometimes

the place is crowded with students, nearly every one " of whom displays tokens of battle" either upon the It is not uncommon to see an array of face or head.
false noses .where real

ones used to be, or a face cov-

ered with scars, and a head minus an ear. These losses and patchworks of skull and face are considered honorable, and the greatest possible display is made of them. An eye-witness of one of these encounters lately wrote a description of it to the Phila" A duel was on delphia Times, which is presented. the tapis as we entered. Two young men sat in

facing each other, the right arm, neck, and breast of each protected by heavy pads of quilted canvas, so heavy as to make those parts proof
chairs

against any stroke of the sword. Each wore heavy iron goggles to protect the eyes, and all vital parts were protected so as to make dangerous wounds impossible, or nearly so.

The

rapiers, or swords, are

about three and a half feet in length, sharpened about a foot from the end, but not pointed. At the word the swords were crossed with a ringing cling, and at another word the fight commenced. It was cut and parry, and parry and cut; the blows falling on head and arm or breast with amazing rapidity. But for the absurd padding and the ludicrous goggles the spectacle would have been a very pretty one. But without goggles and padding serious wounding would have followed, and that was not desired. After a few minutes of slashing and parrying, a red streak showed upon the forehead of one of them, and a halt was called. The surgeon examined the wound, sponged it, and pronounced it only a scratch. The faces of both were then sponged by their seconds,

$8

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and at it they went again. Other wounds were given and taken till blood flowed from each in streams. But the fight continues a fixed number of minutes, unless before that time a dangerous wound is given, when it ceases. Both are presumed to have proven their courage, and that is the real object of the encounter." Hon. Aaron Sargent, the American Minister at Berlin, writes to a friend of one young man upon whose courage some reflection had been made, and who at once challenged the student who had spoken the words; and states that, "although the fight proceeded with great gallantry the specified time, the umpire decided against the challenger on the ground that twice during the combat he had

dodged slightly; and, despite his assertion to the contrary, and despite the fact that he was covered with blood from head to foot, the decision was maintained against him, and he had nothing to do but to quit the university, give up all hope of a commission in the army, and go home." The man who shirks never so little in ohe of these encounters would not be admitted into any regiment. Further, a man must fight whenever challenged, reason or no reason; and even if he has proven his courage and power of endurance upon former occasions, there is no escape from that. Apropos, from a Bremen letter published in the Cincinnati Commercial Gazette in August, 1883, the following paragraph is selected:

An American

student

who was

at Gottingen last winter

says that twelve duels were fought there in one day. He also relates the following incident which occurred at that place An American student unintentionally gave offence to
:

three

German

students by pushing against them in hurriedly

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

passing along the street.
insisted

59

They went on a few steps, then on having satisfaction for the insult he must fight a duel with one of their number. He de" I do not fight." I am an American. But clined, saying, He they quickly repeated, "We must have satisfaction." " Well, if you must, you can have it ;" and, throwing replied, off his coat, he went at them with his fists, knocked all three of them down, and one of them quite out into the gutter. Then putting on his coat, he walked away as if nothing of a very serious character had happened. Somewhat bewildered over the situation, the three German students picked themselves up and went their way and the otherwise quiet and inoffensive American was not afterward challenged to fight came back and
; ;

a duel, or otherwise molested. Some two weeks later a number of the gilded German youth with trepanned skulls made up their minds that it was about time to fresco the frontispiece of a young American named Lennig, who had been sent by his father, a German-

American of New York, to the University of Jena. In accordance with their custom, Lennig was expected to prove his courage in the usual foolish way, by standing up and permitting himself to be slashed at by another fool, and covered with the usual honorable "scars." But he declined to engage in any such unmitigated foolishness, and thus exhibited his possession of good, solid American sense. Then followed a period of hazing. He was gibed at as a coward an

American milksop. The students generally refused to assoand his challenger heaped insults upon him until his student-life became so insufferable that he at last accepted the challenge, and turned the tables upon his perciate with him,

naming pistols as the weapons which, being the challenged party, was his right to do. Now it was the chalIt lenger's part to show either the white feather or fight.
secutors by

was against all precedent, he said it was exposing his life but he had no alternative but to fight with pistols. Now, no one will question the physical courage of the average German university student. And so the meeting followed, Lennig killing his man at the first fire. He fled to Switzerland
;
:

60

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

immediately afterward, whence he was extradited, and an attempt made to convict him of the offence of duelling with The case failed, however, and Lennig was disfatal result. charged from arrest on the ground that duelling is not named in the treaty between Germany and Switzerland as an offence for which persons may be subject to extradition. Lennig, it is stated, has received no more challenges, and probably never will. During the month of August, 1882, an Englishman who

was

visiting

Heidelberg, and putting up at the principal

once dined at the table d'hote ; and being seated right " opposite to a young man who wore the badge of a corps" across his breast, he could not help noticing the extraordinary manner in which this young man took his meal. At first he admired him for the skilful manner in which he managed his knife, which incessantly passed from his plate to his mouth, heavily laden as it was with green peas. But when the student, having finished his meat, took up his gravy with the knife, the Englishman began to feel his blood boil within him. Pudding with apple-sauce followed, and the student operated with his dessert-knife just as he had done with the larger knife. But the Englishman could conIn a hoarse whisper he addressed trol himself no longer.
hotel,
will cut your mouth open if you gravy with your knife." The student looked up and answered, " What is that to you ? I can cut my mouth open to my ears, for all you have a right to inter" " fere." Oh, nonsense !" said the Englishman, coolly you can't expect a decent person to let you butcher yourself at " dinner." Oh, but I can, though, and you shall see. Dummer Junge !" With that the student rose and left the room. Dummer Junge (Stupid fellow !) signifies as much as a challenge. When the student's seconds came to arrange details with the Englishman, he was terribly surprised at the serious consequences of what he had deemed a most natural remark.

" his vis-d~vs, saying, don't leave off eating

You

He offered to apologize, and begged them to remember that he knew nothing of German customs, and had believed himself in the right. But the seconds declared their friend would

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

61

accept no apology, and they even hinted that the Englishman had probably been told that his opponent was a first-rate
fencer

the pride of Heidelberg.

Of

course,

when matters

took this turn, the Englishman spoke in a very different tone, and everything was arranged for a duel with pistols, he being no fencer. He spent a dreadful night, because he was told that the young student was in such a foaming rage that his only desire was to see his opponent lie dead on the ground. The Englishman did all in his power to have the matter arranged, but he did not succeed and, on his way to the tryst" It is a dreadful shame that ing-place, he said to his seconds, I should have to kill this young man because he does not know the proper use of his knife and fork. Still, it would be just as unfair to let him kill me." The Englishman intended firing in the air if he had the second shot, but chance was averse to him. He had the right to shoot first. The aim was deadly the young Teuton fell without a groan.
; :

A
in

letter

from Vienna

to the

London Daily News

September, 1882, says:

The University of Jena, and indeed the whole city, have passed through a week of intense alarm and anxiety which are far from being at an end even now. On one day twentyone serious duels took place among the students and, the arms used not having been properly cleaned, all those who were wounded had their blood poisoned. About forty young
;

men are lying in the hospital in a serious condition. One great favorite, the only son of wealthy parents, had his mind upset by an intense attack of fever, and committed suicide
by taking strychnine.
lasted

many

hours.

He died after a terrible agony that Two more have died already, and there
half of those

is little

hope of saving more than one

who

are

still

This dreadful calamity will no doubt serve to make university duelling very unpopular in Germany, if not with the young men themselves, certainly with their relations.
in a pitiable condition.

correspondent of the

St.

Louis (Mo.) Republican

62

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

sent to that paper in August, 1883, the following graphic account of a university duel:

One spring morning, not many years ago, I found myself on the road between a large university town in Saxony and a neighboring village where a series of duels was to take place between the various corps of the university. Fresh from one of our largest American colleges, I was desirous of becoming acquainted with the life and habits of the German and having made the acquaintance of several students members of the corps " Lusatia," was invited by them to witness a " mensur," or series of sword-duels, which was to take place in a village near at hand. After a ride of about an hour in the queer German two-storied horse-cars, we alighted at a point where two roads crossed, and, after a short walk, arrived at a beer-hall, which had been chosen for the scene of action. On entering the house I found about seven;

ty or eighty students assembled, all wearing the gayly colored caps, and ribbons across the breast, indicating their several corps. They were far better dressed and better

looking than the average run of German students, as the corps represent the highest social classes in the university. Their bright-colored caps and bands gave them a pictur-

esque appearance, and the fine bearing of many indicated that they had already gone through one years' term of service in the army. This was to be a day of more than ordi-

nary interest, as thirteen duels were to take place. As had been explained to me, these encounters were not caused by any ill-feeling between the various combatants, but were simply a friendly
trial of

courage and

skill.

The

seniors or

presiding officers of the various corps had met, and had matched certain members of the different corps against each
other,
rived.

who were

to fight simply as a matter of

first

amusement.

after we arof the corps " Lusatia" was to meet a Westphalian in what was known as a fifteen-minute duel

Preparations for the

duel

commenced soon

member

with seconds.
lists

This was the duel in vogue when the duelhad no quarrel with each other, and was regarded as

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

less

63

dangerous than the duel without seconds, which was on for twenty-five minutes or until a disabling wound. Seconds are present in both cases, but in the duel with seconds a halt can be called as soon as five blows have been struck on each side, and a momentary rest is allowed, while in the duel without seconds a halt can be called when blood has been drawn. I went to watch the preparations made by my friend of the Lusatians, which certainly were elaborate enough. The blows were all to be directed against
carried

the head and face

so

all

other parts of the body which

might be struck by accident had to be protected. He first took off his coat, vest, and shirt, and drew on his " pauckhund," or fighting-shirt, a coarse cotton garment, which was used to save the finer linen, as blood enough was shed in almost every encounter to ruin the garment upon which it
flowed.

Then upon
silk,

his right

arm was drawn a

sleeve of

wadded

extending from the wrist to the shoulder. Covering his right armpit a heavy leather pad was buckled, in order to protect the sinews at this point, and a similar pad was fastened over the heart. A heavy fencing-glove was placed on the hand, and then the arm from the wrist to the shoulder was wrapped with strips of silk until the limb was Silk was used because it nearly as thick as a man's thigh.

gave protection against cuts. A thickly wadded silk cravat was fastened around the throat, and heavy iron goggles, projecting half an inch from the eyes, guarded these from inNext the " pauckhozen," or fighting-breeches, were jury. donned. These were of very thick padded leather, and covered the front of the body from the breast nearly to the knees, and were fastened behind by strap and buckle. In this portentous panoply a man was scarcely to be recognized by his best friend, and presented a truly frightful appearance, as cravat, breeches, and pads were stiff with the blood shed in hundreds of previous encounters. His equipment was rendered complete by the duelling- sword, or "schlager," a weapon about forty inches long, with an iron guard shaped like an inverted saucer, a blunt point, and a ^double edge ground sharp as a razor for about eighteen inches along each

64
side.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The right arm, thus bandaged and carrying the sword, was supported by a friend, who held it at right angles to the duellist's body. This friend wore a heavy buckskin glove, which was for the purpose of protecting his hand, as
he was to straighten the sword if it should become bent in the course of the contest. Both combatants now being prepared, they advanced to the centre of the room, and took their position about three feet from each other, each stand-

ing upon a cross marked with chalk upon the floor. Fronrthis mark they were under no circumstances allowed to advance

much as an inch during the progress of the drawing back to avoid a blow being punished by instant expulsion from the corps. As had been explained to me, all blows were directed against the head and face, the guarding being done with the sword and padded right arm. Skill was was not nearly so much a desideratum as a bold, fearless bearing, it being no discredit to get the worst of an
or retreat by so
duel,

encounter, but being considered very disgraceful to exhibit the least fear of a wound. This made the duels often rather
exhibitions of recklessness than of
skill,

and gave the

"

Bur-

with the corps schenshaft" a great advantage students, as they were by their rules allowed to fence cautiously and wait for an opening to be offered by their antagin their duels

mode of fighting which caused them to be greatly despised by the corps. The seconds stood at the left of the Each wore a cap with a heavy visor, a pad with the fighters. colors over the stomach, and carried a basket-hiked corps
onists, a

sword.
batants.

The umpire stood a few

feet to the side of the

com-

His duty was to note the time, to give word for the various halts, and to declare the number of blows which drew blood. The fifteen minutes allowed for the duel in-

cluded only the actual fighting time, that consumed in the pauses between the rounds being deducted by the umpire. All being now ready, the Lusatian second called out, " Umpire, please command silence for a fifteen-minute mensur between Lusatia and Westphalia with seconds." The umpire " gave the command, and the second then called out, Auf der

mensur.

Bindet die klingen."

(On the mensur.

Bind the

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

65

blades.) The swords were crossed, the seconds touched them with their own, the Westphalian second said, " Gebunden " sind (They are bound), and the duellists took their guard. This is effected by raising the right arm over the head, so that it protects the top of the head, the sword hanging down parallel to the left side of the face and guarding that. As soon as both were on guard the Lusatian second gave the " Los !" (Loose), which was the signal for commencement. Immediately on the word being given both began striking at

being a point of honor to strike the first blow. was all done from the wrist, as the arm must be kept above the head as a guard, and thrusting is not allowed. The endeavor of each was to touch his opponent by

each other,

it

The

striking

reaching over the protecting arm, thus striking the scalp, For a few seconds or the left cheek when unguarded. of but the the sword-blades was heard clashing nothing
against each other and against the iron hilts, or the dull flapping sound when they struck upon the padded arms. The movement of the blades was so rapid that an unpractised eye could not tell the result.

But

after four or five

blows had been delivered the Lusatian second cried " Halt !" and the swords were struck up, as a thin stream of blood was seen flowing from the hair to the temple of the Westphalian, which soon spread over his face and trickled down " upon his fighting-shirt. The second then said, Umpire,
please declare a
'

umpire

"

replied,

blutigen' (bloody one) on the head." It is declared." The doctor, who

The
was

standing near, looking at the cut, pronounced it insignifi" Auf der mensur," etc., cant, the second again called out and the contest recommenced. So it went on, now one receiving a cut, now the other, until the prescribed fifteen

minutes had elapsed, when the duel ceased and the men were led off to be divested of their defensive armor and their injuries attended to. A table had been placed near a window, on which were basins of water, sponges, and a number of crooked needles threaded with colored silk. The cuts were washed, plastered, and when of any considerable depth sewed up with silk. The doctor kept a book in which

66

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

was entered the number of cuts received and the number of stitches required to sew them up, and this list was the offiIn this instance the Lusatian had cial record of the duel.
" " received nine needles," or stitches, blutigen" with five while his antagonist had received twelve of the former, with seven of the latter. They were soon through with the

and were seen talking and drinking their beer as if nothing had happened. In the mean time preparations were going on for the next affair, and the men were now ready. In this instance one of the Saxon corps had chal" lenged a member of one of the Burschenschaft," societies similar to the corps, but considered as occupying a lower social position and as insulting words had passed, the duel was to be of the more serious kind, lasting twenty-five mindoctor,
;

one should receive a wound which the doctor should pronounce to be sufficiently serious to close the duel. It may be remarked that this decision rests entirely in the hands of the doctor, as it is feared that if left to the duellist himself he might continue the encounter until his injuries should become so severe as to endanger his life. When the men took their places, the difference between the style of the corps and that of the Burschenschaft was at once apparThe Saxon commenced in a dashing style, striking as ent.
utes, or until

rapidly as possible, and paying comparatively little attention to his own safety while his opponent remained cautiously
;

on the guard, took three blows for one returned, and warily watched his chance. This style of fencing gave him a great advantage, which he soon turned to decisive account. As the Saxon delivered a blow at his face, he drew back his head so that the blow passed by him (a manoeuvre allowed
by the Burschenschaft, but strictly forbidden among the corps), and then struck a blow upon the Saxon's unguarded cheek which the doctor pronounced sufficiently serious to
occasion the discontinuance of the duel.
duels of

Two

or three
stir

no particular note followed, and then a general

and excitement could be observed, as the great event of the " day was about to take place. The senior," or president, of the Thuringers was to meet the senior of the Westphalians.

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

67

These two were regarded as the two best " schlagers" in the university, and the issue of this encounter was looked upon as deciding the supremacy of one or the other. The Westphalian was a tall, active, rather dandified-looking fellow, with jet-black hair and mustache, and very few scars for so renowned a fighter. He was noted for the quickness of his eye, the suppleness of his waist, and the skill with which he struck a certain blow in tierce. The Thuringer was somewhat shorter, but of far stronger build, had thick blond hair, and bore dozens of scars on his face. He was not regarded as so finished and elegant a swordsman as his antagonist, but his great strength, heavy blows, and endurance gave many ground for the belief that if he should not be disabled within the first five minutes his chances for ultimate victory were excellent. Great reliance was placed by his friends on
a certain " durchzieher," or drawing-stroke, across an opponent's face, which he struck with tremendous force. The

men took
word

their ground, the swords were crossed,

and the

It was at once apparent that two master-hands given. were at work. The heavy blades fairly whistled through the
air, and the rapidity with which blows were given and returned was bewildering. Within a few minutes blood was flowing from three cuts on the Thuringer's head, while the Westphalian had only one slight scratch on the left cheek. But the work was beginning to tell. Both men breathed heavily during the pauses, but the beads of perspiration on the Westphalian's face showed that he was beginning to feel severely the exertion of striking and parrying the slashing blows of his opponent. At the third or fourth blow of the seventh round there was a tinkle and a crash, and the T hur, inger's blade flew half across the room, broken short off at the guard. As another sword was handed him, blood was observed to be trickling through his thick hair from a wound which had escaped even the quick eye of the opposing second at the moment of infliction. The doctor looked

at

it, shook his head, looked at it again, but, apparently in response to the appealing glances cast upon him, suffered the duel to proceed. The five minutes regarded as so dan-

68

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

gerous for the Thuringer had now passed, and his friends began to feel great confidence in the result. Still the Westphalian was a finished swordsman, and he attacked as boldly But it might be observed that the blows were as at first. not delivered with quite the same lightning-like rapidity as during the earlier rounds, and a slight slowness in returning to guard more than once caused him to make a very narrow escape. The Thuringer perceived this, and his blows came crashing in with redoubled force. They fell with tremendous violence on the blade and bandaged arm of his antagonist, and it was evident that unless the latter could do something decisive within a very few minutes, failing
strength would put

him

at
this,

his

opponent's mercy.

The

and directed all his efforts The next few blows were struck with less to this end. attention to his guard and greater effort to end the contest with a single effective blow. The result of this was seen the next moment in a long gash on his forehead, showing where he had recovered guard too slowly after a reckless attempt to reach the Thuringer's head by striking over his arm. His strength was fast ebbing, but he had set his heart upon victory, and determined to make one more desperate effort. Collecting all his remaining strength, and rising on his toes to increase the effort of the stroke, he discharged a blow with all his force at the top of the Thuringer's head. It was His blade seemed delivered with great judgment and skill. fairly to curl over the Thuringer's protecting arm, and the sharp steel cut a gash from behind the crown nearly to the forehead. A stream of blood at once covered the ThurBut inger's face and shirt and dyed them a deep crimson. As the Westthis telling stroke had not gone unavenged. phalian lifted his blade he had, for an instant, exposed his left cheek, and at the very instant when he was himself struck the Thuringer brought his sword with terrific force across the Westphalian 's cheek, which was laid open from the ear to the nose. Both seconds cried " Halt !" simultaneously, and struck up the swords. The doctor's verdict was not needed to inform every one that neither was able
Westphalian recognized

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

to proceed with the duel.
tables, thus

69

Both were led to the operatingending what was universally admitted to be the " mensur" ever seen by any present. It was not only best remarkable for the skill displayed, but also for the severe character of the wounds, and for the very unusual circumstance that both men received disabling cuts at the same instant, thus leaving the question of superiority undecided. As soon as the general excitement had somewhat diminbut ished, preparations for another duel were commenced the men were scarcely half-armed, when one of the students, who had been stationed outside to keep watch, rushed in with the news that the police were approaching. Instantly all was hurry and copfusion. The young men who were for the next duel were hurried off into a prepared being loft, where their trappings were removed and hidden, the swords were thrown into the cellar, tables were drawn into the middle of the room, and when the representatives of the law appeared at the door, they saw only a number of students sitting over their beer. But as it was evident that nothing more could be accomplished for the present, it was decided to adjourn for the day, and a general move was made for the city, which we all reached late in the afternoon, after what was admitted to be a very successful day " on the mensur."
;

No

evil of duelling;

portion of Europe has been exempt from the and next to those countries already

placed Italy, then Spain, Russia, to Denmark and Wales. The judicial duel, or trial by wager of battle, prevailed in the foregoing countries, as in the others heretofore described, for many hundreds of years, and

presented

may be

Sweden, and so on down

at last

gave way to the private duel. This latter raged in Italy from 1600 to 1700 with all the alarming popularity that it did in France during the same

men met

time; and the common inquiry was, when two gentlein the morning, "Who fought yesterday?"

?O
or,

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

"What

is the news from the field to-day?" The duel survived in Italy until nearly 1600; aljudicial though, even at that latter date, the private affairs of

"gentlemen of honor" were conducted upon a sanguinary scale. There are rigid laws in Italy at presoccasionally:

ent against the custom, although there are meetings as may naturally be expected in a
its

country which permits

hot-blooded youth to study

the art of killing as openly taught in the fencingschools of Florence, Naples, and Milan. The Italians, and especially the Neapolitans, have always been

regarded as the best swordsmen?

the
first

in

the world; and

in

families of Italy still believe their hands in" by constant practice.

"keeping

There have always^ been Spanish laws forbidding duelling; and in 1490 Ferdinand and Isabella made an example of the Count of Luna and the Count of Valencia for exchanging a cartel of defiance, and had them imprisoned, although Ferdinand had previously challenged Alfonzo, King of Portugal, >to meet him in mortal combat. There has been an act of the Cortes for three hundred years, which has never been repealed, subjecting all parties to a duel to the penalties of treason.

One of the most romantic modern events was the duel fought at Temesvar, Hungary, on the 23d day of October, 1883, between Count Stephan Batthyany and Julius Rosenberg, a young advocate, in which
The particulars the former was instantly killed. show the tragedy to have been the climax of a thrilling romance in real life, some of the personages of
which, except the successful duellist, are connected with the highest Hungarian aristocracy. During the

preceding summer, Dr. Rosenberg,

who

is

a young

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

Hebrew lawyer
berger, the
in Pesth,

71

made

the acquaintance at a

Bohemian watering-place
and land-owner

of Miss

Hona von

Schos-

younger daughter of a

rich Jewish

named Heinrich The Tornya. young people fell in The girl's parents, however, other.

banker Schosberger de love with each

influenced

by

their son-in-law, Baron Bornemissa, who had married their eldest daughter, and who declared that the mar-

riage would be a mesalliance and would oblige him to break his (the Baron's) relations with them, refused
their consent.

The consequence was

that the

young

couple were secretly married. Immediately after the ceremony the lady returned to her father's house. Dr. Rosenberg shortly afterward appeared there and

demanded
to

his

bride.

Herr von
his

acknowledge ready Bornemissa was of a different opinion, and wanted to shoot the young plebeian. By the Baron's orders, the young lady was sent to Paris, and from there to one of her father's castles in one of the wildest regions

Schosberger was son-in-law, but Baron

in the interior of Hungary. Subsequently it was announced that Miss Hona von Schosberger had become a Catholic and had gone to Wiesbaden, Germany, where she had been betrothed to Count

Dr. Rosenberg, hearing the rumor, Batthyany. hastened there and had an interview with the Count, in which he told him that the young woman he was about to marry was his (Rosenberg's) wife. He appealed to his rival's honor, and begged him not to force the young girl into an illegal marriage to which she herself was opposed. The Count for-

mally refused to either listen to him or to pay any attention to the challenge which the lawyer sent to him, on the ground that the challenger was

72

THE FIELD OF HONOR,

The matter was
laid

not his equal in birth.

be-

fore a "court of honor" in Pesth, and after a long argument it was decided that Rosenberg was competo

The latter still refused tent to challenge the Count. the lawyer published attention to and it, any pay
his

challenge in all the journals, with the added stigma of such epithets as "coward," "poltroon," applied to the Count. The latter's friends came to his rescue, and a peculiar newspaper controversy ensued, in the midst of which the Count married Miss von Schosberger, and started on a weddingtour with her to Italy. The young lawyer's vindictive lampoon must, however, have finally induced the Count to change his mind, for a few days before the duel he returned to Hungary and accepted the chalThe conditions were very rigorous. The pislenge. tols were rifled. The duellists were to fire at twenty Three shots were to be exchanged, after each paces. of which they were to approach five paces toward each other. The duel, as already stated, took place The Count fired the first shot and at Temesvar. missed. Dr. Rosenberg, without advancing the five paces as he had a right to, aimed at his opponent and The ball struck the Count's right temple, and fired.

passed through his brain. Death was instantaneous. Leaving the seconds to take care of the corpse, Dr.

Rosenberg left the scene of the tragedy. The next day at four o'clock the funeral-services of the Count took place at Temesvar. The coffin was covered with splendid wreaths, one of which bore the inscription, "To my adored husband." Gustavus Adolphus, of Sweden, was a prominent foe to all manners of mortal combat, and at one time during his reign established a court of honor, and

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

73

issued an order that any subject, civil or military, who should send or accept a challenge should be

punished by execution
that,

and

it is

related of the

King

certain occasion, after granting permisof his officers to engage in a duel, he sion repaired to the place selected for the hostile encounter, accompanied by a squadron of cavalry and the

upon a to two

and

public executioner, and surrounded the combatants their friends, and said, just as the principals were
:

" Do not be advancing with their drawn weapons for, according to the laws of surprised, gentlemen your country, your lives are already forfeited. You may now proceed with the combat but, mark you the moment either of you falls by the sword of the
;
;

other,

that instant

the executioner strikes off the

head of the survivor by order of your king !" Of course, the combat did not proceed but, after reand from their mortification, the surprise covering two officers knelt at the feet of their sovereign, im;

plored his forgiveness, and then embraced and forgave each other. Gustavus declared that, although he should positively never again interfere with the course of the law for the punishment of such offences, he would bestow his pardon upon the offend-

ing

officers,

soldiers

under
is

any man

is my wish to have and not gladiators. If desirous of freeing his character from the
:

and added

"

It

my command,

imputation of cowardice in the eyes of his fellowcountrymen, let him do so at the expense of the common enemy." There is something seemingly noble and certainly dramatic in this whole performance of Gustavus but not so highly dramatic as his galloping after Colonel Seaton, a Scotch officer in his service, whom he had offended, and exclaiming to the
;

74

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

indignant Scot, after overtaking the latter outside of the Kingis dominions, "Dismount, sir! I acknowledge that I have injured you, and I have come to
for we are now without my dominions, and Gustavus and you

give you the satisfaction of a gentleman

are equal !" Seaton, however (to complete the story), recovering from his surprise, dismounted, as Gustavus had already done and, falling on his knees, " said Sire, you have more than given me satisfac; :

condescending to make me your equal. God my sword should do any mischief to so brave and gracious a sovereign. Permit me to return to Stockholm, and allow me the honor to live and die in your service." The King raised his companion from the ground, embraced him, and they returned together to Stockholm.
tion, in

forbid that

The laws against duelling in Russia, like many of the laws of that country, have been very severe and the terrors of Siberian exile have undoubtedly been
;

the cause of prolonging

would have otherwise been

the dreadful picture of been kept well in view.

which had not the horrors of banishment Fedor III., Peter the Great,

many

a valuable

life

lost unnecessarily

and Paul
to

all forbade duelling in the army, although the latter, in 1800, invited the sovereigns of Europe

meet

at St.

Petersburg and settle

all

existing dis-

putes in a combat, with Talleyrand, Pitt, and Bernstoff as seconds. During the reign of Catherine II., some time in 1776, Field-Marshal Potemkin, who had

won the affections of the Empress, and who had afterward secured and maintained an arrogant administration of all Russian affairs of state, was chalThe lenged by and fought with Alexis Orliff. used these two were swords weapons by princes
;

DUELLING IN GERMAN COUNTRIES.

75

and, after a protracted combat, Alexis was defeated, although Potemkin came out of the difficulty with In 1849, Baron de Heckeren, an the loss of an eye. officer of the Russian Imperial Guard, killed Pouchkin, the poet, in a duel with pistols, and was after-

ward dishonorably dismissed the service and compelled to leave his country.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER
DUELLING
The
First

V.

IN AMERICA.

" Affair of Honor" on the Western Continent The Four most noted Fatal Duels in the United States The American Code: "Posting" Wilkinson and Randolph Captain
Carolina, knighted by the Pope The "Cowboys" A Desperate Encounter Characteristics of the Cowboys Early Days in California Hicks Graham and Yank Maguire An Incident in the Life of General Magruder The Tragic Story of the Bowie-Knife.

Dawson,

of

South

"Code"

of

the

THE

history of duelling in

thrilling

America is replete with and heart-rending chapters and especially

from 1770 until 1840 although public opinion in the United States has never sanctioned the custom to the extent that it has been countenanced in other countries.

It is

a curious fact that the modes of dealing

with the

evil in the

United States and

quite

in
:

European
that,

countries have been

the

reverse
effort

European dragging

rulers

have made every

duellists

while even to the

field

of

wounded

from

the

of

action to places of execution

in

to suppress the

mur-

derous custom, their subjects have generally held it and that, while the people of the high favor United States, with too few prominent exceptions to
;

mention, have always deprecated duelling in all its forms, the laws of many of the States up to 1850 were not such as to make the practice criminal or

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

77

odious, and a bill to prohibit the sending and accepting challenges in the District of Columbia did not

pass until 1838

and even then the Hon. Thomas

Senator from Delaware, Clayton, United States while he maintained his abhorrence of the custom,
to be both illegal and im" that it was not of that class of claimed moral, crimes which should subject offenders to the cells of a penitentiary and make them the associates of felons." Mr. Linn, a Senator from Missouri, was aware that duelling was not defensible on principles of Christianity, and concluded by saying: "All the States have concurred in denouncing the practice of duelling as an evil in itself and yet, have we not
;

and believed duelling

seen them, through their Legislatures or Executives, stay the laws ? From what I have seen, fighting is
like

marrying: the more barriers that are erected

it,

against

the

surer are the interested

parties

to

come together." Mr. Preston, of South who was also opposed to duelling, thought severer the laws the more inefficient." Mr.

Carolina, that " the

Sevier, of

Arkansas, "did not believe in legislating against the The great Clay, of Kentucky, declared custom." that he would be happy to see the barbarous system " The man with a high sense of honor," abolished.
nice sensibility, when the quesshall fight or have the finger of scorn pointed at him, is unable to resist; and few, very few, are found willing to adopt such an alternative. said Mr. Clay,
is

"and

tion

whether he

When

public opinion

reason, religion, ling will be discountenanced.

legislation," however, this healthful state of

is renovated and chastened by and humanity, the practice of duel-

It
it

is

the

office

of

to

do
the

all

can to bring about

public

mind

and,

al-

78

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

it

though
I

result, I

might not altogether effect so desirable a have no doubt it will do much toward it, and " and the bill was shall give my vote for the bill

i nay (Sevier of Arkansas). There are few commonwealths in the American Union in which duelling has been absolutely unknown even the little State of Rhode Island and her severer sister (Massachusetts) having been scenes of mortal combat, in which personal difficulties were
;

passed by 34 yeas and

forever settled

upon bloody
that

fields.

It

is

a note-

laws against the worthy fact, however, custom have been more vigorous tyrannical always and restraining in the Northern States than in the
the

Southern, although two of the most eminent American crusaders against the evil were Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Robert Barnwell Rhett, of South It is the boast of Illinois that but one duel Carolina. has ever been fought upon her soil in which the

challenged party (Alphonso Stewart) was killed and the survivor (William Bennett) hanged. The records
of duelling in the Southern States, so far as the author has been able to reach them, show that the custom has been most populaily adhered to in Virginia, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi, Louisiana,

and Arkansas, although all of the other commonwealths in the Southern cluster are more or less dotted with sanguinary fields. There have been more fatal duels in California (fought according to
%
;

the code duello or similar regulations) than in all of the other so-called Northern States and between the

years 1850 and 1860 more fatal encounters took place in the Golden State than elsewhere in the Union

during the same length of time. Two tragic events took place

in

Virginia and South

DUELLING IN AMERICA,

79

Carolina early in the nineteenth century which had the effect of suppressing the custom in those States,
In the former, near Richfor a short time, at least. lived there a duellist named Powell, notorious mond,

who purposely met and

for

insulted an English traveller

having said that

to the

American

the Virginians were of no use Union, it requiring one half of the

"

keep the other half in order." The remark was made the subject of a national quarrel, and at
people to
last

Powell challenged the audacious Briton to fight. latter accepted the challenge, and secured another noted American duellist as his second, and went into training for the combat, which took place in a few days afterward, in the presence of a large number of peopk, and in which Powell was killed at the first shot. At about the same time there was a duelling society in Charleston (S. C.), where each member took precedence according to the number of persons he had killed or wounded in duels ; and about this time an old weather-beaten officer of the English navy arrived at Charleston to look after some property which had devolved upon him by right of marriage with a lady of that city, and soon after got into an altercation with the president of the duelling

The

club,

who challenged the stranger and was accepted. Early the following morning eight or ten gentlemen
upon
the

called

Englishman and informed him that "dead shot;" and added that, of the society were generally the members although of the wealthy class, the organization was held in disrepute by the more respectable citizens, and that he would be held in no disesteem by declining to meet a professional duellist. The stranger replied that that he was afraid of no duellist in the world
the American was a
;

8O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

he had accepted the challenge in good faith and proposed to meet his man. The parties accordingly met, and at the first fire the Englishman mortally wounded his antagonist, who, while lingering in great agony, called the members of the club to his bedside and

power

requested them to disorganize, and to do all in their to suppress the further encouragement of an

atrocious custom the practice of which had at last brought him to his grave'. The members carried out
faithfully the

dying request of their late comrade by disorganizing the day after the interment; and thus
first

ended the
States.

and

last duelling society in the

United

Very good authority may be given for the statement that the first real duel fought in America took place at Plymouth (Massachusetts), on the i8th of June, 1621, between Edward Doty and Edward Leicester two servants both of whom fought with daggers and were wounded, one in the hand and the other in the leg. It was extremely fortunate for one
or perhaps for both of the combatants that neither was killed and, in all probability, it was the very best thing that could have happened both of them
:

that each sustained serious injury

for their

meeting

produced great excitement, not only on account of the outrage committed by them, but for the reason that the combatants were servants of gentlemen, and
as both
to the

not "real gentlemen," therefore, themselves. Still, men sustained severe injuries, some sympathy
for them, and they were only sentenced punishment of having their heads and feet tied together and of lying thus for twenty-four hours without food or drink which sentence, however, was suspended, after an hour's suffering, at the inter-

was manifested

DUELLING IN AMERICA.
cession of tneir masters and

81

upon their own pitiful and humble never request promise again to startle the government under which they lived by the commission of a similar outrage. Thus the evil was "nipped in the bud," so to speak; and it was not
until after the

commencement

of the revolutionary

war that citizens of the United States met in mortal combat to any dangerous extent. The custom came
into conspicuous practice, however, at the

opening of

the nineteenth century, and raged to an alarming degree (especially among officers of the army and navy)
until
it was frowned upon by public opinion and in a measure prohibited bylaws created for its abatement.

During the war with Tripoli many fatal collisions took place between American and English officers, and also in 1819 between American naval officers and
officers of the British garrison at Gibraltar. During the civil war in the United States there were few or

no hostile meetings among Federal

the Confederates there were a

officers.

Among

number

of fatal duels,

the most conspicuous being that between General Marmaduke, of Missouri, and General Walker, of Georgia, in which the latter was slain.

Undoubtedly
in

the

four most
States

fought Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr, at Weehawken (N. J.), July u, 1804; Stephen Decatur and James
Barren, at

the United

noted fatal duels were those between

Jonathan

Bladensburg (Md.), March 22, 1820 Cilley and William J. Graves, near the boundary-line of Maryland and the District of Co;

lumbia, February 24, 1838; and David C. Broderick and David S. Terry, near Laguna de la Merced, about twelve miles from San Francisco (Cal.), September
T 3> T

859-

All of the challenged parties

in

these

82

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

;

encounters were mortally wounded or killed none of the others were injured, except Barren, who, though dangerously wounded, survived. The weapons used
these duels were pistols, while Messrs. Graves and fought with rifles. Hamilton had Cilley been a general in the army and Burr was Vice-President of the United States; Decatur and Barron were Cilley and Graves were post-captains of the navy members of Congress from Maine and Kentucky Broderick was a United States Senator from California, and Terry was ex-Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of the same State. [The allusion just made to the four most noted fatal meetings upon American soil is merely general, as the
in three of
; ;

author will present

full descriptions of these

encounoth"

ters in later chapters, as well as accounts of

many

were er distinguished combats, a number of which settled with satisfaction to both parties" without the
shedding of priceless blood.

He

will also present de-

scriptions of all or nearly all of the fatal duels which have taken place in America since the commencement

of the

and of a great many most celebrated European combats and challenges having spent much of his leisure time during twenty years in obtaining accurate and interesting
of the practice in that country,
;

He has visited the bloody field at Bladensburg, and surveyed the spot upon which the noble Cilley fell he has viewed from a western window of the Jumel mansion the wellinformation of this character.
;

known shore of Weehawken, beyond the quiet Hudson, where the illustrious Hamilton received his mortal wound and he is familiar with the bloody ground upon which the lamented Broderick madly flung a
;

chivalrous

life

away.]

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

83

There has been no strictly American Code of Honor, although a majority of the duels fought in the United States by gentlemen have been arranged and carried on according to rules and regulations promiscuously " adopted from the code duello of foreign countries. Posting," however, is strictly an American conceit, and seems to have originated with General James Wilkinson, U. S. A., whose challenge to John Randolph, member of Congress from Virginia in 1807, was disdainfully declined by the haughty Virginian, who concluded his " In you, sir, I can recognize no letter as follows me for my public or private to hold accountable right
:

opinion of your character that would not subject me to an equal claim from Colonel Burr or Sergeant Dun-

baugh. I cannot descend to your level. This is my answer." The audacious Wilkinson was not to be thus summarily disposed of, and he indignantly replied: "I have received your letter of the 25th instant, by mail, in which you violate truth and honor to indulge the inherent malignity and rancor of your
final

soul.

On what

level,

pray,

sir,

shall

we

find

the

wretch who, to mask his cowardice, fabricates falsehoods, and heaps unprovoked insults upon unmerited You cannot descend to my level! vain, injuries?
equivocal thing
!

And you

believe

this

dastardly
the

subterfuge will avail you, or that

your

lion's skin will

longer conceal your true character?

Embrace

alternative, still in your reach, and ascend to the level of a gentleman, if possible act like a man, if you can,
;

and spare me the pain of publishing you to the world for an insolent, slanderous, prevaricating poltroon." No further action in the matter was taken by Randolph and the next time Congress assembled Gen;

eral

Wilkinson stuck up, or

posted, notices, as follows,

84

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and street-corners
of the National

in all the taverns

Capital

HECTOR UNMASKED.

In justice to

my

character,

de-

nounce to the world John Randolph, a member of Congress,

as a prevaricating, base, calumniating scoundrel, poltroon,

and coward.

Posting became frequent in the United States after and it has been no uncommon thing to meet a card in a newspaper, or a notice in some pub" is an lic place, declaring that unprincipled villain and a coward." The author has witnessed
this episode,

many

cases of this custom of posting in

New Orleans,

and Savannah, and calls to his mind, while writing, that of a young gentleman of Los AnNashville,

who posted a former friend (with whom he had had a disturbance at a party, and subsequent" as a ly sent him a challenge which was unnoticed) cur and a coward," and sat under the notice with a double-barrelled shot-gun for seventeen hours.
geles (Cal.)

At

present, all of the States

and Territories

of the

Union, either in their constitutions or laws, have rigid provisions against the giving or accepting challenges, acting as seconds, or in any way assisting those offending.

A
all

prevent

majority of the States and Territories such offenders from holding any office of

profit; and quite a number of the States provide for the disfranchisement of such offenders. In California

and

in several other States the act of " posting"

and

publishing persons for not fighting a duel, or for not sending or accepting a challenge to fight, or for the use of any reproachful language verbal, written, or printed to or concerning persons for not sending or

accepting a challenge to

fight,

or with intent to pro-

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

85

voke a duel, is punishable by fine and imprisonment. There are also provisions for remedies by action for injuries arising from duelling in most of the States, and in a number there are laws providing that the
survivor of a fatal duel

who may

also be tried for

murder
either

shall support

the family of the deceased,

by aggregate compensation in damages to each member, or by a monthly, quarterly, or annual allowance, to be determined by a court; and the slayer is also liable for and must pay all debts of the person
slain or

permanently disabled. and 27 of Section 1342 Revised Statutes " No officer or soldier shall of the United States says: send a challenge to another officer or soldier to fight
Articles 26

a duel, or accept a challenge so sent. Any officer who' so offends shall be dismissed from the service.

Any

soldier

who

so offends shall suffer such corporal

direct;

punishment as a court-martial may seconds or promoters of duels, and all

and

all

carriers of chal-

lenges to fight duels, shall be deemed principals, and Article 8 of Section 1624 punished accordingly."

"Such punishment as a court-martial may adjudge may be inflicted on any person in the navy
says:

who

sends or accepts a challenge to fight a duel or

acts as a second in a duel."

It will be seen by the foregoing that duelling in the United States has been made not only as criminal and as odious as it seems possible to make the custom, but it is also made permanently expensive to

survivors of fatal encounters in

many

of the States,

while its indulgence, either as principals or seconds, forever prohibits such offenders from holding politior other positions of profit; this last provision being (as United Senator Grundy, of Tennessee, once
cal

86

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

declared, while

condemning the practice), "severer punishment, in the eyes of some people, even than ten years' confinement in a penitentiary." Practically,
public opinion firmly sustains the consolidated enactments for the suppression of duelling in the United States; and, as an institution, it may be said to have ceased to exist in our beloved country, notwith-

standing the Cash-Shannon duel in South Carolina in 1880, the Elam-Beirne meeting in Virginia in 1883, and later the remarkable encounter in Louisiana between a soda-water seller and a catfish dealer of New Orleans, which was fought with rapiers, and lasted
eighty-three minutes before either of the combatants drew blood.
better illustration of the efficacy of the laws against duelling can be presented than the statement
bill to remove the disabilities of persons connected with duelling was defeated in the Virginia Legislature on the ipth of December, 1883. During the

No

that the

discussion, Mr. Pollard, of King and Queen, said that duelling was contrary to the civilization of our age,

and public sentiment should frown it down. " He had known men who had been in the front of battle The Code was no test of true refuse to fight duels.
bravery in its highest sense." Mr. Leftwich thought the law ought to be either enforced or repealed enMr. Opie said that as nobody seemed to have tirely. been hurt he was in favor of the bill. Mr. Saunders Mr. Opie " Do said: "I am opposed to the bill." you believe any law can stop duelling ?" Mr. Saunders "I don't know whether it will or not." The vote was taken, and the bill was defeated by the failure It will be remembered that, to get a two-thirds vote.
early in the

summer

of 1883, Richard F. Beirne, edi-

DUELLING IN AMERICA.
tor of the

87

Richmond

State,

and W. C. Elam, editor of

the Whig, met in mortal combat, in which the latter was dangerously wounded. Mr. Beirne is one of the

most prominent Democrats

in Virginia.

His name

has been prominently mentioned in connection with

the nomination of his party for Governor in 1885. The fact, however, that he has not attained the age re-

quired by the Constitution makes him ineligible for that position. Mr. Elam is spoken of as the candidate of his party for the same office. It is for these
reasons that the Legislature was called upon, but refused, to relieve the disabilities of these two gentle-

men
F.

incurred on the "

field of

honor."

In this connection

W. Dawson,
Courier,

pleasant to note that Captain editor of the Charleston (S. C.) News
it is

and

was created Knight

of the

Order of

St.

George by

the Pope, on account of his persistent op-

position to duelling, on

November

23, 1883.

Captain
the Con-

Dawson

is

an Englishman by

birth, joined

federate service in 1861, and served with distinction during the civil war the latter part of the time on

the staff of Fitz-Hugh Lee. After the surrender he went to Charleston and served for some time as associate editor

coming part owner and editor

tal

paper on beNews. In a short time afterward he was challenged to morleft that

on the Mercury, and

of the Charleston

of the Mercury / to which being a Roman Catholic, under no circumstances would he accept a challenge or fight a duel. In 1866 a similar demand was made by General Gary, a well-known South Carolinian, and declined on the same grounds. Dawson then took an

combat by the manager

that,

Dawson responded

active

part against duels, and especially when the Cash-Shannon duel took place in 1880. Up to that

88

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in

South Carolina a trial a duel, and the Cash the trials, although jury disagreed on the first trial and a verdict of acquittal was rendered on the second trial, were the death-blow to duelling in that State. The Legislature took the matter up and passed a statute making duelling murder, and requiring every
at

time there never had been

common law

for

murder

in

public officer in the State, in addition to the usual office oath, to take an oath not to send or receive a

challenge or engage in a duel while in office; and there has not been a duel in the State since the pas-

sage of the law.

There is one exception, however, to the statements heretofore made; that is, there still remains a duelling custom among a class of Americans known as
the " cowboys" of the West, which nothing but the overwhelming approach of civilization and power of

empire can effectually obliterate. The cowboy is ostensibly an owner or herder of stock upon unpurchased or unpaid-for ranges of nutritious grasses in the western part of the United States; but, in reality, he is a stealer of horses and cattle, a guzzler of adulterated spirits, and a shooter of men; and it may be said of him, with perfect truthfulness, that he fears neither God, man, nor devil. He roams over a vast
area of sparsely settled or unsettled country lying between the twenty-ninth and forty-seventh parallels of
latitude

two and

and between meridians of longitude twentyHe is most numerously and thirty-eight.

lawlessly found, however, in the Territories of

Mon-

tana, Arizona, and New Mexico; although he is by no means so scarce in the States of Texas, Kansas, and Colorado that he is never seen. He is an Apollo Belvidere in physical shape and beauty; he dresses in

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

89

true frontier style in a blue flannel shirt and flaming red necktie, dark pants stuck into high-legged

kip boots, and sombrero. He earries a wicked knife in a boot-leg, and one or more revolvers at his waist.

His arms and ammunition are always kept in perfect and he is the most accomplished shot in the world. He is a matchless rider, and may often be seen by the traveller through Arizona and New Mexico tearing through the chapparal like lightning
order,

alongside of a railway-train, whooping like a Comanand sending harmless bullets through the headHe is at once generous, light of the locomotive.
che,
reckless, lawless, dissipated, desperate, and dangerous, and dashes furiously through the hell upon earth of his own creating like a picturesque devil to his

His "code" is to "always go well heeled and grave. never let an enemy get the drop on him" There are different grades and samples of the genus
" Howler of the Prairies," the cowboy: there is the " Terror from the Upper Trail," and the " Blizzard of the States." Their manners and customs, however, are about the same, except that many of them have had superior advantages of education and home influences, while others were rocked in the cradle of infamy at the start. Few of them live to be thirty years of age, and ninety-nine out of every hundred

who

are sent to their last account

fill

dishonored

graves through the medium of a deadly missile or the forbidding noose of the hangman. The writer

has seen the redoubtable " Billy the Kid" (who, when only nineteen, had killed his eleventh man), and has heard him tell the story of his murderous exploits He has witnessed with marvellous nonchalance. " " Curly Bill shoot off the winkers of a man without

90
harming the

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

sight, and pick off the stoppers from liquor-decanters at twenty paces without fracturing He has heard this renowned devil boast their necks.

own private cemetery, which, he said, lacked only one of a score of graves; and has then observed him draw his six-shooter quietly and take off a button from a companion's coat. Both of these
of his

desperate fellows have been laid away in unknown sarcophagi, like hundreds of others of the same kind,

and the graveyards they created keep gradually filling up. Large numbers of these cowboys meet
death by fighting duels, without the aid of seconds or other assistants; and either one or both of the combatants are killed on the spot. There is this spark of honor exhibited, generally: an armed man will not shoot down an unarmed one; but will, in case of a quarrel with an unarmed person, direct him to go and get a weapon and return. Upon the re-

appearance of the challenged party, the spectators them ample room, and the shooting is commenced without further words and kept up until at least one of the combatants is killed or mortally hurt.
afford

One of the most desperate duels ever engaged in by any of these fellows was that fought by a Mexican cowboy named Jesus Garcia and a young Philadelphian named Gus Davis at a camp on the river Pecos (New Mexico), August 7, 1883, and which
.

has been described by a correspondent of the

New

York Sun,
Gus

as follows:

Davis, of Philadelphia, came here several months and was engaged as a cattle-herder by Mr. John Shure, a wealthy stock-owner. Davis soon showed himself to be a useful man, and gained the esteem of his employer and the envy of the other herders. In less than three months he
ago,

DUELLING IN AMERICA.
had
resisted so

QI

many temptations

to quarrel with his associ-

ates that he

was nicknamed " The Northern Coward." One morning, about three weeks ago, while Davis was on duty

looking after his cattle, Jesus Garcia, a Mexican, saluted " him, as usual, with Good-morning, Northern Coward." Human endurance has its limit, and Mr. Davis thought he had been insulted long enough. The Mexican was at first surprised at the stand taken by the Philadelphian, but word

brought on word, until each determined that the other must die. The quarrel soon brought all the neighboring cowboys to the spot. The mode of combat was speedily arranged. A chain thirty inches long was securely locked about their necks. A Mexican dagger (a two-edged knife six inches long) was given to each of the duellists. The then lowered the a men into cowboys dog-canon, obliging a descent of seventy-five feet. There they were to remain until one killed the other. A key to the lock was given to each, and no one was allowed to interfere further. The rest of the cowboys then went to work, as if nothing unusual had occurred. For some days nothing was known as to the result of the encounter. Yesterday, however, Davis, weak and

body

emaciated, returned to camp, dragging after him the lifeless of Jesus Garcia. The story Mr. Davis tells is as
follows
"
:

began as soon as we reached the Being locked together, each was always within reach of the other's knife. After such deliberation as the few moments during our descent permitted, I decided that unless the first blow was fatal the chances were

The

fight

bottom of the canon.

I accordingly decidedly in favor of the party assailed. allowed the Mexican to strike the first blow. He plunged his knife into my side. As soon as I found his arm thus stretched forward I cut the muscles of his right arm near the shoulder. Immediately his knife dropped. While he

was stooping to pick up his knife I sent myblade into his body from the back. Before I could strike again he had picked up his knife and cut the cords of my arms, so as to render them both useless. Here we both stood for a few seconds, when I discovered that his heart had been reached.

92
His body soon

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

fell in the death-struggle to the ground. so short that he brought me down with him.

The chain was

In a few minutes he was dead. I was so weak from loss of blood that I lay down by his side. We lay there for five days and nights, until hunger drove me to make a last I climbed the steep incline of the walls effort. of the canon and reached the camp, carrying Garcia on my back."

A correspondent of the New York Times, writing from Silver City (N. M.) in January, 1883, presents an interesting account of the characteristics of a number of these romantic fellows of the West, whose names are as familiar as household words along the Southwestern frontier:
funny how whiskey scrapes a man's throat when he it." The man who used this expression is a The lines which here introduce him give his character. pet phrase when recovering from a spree. His throat was doubtless too familiar with bad liquor to be disturbed with anything less than a currycomb. He was standing leaning against the counter of a bar room in Silver City, as he made the above-quoted remark. It was a typical frontier saloon, and it was filled with strange characters. Here were two Indians sitting* on a bench, a couple of drunken freighters
'Tis
is

"

not used to

leaning against the wall,

"two regular"

soldiers half drunk,

two or three hunting-dogs, several Winchester rifles, a pile of Indian trinkets, and a half-wagon-load of specimens of A board covered with a little red calico and a silver ore. half-dozen bottles stood for the bar. Curly Bill was a hard man, and as he stood taking his whiskey in this rude barroom he was a perfect specimen of a rustler. His rude
of rough pants stuck in his boots, blue shirt, red and sombrero added to a not over-good countenance much that was picturesque. He had a knife in his boot, two six-shooters about his waist, and was ready for a He was a frolic of any kind even at the risk of his life.

make-up

necktie,

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

93

desperado of the dangerous sort, and had killed many a man. The boys gave him credit for having stocked a private graveyard, and he was consequently a hero. The drink was hardly down when Curly Bill whipped out his revolver, and, for amusement, shot a hole through the top of one of the freighters' hats. They then got to bantering each other about their skill as marksmen, and, walking out into the yard, they went to shooting silver half-dollars out of each others' fingers at twenty paces. Curly Bill soon tired of this monotonous excitement, and asked one of the soldiers to hold up a silver piece. The soldier agreed, and twice he sent his bullet against the coin, but the third time, for pure devilment, he shot the fellow's front finger off. When the soldier growled about the miss, Curly Bill's re" Oh, I thought you had been a soldier long sponse was enough." This ended this quiet sport for the day. The men walked back into the saloon, and I walked up to the further end of town. A few moments afterward a cry of fire was raised, and the place where Curly Bill and his companions were, soon burned to the ground. While the
:

and

building was burning the clatter of horse's feet was heard, Bill and his companions came riding up the street at a

rattling pace, and the landlord with them. They stopped at another favorite bar-room, and the landlord who had

been burned out said, " That Curly Bill got to shooting at the lamp and hit her a little two low and it exploded. He will pay the damage, though." Drinks were ordered for all the motley crowd in the bar-room, and they went to playing Spanish monte, the favorite game in the rude West.
Bill barely escaped hanging for and left for horse-stealing, parts unknown. To-day there He has is a price upon his head in almost every Territory. been reported as dead half a dozen times, but he turns up in unexpected places to vex every community he strikes. Where he came from and who he was before he became a desperado no one knows. But he seemed to have had a fair early training, and to have drifted into this wild life from a taste for adventure. " Oh, hush !" shouted a long,

few days after this Curly

94

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

lank fellow, as he jumped upon a table filled with rough men. The cause of his joy was the words of the dealer of
the keno-bank, calling the number that made him winner of the pot. " I am a hard man from Bitter Creek, I eats b'arbullets
his

meat, weigh 4000 pounds, smells like a wolf, and the whiz of is music in my year," yelled the fellow, as he threw

sombrero
of the

off

from his villainous-looking countenance.

less fortunate at the

One
hit

men who had been

game

he finished speaking, and he fell like an ox. He picked himself up, looked " Well, this is the quietly around the place, and then said, most sociable community I ever struck. Come on, boys, It cost him five dollars to treat, but the exlet's liquor." he perience got was worth it. These two characters represent the two different classes of men you find on the border. The man who shouted when he won the pot at the kenobank was a braggart. He would boast of his great exploits, of the horses he had stolen and of the men he had killed, and would swagger around with an air that would scare any one but a brave man. But when he met a fighter he always He and Curly Bill are fair representatives of the wilted. two classes of hard characters you find on the border. They all wear the broad-brimmed hats, dress alike, and have similar ambitions. Their open, reckless life gives them good health desperate dissipation and their animal spirits often run away with their sense. Among these desperadoes whom you discover under the broad sombrero the Spanish first introduced into the southjust as
;

him a blow under the ear

many peculiar characters men who have been raised well and have had great opportunities, but who grew up to a wild life, and took their lessons of
western territory you find

and humanity from association with the Texas Russian Bill was a type of the better class, but in heart and impulse he was like the last man I introduced. He was highly educated, and spoke and wrote six languages. He was a " blower," who had committed many crimes in his mind. But Curly Bill and the brave men along the frontier never gave him credit for any exploits except with his
equity, justice,
steer.

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

95

tongue. He bragged so much, however, about his desperate deeds that one night, while under arrest for some petty offence, a vigilance-committee took him at his estimate of himself and sent him to his final account by what the fronHe died like a coward, tierman call " grape-vine route." and the people believe that he was never a very bad man. Sandy King was another desperate character. He was raised in Western New York, and had a good family. He came West to make his fortune, and, being an adventurous spirit, drifted in with the cowboys and became a leader in Like all the rest of these characters, he was their crimes. an open-hearted, free-handed fellow, and has many a kind act set down to his credit among the people of Grant County He was a companion of Curly Bill, and had shared (N. M.). with him the bounty and hazards of many a desperate game.

He was
things.

very well educated, and was capable of much better The night the vigilantes hung Russian Bill they

performed the same office for Sandy King. He died game. When he found that death was inevitable, he called to the " lynchers, Boys, give me a drink it will help me on the road to hell. I reckon this game you are playing is all right. I have got even with many of your kind while I've lived, and I don't know why I ought to squeal when you've nipped me." The nonchalance with which he looked upon death nearly captured the crowd. But they finally concluded to send him aloft. They gave him another drink, and when he had finished it he straightened himself up and said, "Now, boys, I'm ready for the devil to get his own." How many of these strange things to civilized people I heard and saw during a A volstay of a few months on the southwestern frontier ume could be filled with interesting reminiscences, good and bad, of these strange people, whose lives have been bent from good to bad by their surroundings and the cravings for the adventures of chance. All men who wear the broad;
!

brimmed hat

are by no means bad. They are rude, rough, and uncouth, but in most cases brave, generous, and honest, as the world goes. You rarely get into trouble with any of them, unless you seek it, and you will meet lots of people

go

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

pass for respectable that have a worse record than even I have described.

who

the characters

Another newspaper-writer has

sian Bill:

this to say of

Rus-

His looks would have attracted attention anywhere, but cowboy garb he was particularly noticeHis clear-cut features, long, drooping mustache, and able. curly blond hair, which fell in curls on his shoulders, made Russian Bill an object of special interest to strangers. Three years ago, when the writer first saw him, Russian Bill was known through southwestern New Mexico as one of the San Simon "rustlers," a gang of thirty or forty outlaws that made periodical raids through western Arizona, northern Mexico, and southern New Mexico, stealing cattle and
dressed in the fancy
horses and driving them to the San Simon Valley, where they were kept until an opportunity offered itself to dispose of them. Russian Bill was a man of good education he spoke five or six languages fluently, and delighted when;

ever opportunity offered in discussing literature, science, or Of his past nothing was known, save that he was from art.
Russia. His reputation was not that of a "bad man," but of being a braggart whose heart was really kind and whose courage was doubtful. About two years ago the residents
of Shakespeare (N. M.) resolved to free themselves from the rough element that had for a long time ruled that place. The next morning twelve men were asked to leave, and
Bill arrived in town a couple of days later, accompanied by another rustler named Sandy King, the citizens decided that the two men should die as an example to their companions in crime. Accordingly, at about midnight, a dozen men entered the room of the Stratford Hotel, occupied by the rustlers. Before Sandy King and Russian Bill could offer any resistance they were tied securely, ropes were thrown over the beam above their beds, and they were pulled up and left hanging, until they were dead. The next morning a coroner's jury held an inquest and brought in a verdict that the men committed suicide by hanging. A

when Russian

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

97

short time ago the sheriff of Grant County (N. M.) received a letter from the American consul at St. Petersburg, saying that the Countess Telfuin was very anxious to learn the whereabouts of her son, who had been banished for political The letter enclosed reasons, but who possessed large estates. a photograph of Russian Bill. Word was sent that the
ago,

Count had committed suicide at Shakespeare two years and the true facts were kept from the knowledge of

his mother.

A letter from Flagstaff (A. T.) to the New York Tribune of September 9, 1883, presents a felicitous
pen-portrait of Poker Bill, who, it will be seen, col" lapsed in the presence of the average railway baggage-smasher" of the West
:

Poker

Bill

is

not a John Oakhurst, although he

is

a pro-

fessional gambler. In fact, my experience goes to show that gentlemen of John Oakhurst's type are extremely rare on

the frontier.

Poker

Bill

may have been endowed with an

equally exalted spirit, but I regret to state that during my His place stay here he has been rudely buffetted by fortune. of business is in one of the dozen rude log-huts burrowed

and shaded by the pines. Thence Poker emerged the other morning, wearing a grim and truculent aspect, and started rapidly down the so-called street. The loungers, who sit all day beneath the deer's head nailed to the front of the chief store, roused themselves from their " set up the pizen," and patient waiting for somebody to that the "somethin's proposition up." For once originated told the truth. Bill took his way Poker they unwittingly
into the hillside
Bill

down the
fitted

track to the depot

as an office.

up

and when
side.
Bill

a term applied to a freight-car Presently he returned to his cabin, he reappeared his six-shooter was belted to his

The loungers became was seen to be bound

When Poker visibly animated. for the depot again, an air of

It was felt proper cheerful expectancy pervaded the group. that either the justice of the peace or the storekeeper, who

98

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

to

were sitting on barrels near the bar, should invite the crowd " irrigate" in view of the stirring times which had so suddenly come upon them. Meantime Poker Bill had been stopped and questioned by a friend, who carelessly drawled But in parting, "That thar station-agent's a bad man." Poker Bill would not be deterred. His beady eyes glittered wickedly and his hand softly caressed the handle of his revolver. When he disappeared into the depot he looked the dime-novel picture of a bloodthirsty and invincible

Among the loungers it was whispered that a dispute had arisen between Bill and the station-agent regarding the payment of charges on an express bundle.
desperado.

few bets were quietly made on the question whether the The justice of station-agent would be killed or maimed. the peace, although fully alive to the interest of the occasion, recollected business elsewhere, for he had no desire to
enter into a relation unpleasantly antagonistic to Poker Bill. Suddenly all the patient waiters leaped to their feet, al-

though there had been no sound of shots. Such a sight as they beheld had never been seen since Antelope Spring was known to the white man. Out from the door of the stationagent's car, plunging headlong to the ground, came Poker He was without his " sixBill, propelled by a terrific kick. his had been torn waistcoat off, and his remaining shooter," clothing had collected most of the dust from the car-floor. He gathered himself up, dodged under the car and ran up toward the town, shielding his head with his arms and evidently expecting to be followed by a bullet. There was no need of explanations. "What did yer do with yer gun, Bill?" asked one of the no-longer-respectful crowd as he " I left it," snarled Bill and the point was not passed. as Bill was known to possess other weapons. He pressed, equipped the justice and two others with shot-guns and
;

rifles.

Thus

heavily loaded, the force

of Bill's

moved upon the

waistcoat.

car

and demanded the return

gun and

Hav-

ing obtained these articles, accompanied by much satirical language from the agent, Bill retired to his cabin. From its

door throughout the day issued a mighty stream of highly

DUELLING IN AMERICA.
flavored
Bill's

99

and picturesquely embellished profanity. Poker sun had set and his enemies had seen his fall. Nevertheless the great sawmill in the opening across the track buzzed on as usual. The cool wind swept down from the mountains through the pines, but Poker Bill cursed himself with exceeding bitterness because he had failed to add " a fifteenth grave to the little Boot-Hill Cemetery," near the corral, where eleven out of the fourteen dead came to their deaths by violence. For the route of the new road which has opened northern Arizona has, like the course of every Western railroad, been stained again and again with blood. Back at Coolidge, five desperadoes held the town in terror some two years since, until a brief but stirring conflict left
three ruffians dead, one dying and two citizens pierced with Here at Flagstaff, in the heart of the great pineballs.

camps of wood-choppers and tie-cutters offered a ready asylum to thugs and outlaws. Every new railroad in the far West has been full of cost to human life. First come the engineers, daring the perils of Indians and the
forests, the

wilderness.

Then

the

dump and

lay the ties

follow the gangs of " navvies," who build and rails a rough, wild set, the
;

refuse of the cities.

suckers,

With them come swarms of bloodgamblers, thieves, and keepers of dance-halls, care-

less whether they win a man's money by a rigged faro-bank, or " hold him up," or shoot him in the back on a dark night. No one knows their origin. They disappear on the completion of the railroad, and no one knows where they go. They leave a few graves behind them, and these deep woods are

shadowed by many an unknown tragedy. Life at the head of a railroad is like life nowhere else. The laborers are a source of profit to every one except themselves. They eat and sleep in long trains of freight-cars; and their eating and sleeping fill the pockets of some contractor. They build the road and receive their wages, and the wages are promptly
transferred to the keeper of the gambling-tent, groggery, or dance -hall. They return Finally they are discharged. cooped up like cattle in freight-cars, they make for the

mining-camps,

or,

provided with a "tie-pass," they pack

100

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

their blankets on their backs and set out on the tramp along the track. The best of them are kept for the section-gangs the others vanish utterly away. With their departure and that of their attendant evil spirits a calm succeeds the storm. The stranded gambler talks mournfully of "the lively times when the road was here;" but the Eastern
;

visitor possesses his soul in " held up" in the street.

peace and no longer fears to be

Not long ago a cowboy who had murdered a man a New Mexican town, and was pursued for a day by the Sheriff, returned to the scene of his crime and
in

compelled the Sheriff to go in his company to all the saloons in town, and treat him to the drinks, and after the rounds were made, he mounted his horse

and rode off in safety. What came of trifling with some cowboys in Wyoming, is thus felicitously told by the editor of the Laramie Boomerang:
heaps of fun," as he expresses it, at Rock Creek, west of Laramie, the othe^ day. Ben is a typical Western cowboy a whole-souled, dare-devil puncher of steers a fellow who will divide his last dollar with a friend, or ride anything that has not more than four legs and wears a saddle. Ben has one weak point, however, a fondness for the sulphuric acid annihilator which Wyoming barkeepers " full" he is windy and retail as whiskey, and when he is ready for any harmless mischief. On the day referred to dozen or more Ben was at Rock Creek loading stock.
;

Ben Carter had

"

,of

and after the arduous duties incident to crowding twenty more steers into a car than the builders intended were over, the boys " began to booze up," and by the time it got dark enough to light the lamps the saloon-keeper found that he hadn't any that were fit to do duty as illuminators the boys had shot them to pieces. Every time a lamp would fall the marksman, who assisted at the post-mortem of said lamp, would cheerfully waltz to the bar and pay for it, and
his

brother-cowboys

were

in

town,

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

IOI

The lamp market was active for a few then try again. Ben hadn't taken a minutes, but the supply was limited. hand in the shooting-match as yet, but had made it a point
to drink with

the

successful

marksmen, so

that, strictly

speaking, he wasn't sober. Finally, he awoke to action. Seizing a revolver from a companion and drawing his own, he sprang to the centre of the room and delivered himHe told the boys that they ought to be self of a speech. ashamed of themselves. He was a perfect lady himself, and it shocked him to witness such disgraceful proceedings. He had been appointed as a Deputy Sheriff on his last visit to Laramie, and had decided to arrest every mother's son of them. The boys protested against such a strange procedure, but Ben flourished his guns, told them he had the whole United States at his back, and imperiously ordered them into an empty warehouse near, the door of which stood

open.

The novelty

of the thing

somewhat muddled the

boys, and without a word they filed into the temporary He then rustled around prison, and Ben closed the door. and found several log chains, with which he securely fas-

tened them, and, with the dignity of a high private in a State The boys venmilitia corps, mounted guard on the outside. tilated their prison cell as well as they could with what ammunition they had, and then dropped off to sleep. In the

morning Ben released them,

after exacting a

solemn promise

to Behave themselves like gentlemen and ladies thereafter. The boys walked over to the hotel as meek as lambs. While

eating their breakfast they noticed that an unusual amount of hilarity seemed to prevail in the dining-room. The head

and only waiter laughed boisterously while serving the soup the cook poked his head through the doorway leading to the kitchen, and drew it back again quickly, and a series of Comanche war-whoops that were positively painful to their listening ears, gradually subsiding into a low, mellow laugh which made the plates on the tables jingle, followed. Sounds of mirth also floated in from the office, until finally one of the boys went out to inquire the cause. He came back presently, and the most ignorant judge of the emotions
;

102

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

as shown oy the human features could have told that he was unutterably mad. He consulted a moment with his compan" ions, and then called the waiter and ordered a box of forty-

These were served cold, and the command loaded weapons and marched down to the saloon, where they found Ben Carter. The spokesman, Broncho Bill, then and there told Ben that he was no gentleman. He had taken advantage of his friends, and made them the laughing stock He had pretended that he was the auof the community. thorized Deputy Sheriff, when he had no more claim to the title of Deputy Sheriff than Ben Butler had to the spoons Believing that he reprehistory says he hypothecated. sented the majesty of the law, they had given him the He had insulted them by putting them respect he deserved. " in the jug" over night, and they could only wipe out that
fours."

their

insult

by creating a vacancy in the atmosphere thereabouts of about the size of his body. He must go, and go quick.

Ben is brave enough, but after he had looked over the crowd, and saw that each man had his hand on his persuader, he concluded that perhaps Broncho Bill was right.

He got and when he had put several hundred yards of sagebrush and sand between himself and the station, the boys, having no further use of "forty- fours," emptied their revolvers. From the agile manner in which Ben was dancing around as he passed swiftly over the brow of the hill
:

toward Laramie, and the amount of dust rising in little clouds all around him, it is believed the boys carelessly
pointed their weapons his way while taking the loads out.

dissimilar

has been termed the cowboy-fight or a not mode of combat raged in California from 1849 to 1860, at least in the mining communities of the Golden State; and it has also been more or less

What

indulged in throughout the Pacific States and Territories in sections where mining operations have been extensively carried on. The street, or bar-room, duel
flourished

among members

of the

gambling

fra-

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

03

ternity in California for ten or twelve years, and the whizz of the deadly bullet was oftener heard in those

days than are even the church bells of the present. The southern counties of California, where for thirty years there existed an almost unceasing strife among hordes of disorderly characters, but where there is so much perfect harmony and contentment now also contributed much toward a Golgotha over which " Resurgam" can never be truthfully written.
as in other

was no uncommon thing in California (as well Western States), during its early days, for the real gentleman and the riot-loving desperado to come together; and it is a prominent fact in the anIt

nals of such events that, in a majority of cases, the former was never known (or seldom the first) "to weaken." A description of the bar-room duel between Hicks Graham and Yank Maguire, as furnished the San Francisco (Cal.) Morning Call by a

correspondent

in

August, 1883,
thrilling

is

as interesting as

any and much more

similar encounters:

and dramatic than many

Graham, a backwoods
ing law at

Montgomery

disciple of Blackstone, was practisat the time. Yank Maguire came

down from Aurora, where he enjoyed

the reputation of a desperado. He was a big, savage fellow, coarse and overbearing in his manners, the very opposite of Hicks Graham, who was below the medium size, delicate, and gentlemanly. From the first the two men seemed to hate each other.

There was a natural antipathy between them. Instinct taught each to see in the other a deadly and dangerous enemy. The little town just naturally knew, before Yank Maguire had been forty-eight hours within its limits, that
trouble was brewing between the two men. They had met at Aurora a short time before the discovery of rich silver

rock in Montgomery

district,

and came near having a

diffi-

104

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

culty there. The fact appeared to be that Maguire, who was crazy to be thought a fighter, was insanely jealous of Graham's well-established reputation in that respect. The first

night of his advent into the

new camp he got on a jamboree,

flourished his revolver, and swore that no man who wore a " " biled shirt " and a " plug hat could make him take water.

As Hicks was almost the only one in camp who sported such evidences of civilization as a white shirt and a silk hat, of course we all knew that Yank meant him. But he only smiled at the riotous demonstrations of the big rough, and quietly walked off and went to bed. From that hour, however, the town felt that something serious was going to happen. Strangely enough, in a place where shooting scrapes were of daily occurrence, Montgomery got excited over the prospective quarrel between Hicks Graham and Yank MaThe death-dealing merits of the men were discussed guire.
very freely, and money was wagered on the final results. Notwithstanding Maguire 's size and blood-thirsty talk, Graham was the popular favorite. The little fellow had won his spurs in many a hard-fought scrimmage, and most of the miners were ready to bet that he would kill his opponent or drive him out of camp. Montgomery had, among its cosmopolitan population in those days, quite a sprinkling of
Southerners, who believed that the right way for gentlemen to settle their personal troubles was "according to the code." Street fights and bar-room encounters were good

enough in their way, but the proper thing was a duel according to the code of honor. Aurora bore testimony to their handiwork in this respect. Time and again had her
high-toned and pugnacious citizens, governed by the true gone out and shot each other in the most approved fashion. Why not arrange a regular "affair" bespirit of chivalry,

tween Maguire and Graham ? The latter was a Pennsylvanfan, it is true, but in love for the code duello he could not be excelled by the most ardent native of the "Sunny South." With him there could be no trouble, and he at once cheerfully acquiesced in the proposal of his chevalier friends to avoid the vulgar barbarity of a street affray or a saloon ren-

DUELLING IN AMERICA.
centre.

10$

so

it

was

Maguire, however, did not take to the thing kindly, said, and gave his officious interviewers such a

stormy reception as came near starting a riot in the camp. For this reason, to the sincere regret of not a few, the proposed duel had to be abandoned, and the town was left in a
feverish condition of expectation, impatiently waiting for the Fortunately, the good folks of Montgomery had not fray.
difficulty among some miners led to a lawsuit before his honor, Judge Caliph, the judicial autocrat of the place, and Hicks Graham appeared as a lawyer for one

long to wait.

of the parties. Happily, or unhappily, as the fact might be viewed from different standpoints, Yank Maguire was a witness against the side represented by Graham, and when this

condition of affairs became generally known it was in the " air that the time had come for one or both to pass in his it. the When the as checks," belligerent witsports phrased

With ness took the stand all eyes were turned upon him. an angry glance at Graham, and a suggestive hitch at his hip pocket, where the handle of a big six-shooter could be plainly seen, he proceeded with his testimony, and for a time
ever,

got along smoothly enough. The cross-examination, howwas too much for the witness. Repeatedly he was admonished by the justice to answer the questions and avoid insulting personalities. Still he was ugly, coarse and abusive, and indulged in a vicious sneer when Graham
quietly

forget that he

remarked that nothing he might say could make him was in a court of justice. At last, losing all patience, and finding restraint next to impossible, Graham insisted that the court should take a recess. Immediately on " adjournment, the crowd poured into the Montgomery Exacross the and filled the saloon to its change," directly way, utmost capacity. While a long line of thirsty souls were
standing before the bar, drinking or waiting to be served, a " cry of Look out !" was heard, and instantly the sharp and loud reports of two pistols scattered the crowd in all directions.

Who

drew

first

none could

say,

but the

little

one
stag-

evidently got

in the first shot, for

Maguire was seen to

ger and put his hand to his breast.

He

did not flinch, how-

106
ever,

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and both men continued to
fire

with great rapidity.

something was noticed to be wrong with Graham's pistol. It would not revolve, and in working with it, the chamber fell out and rolled on the floor. Again Maguire's pistol rang out, and a bullet-hole through his antagonist's hat showed that the effect of the first shot had not destroyed his aim, although he staggered around the room like a drunken man. Coolly stooping down, Graham
this critical juncture,

At

picked up the chamber of his revolver, deliberately replaced

it,

and began

firing again.

While

fixing his

got into a corner at one end of the bar or counter, and guire took a similar position at the other end. The fire

weapon he had Ma-

now

raked the counter from end to end, to the danger and horror of a number of spectators who had taken refuge from the flying bullets behind the bar at the beginning of the With every crack of the pistols was heard the wild fight. cry of some poor devil in the line of fire. The shriek and fall of one of the number, a quiet, inoffensive Dutchman who had nothing to do with the affray, put an end to the " Exchange," now a bloody business. The proprietor of the well-known citizen of San Francisco, jumped across the counter and seized Graham with an iron grip, while others caught Maguire and wrenched the revolver from his hands. The result of the shooting was the death of the unfortunate German, shot through the heart, the fearful wounding of Maguire, who was sinking fast from a bullet in the breast, and a slight flesh wound received by Graham. The bar

room duel over, Montgomery resumed its natural condition. The fight was eminently satisfactory. Both men were game, but the little one had come out on top. The writer knew Hicks Graham well in the sage-brush country cabined with him and shared his bed and board. On more than one oc;

watching the stars from under the same blankets, he talked over exciting scenes in his turbulent life. Few men ever knew how thoroughly he despised, in his later years, the reputation of a fighting man. Such a reputation, he would bitterly remark, is a curse to any one. Every reckless fool, \vho wants to get his name
casion, while travelling together or

DUELLING IN AMERICA.
up
as a desperado, thinks he

IO/

is in duty bound to have a difwith you, while you are expected to resent every grievance, real or imaginary, with the knife or pistol. I remember with what earnestness he said, more than once " If I had my life to live over again, nothing short of absolute dishonor would make me fight anybody !" His reflections on the past were evidently not of a pleasant character, and

ficulty

there can be no doubt that he deeply and sincerely regretted many events in his reckless career. It was really singular how so quiet and gentlemanly a little man could get into so

many

ugly scrapes.

Of a

genial, sociable disposition,

warm

and courteous and obliging to everyit does seem body, strange that his life should have been so He had domestic griefs which bloody and desperate. weighed upon his mind, and, like many another gallant felfow, sought forgetfulness in strong drink. Doubtless this had much to do with his numerous deadly quarrels, for few men were more quiet and inoffensive when sober. Peace to After life's fitful fever may he sleep well. his ashes
in his attachments,
!

During the Autumn of

1852, in

Los Angeles

(Cal.),

Colonel (since a distinguished General in the Confederate army, and now deceased) J. Bankhead Magruder, Third Artillery U. S. A., who was visiting that city fron San Diego, commenced an evening at

Harry Monroe's restaurant,

in

company with

three or

four other congenial fellows, by ordering a champagne dinner of an elaborate character. It was not
initial movement of the real old Duff Gordon sherry from right to left that an exhilaration set in which was rapidly and radiantly heightened

long after the

to a hilarious pitch, the reader may rest assured; so " " had feast of reason and flow of soul that, after the

got completely under way, the nocturnal wayfarer might have misinterpreted the medley of mirthful vociferations for sounds of revelry second only to

108

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

those attributed to the beauty and chivalry of Belgium's capital upon a momentous occasion by the author of " Childe Harold's Pilgrimage." In other ? words, an uproarious controversy had quickly followed the ample gastronomic discussion, during which Magruder declared, with his characteristic
suavity, that Andrew Jackson was who ever trod in shoe leather."
"

the greatest

man

Colonel John O.

Wheeler tossed off a goblet of Krug to " the greatest American statesman, Henry Clay;" while Thompson
Burrill
'

quaffed placidly away to the memory of Daniel Webster, the greatest man the world ever

produced."

certain

was present, then possible for him to

said:

disciple of Esculapius, arose, as ostentatiously as it

rise,

who

was under the circumstances, and

father, who was Sheriff of Cayuga County was the greatest of all Americans !" To which Magruder replied, vehemently: "Doctor, you're a damned fool !" The Doctor at once challenged Magruder to fight, which cartel of defiance was at once accepted, the combat to take place on the spot, and over the dining table, from end to end, dis-

"My

(N. Y.),

derringer pistols. Major book, entitled "Reminiscenses of a Ranger," presents his readers the follow-

tance twelve feet; weapons

Horace

Bell, in his exciting

ing description of the duel:

Wilson Jones, the Doctor's second, got the word, and the without shaking hands, took their respective stations, the majestic form of Magruder towering above that of the diminutive Doctor, who paled and shuddered when
principals,

brought face to face with the grim-visaged son of Mars. All was suspense. The word was to be: Ready! fire! One
t

two, three!

At the word "ready," to the dismay of all, the Doctor blazed away. When the smoke cleared somewhat,

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

109

to the horror of the valiant disciple of Esculapius, his antagonist stood as stiff and defiant as an avenging demon.

Magruder glared savagely on him for a on with horrible forebodings. Magruder took two "side steps to the He right," which brought him clear of the end of the table. then advanced the "right foot full to the front," with his glaring eyeballs bent fiercely on the now terrified Doctor.

The Doctor
full

quailed

minute.

The

spectators, spell-bound, looked

brought the left foot up to the rear of the right heel and leveled his derringer at the ghastly face of the trembThen he advanced the right foot as before, ling Doctor. and in this way, with firm and unrelenting tread, he slowly advanced on the now thoroughly frightened Doctor, who made a movement toward the door. The spectators interposed, and cut off the possibility of retreat in that direction. The Doctor tried to flank the Colonel by skirmishing around the table. Magruder faced to the left, as though moving on a pivot, and kept the direful derringer aimed directly at the Doctor's palid countenance. In the excitement the Doctor ran under the table, crawled through, grasped the knees of the irate hero, and affectionately embracing them, said
:

He then

Colonel Magruder, for the love of God, spare me for my " D n family." The Colonel gave him a kick, and said for the I'll so spare you hangman." And, you saying, he handed the weapon to his second, and the festivities were
:

"

adjourned.

nate in

of fighting over a table did not origithe "far West," however; for, as early as 1771, the brother of General Delancey, the notorious barrack-master general of the British army, had high

This

mode

words

one evening with a Charlestonian named Haley, in a coffee-house near the foot of Broadway, New York, during which the American called for

and insisted upon fighting the Britisher in one of the coffee-rooms across a table. The Englishpistols,

man was

kind enough to accommodate the belliger-

HO

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

word was given. An account of this affair, published in the New York Evening Post in 1845, says that Delancey was murdered, as the American discharged his weapon dishonestly before his time. Another account declares that the disturbance took place in South Carolina, and that Delancey and Haley both fired at the same time; and that the survivor was defended by the Pinckneys and Rutledges.

ent Yankee, and was shot dead as soon as the

Among the many descriptions of the bloody encounter which gave the bowie-knife its name the writer has seen none so generally and briefly interesting as the account lately furnished the Philadelphia Times by a correspondent of that paper, which
is

as follows:

feud had existed for years between two parties of the parish of Rapides (Louisiana), on Red River. The principals were Dr. Maddox, Major Wright, and the Blanchards

on the one part, the Curreys, the Wellses, and the Bowies on the other. A challenge was passed between Dr. Maddox and Samuel Wells, and the meeting was arranged to take Hither place opposite Natchez (Miss.), in August, 1827. the parties repaired with their friends. It was agreed that no persons should be present but the combatants, their seconds and surgeons. The place of meeting was a large sandThe sand-bar at low bar, immediately opposite Natchez. water is of considerable width, bordered above and below with forest growth on the opposite side of this bar were stationed the friends of each party one of these parties was something nearer to the combatants than the other. Colonel Crane was the second of Maddox. Between him and James Bowie and General Currey there had long existed a deadly feud, and several months before this affair General Currey shot Colonel Crane with a shotgun, on Bayou RapThe parties to the duel apids, disabling one of his arms. proached the spot selected for the combat from different
;

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

Ill

The preliminaries were soon arranged. The directions. combatants took their positions and exchanged two shots without effect, and the difficulty was amicably adjusted. Bowie was just in the edge of the woods with Generals Wells and Currey, armed with pistols, Bowie carrying a huge knife.
As the duelling party started to leave the grounds Bowie and party advanced to meet them. The friends of Maddox and Crane on the opposite side of the sand-bar, seeing this, and being furthest from the party, started to run to meet them as soon as they should reach the retiring combatants. General Currey was the first on the ground, closely followed by Bowie. Currey immediately advanced upon Colonel Crane and remarked " Colonel Crane, this is a good time to settle our difficulty," and commenced drawing his pistol. Bowie did the same. Crane was armed with a brace of duelling pistols, and awaited the attack of Currey. At this moment Currey was seized by his brother and begged to desist. Bowie and Crane fired at each other, it is said, without effect. There were those who said Bowie was wounded. The latter statement I think most probable, for Bowie stopped, felt of his hip, and then, drawing his knife, limped toward Crane, who was watching General Currey. Released from the hold of his brother, Currey was advancing. At this moment Crane leaped across a small ravine cut through the sand by the rain water flowing from the acclivities
:

above, and, resting his pistol upon his crippled arm, fired at Currey, wounding him fatally, from the effects of which he
tiously

Crane was now disarmed, and Bowie advanced cauupon him. Clubbing his pistol he struck Bowie over the head as he avoided his knife adroitly, and felled him to the ground. Crane retreated a step as his friend, Major Wright, advanced upon him, and with a long, slender spear, drawn from a walking-cane which he carried, attacked
fell.

a pass to parry the spear with his knife, in The spear was of cold iron, and striking the breast-bone bent and went round upon the rib. Bowie

Bowie,

who made
failed.

which he

at this

moment

seized

Wright and

fell,

pulling

Wright down

with and on top of him, and holding him strongly to his

112

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

person. Wright was slender, and by no means a strong man, and was powerless in the hands of Bowie, who coolly " said to him Now, Major, you die," and plunging the knife into his heart, killed him instantly. This knife was made by Resin P. Bowie out of a blacksmith's rasp or large When file, and was the original of the famous bowie-knife. James Bowie received it from his brother, he was told by him that it was " strong, and of admirable temper. It is more trustworthy in the hands of a strong man than a pisCrane and Wright are both your tol, for it will not snap enemies they are from Maryland, the birthplace of our ancestors, and are as brave as you are, but not so cool. They are both inferior in strength to yourself, and therefore not your equal in a close fight. They are both dangerous, but Wright the most so. Keep this knife always with you. It will be your friend in a last resort, and may save your life." After this conflict Resin P. Bowie earned this knife to Philadelphia, where it was fashioned by a cutler into the form of a model made by him, and I presume the knife is yet in the possession of some member of the family. There was no reconciliation between Crane and Bowie after the conflict, though Crane aided personally in carrying Bowie from the " Colonel Crane, ground, and Bowie thanked him and said I do not think, under the circumstances, you ought to have shot me." Almost immediately after the attack of Currey upon Crane, the fight between their friends became general, in which there were fifteen wounded and at least six killed, among whom were Currey and Wright. All the men engaged in this terrible affair were men of wealth and high social position, and the two parties included almost every man of fortune in the extensive and wealthy parish of Rapides. All are gone save Maddox and Wells, both very old, and
: ;

still

residing in the
S. P. Hall,

same

parish.

a resident of San Francisco, contributed to the Alia of that city, in January, 1884,

Mr.

what he claims

as a "truthful narrative," which differed only in a few of the important details of the

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

113

tragedy as chronicled by the correspondent of the Philadelphia Times, as follows:

fight which gave origin to the bowie-knife, the fame of which is spread over all countries, occurred in the month of August, 1827. In that year the writer was fourteen years old, and stood by the side of his father and The facts were indelibly impressed witnessed the fight. and he proposes to give you a truthful his upon memory, narrative of them In the year mentioned many persons,
fearful
:

The grand

moved by the
sippi

spirit of

adventure, engaged in the speculation

of the rich unentered cotton lands in the States of Missis-

and Louisiana. Among those adventurers were the brothers Resin and James Bowie, from the State of Maryland. They were men of fair education, well raised, as the phrase goes, and of unshaken resolution. They were men
of

intelligence, imposing presence and excellent physResin being the elder and more considerate, and James, the junior, having more of the dare-devil in his composition. These men organized a party of land speculators, which soon came in antagonism with another party who acknowledged the leadership of Judge Crane, a cultured

good

ique,

gentleman of Rapides parish, Louisiana. He was as brave and chivalrous as men generally get to be. Between him and James Bowie a deadly feud existed, resulting from a personal rencontre (no weapons) in which Judge Crane was The members of each party sympathized with worsted. their leaders, and several fights and duels had grown out of it. Among others, a duel was 'arranged to take place between Dr. Maddox and Samuel Wells, on the sand-bar opposite the city of Natchez, the former being in the State of Louisiana, the latter in Mississippi. According to the terms of the fight, neither Judge Crane nor James Bowie were to be present. Bowie at the time had his residence in Natchez (Miss.), and Judge Crane at Alexandria (La.), but was then stopping at a hotel in the city mentioned. The parties to
the duel met at the place appointed, but influential citizens from Natchez intervened and prevented hostilities. At this

IU

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

overshadowed by accommodation of

place a spring gurgled from the bank, willows, with benches arranged for the
visitors.

The parties and their friends thought it a fitting occasion and place to have a good time, and had champagne, brandy, cigars, etc., brought over from Natchez, and sat enjoying themselves, when Judge Crane unexpectedly put in his appearance and joined in the convivial feeling, well pleased with the pacification. But another appearance
was shortly to be put in which was to involve direful consequences. Bowie, doubting that Judge Crane would abide his promise to stay away from the place where the fight was
appointed to take place, placed a spy upon his actions, who reported to Bowie that he had, with two friends, crossed the river in a skiff for the scene of expected action. Bowie, upon learning this much, crossed over on the ferry-boat, which landed half a mile below, and, all alone, walked up
the bank.

The

citizens of Natchez, generally,

of the expected fight

were notified and had crossed over the river to see

it. As the party quaffed the generous fluids, good feeling arose as the goblets declined, and everything was tinged with the rainbow hues of friendly feeling, when a rustle in

the boughs, which overhung the path which led down to the spring attracted attention, and the manly form of

James Bowie, couchant, to avoid the boughs, met the gaze of the party. Instantaneously, like a snowflake falling upon
a heated furnace, the friendly feeling disappeared. The very presence of Bowie meant fight, and it took place between the high-mettled parties, all of whom were men of

wealth and social standing. Previous to the appearance of Bowie, Andrew Marschalk, editor of the Natchez Courier, a

Revolutionary soldier highly respected and of strong influ" ence, remarked to Judge Crane Judge, this is a fitting occasion to bring about friendly relations between you and
:

James Bowie, whom you acknowledge to be a gentleman." Judge Crane excitedly remarked, quoting from Shakspeare
:

" No! No! Ne'er can true reconcilement grow Where wounds of deadly hate have pierced so deep!"

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

11$

" Scarcely had the words died upon his lips when the man " of fight descended the path and stood upon the sand-bar.

Judge Crane arose and fired upon him with a pistol, the ball He staggered and fell. passing quite through his body. Judge Crane ran up with a sword-cane and attempted to stab him. Bowie skilfully warded the thrusts, and putting forth all his strength, grasped the spear with one hand, and
with the other seized the judge by his cravat, which, according to the fashion of the day, men wore tightly secured around their necks, and drew him down closely upon his body. Disengaging the spear from the hand of Judge Crane, he pierced him through the body and heart, and he died upon the body of his prostrate foe, who fainted from the loss of blood. As intimated above, the charm of
friendship was dissolved by the appearance of James Bowie, and the friends of the respective parties separated and fired upon each other. Six men were killed and fifteen wounded. Many citizens of Natchez who were present waded into the

the bullets. Maddox, a

water of the Mississippi River, then at a low stage, to escape Dr. Girault, who was present as surgeon of Dr. man of low stature, also waded in. His friends afterward jokingly would tell him that at every flash from
the pistols of the combatants he would duck his head under water until he was nearly drowned. As stated, the ball from Judge Crane's pistol passed quite through the body of

Bowie, but cut no chord which bound him to life, and his strong vitality enabled him to recover. He was confined to his bed for three months, and being a man of inventive genius, and fond of hunting, he whittled from white pine, with his pocket-knife, the model of a hunting-knife, and sent it to two brothers in the city of Natchez, skilful blacksmiths, by the name of Blackman, from Massachusetts, with
instructions to spare no expense in the making, They made a knife, according to the model, from a broad file or rasp, such as are used in saw-mills, ornamented with silver about the handle. This knife the writer has seen James Bowie, years after the events here written, exhibit to his friends. A hardware merchant of Natchez, catching the idea, sent a

Il6
model

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

of this knife to Philadelphia and had a large number manufactured, and they were sold rapidly.

After presenting quite a

incidents in the
life

of

number of characteristic James Bowie, Mr. Hall con-

cludes his sketch thus:

Many years after this, a Methodist minister in the town of Clinton, Louisiana, told the writer this That he was among the first preachers sent by the Methodist Conference to
:

Texas, while it was in its embryo condition, to preach he crossed the Mississippi below the old town of
Texas.

that

Fort

Adams, and travelled up Red River, in Louisiana, to get to The first day after crossing the Mississippi he was overtaken by a horseman, dressed in a buckskin garb, armed with rifle, pistols, and a hunting-knife. They entered into
telligent,

conversation, and he found his travelling companion an inagreeable gentleman, well acquainted with the

They journeyed together for geography of the country. several days, one not asking the other his name or his business, until they reached a town in Texas which had been made the headquarters of desperadoes and refugees from There he gave notice that he justice from every State. would preach at night in the court-house. At the hour appointed the court-house was filled with men, only a few women. He said he gave out a hymn and all sang it and sang it well but when he took his text and attempted to preach, he was saluted by one with the bray of an ass, another by the hooting of an owl, and kindred noises. Disliking to leave without preaching, he waited until the inter;

ruptions subsided, for three several times,

when
:

his travelling

companion, whom he did not know was present, arose in " the midst of the congregation and said Men, this man has come here to preach to you you need preaching to, and I'll be d d if he sha'n't preach to you. The next man that disturbs him shall fight me. My name's Jim Bowie." The preacher addeJ that after the announcement of the name Jim Bowie he never had a more respectful and attentive congregation.
It
is

hardly necessary to say that James

DUELLING IN AMERICA.

II 7

Bowie laid down his life at the Alamo, in the State of Texas. Greece, in ancient times, had her Thermopylae, from which only three persons escaped. The Alamo was the American Thermopylae, from whence only one woman and a negro
boy escaped.
their fate

Bowie, his subordinates, a trio of heroes

commandant, Crockett and James Patriotism mourns and memory will bedew their graves with her tears
Travis, the
!

as long as noble deeds move the human heart with pleasurable emotions. In truth, every man who fell at the Alamo

was a hero, because not one asked or expected quarter. They fought to protect the infant settlements of Texas from savage destruction.

As a general thing, during the times of which we write, the favorite weapons with the Alabamians and
Mississippians were rifles and shotguns, which were seldom used without fatal effect. The favorite weapons of the Creoles, however, were four-sided rapiers; and, as a matter of course, wounds were frequent and
fatalities few.

Il8

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

VI.

INDIANS, MEXICANS, CUBANS, JAPANESE.

Fall of a

Noted Choctaw Chief Duelling among the Mexicans Mortal Combat of a Mexican Banker and a French Merchant The Custom in the West Indies Code Henri Restrictions in Cuba An Exciting Duel between Soler (a Cuban) and Palacios The Japanese Mode: " It is only an (a Spaniard) in Havana accident, and at best it is only a quarrel between the two swords."

AMONG many
exists

tribes of
to
it

according
tribes

With many

American Indians duelling a fashion entirely their own.' is necessary that both the comcases,

batants perish in

all

thus:

A member

feels

offended, and demands a combat; the day is fixed and the tribe assemble; the champions advance, the of-

man armed with a rifle or shotgun, and the offender unarmed; the one without arms uncovers his breast and receives the missile of death, and the other, while the offender is weltering in his blood,
fended
presents his

weapon

to

some

relative or friend of his

dying adversary, retreats a certain number of paces, points with his finger to the place where the heart is
seated,

and receives the mortal wound.

This

mode does

not

prevail

among

either

the

Choctaws or Cherokees, who fight their duels generally according to the "code;" or, at least, like many " pale faces" whom they have seen fall upon the

INDIANS, MEXICANS, CUBANS, JAPANESE. IIQ

reminded, in July, 1883, Carpenter, the celebrated Choctaw Chief, fought a fatal duel near the Pine Creek Indian Agency (Arkansas), with a white man named Price. It seems that the two men got into a quarrel about some trivial matter, when Price called Carpenter a liar; whereupon the enraged
is

" field of honor."

And

the author

this connection,

that

in

Chief,
insult

after

claimed:
!"

"Your

looking calmly into Price's face, exheart's blood, sir, shall wash out this " is yours, sir, when you have the blood My

power to take it!" responded Price, "and I will give you the opportunity right here and now!" "No, sir, not now," said the Chief, coldly; " but you must meet
I'm your man, my friend, and don't you forget it. I'll meet you to-morrow, with the good friend I always carry in my hip pocket, at any moment you name-^when make it early, for I have an engageshall we meet? ment at the Agency in the afternoon." "When the sun shines above the top of yon tree," responded " Carpenter, pointing to a wild plum, as he spoke; at that hour stand you here and you will see me." They then separated. The report of the quarrel and proposed duel spread far and wide, and before sunrise the following morning a large crowd had gathered
quickly followed by Carpenter, who appeared just as the sun rose above the tree-tops and illumined the open space

me

at this spot to-morrow, without fail."

"

upon the spot to witness the Price arrived first on the field.

strange

encounter.

He was

upon which Price stood. Both men drew their pistols. Not a word was spoken. Raising their weapons they
almost simultaneously. Carpenter reeled, but This time Price dropped rallying, both fired again. dead in his tracks. The crowd pressed forward with
fired

120
a wild shout.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

As they did so
the Chief
fell

on the

ground senseless. A bullet had entered his breast; blood gushed from his mouth, and he was thought to be dying. Price had been shot through the heart. Chief Carpenter was a splendid specimen of Indian manhood. He was tall and straight and comely. He was well educated and had natural talents which placed him head and shoulders above all his Indian
associates.

The Mexicans have not been much of a duelling people at least, the upper classes of Mexico have not indulged in the custom to the same extent that
those of other countries have done, albeit fights with knives and assassinations have always prevailed to an alarming degree in all of the States of the Mexican

Republic.

The
in

first

duel (of which there has been

that country jtook place in 1521, in any record) which Nunez, of the staff of Cortez, slew a Mexican of great fighting renown, after a desperate combat

with swords. Cortez himself, says Prescott, "was frequently involved in affairs of honor, from which, though an expert swordsman, he carried away scars
that

accompanied him

to

his

grave."

Among

the

lower classes of Mexicans fighting to the death with the lariata (lasso) is sometimes practised. Generally, however, these lower orders settle their disturbances (assassin-like) with the knife. In 1851 Senor Trias challenged an American named

Richards for ungentlemanly language concerning his countrymen in the City of Mexico, and the latter was shot dead at the first fire. The latest duel upon Mexican soil took place near Chapultepec, just outside of the City of Mexico, on the morning of November 8, 1883, between Mr. de Ghest, of the

INDIANS, MEXICANS, CUBANS, JAPANESE.

121

Mexican National Bank, and M. Ollivier, a resident French merchant, in which the latter was killed and the former severely wounded in three places. The difficulty, says the New York Herald of November
22d, arose out of a dispute at the Peralvillo races over the possession of some of the seats, and was aggravated by the fact that several of the disputants were foreigners. It appears that the British Minister, Sir Spencer St. John, two American ladies, and Mr. de Ghest, had been witnessing the sport from the raised seats on the grand stand. During the custom-

ary promenade between the races the party left their seats unoccupied, and on their return were surprised to find that they had been taken by some other foreigners, among whom was M. Ollivier, a French

merchant.

Mr. de Ghest demanded that the intrud-

ers should give saying that, as

up the
the

seats.

M.

Ollivier refused,

seats

were not numbered or

reserved, his party had as good a right to them as To this Mr. de Ghest replied the former occupants.

that he

was a member

of the Jockey

Club and would

friend of Mr.

see that the seats were given up. de Ghest said to him while the

Some

row was going on:

"Do

not mind these people; they are Barcelonnettes," alluding to the town in the south of France whence many of the French residents of Mexico had come.

On the other hand a friend of M. Ollivier said to Mr. de Ghest: "You are an insolent fellow, and to-morrow you will answer to me for this; here is my card." " What have I to do with your name ?" answered Mr. de Ghest, excitedly; "I am not in your set and don't know you." He appealed to the police and caused M. Ollivier to be ejected from his seat and locked up in jail. The affair naturally caused great excitement

122

THE FIELD OF HONOR,

in the City of Mexico, partly on account of the difMr. de ferent nationality of the chief participants. Ghest is one of the leaders of society in the Mexican

capital,

Bank.
of

and is connected with the Mexican National M. Ollivier was connected with a French firm high standing, and was accompanied by French
Ex-

ladies belonging to the best society in the city.

citement ran very high in the French colony. The Colonie Fran$aise demanded the expulsion of Mr. de Ghest from the French Horse Club and the Cercle

A protest against M. Ollivier's arrest was about two hundred French residents, and signed by he was finally released from jail by the authorities. The next day there was a stormy scene at the Mexican National Bank. It appears that Mr. Robert, who is connected with the house of Ollivier & Co., and is
Franchise.

a director in the bank, demanded the dismissal of Mr. de Ghest. The latter explained how the affair occurred to Mr. Robert, but he became indignant and

denounced Mr. de Ghest as a liar. Mr. de Ghest then handed in his resignation, and said to Mr. Robert that he would send him a challenge. The latter, it is alleged, said he would kick Mr. de Ghest and his seconds out of his house, whereupon Mr. de Ghest struck Mr. Robert in the face. Mr. Robert announced that he would begin criminal proceedings against his assailant. After this scene Mr. de Ghest challenged M. Ollivier. The challenge was accepted, and M. Reganon was requested to act as a second. Not satisfied with this, Mr. de Ghest sent a general challenge to each of the persons who had signed the protest against M. Ollivier's arrest. In his letter Mr. de Ghest says:
I

will

simply say that

caused a rule which

rs

enforced

INDIAN'S, MEXICANS, CUBANS,

everywhere to be applied
in

JAPANESE.
who

123

the case of a person

lacked

common

took up but the latter should bear

national characteristics
if

The group who politeness at a public gathering. the quarrel try to bring in the whole French colony,

in mind that they would disregard they were to champion those who affront women, conceal their signatures, and receive blows without returning them. Now, as regards the persons directly concerned who have mixed themselves up with the

signers of the protest, I request you to make known to them and to the person who asserts that I refused to take his card, that I am at their service in my residence, No. 12 Guardiola

Hotel. J hope that among those unknown signers there will be found one who will abandon the prudent reserve which has been displayed so far by the persons concerned, including M. Sebastien Robert, who has refused to name his seconds after compelling me to strike him.

ber

As has been stated, the duel took place on Novem8. It was fought with swords, and M. Ollivier was killed. About eight o'clock in the morning Mr.
de Ghest and M. Emile Ollivier, with their seconds, repaired to a place in the vicinity of Piedad. After the usual preliminaries the combatants confronted each other. Thrusts were skilfully parried, but at
length Mr Ollivier wounded his opponent in the shoulder. They fenced again, and Mr. de Ghest received a second thrust, also in the shoulder. At this moment there was intense anxiety manifested, and the seconds looked inquiringly at each other. It is

Are you satisinquired, fied? implying that he was. Mr. de Ghest, who was " Go angered by the wounds he had received, said,
said that

M.

Ollivier

now

"

It is not for you to speak; your seconds alone on. have that right/ The fight went on, and in a moment Mr. de Ghest ran his sword through the breast of his opponent, wounding him mortally. At

124

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

the same instant M. Ollivier's sword pierced the neck of his opponent, inflicting a third severe wound. The

physicians did

all

that

was possible

for the

wounded

combatants, but M. Ollivier died in a short time. His remains lay in the afternoon at the French HosMr. de Ghest was assisted to his carriage and pital. returned to town.

Duelling in the West Indies, except upon Hayti islands under Spanish rule, used to prevail to a great extent, although the custom has pretty nearly died out; and " pistols and coffee" are not called for at the present day, either by quarrelsome youth or by "old stagers," with that same reckless demeanor they used to be in days of yore. Upon the small French islands, particularly, the " code of honor" was held in high esteem, both by foreigners and " estated

and the

thirty, forty, and fifty years ago; and was no uncommon thing, in those times, to witness two or more duels a month, on an average only a few of which, however, were attended by fatal conseit

gentlemen," some

quences. Many a hostile meeting has been precipitated by the wine-cup at the "Cirque," the famous club-house of Basseterre (the capital of Guadaloupe),

a resort of French army and navy officers, and by resident planters and merchants of wealth and reThere was then no law in force against spectability duelling; so the custom was practised without muniIt was cipal restraint or fear of legal consequences. generally understood throughout select society upon

Martin that every gentleman must have emphahis polite breeding either by having been " called out" or of having challenged his man, unless his social life and business transactions had been phenomenally serene and satisfactory. There was an
St.

sized

INDIANS, MEXICANS, CUBANS, JAPANESE. 12$

air of perfect refinement and absence of cruelty, however, in the deportment of St. Martin duellists; and

the

bowie-knife,

rifle,

or double-barrelled shotgun

was seldom ever used as a weapon the invitations were generally " pistols and coffee," and the terms "ten paces and balls thirty-two to the pound." Among the various methods resorted to in different
countries for the suppression of duelling, none has, perhaps, been so decisive as that of Christophe, the black sovereign of Hayti; for in the criminal code

which was formed during his reign, and to which the name of " Code Henri " was given in honor of him, " the king particularly forbids, under any pretence whatever, the officers of the army, and other individuals belonging to it, to make use of sword, sabre, pistol, or other arms against each other, wherever they may be quartered; and every officer, or other
individual of the army, or belonging to it, who shall be convicted of having fought a duel shall be shot as a rebel against the king, a violator of justice, and a disturber of the public peace; and any officer, or other person, who shall be convicted of having acted as a second, or even third person, in a duel, and to have repaired to the place appointed for that purpose in order to assist or sanction a duel, shall be considered as those already designated, and shall be

shot accordingly."
this law, duels,

taking effect, Christophe.

In consequence of the severity of which were very frequent prior to its were never known during the reign of

Hot-blooded as the inhabitants of Cuba are believed to be, and quarrelsome, certainly, as any other class of Spanish, as they are known to be, still there

have been comparatively but few individual

differ-

126

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

century upon that island which state of of course, almost entirely due to the exist-

ences settled at the point of the sword during the

present
things
is,

ing governmental restrictions upon duelling in all its forms, and to the frowning majesty of a place of confinement adjacent to the Cuban capital known as Morro Castle. As a lesson to gentlemen of wounded
sensibilities, the Captain-General of Cuba, in 1854, sentenced Sefior Sartorius, the then postmaster of Havana, and Sefior Gomusio, an officer of the customs at the Cuban capital, to terms of imprisonment

in

Morro Castle and suspension from duties

a duel, although both were severely

of their

respective offices for their participation as principals

in

wounded

(the

weapons used being swords). Of late years there have been numerous hostile meetings resulting from the turbulent state of politics which has prevailed upon the island for a long time; and not long ago a young Spaniard, named Nicholas Rivero, arrived at Havana, and commenced the publication of a paper called El Rayo {The Thunderbolt), and defamed the Cubans mercilessly to such a
degree, indeed, that the editor of the Palenque, Sefior

San Miguel, challenged Rivero to meet him in mortal This was on November 3, 1883, says a special despatch from Havana to the New York Herald; and on the same evening of the challenge Rivero was sauntering past the Louvre when a boy
combat.
of nineteen, a hunchback, named Guintana, a Cuban of good family, approached and asked Rivero if he

was

the author of the insulting article in the Rayo, a copy of which the youth held in his hand. Rivero

acknowledged the article, whereupon the hunchback sprang upon him, crumpled the paper in his face, and

INDIANS, MEXICANS, CUBANS, JAPANESE. 127

knocked him over against one of the tables. With Rivero was Palacios, a tall, strong young Spaniard. Palacios was what Mark Twain would call the fightAt Guintana's assault a ing editor of the Rayo. tumult immediately arose in the cafe, the habitues of which are more or less acquainted with each other. Palacios They gathered around the combatants. raised his cane to strike the boy, when he was seized by the neck by a Cuban officer named Angel Soler. Calling Palacios a coward, Soler thrust him aside. Intense excitement followed. The scene ended by a challenge there and then between Palacios and Soler. It was to be no child's play passions had risen too high for that. Palacios was famed for being a good swordsman, a dead shot, and with a nerve of iron. "These Cubans want me to kill two or three of them," he laughed at night, "in order to teach them manners." Soler had only recently entered the army, and was still in training. Both were of about the and of like physique. same age twenty-eight Soler's seconds were instructed to accept no terms
less

than a duel to the death, and, in order to bring that about, to agree, if need be, to whatever terms Palacios' seconds chose to make. Soler, having the
paces, the

choice of weapons, chose pistols at ten

principals to advance five and fire. jected to on the other side as simple

This was obmurder. Terms were then allowed Palacios, who chose swords. Soler insisted that they should be double-edged and and after some demur those terms were pointed,

Next morning at six the duel was finally accepted. to be fought at La Chorrera, a small town along the

The princoast, three or four miles outside Havana. cipals rose at five, and, with doctor and seconds, met,

128

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

prepared to take their fatal journey. A terrific rain poured down, and Heaven seemed to intervene in the But they were bent on battle; so the party sad folly.

adjourned to the Payret Theatre, right in the heart The Payret was the finest theatre in Havana. A year ago part of the roof fell in through the accumulation of rain on its flat It is being surface, and the place is now in ruins. doors are the and barricaded. rebuilt, They forced of the and one doors entered the artists' dressopen ing-room. The preliminaries were brief. The keenpointed blades were drawn, and the duel began.
of the city, just off the Prado.

Palacios,

being

the

more

skilled

swordsman and

confident of victory, attacked the other in a fury, and from the first forced the fighting. Soler, cool and
defensive.

wary, and knowing, his man, acted wholly .on the His failure to end the matter as briefly as
to exasperate Palacios.

he had expected seemed

He

was met with a firm defence. Not a word was spoken nor a sound heard, save the .rush of the rain without and the
pressed his adversary desperately, but
dish-clash of
efforts.

the steel. Palacios redoubled his parry on Soler's part knocked his adveraside.

A swift, straight thrust the other could rebefore followed instantaneously cover his guard, and through the left side of the
sary's

weapon wide

the vessels in

throat entered the sharp-pointed blade, severing all its passage and issuing clean out at the
fell

other side. It was all over. Palacios past the care of doctor or priest.

to the floor,

The mode among

the Japanese

may be

illustrated

by the following example: Two officers belonging to the Emperor's staff met upon the imperial staircase; their swords happened to entangle, and words arose.

INDIANS, MEXICANS, CUBANS, JAPANESE.

29

Said one to the other, coolly, " It is only an accident, and at best it is only a quarrel between the two swords." "We shall see about that," cried the* other, excitedly; and with these words he drew his weapon and plunged it into his breast. The other, impatient to obtain the same advantage, hurried away upon some errand of service which he was slowly performing, and instantly returned to his antagonist, who was
already at the point of death.

On

inquiring

if

he

and being informed of the fact, he also plunged his sword into his own body, exclaiming, " You should not have had the start of me if you had

was

still alive,

not found

me engaged

in the service of the Prince.

die contented, however, since I have had the glory of convincing you that my sword is as good as yours."

ISO

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

VII.

VARIOUS MODES OF FIGHTING.

Fatal Encounter between Count de Luz and Paris

Duke de Guise near Desperate Fight in Arkansas Colonel Jonah Barrington's Duel with Gilbert in Ireland Duelling in the Air ArtilScenes before Richmond, Corinth, Charleston, and lery Duels Atlanta Spectacular Duels at Sea The Kearsarge and Alabama Bon Homme Richard and Serapis Huascar and Esmeralda

Miscellaneous

Modes

of

Combat

Tournaments

and

Jousts

Duels of Fiction and of the Stage.

DUELLING on horseback was not an uncommon and of combat two or three centuries ago especially in Ireland, where there still exist fields " (with the old post-holes) upon which real old Irish

mode

gentlemen" have fought many furious battles upon

mode of hostilities, says Harrington, that should gallop past each combatants provided other at a distance marked out by posts, which
chargers. "

This

prevented a nearer approach. They were at liberty to fire at each other at any time from the commencement to the end of their course, but they were compelled to do so at a hard gallop, their weapons having been previously charged alike with a certain number of balls, slugs, or whatever was most conven-

agreed upon. The posts were usually placed or nine yards apart, being the nearest points eight from which the combatants might fire. If neither
ient, as

VARIOUS MODES OF FIGHTING.

13 1

party were hit during one course tne comoatants proceeded to a second and if it was decided to continue the fight after the pistols were discharged, they
;

then either finished with broadswords on horseback or with smallswords on foot."

During the reign of Ferdinand and Isabella, Don Pedro Velasco and Ponce de Leon fought a fatal duel on horseback on a narrow causeway near Madrid, and the former was run through the body with a silver-pointed spear. In 1589 the young Count de Luz, whose father had been killed in a duel by the Duke de Guise, challenged the Duke, and the two noblemen met on horseback near Paris, the Count mounted on a white palfry and De Guise on a black The combat was of a fierce character, and stallion. was concluded by the Duke seizing the sword arm of the Count, forcing it backwards and plunging his own sword clear to its hilt through the neck of his antagonist, who fell from his saddle dead. In 1603
Sir

Mathew Brown,
Sir
first

of

Beachwood

and
the

John Townshend, a distinguished

Castle (England), member of

parliament of James L, met at Hounslow and Heath, fought a desperate battle on horseback, which each inflicted upon the other mortal during wounds, Sir Mathew expiring upon the field and his antagonist dying as he was being conveyed to his home. Two young men (cousins), named Austin Guthrie and Franklin Meyers, near Black Creek (Arkansas), who were rivals for the affections of a young lady of the same town, early in the month of August, 1883, at first quarrelled and then proceeded In a short time afterward they met on to blows.
horseback, according to agreement, to fight it out and as soon as they closed they drew their knives
;

132

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and commenced a contest which lasted ten or twelve minutes, at the end of which time each had been Both were horribly cut about the head fatally hurt. and body, Meyers' left arm having been nearly The combatants evidently fainted, and severed. then fell from their horses and, although conscious when found, soon afterward expired. One of the most interesting duels of this character was that fought by Colonel Jonah Barrington and a Mr. Gil;

(Ireland), in 1759, the story of told felicitously by Sir Jonah Barrington (a of Mr. Gilbert's grandson antagonist), as follows
bert, at

Maryborough

which

is

grandfather and Mr. Gilbert had an irreconcilable grudge I forget the cause, but I believe it was a very silly one. It increased, however, every day, and the relatives of

My

both parties found it must inevitably end in a combat, which, were it postponed till the sons of each grew up, might be enlarged, perhaps, from an individual into a reguIt was therefore thought better lar family engagement. that the business should be ended at once; and it was

decided that they should fight on horseback, on the green of Maryborough; that the ground should be one hundred yards of race, and eight of distance the weapons of each, two holster-pistols, a broad-bladed but not very long sword (I have often seen my grandfather's) with basket-handle, and a skeen, or long, broad-bladed dagger the pistols to be charged with one ball and swandrops. The entire country, for miles around, attended to see the combat, which had been six months settled and publicly announced, and the county trumpeter, who attended the judges at the assizes, was on the ground. My grandfather's second was a Mr.
;
;

Lewis Moore, of Cremorgan, whom I well recollect Gilwas one of his own name and family a captain of cavalry. All due preliminaries being arranged, the country collected and placed as at a horse-race, and the ground kept free by the gamekeepers and huntsmen mounted, the com;

bert's

rA RIO us MODES OF FIGHTING.

133

batants started, and galloped toward each other. Both fired before they reached the nearest spot, and missed. The second course was not so lucky. My grandfather received many of Gilbert's shot full in his face; the swandrops penetrated

no deeper than

his

temple and cheek bones

;

the

large bullet fortunately passed him.

The wounds not being

and the dangerous, only enraged old Jonah Harrington other being equally willing to continue the conflict, a fierce but I should think they did battle, hand to hand, ensued not close too nearly, or how could they have escaped with life? My grandfather got three cuts, which he used to exhibit with great glee one on the thick of the right arm, a second on his bridle-arm, and a third on the inside of the
;
;

His hat, which he kept to the day of his death, left hand. was also sliced in several places but both had iron scullcaps under their hats, which probably saved their brains from remaining upon the green of Maryborough. Gilbert had received two pokes from my grandfather on his thigh and his side, but neither dangerous. I fancy he had the best of the battle, being as strong as, and less irritable than, my grandfather, who, I suspect, grew toward the last a little ticklish on the subject for he rushed headlong at Gilbert, and instead of striking at his person, thrust his broadsword
;

body as often as he could, until the beast with his rider underneath him my grandfather dropped then leaped off his horse, threw away his sword, and putting his skeen, or broad dagger, to the throat of Gilbert, told him to ask his life or die, as he must do either one or the other in half a minute. Gilbert said he would ask his life only upon the terms that, without apology or conversation, they should shake hands heartily and be future friends and companions, and not leave the youths of two old families to revenge their quarrel by slaughtering each other. These terms being quite agreeable to my grandfather, as they breathed good sense, intrepidity, and good heart, he acquiesced and from that time they were the most intimately attached and joyous friends and companions of the county
into the horse's
; ;

they resided

in.

134

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

There have been quite a number of duels fought in all but one, however (that between M. de Grandpre and M. de Pique, near Paris, May 3, 1808, in which the latter was killed), so far as our informathe air
of reconnoissances by a description of which is premilitary aeronauts, sented in Cassell's " Illustrated History of the

tion goes, having

grown out

Franco-German War," as follows

Few balloon voyages can compare, for exciting and perilous incidents, with one which was performed at the time of the siege of Paris, by the well-known M. Nadar. That gentleman left Tours for Paris with government dispatches at At eleven he was within view of the six in the morning. capital, and, while floating about three thousand metres above Fort Charenton, a second balloon was observed on the horizon. M. Nadar at once displayed the French flag, and the other responded by exhibiting the same colors. Gradually the two balloons approached one another, being drawn
in the same direction by the same current of air. When they were separated by only a short distance, several explosions were heard. The strange aeronaut continued to fire shots at M. Nadar's balloon, the Intrepide, which began to descend rapidly. The French flag had by this time been taken in by the other balloon, and the Prussian colors were exhibited instead. Those who were watching the affair from the French below, and who now saw the character and object of the pursuer, cried out that Nadar was lost. But He had scrambled from the car up they were mistaken. the network of the balloon, on the first shot from the enemy, apparently to stop a hole made in the tissue and he now descended as the balloon righted itself, and, on a quan;

tity of ballast

being thrown out, again rose high into the air. Shots were then fired in rapid succession from the Intrepide into the Prussian balloon, which suddenly sank to the earth with headlong rapidity. On reaching the ground a detachment of Uhlans, who had watched the combat from the

VARIOUS MODES OF FIGHTING.

plain,

135

picked up the fallen aeronaut, and rode off to the Prussian outposts. M. Nadar then descended in safety at

Charenton.

What may properly be termed artillery duels (on land and on sea) are inevitable occurrences, nowaThe engagement days, during the progress of wars. of the Federal war vessel Kearsarge (Captain Winslow), and the Confederate war steamer Alabama
(Admiral Semmes), off Cherbourg (France), June 19, 1864, may be referred to, perhaps, as one of the most brilliant and magnificent naval duels between wooden vessels of the present age, both as regards preparation for and performance during action; while a no less conspicuous and much more important

was the "hostile meeting" in Hampton Roads March 9, 1862, of the little Ericsson Monitor (Captain Worden) and the formidable Confederate ram Merrimack (Captain Buchanan), just a short time after the latter had destroyed the Federal war-vessels Congress and Cumberland. Undoubtedly the most desperate and bloody encounter which can be referred to was that during the American Revolution between the Bonhomme Richard (Paul Jones, of the U. S. Navy), and the Serapis (Captain Pearson, of
"affair"
(Virginia),

the British Fleet), a part of the engagement being " yard-arm to yard-arm." This was a naval duel in

every sense of the word. In this connection may be mentioned the fact that Stephen Decatur, U. S. N.,
challenged Sir
of the British Navy, meet the United States and Macedonian with the frigates Endymion and Statira, which Hardy declined, although that officer, in turn,

Thomas Hardy,
of 1812, to

during the

war

proposed to fight the Macedonian with the

Statira,

which proposal, however, was not acceptable

to the

136

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The most notable as well as the most desperate affair between ironclads was the fight in 1879 between the Peruvian Htiascar and the Chilian Admiral Cochrane, during which the former was whipped and captured. Previous to this engagement the Huascar (Don Miguel Grau) had met and sunk the Chilian Esmeralda (a wooden vessel commanded by Don Arturo Pratt) in an encounter off
gallant Decatur.

Iquique

(Chili),

May

21,

1879

the

particulars

of

which have been glowingly described by a number of English and Spanish writers. During the civil war in the United States, artillery duels were very frequent between Federal and Confederate batteries conspicuously so in Charleston harbor and near Vicksburg; and also in front of Atlanta, Richmond, and Corinth, and at many other strategic points in our country made historic during four years of war by episodes and achievements too numerous to

From the time of the Battle of Shiloh (April 6 and 7, 1862, to the night of the evacuation of Corinth (April 30, 1862), and from the date of the Battle of Peach-tree Creek (July 20,
chronicle here.
1864), in front of Atlanta, to the Battle of Jonesboro'
31, 1864), the writer saw many artillery duels in which two or more batteries would engage

(August

each other at a distance of- a mile or more apart sometimes for several hours, when otherwise it would be
as quiet in

camp nearly as upon a Sabbath in some of the most orderly New England villages. There are many other modes of combat which may
be incidentally mentioned, but which hardly come under the head of duelling, however: In Persia men meet in mortal combat armed with maces, and batter away at each other until one or the other is van-

VARIOUS MODES OF FIGHTING.

137

The

quished. Zulus meet in mortal combat with assegais. natives of Patagonia fight each other with slings,

carrying round stones generally weighing a pound each, which they hurl with tremendous force and with

remarkable accuracy. Prize-fighting, or boxing, originated among the Romans, and combatants often met each other wearing gloves loaded with metal, and
In Tuscany, generally with fatal consequences. and Florence, Sienna, Vicenza, Pisa, Leghorn, up to a late day, certain classes met either with armed or un-

armed

fists

to settle their disturbances.

early part of the eighteenth century one

During the Figg taught

cudgelling and pugilism in London; and Broughton, who succeeded Figg, educated men for the prize-ring, and is known to-day throughout England as the father of the English school of boxing.
"

Pfcrring"

Wales,

among

(shin-kicking), which originated in practised a good deal at the present day the coal-miners of Pennsylvania. A Philadelis

phia correspondent of the New York Sttnday Mercury presented to that paper an extended account of a "purr" which took place at Port Richmond (Penn.), in January, 1883, from which is taken a description of
the
first

two rounds:

At two o'clock the men appeared, wearing Lancashire shoes toed with copper, having submitted their feet for inspection to show that there were no protruding nails, and
James gave the word to purr. Grabby advanced cautiously, and appeared to forget about the shoulder-straps until his second reminded him of it. He took hold with apparent unwillingness, and then began the most brutal and savage contest that two men could engage in. For fully five minutes they sparred with their feet in a manner that was simBlows were countered and returned with the ply wonderful.

13$

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

skill

same
fists.

and rapidity as shown by men fighting with their

in that

Not once

time did either

man more

than touch

his opponent's skin. Then McTevish, taking a firmer hold on his opponent's collar, lifted his left foot and, after keep-

ing it poised for a moment, make a straight toe kick for his opponent's right knee. Grabby deftly avoided the blow by spraddling his legs far apart, and with almost inconceivable

quickness brought his left foot around and caught McTevish on the outside of the right calf. The flesh was laid open almost to the bone, and the blood spurted out in streams.

McTevish never uttered a word. At the same instant that own leg was cut he gave Grabby what is known as a sole scrape. Beginning at the instep and ending just below the knee-pan, Grabby 's left shin was scraped almost clear of skin. Both men were evidently in pain, and angry. They kicked and countered a dozen times again without doing any damage. Then Grabby, by some mishap, lost his hold on his
his

opponent's shoulder-strap. In attempting to grasp it again he lifted his eyes for a moment, and before he could ^cover himself the calves of both his legs were laid open by a
double-foot kick.
In return for this he succeeded in deliver-

ing a terrific kick on McTevish's knee, causing him to drop to the ground like a log, pulling the other kicker on top of

him. The seconds rushed forward and separated the men and took them to their corners to bind up their wounds. The first go or round occupied sixteen minutes. When the call of purr came again the purrers hobbled to the centre and took another hold. They were, indeed, a pitiable-looking McTevish's legs, although bound up in plaster, were pair. bleeding freely, and the exposed places looked like beefsteak. His opponent's shins had been both scraped clean of the flesh, and the blood was oozing out from between the Without any preliminary sparring Grabby strips of plaster. made a vicious straight kick at his opponent's lame knee, bringing him to grass again before he had time to think.

The

"

forehead fight," a brutal combat inherited

still

from the old Turks,

survives in

some

districts

VARIOUS MODES OF FIGHTING.

139

among the Tartars of the Crimea. A duel of this savage kind, says some writer, took place a short time ago in a Crimean village. The report of it is given by a physician who was called to attend the defeated combatant. The two foes take their stand at measured distance from each other, with their heads bent forward; then at a given signal they rush at one another, butting forehead against forehead, like two goats. The remainder of the duel is fought neither blows nor kicks are the with forehead; wholly
permitted, as the man who uses any weapon except In the recent duel blood his forehead is disgraced. streamed from the forehead of both the semi-savages;
nevertheless, they continued butting at each other with ferocious passion, until at length one of them

gathered up all his from his girdle, and with one determined stroke he cut a wide gash
fell

exhausted to the earth.

He

remaining strength to
across his throat.
of suicide

draw

his knife

The physician

states that the act

on the part of the beaten man is to be reas a direct consequence of the injury done by garded
the fearful concussion of the brain. The forehead fight (or butting) is largely practiced by low negroes in America and England, while the

higher grade of colored persons settle their differences with the razor. Negro barbers, coachmen, servants, waiters, traders, restaurant-keepers, stevedores, dandies

and sports throughout the United States carry the razor as an implement of warfare, just as many white men carry the pistol or knife.

The Chicago News

lately

had an interview with a

negro policeman touching the razor as a weapon, thus: The razor is becoming an obsolete weapon among the black people on the levee, said a colored officer of the Harrison

I4O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The young bloods have mostly de-

Street police station.

parted from the traditions of the plantation, and now if one " of them wants to get even" with anybody he generally provides himself with a revolver. Of course it doesn't follow
that he attempts to
carries
it
it

it

around

in his

do any shooting. Frequently he merely pocket and brags about it, and shows
After a few days he pawns

to his friends in the saloons.

or gets arrested for carrying a concealed weapon. No, the old days of carving cutlets out of a man with a razor have nearly gone by. Two or three times a year, maybe, some
particularly vicious black man slices somebody with a dozen gashes each a foot long, but that sort of thing isn't considered good form nowadays. How did colored people come to adopt the razor as a weapon ? Well, the slaves on the plan-

tations were generally not allowed to own guns or pistols. It was against the law for any one to sell them ammunition.

Many of them could get razors easily. They got accustomed to carrying razors, and many of those who moved north, after the war, brought razors in their pockets, sleeves, or
stowed away

become a

in the legs of their boots. To carry razors had sort of a tradition with the bloodthirsty ones.

How is an attack made with a razor? Rough-and-tumble, any way to get there. If the man who is attacked doesn't turn and run, he gets slashed in the face and arms, or both. If he tries to run away he is likely to get a rake in the back which will lay open the flesh so wide that the surgeon can look through the man's ribs into his interior like a small boy peeping through the pickets of an orchard fence. A razor is a terrible weapon. I would rather face a revolver than one
of

them any

day.

A late number of the Sioux City Journal presents the following description of a duel without arms:
One
of the

most remarkable

fights

on record occurred

re-

cently between Loveland and Honey Creek, two small stations between Missouri Valley and Council Bluffs, on the

Chicago and Northwestern Railroad. Duggan Points and Will Moss engaged in a mortal combat over the rival claims

VARIOUS MODES OF FIGHTING.

to a

141

woman.

Points was killed, and Moss

is

supposed to be

mortally injured. The fight was without arms, and in the presence of a large number of spectators, who permitted the fearful contest to go on until it terminated in the death of

one of the combatants. The particulars of the brutal affair were not fully learned by the parties who brought the news to this city from Missouri Valley. As far as could be ascertained,
it

appears that about a year ago a young

Craig, living between Loveland

woman

and Honey Creek, was the sweetheart and promised bride of William
Sallie

named

Moss, a young farmer who resided in Loveland. In a few it was agreed that they should be married. Before the wedding day arrived, however, trouble arose between the lovers over the somewhat too attentive presence of Duggan Points, also a young farmer, who resided near Honey Creek.

months

girl met again and partially made up their This enraged Points, who had come to regard her as his own, and he sought to pick a quarrel with Moss and in some way get an excuse for putting his hated rival out of the way. The men met on two occasions during the past three months, and each time had a quarrel, and would have fought, but were prevented from doing much damage by the circumstances and parties who separated them. At a dance about ten days ago the rivals again met and came to blows. They were again separated, and the girl was appealed to to determine the question by choosing the one she liked best. She was unwilling to do so, but said she would go with the one who proved himself to be the best man. It was accordingly agreed that a time and place should be fixed, and there the men should fight it out, the one who was

Moss and the was thereafter lover and the

girl

for a time her beau.

quarrelled and separated, and his rival Subsequently the first

differences.

whipped to forever relinquish

cause of the trouble.

all

claims to the hand of the

this

The dispute by

time had been so

widely talked of by the people of both Loveland and Honey Creek that a natural jealousy between the two places easily

caused the citizens of each to take sides.

fight

was agreed upon as

half

The place of the way between the respective

142
residents.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

seconded Moss, and fight was not to be conducted according to any specified rules, but in the most approved rough-and-tumble style. About sixty people were on the ground, among whom was the girl over whom the contest was caused, to witness the brutal affair. The seconds stood with cocked revolvers in hand and warned no one to
Points' brother acted as his second.

A man

from

Loveland

The

interfere.

The men commenced

fighting fiercely.

They

used fists, heels and teeth; and in clinching and tumbling about rolled over a large area of ground. The fight lasted fifty-five minutes, and throughout was one of the most brutal It was brought to a fatal conclusion by Points' character. strength entirely giving way, and then Moss, with the last
efforts of his madness, stamped upon his prostrate foe and crushed in his breast and kicked in his head. The spectators at this overpowered the seconds and dragged the men Points was dying when picked up, and expired soon apart. afterward. Moss had been severely bitten by his antagonist, having had two fingers, an ear, and his nose taken off, and was in a deplorable condition from other injuries.

Tournaments

(or

mock

duels)

seem

to

have

origi-

nated in Germany during the year 819, and were first introduced to dramatically commemorate important royal or military events, but soon degenerated to such

and

an extent that they were rigidly prohibited by Church State. From noo to 1605 the tournament among the French was most popular, although it commenced to decline after the death of Henry II., in 1559. This

monarch, who excelled in every exercise of chivalry, was peculiarly fond of tournaments, and gave a splendid succession of them at Paris on the marriage of his daughter to Philip II., King of Spain. The lists extended from the Palace of Tournelles to the Bastile, across the street of St. Antoine. During the first two lances several with lords of his the broke days king

VARIOUS MODES OF FIGHTING.

court, in ail of

143

which he showed extraordinary vigor and address. On the third day of the tournaments (June 30, 1559), towards the close of the evening, and before the conclusion, Henry betrayed a great inclination to try his prowess against the Count de Montgomeri, Captain of his Life Guards, who had formerly wounded Francis I., and was distinguished for his superior address and tact in combats of this character above any nobleman in the kingdom. Catherine de Medicis entreated the king not to reenter the lists, but he resisted her solicitations, saying that he would break one lance more in her honor.

Montgomeri accepted the challenge with great reluctance; Henry, however, commanded him to obey, and
even fought with his vizor raised; but authors are not quite agreed whether it was raised intentionally
or flew open by a blow from Montgomeri's lance in an encounter which was so violent that the count's lance broke against the king's helmet. The former then fought with the stump which remained in his hand, and with it had the misfortune to strike the king so violent a blow under the eye as threw him to the ground, and deprived him instantly of both speech and understanding, though he lived eleven days afterward. This sad circumstance occasioned the decline of tournaments in France, while the wounding of Francis de Bassompierre by the Duke of Guise, in 1605, brought about its total suppression. Tournaments were introduced into England during the reign of Stephen, in 1135, and were very popular among English and Scotch noblemen for several hundred years, during which time many illustrious persons
lost their lives.
in 1600.

was finally suppressed in England Tournaments were very popular in the States
It

144

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and South Carolina as late as never were but maintained with that reckless1851, ness and chivalric display which characterized their existence in European countries. Quite a number of tournaments were given at Santa Monica (Cal.), in
of Maryland, Virginia,

1874-5, similar to those given in Maryland and VirJousts differ from ginia twenty-five years before. tournaments not essentially, except that the latter

were always understood to be friendly engagements, mock duels, while the former were generally hostile encounters by mounted lancers, intent on inflicting serious or mortal wounds. We cannot dismiss this portion of our subject without referring to the duels of fiction and of the stage
or
of which, however, are not purely fictitious, being founded on historical incidents and anecdotes.

many

There is nothing more exciting or delightful in the whole catalogue of Thespian entertainments than a " blood-and-thunder" broadstage duel; from the " sword combat in the French Spy," which so enlivens
the "gods," to the artistic encounter with foils in the " Corsican Brothers," which never fails to entrance even the most genteel theatre-goers. Shakespeare, the
greatest of all dramatic writers, presents
of mortal

many

scenes

combats

in his plays;
little

eye

we can now

see the
pit

and in our mind's sleepy atom of humanity

in the old

Bowery

tired to death, nearly, of the

long speeches in Richard III. entreating the more robust urchin at his side to "Wake me up when Kirby Bulwer's " Claude Melnotte" makes neat but dies."
short and entertaining work of the suspecting " Colonel Damas," while Ned Adams' duel in the "Dead

Heart" was simply matchless, and was worth sitting "Led Astray," "Cathe whole play through to see.

VARIOUS MODES OF FIGHTING.

milla's
all

14$

Husband,"

"

" Frou-Frou," and Les Horaces"

contain splendid duelling scenes; and those who have witnessed Forrest, Booth, Murdoch, Scott, Perry,

Eddy, McDonough, Adams, Sullivan, Kean, Davenor even Barrett, Keene, or port, Wheatley, Fechter in Shakespearean and other stage duels, McCullough have received impressions which will forever remain upon their minds. Descriptions and engravings of
duels in fictitious works, while they are not, of course, so exciting or so impressive as stage encounters, are
generally very delightful reading, and are seldom " skipped." And it is a noteworthy fact that there

who have not embellished their productions with scenes of mortal combat, of a character purely imaginary or otherwise conspicuously, Sue, "Sand," " Ouida," Dumas,
are but few authors of fiction of note

Miihlbach,

Bulwer, Marryatt,

Scott, Lever, Irving, Cooper, James,

Thackeray, D'Israeli, and many other

charming romancers. " Comedy and Tragedy," the new play which W.
S.

tially

Gilbert has written for Miss Anderson, is essena one-part piece, and is founded on a story
for Routledge's Christmas

which Mr. Gilbert wrote Annual for the year 1869.

The heroine

is Celine,

wife

of Phillip de Quillac, an actor of the Theatre Francais, in the year 1745. Celine was an actress, and captivated the Due de Richelieu, who tries to have her abducted,

but

fails.

The main

incidents

of the

drama turn

upon a duel scene. Her husband and Richelieu are fighting in the garden while she is entertaining a number of friends with specimens of her powers as an
actress.

of swords

She imitates "comedy" while the clashing is heard in the garden, and suddenly becomes alarmed, fearing that her husband will be

146
killed.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

She pleads to them to save her husband. They think she is playing tragedy and applaud her, and the more earnestly and terribly she begs of them to save her husband, the more they applaud her "acting" of tragedy, as they think it is. At last one of
the

company

sees that she

is in

door to go to the scene of the

that the

earnest and opens the fight, when her husto the death.

band stands before her uninjured, and informs her

Due

de Richelieu

is

wounded

CLERGYMEN AND WOMEN.

147

CHAPTER

VIII.

CLERGYMEN AND WOMEN.

English Clergymen A Buccaneer Parson and his Duel Atti" tudes of Other Holy Men" A Brilliant but Unfortunate Preacher Duelling among Women Desperate Duel between
the Countess of Polignac

and Lady de Nesle

at Versailles

Two Ladies of Quality Women Heroism of

Heroic Agnes Hotot Brother and Sister Men and

Other Affairs among the Countess de St. Belmont The Youthful Affairs White and Black
Fight at Paris

Women.

To

those

who have

never heard of such a thing,

the statement that ministers of the Gospel have indulged in the polite luxury of killing their fellow-

beings in duels will cause surprise. But such is the case; and, as late as 1799, the Reverend Henry Bate,

an Episcopal minister, had fought and killed three

men
tion

died in 1824, holding a high posiA description of Ely Cathedral, England. this man's life shows him to have been a brilliant but
in duels.

He

in

He was a dead profligate fellow, although a parson. " " shot, but was winged at last by Captain Stoney Robinson, who was also dangerously wounded by
of the trouble.

the unclerical parson a lady having been the cause In 1815 the Reverend Mr. Bate (or

Dudley as he had taken the name of Dudley in Two of his wrangles 1784) was made a baronet. and duels were over actresses and another on account of articles he had written besmirching the

148

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

character of the Countess of Strathmore. In 1782 an Episcopal minister named Bennett Allen challenged

and

killed

Marylander
place in

The duel took

named Lloyd Dulany. Hyde Park, London, a short

time before midnight, and was fought with pistols at eight paces. Dulany fell to the ground and raised himself almost like a flash, and then tottered backward and fell into the arms of his second, Henry

Delancy, of Hagerstown (Md.), mortally wounded. The difficulty was caused by the publication of anonymous articles in a London newspaper reflecting upon Dulany and other American loyalists, and a subsequent publication of a card in the same paper calling the writer of the articles a liar, a scoundrel, and a coward. Allen attempted to quit the country the day following the duel, but was arrested, and

manslaughter, and sentenced to six months' imprisonment in Newgate. In 1764 the Reverend Mr. Thomas Hill was challenged by Cornet
convicted of
" Gardner, of the Carabineers," for ungentlemanly con-

duct,

and was

killed at the first shot.

Perhaps one of the most interesting anecdotes of these Christian fighters, who seem, at times, to have altogether forgotten the Sermon on the Mount, is* the one about Doctor Blackburn, who was, in the early part of his life, an active buccaneer in the West Indies for even buccaneers could not do without a And during one of their cruises, as the parson. story goes, the first lieutenant, having a dispute with Blackburn, told him that if it were not for his gown he should treat him in a different manner. "Oho!" " exclaimed the parson, that need be no hindrance ;" and, stripping off the garment, he added: "Now I

am

your man!"

At

this

it

was agreed that they

CLERGYMEN AND WOMEN.

149

should fight on a small island near where their ship lay, and that the one who fell should be rolled into
the sea by the survivor, that it might seem as if, while walking on the cliff, he had lost his footing and tumbled in. The lieutenant fell, to all appear-

ance as

if

shot dead.

Blackburn at once rolled the

prostrate man down the cliff; but, just as they reached the last shelf of the declivity, the lieutenant

recovered sufficiently to cry out, " For God's sake, hold your hand!" "Aha!" said Blackburn, "you called just in time, for in another moment you would

have been

in

the sea."

This same parson and buc;

caneer was afterward

and when Sir

made Archbishop of York Charles Wager heard of the promotion

he said: "What,
to
it

my

old friend Dr. Blackburn created

?

Archbishop of York
before him, for two."

I ought to have been preferred was the elder buccaneer of the

Notwithstanding the many edicts issued by the Catholic Church, Cardinal de Retz once challenged a priest of high birth at the altar. It is said of this
lists

"holy man" that he was one of the most noted duelof the seventeenth century, and was the hero of thirteen hostile meetings, in each of which "there was a lady in the case." Cardinal Norris once accepted a challenge to fight a noted Jesuit named Macedo, in the forest of Boulogne, but the meeting was interfered with by the Pope; and Macedo, it is said, nearly died from grief in consequence. Joachim Murat, afterward King of Naples, and one of the
deadest shots that ever lived, fought his first duel while occupying a high ecclesiastical position as the

Abbe Murat
pretty maiden

the cause
of Toulouse.

of

the

trouble

being a

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The
scenes
writer has no knowledge
of

such duelling

among American clergymen, although he has met "members of the cloth" who carried pistols and were known as excellent shots. He calls to mind a young Kentuckian, of most profligate habits, who preached at St. Athanasius' Church, in Los Angeles (Cal.), in 1868, who could whip out a six-shooter and knock the spots out of the six of diamonds at twenty
yards, or ring the bell at a shooting-gallery with a He was a brilliant rifle twelve times in succession.

young

minister, but a slave to intoxicants; and died from the effects of intemperance shortly after having retired from the rectorship of a church at Elkhart The last words of this gifted minis(Ind.), in 1879.
ter

uttered while at the very threshold of death

are so full of startling pathos, and so painfully illustrative of the course of so many who have looked too

frequently upon the delicious nectar in its blush, that we present it here, trusting that it may not be

without

its

lesson to those

who

are too heedless of

the possible consequences of too

much "drink:"

But now the struggle is over. I can survey the field and measure the losses. The demon tore from around me the robes of my sacred office and sent me out churchless and godless, a very hissing and by-word among men. Afterwards I had business, large and lucrative, and my voice was heard in many courts pleading for mercy, justice and right. But the dust soon gathered on. my books and no footfall I had crossed the threshold of the drunkard's office. money, ample for all necessities, but it took wings and went to feed the coffers of the devils which possessed me. I had a home adorned with all that wealth and the most exquisite taste could do. The devil crossed its threshold and the light faded from its chambers the fire went out from the the holiest of altars, and leading me from its portals, de;

CLERGYMEN AND WOMEN.

151

spair walked forth with me and sorrow and anguish lingered within. I had children beautiful, to me, at least, as a dream of the morning and they had so entwined themselves around their father's heart that no matter where he might wander, ever it came back to them on the wings of a The destroyer took their hands in father's undying love. I had a wife whose charms of mind his and led them away. and person were such that to see her was to remember, and For several years we walked to know her was to love her. the rugged path of life together rejoicing in the sunshine and sorrowing in the shade. The infernal monster would not spare me even this. I had a mother, who for long years had not left her chair, a victim of disease, and her choicest delight was in reflecting that the lesson taught at her knee had taken root in the heart of her youngest born and that he was useful to his fellows and an honor to her who bore him. But the thunderbolt even reached there, and there it did its most cruel work. Other days cured all but this. Ah, me never a word of reproach from her only a tender caress, only a shadow of a great unspoken grief gathered over the dear old face only a trembling hand laid more
!

lovingly upon my head, only a closer clinging to the cross, only a piteous appeal to Heaven if her cup was at last full. And while her boy raged in his wild delirium two thousand

and the mother

miles away, the pitying angels pushed the golden gates ajar, And of the drunkard entered into rest.

thus I stand, a clergyman without a church, a barrister without brief or business, a husband without a wife, a son without a parent, a man with scarcely a friend, a soul without hope all swallowed up in the maelstrom of drink
!

If women, as a general thing, do not countenance and have never countenanced, modern duelling, and are naturally averse to all systems of individual combats for varied and sometimes heroic reasons still

they have their womanly sympathies at play, either upon one side or the other, in all encounters and con-

152
troversies
trivial or

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

where they may be
interested,

however

majestic the difficulty or its cause. During the existence of judicial duelling in European countries, ladies

of rank were always to be found

among

the respectable spectators, and there have been instances of the presence of women upon hostile fields
since the prohibition of judicial duels, particularly in There are also records of hostile Italy and France.

encounters between women conspicuous among which was the duel with pistols between Lady de Nesle and the Countess of Polignac in 1721, in the gardens of Versailles (France). The ladies had indulged in a most disgraceful quarrel two evenings
before at a grand fete at the Palace, over the Due de Richelieu that wondrous character in the history of

during which Lady de Nesle, losing all conhad sprung like a tigress upon her rival, and attempted to tear a diamond necklace from the Countess's neck. Failing in this, however, she snatched the blush roses from their nest in the snowy bosom, and flung them in the face of her rival. Up to this time, says some English writer, the Countess of Polignac had kept down by a powerful effort the mighty rage which was inwardly consuming her, but this last indignity destroyed even outward calmness; and, casting aside all further reserve, she attacked Lady de Nesle in the same way she herself had been

France

trol

of herself,

assaulted.

In a

moment

bons and kices strewed the

jewels and flowers and ribfloor, and there is no tell-

ing to what extent the extraordinary exhibition would

have gone had not the enraged amazons been separated by the Marquis de Malbuisson and Mademoiselle Nathalie de Condacet. Out of this grew the of the Countess duel, Polignac being the challenging

CLERGYMEN AND WOMEN.

party.
1721,

153

met at six in the morning, in July, one shot at each other without effect. Their seconds (the Marquis de Malbuisson and the Comte de Penthievre for Polignac and M. de Remusac and Vicomte D'Allagne for de Nesle) then rushed in
ladies

The

and

fired

to prevent further hostilities; the fair demons, however, would not be appeased, but called for a change

of pistols, and again blazed away this second time with satisfactory effect, for the Marchioness fell dan-

gerously wounded by a bullet in her left side, while the Countess was just quietly touched in an ear. A duel took place at Paris, January 31, 1772, between Mademoiselle de Guignes and Mademoiselle
d'Aiguillon (two ladies of quality), who had quarrelled about precedency at a soiree, and retired to a

garden adjacent to the scene of disturbance, and fought with knives until both were wounded the former in the arm and the latter in the neck. It is recorded of Mademoiselle Moussin, a French prima

woods near

donna, that, after killing three men in duels in the Paris, by sword, she fatally wounded her
fencing-master, Serane, and fled to Brussels, where she domiciled with the Elector of Bavaria for a brief
period.
tol

Lola Montez was also

skilful

with both

pis-

rapier, but it does not appear that she ever engaged in anything of a hostile character above the

and

She once challenged a jourGrass Valley, Cal., to meet her with pistols according to prevailing rules governing such meetings and, upon his refusal to do so, thrashed him with a cowhide upon a public street. In 1845 she was a witness in the trial of Mons. Bouvallon for killing Mons. Dujarier, at Paris, and said, in her testi" I was a better shot than Dujarier; and, if mony:
dignity of a street fight.
nalist at
;

154

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Bouvallon only wanted satisfaction, I would have fought him myself." Dujarier was the friend of Lola Montez, and in his will written the evening before his death he bequeathed the (afterwards) Countess of Lansfeldt one hundred thousand francs. On the 2ist of August, 1777, Mademoiselle Leverrier (a young lady of good family), who had been jilted by a navy
officer

Paris,

named Duprez, met the latter in and handed him a pistol and

the street in
told

him

to

defend himself; at the same time she drew a weapon and shot her false one in the face, while he discharged An extract from a Georgia his pistol in the air.
newspaper, published
in 1817, says:

Last week a point of honor was decided between two ladies near the South Carolina line, the cause of the quarrel being the usual one love. The object of the rival affections of these fair champions was present on the field as the mutual

the dreadful combat, and he had the grief of beholding one of the suitors for his favor fall dangerously
arbiter in

wounded
with
all

before his eyes.

The whole

business was

managed

the decorum and inflexibility usually practised on such occasions, and the conqueror was immediately married
to the innocent second, conformably to the previous conditions of the duel.

A Buffalo (N. Y.) paper of August, 1853, gives an account of an arrest of Catherine Hurley and Jane Hall, "who had met on the toll-bridge on Ohio Street, in the presence of a vast assemblage, to fight a duel with Allen's revolvers." No other accounts of similar performances have come under the observation of the writer.

A very interesting anecdote, however, touching female heroism, may be related of the Countess de St. Belmont When M. de St. Belmont, who defended a
:

CLERGYMEN AND WOMEN.

I$5

feeble fortress against the arms of Louis XIV., was taken prisoner, his intrepid wife, Madame la Comtesse de St. Belmont, who was of a most heroic disposition, still remained upon the estates to take care of them. An officer of cavalry having taken up his quarters there without invitation, Madame de St. Belmont sent him a very civil letter of complaint on his ill-behavior, which he treated with contempt. Piqued at this, she resolved he should give her satisfaction, and sent him a challenge, which she signed " Le Chevalier de St. Belmont." The officer at once accepted the chal-

lenge,

and repaired

to the place appointed.

in

Madame

de Belmont met him dressed

the heroine

immediately drew their disarmed him, when she

:

male attire. They swords, and in a short time

said,

with a

" You gracious smile thought, sir, that you were the Chevalier de St. Belmont, but you were fighting

mistaken

am Madame
and

de

St.

Belmont.

return
to

you your sword,

sir, politely beg you pay proper respect to the request of a lady in future." The heroic woman then took her departure, leaving the vanquished officer covered with shame and con-

fusion.

The most singular combat, says an English writer, by which arms were ever gained, was one which happened in the family of Hotot. The family of Dudley, in Northamptonshire, bears for a crest a woman's her hair dishevelled, and her head, with a helmet throat-latch loose. The occasion of this crest was
;

In the year 1390, Hotot, having a dispute with one Ringsdale, about the title to a piece of land, they agreed to meet on the disputed ground, and decide it by combat. On the day appointed Hotot was laid up with the gout rather than he should
singular.
;

156
suffer
in

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

his honor, or lose his

land, his daughter

Agnes armed herself cap-a-pie, mounted her father's steed, and went to meet Ringsdale at the place apAfter a stubborn fight she dismounted her pointed. adversary, and when he was on the ground she loosened her throat-latch, lifted up her helmet, and
let down her hair upon her shoulders. Agnes afterwards married into the Dudley family and, in honor of her heroic action, her descendants have always
;

used the above-described

spes salutis.

crest,

with the motto, Galosa

Among the youthful "affairs of honor," which have been settled upon the field, are two that deserve mention here That meeting in England, in 1825, by Cooper (a son of the Earl of Shaftesbury) and Wood
:

(a nephew of the Marquis of Londonderry), who first fought with swords, and then with their fists, until Cooper was killed and that affair in Poland, in 1851, between two boys aged respectively thirteen and seventeen, with pistols, in which the former was
;

killed,

fourteen and fifteen, were

quitted.

and the survivor and the two seconds, aged arrested, tried, and ac-

There came pretty near being a modification of the Virginia code during the political campaign of 1883 in that State, and there would have been, one of Senator Masurely, had William Flanagan
hone's
lieutenants
of

proceeded as

promptly

to

an

the cartel of defiance sent him by acceptance the negro whom he had assaulted as he did to knock
said colored

man and

brother

down

for expressions

It has been stated that Senaof political difference. tor Mahone, in launching his readjuster craft, took in

the Senegambian as a social equal

and the point

is

CLERGYMEN AND WOMEN.

57

made, therefore, that the white adherent aforesaid committed political hari-kari by declining to meet the colored F. F. V. on the "ground of race, color, and previous condition of servitude." The New York
Times,

of

August

29,

1883,

discusses
:

this

slightly

mixed
The

affair felicitously,

thus

for the Virginia Legislature,

quarrel between Mr. William Flanagan, a candidate and a chivalrous colored person

whose name

is not yet announced, bids fair to modify the Virginia code of honor. Mr. Flanagan, having knocked the colored man down for differing with him in political opinion,

fight a duel by the aggrieved man and Mr. Flanagan not only refused to fight but appealed to the law for protection. Of course, Mr. Flanagan bases his refusal Jo give the colored man the satisfaction of a gentleman on the ground that the code is silent in regard to colored challenges, and that hence a challenge sent by a colored man can be ignored. But it is always open to a colored man whose challenge to fight is treated with disdain to post his

was challenged to
brother.

enemy, and it is well agreed among Virginia gentlemen that to be posted is worse than death. In case Mr. Flanagan is posted, his only course will be to have a difficulty with his enemy and shoot him on sight. But where is the difference between a difficulty and a duel, and how can a man refuse to fight a duel with an enemy with whom he does not disdain to have a difficulty? If the colored challenger of Mr. Flanagan is arrested, he should at once bring proceedings against Mr. Flanagan under the Civil Rights bill. Mr. Flanagan, in discriminating against his challenger on the ground of color,
has clearly violated the principles of the Civil Rights
bill,

and should be prosecuted to the extent of the law. His conviction would establish the principle that a white man must either accept a colored man's challenge, or abandon duelling altogether a principle that would very soon render
the Virginia duel obsolete.

despatch from Nashville (Tenn.), of March

7,

158

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

1884, gives a description of a fatal duel between a brother and sister, with knives, probably the only event of the kind on record:

Meagre details have reached here of a terrible affair which took place last night at Baker Station, seven miles from here, on the Nashville and Southeastern Railroad. The facts as
far as

learned are that Jack Hirsch, a young

place, for some time.

man
his

living
sister

at

that

had been on bad terms with

Several nights ago the brother and sister got into a quarrel, when Rosa cut Jack quite severely. This affair was quieted down until last night, when they be-

Rosa

came involved in another quarrel, and agreed to fight it out with knives to the death. She had a pocketknife and he a caseknife. They fought in a room of the house where they
Rosa was cut to death. Her brother then took her out and buried her. Hirsch learned that* a neighbor
lived until
of the tragedy, and said to one of his wanted to leave before the officers of the law heard of the deed. He went to the station, purchased a ticket for Texas, and left on the first train that passed. The Hirsch family were formerly of this city, where their father was engaged in business.

named Horton knew

friends that he

A North Carolina vendetta is described in a despatch dated Shelby (N. C.), January 7, 1884:
terrible and fatal knife combat took place about fifteen miles from here this morning. For some years past a vendetta has existed between the Lepaugh and Runyan families,

this

both of which have large connections. Philip Lepaugh was morning driving his wagon to a saw-mill, when Craige Runyan, accompanied by his father and brother, made an attack upon him. They pulled Lepaugh from his wagon and cut and hacked him with bowie-knives, inflicting some terrible wounds. They left him for dead in the road. As they were fleeing, the wounded man's two sons-in-law came up, and he urged them to follow his murderers and avenge his death. They immediately galloped after and overtook the

CLERGYMEN- AND WOMEN.

Runyan party. A desperate hand-to-hand conflict ensued. McSwain and Reuben and Joseph Runyan were soon lying in the road with ghastly wounds. Masters McSwain
G.

and Craige Runyan were the

last two to stand up, and they cut each other literally in shreds. The former, early in the Some farmers conflict, had his left eye cut from the socket.

came up

in

at each other, although they

time to see them grovelling in the road cutting had not strength to stand up.

The following account of a street-duel between a man and a woman was telegraphed from Hanford,
Tulare County, Cal., on October 30, 1883: M. H. Stewart, the man who shot three times
at his sister-

in-law yesterday in Hanford, because he could not extort few money from her, is presumably a very bad man.

weeks ago he was arrested for

firing five shots inside his

sister-in-law's house, but as there was no evidence to prove that he had shot at any one, he was fined $50 and costs and turned loose. Mrs. M. A. Lyle is a widow with one child, a She came to Hanford about six girl about six years old.

weeks ago and opened a millinery and dress-making establishment. She had plenty money, apparently, to pay for all she bought, and to all appearances acted the perfect lady. Stewart came up a few days after, as he claimed, for the purpose of One evening he went to Mrs. Lyle's starting a lumber-yard. house while drunk and noisy. Mrs. Lyle ordered him to leave. This is the night he fired the five shots. When arrested for this he made Constable Beckwith a present of the About pistol, stating that he never would carry another. two weeks ago, being again under the influence of liquor, he used very vile language on referring to Mrs. Lyle, calling her everything but a respectable woman. Some man in the party resented the insult, and pistols were drawn by both, but Stewart was disarmed by bystanders, and the others then quieted down. Yesterday morning Mr. Stewart and a lawyer named Irwin, who, by the way, up to this time was counsel for Mrs. In answer to their knock, Mrs. Lyle, called at her house. Mr. Irwin said; Lyle appeared and asked what was wanted.

l6o
"
I

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

of

demand

you
if

fifteen

hundred

dollars in the

name

of

you don't give it up, I will attach everything you have." Looking up at Stewart, Mrs. Lyle asked, "Is that so?" Stewart nodded "yes," at the same time
going for his pistol, Mrs. Lyle being ready with her pistol about the same time. Who fired the first shot it is difficult to tell. No two agree about it. Mrs. Lyle says she doesn't know who fired first. Stewart put his pistol close to her head and fired, the ball missing her and going through the rear wall of the house, the powder burning her face. Mrs. Lyle put her pistol directly into Stewart's face and pulled
the trigger, but the cartridge would not explode. On pulling the second time her hand was struck down by Irwin, the ball entering the fleshy part of Stewart's leg above the

Mr. Stewart, and

Mrs. Lyle then ran out at the front door and into the Stewart followed, braced himself behind and against one of the awning posts, and deliberately fired two shots at her retreating figure. Mrs. Lyle still had her pistol in her hand. Some one called to her to shoot the old villain, when
knee.
street.

she turned and again levelled her pistol at him. He then down the sidewalk. When opposite Philip & Sweet's store William Camp held a double-barrelled shotgun on him and ordered him to drop his pistol. This he did in
started to run

a hurry,

after

which both parties were arrested.

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

l6l

CHAPTER

IX.

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

Night Combats

The Campbell-Boyd Encounter De Richelieu and De Lixen's Midnight Duel Senator Jackson's Last Affair Lebre and Duprez Aldworth and Buckingham Fatal Midnight Duel in the Snow in New York Desperate Fight Between Byron and Chaworth Henry Grattan and Isaac Corry Fatal
Meetings of British Officers by Candle-light Exciting MoonWhat Came of Expectorating light Encounter in New Mexico on the Boot of a New Yorker in a Southwestern Town Modern Moonlight Methods in Virginia Captain Coote and the Earl of Warwick Garden Fight Between John Wilkes and Lord Talbot The Famous Duels of Richard Brinsley Sheridan and Captain Thomas Mathews.

NIGHT combats have been frequent

also in the United States.

in

Europe, and

a barrister, named London Magazine, Mr. Scott, fought a duel, so-called, The origiat Chalk Farm, and the latter was killed.

In 1821, in London (Eng.), Christie, and the editor of the

nal trouble occurred between Mr. Scott and Mr. Lockhart, the latter-named gentleman at that time editor of BlackwoocTs Magazine ; and, it seems, Scott,

who had been challenged by Lockhart, and who had declined to accept, was called upon by Christie, and the two quarrelled, and subsequently agreed to meet
the

same evening
"

to adjust their difficulties

according
fell

to the

code of honor."

The

fight took place at ten

o'clock,

during the

full

of the

moon, and Scott

62

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

wounded
at

mortally

the

first

fire.

Christie

was

arrested and charged with wilful murder by a coroner's jury, but at the trial, a short time afterward, he

was acquitted.
In 1721, Captain Chickley and Lieutenant Stanley, while disputing in a mess-room in a town near Dublin (Ireland), agreed to fight with small swords in a dark

room the following evening. Stanley was an adroit swordsman, but was run through the body by his antagonist in a few minutes after the commencement
of the fight.

Major Campbell and Captain Boyd,

officers of the

Twenty-first Foot (British army), fought a duel, without seconds, in the parlor of an Irish inn, at Newry, a short time before midnight, in January, 1807. Dur-

challenged his brother but Boyd preferred that the meeting should take place the next day. Campbell then taunted his comrade, and insinuated that he was The result was that displaying the white feather. where left the they were quartered they garrison unaccompanied by friends, and fought as stated Captain Boyd receiving a mortal wound, from which he died in a day or two. Campbell was convicted of murder the i3th of August following, and executed on October 2. His wife, who belonged to a family
ing the
dispute Campbell
officer to fight at once,

of high standing,

made
but, as

a desperate effort to secure

is

royal clemency

Boyd's

last

words were:

"

man

you hurried me

in

known, without success. Campbell, you are a bad a most wanton way, and

have mortally wounded me in a fight of your own making and not according to established rules. I wanted to wait, and have the matter put in the hands of friends, and you would not let me." This terrible

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

arraignment by the dying

163

man was

as effective as the

death-warrant, itself, and carried conviction before indictment. In a letter which Campbell left for publication, he said: "I suffer a violent and ignominious death for the benefit of my countrymen, who, by my

unhappy exit, shall learn to abhor the too prevalent and too fashionable crime of duelling." The writer once met a gentleman who was present at this execution. Campbell was acknowledged to be one of the handsomest and bravest officers of the Twenty-first While of an excitable nature, when British Foot.
angered, it is said of him that he was generally far more amiable and much less disagreeable than Boyd, although they had long been on terms of mutual dislike of each

other.

Mrs. Campbell had

escape, as

The night before the execution managed to perfect methods of

it was pretty generally understood that, no royal mercy could be extended, no paralthough His ticular means of vigilance had been adopted. noble wife, who had planned the escape, reminded him of his heroic conduct in Egypt, of his family name, and of the unheeded recommendation of mercy by the jury which pronounced the fatal words. But he only replied: "The greatest struggle of all is to leave you, my darling but I am still a soldier, and shall meet my fate like a man." And so he refused to further dishonor himself, although the guard was asleep, the doors of the jail were unlocked, and horses and confederates were close at hand. He passed the following morning in prayer, and at the proper time ascended the stairs of the execution room with a firm There stood before him step and without escort. nineteen thousand sympathizing men with heads and among them the Fusileers, with uncovered
;

164

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

whom he had intrepidly charged the enemy upon the burning sands of Egypt. The hum of a single bee might have been heard in that respectful crowd, as " Campbell addressed it. Pray for me," was all the soldier while the diapason of an said; and, poor "Amen" went unbroken impressive up by a single other utterance, or even whisper, the unfortunate man let fall his own cambric handkerchief as a signal that he was "ready," and simultaneously he dropped through the dreadful trap and went off on that uncertain pilgrimage to the

unknown beyond. The notorious Due de Richelieu, of France, who

fought so many successful duels, and who seemed to wield a magician's sword, met the Prince de Lixen whom he had purposely insulted on account of the hatred entertained for the latter by Madame du Rosiere near the trenches of Philipsbourg, in 1719,
at midnight,

during a storm, by the light of torches held by brother officers. As the story goes, De Lixen, who was a General in the French army (and a very

tall man), had had a horse shot from under him during an engagement; and seeing a pony near, jumped upon him and rode into the presence of De Richelieu (who was also a General of that time), who burst into a loud laugh, and exclaimed: "No wonder we lost the day, when we have mountebanks for Behold the horsemanship of the great generals. Prince de Lixen, who keeps his feet close to the ground for fear of falling from his saddle." The Prince heard De Richelieu's voice and laugh, and too well knew what it meant, and the source of its " I' If insult the villain in no uncertain inspiration.

way upon the first opportunity," murmured De Lixen. The next day, De Richelieu, whose command had

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

been the

165

last to retreat from Philipsbourg, came into the presence of Prince de Conti (the commanding officer), with dishevelled hair, powder-stained face,

His rival took this occasion to toilet. of the day preceding, and his threat out quiet carry " It is a matter of much said, sarcastically surprise that the Due de Richelieu should come into the pres-

and deranged

ence of gentlemen with the hair and dress of a mas" I did not retreat so hurriedly from the querader."

some of those officers who appear here in more elaborately prepared, your highness," exclaimed De Richelieu; and then, turning to De Lixen, he continued: "I shall now go and purify myself, Prince, and in an hour you shall hear from me." And so he did, in the shape of a challenge, which was
field

as

toilettes

accepted; after which, arrangements were made and agreed upon that the two gentlemen should meet

each other in the trenches at midnight.

They met
ten

and crossed swords

had minutes the magical flashed through the heart of his twentieth victim, and the survivor, stooping over the dead Prince, said: " Let us carefully bear his noble body with all honor
camp. It is the fortune of war, gentlemen, and may be our turn next." In a short time afterward De
to

at exactly twelve, and in weapon of De Richelieu

Richelieu went to Paris to acquaint his inamorata with the intelligence that he had removed one of her troubles from the world forever. But what was his astonishment to discover that the frail and faithless Madame du Rosiere had fled with an English noble-

man to London. Some few years

ago, Major Ben Perley Poore, then Washington correspondent of the Boston Journal,

66

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

sent that paper the following account of a midnight duel upon an island in the Savannah river:

Among the many bloody duels on record as having been fought by Congressmen was one in which James Jackson, of Georgia, who had been and who was afterward a United States Senator, was the challenged party. He was an Englishman by birth, but he went to Savannah when a lad, studied law, was a leading Freemason, and fought gallantly in the Revolutionary War. He killed Lieutenant-Governor Wells,
1780 in a duel/and was engaged in several other " affairs of honor," until he finally determined to accept a challenge on such terms as would make it his last
of Georgia, in

So, upon his next challenge, which was from Colonel R. Watkins, also of Georgia, he prescribed as the terms that each party, armed with a double-barrelled gun loaded with
duel.

buckshot and with a hunting-knife, should row himself in a designated points on opposite sides of the Savannah When the city clock struck twelve each should row river. his skiff to a small island in the middle of the river, which was wooded and covered with underbrush. On arriving at the island each was to moor his skiff, stand by it for ten minutes, and then go about on the island until the meeting took place. The seconds waited on the main land until after one o'clock, when they heard three gunshots and loud and angry cries. Then all was still. At daylight, as had been agreed upon, the seconds went to the island and found Jackson lying on the ground insensible from the loss of blood, and his antagonist lying across him, dead. Jackson recovered, but would never relate his experience on that He died in Washnight, nor was he ever challenged again. ington city while serving his second term as United States
skiff to

Senator,

March
a

19, 1806.

young gentleman named Benjamin Woodbridge was killed in a duel with swords, late at Boston Common, by Henry night, on
In
1728,

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

Phillips,

l6/

after a

short combat.
his escape

Phillips,

who was
he

not hurt,

made

from the
in

city the next

day, and later died in 1729.

sans,"
tells

turned
in

up

France, where
Historic

Eugene Bonnemere,
the

his

"

des

Pay-

story of

how

peasant,

by the

name

of Lebre,

who

lived in the

south of France,

got more than even with a sergeant of the Royal Guard (which was quartered near Lebre's cabin). It was toward the end of the seventeenth century; and the sergeant, presuming upon his gallantry and manly beauty, and knowing the proverbial weakness of some women for even non-commissioned
officers

of

his

marked attention

profession, took occasion to pay to Lebre's young and pretty wife;

which, while being strictly agreeable to dainty Mrs. L., was highly unsatisfactory to the incensed husband; who, at last, gave Mr. Sergeant Duprez a piece
of proper advice, and was promptly knocked down for his pains. Lebre at once challenged his antagonist,

who

declined

to recognize a

-common peasant

equal; and, shutting Lebre out of his own cottage, took immediate possession of it and its In a day or two, the sergeant quit pretty matron. the place for good, and Lebre returned, sold all his
as
his
effects,

packed the erring

madame

off to

her father's,

enlisted in the army, and was seen no neighborhood for upwards of eight

more

in that

years.

He

fought through two campaigns bravely but without a scratch, and by gradual promotion reached the rank of sergeant. "Aha!" cried Lebre, joyfully, at the end of six years' service, " Sergeant Duprez, Sergeant Lebre
villain,
I shall seek you out, you is your equal and punish you for the wrongs I suffered at
!

68

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

your hands six years ago." Lebre was two years in finding this man. And when he did find him, they were at the point of sitting down at the same dinnertable, with a dozen other officers of about uniform rank. As soon as the repast was over, Lebre arose; and, addressing Duprez, inquired: "Suppose, sir, a man should give you a blow, what would you do?" " I would return it and challenge him to fight," re" Take that, then," exclaimed sponded Duprez. Lebre, dealing his old enemy a tremendous blow, which staggered him considerably; and, then, addressing himself to his other comrades, he recapitulated the story of how Duprez had knocked him down for defending his wife, and thereafter refused to fight him on the ground that he was not Duprez's
equal. fellow's
"

Now, Sergeant Duprez,"

ejaculated

that

turning round and facing his " enemy, you and I are equal. I have returned the blow you gave me eight years ago, and now chalassailant,

lenge you to fight for your life." And as quick as lightning the two sergeants drew their weapons, and Duprez was killed in three minutes, the duel taking
place by candle-light. In 1719, in London (Eng.), Captain William Aidworth, of the army, and Owen Buckingham, member
of

Parliament, met, and dined, and quarrelled, and

fought, all in one evening. It was so dark that they could not see each other, and they were so thoroughly-well intoxicated that it did not make much
difference whether

they did

or did

not see

each

other; but, all the same, there was one less member of Parliament the following morning, for Buckingham was found by some friends shortly after the
fight,

pierced to the heart with his antagonist's ra-

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

pier,

169

and Aldworth near by very drunk and covered

with wounds.
University Place, New York (N. Y.), was the scene of a fatal duel, one cold, snowy night in the winter of 1804, the parties to the combat being William

Coleman, editor of the New York Evening Post (an organ of the Federalists), and Captain Thompson, Harbor-Master of the Port of New York. Thompson, who had made quite an effort to provoke Coleman, remarked freely that he had no fight in him, and that if slapped well on one side of his face, he would only be too happy to present the other side for
similar treatment.

Thompson had used

Coleman, after making sure that the language attributed to him,

challenged the offender, who accepted, designated pistols as weapons, and named eleven o'clock as time of meeting, and at or near University Place the scene Each party had surgeons and seconds, of battle.

and agreed, as

it

was snowing

at the time, to fire at

each other at twelve yards. Both fired the third time, when Thompson was heard to exclaim: "My
it !" and, reeling sideways, fell morinto the snow, and died a short time The after having been conveyed to his residence. dying man made a statement in the presence of a
!

God

have got

tally

wounded

number of friends to the effect that the duel and his death were the consequences of his own quarrelsome character and rashness, and his last words were forgiveness of Coleman, who, he believed, had no intent
to
kill.

In 1765, while dining at the "Star and Garter," Pall Mall, London (Eng.), with a Mr. Chaworth, a

famous

duellist,

William (the

fifth

" Childe great uncle of the author of

Lord) Byron " Harold

170

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

quarrelled with his friend regarding the manner of preserving game, and also concerning the game-laws; and the two retired to an adjoining room and fought

by the

apartment

light of a tallow candle. Byron entered the first; and, as Chaworth was closing the

door, turning his head round, he beheld his antagonist's sword half drawn; and, whipping his own

weapon

out,

he made a quick lunge at his opponent,

and ran his sword through Byron's waistcoat; but, as Chaworth thought, through his body. His lordhis stabbed Chaand, closed, sword, ship shortening worth in the stomach, making a wound fourteen inches deep, from which Mr. C. died the next morning. English accounts have always differed as to which gentleman challenged the other, and also of
proceedings concerning the shocking best authority says that Byron was arrested and tried before his peers in Westminster Hall, and that he read his defence, plead his peerage, and by his privilege escaped burning in the hand. Another account states that he was convicted of manslaughter by a vote of one hundred and twentyfour out of one hundred and thirty-one, and sentenced to the payment of fine and one day's imprisonment. Public opinion frowned upon him ever afterward, and he was pointed at as a murderer even in his self-exile. It is an interesting fact that the poet fell desperately in love with Mary Chaworth,

subsequent
affair.

The

him on

the pretty daughter of his uncle's antagonist, who led to some extent, and then married another.
In 1800, Henry Grattan and Isaac Corry, members of the Irish Parliament, indulged in vehement debate

over the question whether Ireland was to dwindle into a province or retain her name among nations,

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

l?l

during which Corry said that Grattan, instead of enjoying the confidence of his countrymen, should be standing at the criminal bar to answer for treason to which the great Irish orator replied, concluding as follows: "The gentleman has calumniated me tonight in Parliament; he will calumniate me to-morrow in the King's courts; but, had he said, or dared
have insinuated, one half as much elsewhere, the indignant spirit of an honest man would have answered the vile and venal slanderer with a blow."
to

The

although

parties left the house immediately with friends, it was quite dark, and repaired to the near-

ground and fought with pistols at twelve paces, Corry having his left arm shattered at the
est duelling
first

shot.
late

As

as

1853 Captain

Phillips, of

the British

Army,

in garrison at

Bombay

(India), took offence at

Lieutenant Sheppard, of the same garrison, for trivial words, and the two officers indulged in voluminous correspondence, which resulted in a hostile meeting at night by the light of a single candle held by a native domestic in the service of Phillips, who was shot dead at the first fire. Sheppard was court-martialed and dismissed from the army, and afterward
tried

upon the charge

of

murder and convicted

of

manslaughter. Captain Rutherford and Surgeon Cahill, of the British Army officers in the same regiment, on garrison duty in Scotland in 1811, quarrelled over the trivial matter of Cahill carrying a file of London

papers from the mess-room to his quarters, which was, really, contrary to garrison regulations. One word brought on another, when Rutherford, greatly enraged, challenged the surgeon to mortal combat,

172

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

which the latter accepted, and named the same evening and a neighboring quarry as the time and place The principals met for the hostile engagement. promptly at the quarry at the appointed hour, accompanied by seconds, and Rutherford received a mortal wound. The survivor was subsequently tried and
acquitted. In the early part of 1883 there took place a characteristic encounter at Chama (New Mexico), the

which produced much rejoicing among that element of border civilization which is rarely satisfied with one " man for breakfast," thus Charles Reiser and Will Whitson were young men of Chama, and
result of
:

bosom

friends.

held the office

Whitson, who was known as Tex," of Town Marshal and, seeing Keiser
;

"

carrying a pistol in violation of local ordinances,

it his duty, notwithstanding their friendship, disarm him. Keiser resented this, and refused to surrender his pistol thereupon a quarrel ensued, and Tex proposed that they should fight a duel then

deemed
to

It was eleven o'clock at night, but clear. there. Keiser accepted the challenge, and, separating ten In less than paces, they began to fire at each other. a quarter of an hour both were dead. The manner in which they received their injuries was in itself At the first fire Keiser shot Tex through singular. the heart. As Tex stumbled and fell he fired four times in quick succession, and one of the balls passed

and

completely through Keiser's body. ''They were both noble fellows," gently remarked a melancholy ruffian present, as he sent a leaden messenger of salutation through the plug hat of the newest Eng" lish arrival at Chama. them boys have Yes, sir started many a cemetery of their own, and shan't
;

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

want
for a decent funeral
"
;

173
it

so

I'll

take

upon my-

self to

appoint

but the Briton with the narrow-

brimmed nail-keg hat had quietly disappeared. Some years ago, in one of the southwestern States, a "native and to the manner born," named Gamble,
while forming one of a group describing a semi-circle in front of an evening fire at an only town tavern, took occasion to vulgarly expectorate upon the wellpolished boot of a stranger, named Schuyler, who

had just arrived from New York. With the superior blood of the old General in his veins, the insulted man jumped up (as also did Gamble), and, in great anger, asked the fellow if he had purposely spat upon
to which the latter replied that Schuyler his boot had guessed it the first time and, said Gamble, " If you don't like it I'll spit in your face." As quick as lightning Schuyler dealt the funny man a blow, and " " until then the two closed, and rough-and-tumbled the landlord suggested that they go into a dark room and fight it out with knives. " That suits me to death!" shouted Gamble. "All right, sir," replied Schuyler. They were then locked up in a dark room, where they fought with knives and pistols for nearly fifteen minutes, when all of a sudden the fighting ceased and the apartment became quiet. The landlord then opened the door and found the two men prostrate together, Schuyler underneath. Both were covered with blood from head to foot. Gamble was quite dead, and Schuyler was supposed to be dying. The crowd quickly got the latter out into the air, applied restoratives and bandages, and in a few weeks he had fully recovered. The statement
;
;

need hardly be made that thereafter in a certain southwestern town expectoration was discharged in

174
cataracts
all

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

round Schuyler's boots, but never a

upon them. In describing this affair, some afterward, years Schuyler says that he had been pretty well used up by Gamble, but the latter got down upon him to see if he was dead, when he grabbed him and held him in that position with one
sprinkle

hand and with his legs, and with his other hand drove the murderous blade clean into the fellow's
heart.

October 5, 1883, two Virginians settled honor by moonlight, according to a from Fincastle (Va.), of the above date, dispatch which described the circumstances of the meeting and the meeting itself as follows " George Thomas and Algerman Battleheim fought a duel near here
late as

As

an

affair

of

evening in a lonely spot known as Stony Battery. a doubled-barreled shotgun, loaded with heavy shot, and Battleheim with a sixthis

Thomas was armed with

shooter Colt's revolver. Battleheim, up to two weeks ago, had been a constant visitor at Thomas' residence, and rumors had been industriously circulated and that he was in love with his friend's wife
;

watching the couple for several days, ascertained, as he thought, that Battleheim had perfected a plot to entice Mrs. Thomas away. The next morning Thomas' wife was missAfter the first ing, and was not seen for two days. day Battleheim made his appearance, and Thomas

Thomas,

after

carefully

charged him with having enticed his wife away. Battleheim indignantly denied the charge, and said he meant to hold Thomas responsible for his damaging accusation. They parted, and the next day the wife returned to her husband. Battleheim, however,

demanded

satisfaction

of

Thomas, and the

latter

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

7$

agreed to meet him in the evening, without seconds. Their singular choice of weapons was not in strict accordance with the code, but it was held that, while Thomas had only two barrels loaded with shot, they were capable of doing more damage than six barrels loaded with single balls, and so it proved. At the
first fire,

distance thirty paces,

Thomas
;

sent the full

charge of shot into Battleheim's face and the latter fell mortally wounded, after having fired wildly a second time." Most readers of English literature are familiar with the story of the duel between Captain Coote and the
Earl of Warwick. Each principal had two seconds, and the duel was fought at night in Hyde Park in 1699. All the parties were intoxicated at the time, and the six combatants slashed at each other until Coote was killed. Lord Mohun and the Earl of Warwick were arrested and charged with murder, but were
acquitted.

John Wilkes, the famous English politician and writer, fought his first duel after dark in the garden of an inn near London, with Lord Talbot, in 1761.
coronation

seems that Talbot, who was to be present at the of George III., as Lord Steward, had trained his horse to step backward, so that, at the ceremony, the animal should face, with his rider, his Majesty as he retired from Westminster Hall. Unfortunately, however, this particular mode of training had been too severe, and Talbot's horse entered the
It

hall tail

first,

despite every effort

made by

his morti-

fied rider to reverse his position.

This was too good

a thing for the North Briton to let go unnoticed, and Wilkes made the most of it in an amusing way, which led to a correspondence and a duel, as stated.

176

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

After an exchange of shots the parties (and their friends) repaired to the inn, formally made up with each other, ordered edibles and choice wines and

made a night of it. One of the most noted

that
in

duels of this character was

Richard Brinsley Sheridan (poet, dramatist, orator and statesman), upon whom Providence had showered so many gifts, was engaged at an early period of his eventful life. Sheridan, as is well known to many, when about twenty years of age, was peculiarly fond of the society of men and women of taste and learning, and soon gave proofs that he was inferior to none of his companions in wit and argument. At this age he had recourse to his literary talents for pecuniary supplies, and
directed a

which

and

its

literature

good deal of his attention to the drama and it was during this time that
;

he saw and loved Miss Alicia Linley, a " lady no less admirable for the elegant accomplishments of her sex and the affecting simplicity of her conversation than for the charms of her person and the fascinating powers of her voice. She was the principal performer in the oratorios at Drury-Lane Theatre. The strains which she called forth were the happiest Her accents were combinations of nature and art. so melodious and captivating, and their passage to
the heart so sudden and irresistible, that listening
snakes, and stern-eyed Fury's self have melted at the sounds. Her father, Mr. Linley, the eminent composer, was not at first propitious to the young man's passion, and Mr.

Envy would have dropped her

Sheridan had
ance,

many

rivals

to

tempts however, increased with the

to gain the

lady's affection.

overcome in his atHis perseverdifficulties

that

DUELLING IN THE DARK.

1/7

presented themselves, and his courage and resolution were displayed in vindicating Miss Linley's reputation from a calumnious report which had been basely About this time (1772), thrown out against it."
in the fashionable circles of

Captain Thomas Mathews, a gentleman well known Bath (England), and a married man, pursued Miss Linley with dishonorable
distress

of the with her troubles, and soon afterward departed for a convent in France, accompanied by her honorable she married, however, upon friend, with whom

purposes, to the great

lady,

and terror

young

who acquainted Mr. Sheridan

their arrival at

Calais.

Captain Mathews became

actually furious at this state of affairs, and caused a paragraph to be placed in one of the Bath papers,

derogatory to the character of the bride, and was challenged by Charles Francis Sheridan, a brother of Richard, who had also been greatly in love with the sweet singer of Drury-Lane. In a few days Mr. Sheridan returned to London with his bride, and insisted on fighting Mathews himself. He thereupon sent a challenge, which was accepted, and the two rivals met, Mr. Sheridan accompanied by a Mr.
Ewart, and Mathews by Captain Knight. They fought with swords in the parlor of a public house in London by lights held by Charles Sheridan until
authorities,

Mathews was disarmed, and (according to many among them Mr. Sheridan), begged his life. Mr. S. granted his request upon the condition
that he should sign a retraction of the falsehood he had published (which Mathews did), and then started

apology the same newspaper enjoyed by the slanderous paragraph This previously published by Captain Mathews.
for
to give the

Bath

notoriety

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

so incensed the latter that he repaired to Bath and challenged Sheridan, who accepted, and a second fight took place at Kingsdown, four miles from Bath, before daylight, Mr. Sheridan being attended by Mr.

Paumier and Captain Mathews by Mr. Barnett. This was a most ferocious fight. The combatants first discharged their pistols without effect, and then went at each other with swords, which were broken at the first lunge. They then fought with the broken parts, until each received many wounds, Sheridan some

They at last fell to the ground and fought until separated, Mr. Sheridan being borne from the field with a portion of his antagonist's weapon sticking through an ear, his breast-bone touched, his whole body covered with wounds and blood, and his face nearly beaten to a jelly with the hilt of Mathews' sword. After recovering from his returned to London and was Mr. Sheridan injuries, re-married to his wife (in their presence and with the consent of Mr. and Mrs. Linley), Mrs. Sheridan never again appearing as a public performer. Mr. Sheridan was perhaps the most matchlessly-endowed man who ever lived. His magnificent and wonderful genius and brilliant and commanding talent, and unrivalled powers of oratorical excellence, were only a few of his distinguishing traits. Yet he died partly from the effects of enormous excesses and it was only by the firmness and humanity of his physicians that obdurate creditors were prevented from dragging him from his house to a death-bed in jail this in
very dangerous ones.
;

July, 1816.

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

CHAPTER

X.

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

The Famous
nac
Judicial Combat between La Chastaignerie and JarSavage Encounter between Sir Edward Sackville and Lord Bruce The Fatal Meeting of the Duke of Hamilton and Lord Mohun Famous Duel between Lord Camelford and Captain Best An Unfortunate Affair resulting from a Mistaken Sense of Honor The Grey-Egerton Duel Grey demands a Second Shot and receives a Bullet in the Heart Wellington and Winchelsea Two Furious and Fatal French Duels Fatal Combat

with

Billiard-Balis

Punctiliousness

personified

Beaumont

She kissed them both at the Door just as if Nothing unusual had happened What resulted from wringing a Meddlesome Lady's Nose " Je vous demande ma vie" Fatal Meetings of British Officers An Exciting Affair at Madrid Description of Pierre Soule's Duel by a Participant.

and Manuel

IN an incidental way mention has been made of noted duel which took place between Guy Chabot de Jarnac and La Chastaignerie, which was
the

fought on the loth of June, 1547, and was the last combat witnessed in France; for, on the day succeeding the death of the latter, Henry II. issued an edict prohibiting such combats; it having been pretty well demonstrated that Providence generally seemed to be on the side of the most skillful or muscular combatant, and that the ends of justice were often defeated by the inferior swordsmanship of parties known to have been innocent of charges of
judicial

180

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

crimes preferred against them by men of doubtful character, but who were proficient in the use of the implements of the lists. La Chastaignerie was a favorite of the King, and at that time the most excelHe was the lent and expert swordsman in France.
very picture of manly beauty, being tall and well formed, and but twenty-eight years of age. His heart was the heart of a villian, however; and, in order to besmirch the character of Jarnac, who had

been a great favorite with Francis

I.,

he circulated

the detrimental report that his rival had been on terms of criminal intimacy with his mother-in-law. " Jarnac pleaded with Francis to permit him to prethe a resort to serve the right" by judicial combat,

which the King refused

consideration of
the sword.

in

all

probability out of

Chastaignerie's proficiency with Jarnac, however, as soon as Henry became King, renewed his entreaties, which in due time were acceded to, and a day was at last set for the

La

combat.

The

royal family, and great crowds of the

nobility, together with officers of the court and army, were in attendance at St. Germain-en-Laye. It was

a dazzling spectacle; and the day appointed had been made beautiful by a warm sun which had coaxed put the buds of roses into flowers which exhaled sweet fragrance and filled the air with perfume. Jarnac was also about twenty-eight. His features were regular and handsome, but so deadly pale as to seem like stone. He was as calm as a Madonna, and looked out modestly from his lustrous eyes into

When
go!"
nac,

the insolent face of his arrogant and unrelenting foe. the word was given to " Let the combatants

La who

Chastaignerie rushed viciously toward JarIn at first placed himself on the defensive.

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

l8l

a few moments, however, the combatants attacked each other savagely, and soon both had received desperate cuts in their arms. Then they stood off from each other for a brief space of breathing-time,

and then La Chastaignerie attempted a murderous lunge, when Jarnac cut the ham of one of his legs, which dazed the wretch for a moment, and sent a thrill through the crowd. In another minute, and while La Chastaignerie was again attempting a
second desperate lunge, Jarnac cut the ham of his other leg, and the famous courtier fell to the ground. It was the most sensational spectacle of the kind ever seen in France; and a great murmur went through

and wrestler
"

the vast assemblage when the cleverest swordsman of the age was sent so ignominiously to

Confess yourself a liar, and restore to me my honor, and live!" shouted Jarnac; but the fallen courtier remained silent. Jarnac then addressed the
grass.

beseech your majesty to accept the life of I do not for God's sake and for love's. wish to have his blood on my soul. I fought for the restoration of that honor of which he has robbed me." The King at first declined, but at last con-

King:

"

this

man

sented to accept the boon of La Chastaignerie's life. Meanwhile the poor creature moved round on his knees, and cut wildly and impotently at the object before him, but in a short time fell over and bled to

Jarnac absolutely declined all privileges of triumphal pageant and procession, and advised that " I the body be committed to respectful interment. have triumphed over my false accuser; I gained all I
death.

fought for

the full

vindication

of

my

honor and

reputation; I am satisfied," said Jarnac to the King; and the latter replied, "You fought like Caesar and

82

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

So stung with defeat and huwas La Chastaignerie, even when bleeding to death, that he refused to submit to any operations of surgery, and tore off the few bandages with which his wounds had been bound. A memorable meeting was that of Lord Bruce and
speak like Aristotle."
miliation

on account of its sanand partly on account of the guinary character, of the The duel parties engaged in it. prominence took place at Bergen-op-Zoom, in the Netherlands; and there is to-day a spot about a mile and a half from the Antwerp gate of Bergen which goes by the
Sir
Sackville, partly

Edward

name

of Bruce-land.

The duel took

place in 1613,

and was a most desperate affair. Lord Clarendon, Burke and other writers have described it as terribly fierce, during which Bruce was mortally wounded and Sackville desperately hurt. No writers agree as to the cause of the duel, and Clarendon says nothing respecting its origin. Sir Robert Preston states that " The cause of the quarrel has remained wholly unnotwithstanding successive investigations periods." The parties fought on the Continent, so as not to incur the King's displeasure. Lord Leicester, after much investigation, was unable to discover the cause of the duel; but Chambers states that Bruce, while one day paying his addresses
detected,
at

different

assaulted

(Lady Clementina), was rudely by Sackville, who came into their presence disordered by liquor or wine; and that, while greatly Bruce made every effort to keep the matter from the public, Sackville acted in a contrary way, and subsequently gave Bruce a blow, on a crowded street, at which a challenge was sent to the transgressor. " We met," says Sackville, in a letter which he wrote
to Sackville's sister

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

to a friend

183

from Louvain, September 8, 1613, "in a meadow, ankle-deep in water at the least; and, bidding farewell to our doublets, in our shirts began to charge each other; having afore commanded our surgeons to withdraw themselves a pretty distance from us; conjuring them, besides, as they respected our favors, or their safeties, not to stir, but suffer us to execute our pleasure; we being fully resolved to dispatch each other by what means we could."
Sackville's letter then presents the following description of the fight:
I made a thrust at my enemy, but was short and, in drawing back my arm, I received a great wound thereon, which I interpreted as a reward for my short shooting but in my revenge I pressed into him, though I then missed him also, and received a wound in my right pap, which passed level through my body, and almost to my back. And there we wrestled for the two greatest and dearest prizes we could ever expect trial for honor and life. In which struggling, my hand, having but an ordinary glove upon it, lost one of her servants, though the meanest. But at last breathless, yet keeping our hold, there passed on both sides propositions of quitting each other's swords. But when amity was dead confidence could not live, and who should quit first was the question, which on neither part either would perand re-striving again afresh, with a kick and a form
;

I freed my long captive weapon, which, incontinently levying at his throat, being master still of his, I demanded if he would ask his life, or yield his sword, both which, though in that imminent danger, he bravely denied

wrench,

Myself being wounded, and feeling loss of blood, having three conduits running on me, which began to make me faint, and he courageously persisting not to accede to
to do.
either of

my

mer bloody

desire,

propositions, through remembrance of his forand feeling of my present estate, I struck

his avoiding, missed

at his heart, but, with

my

aim, yet

184

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

my sword, re" Oh again through another place, when he cried I am slain !" seconding his speech with all the force he had to cast me. But being too weak, after I had defended his assault, I easily became master of him, laying him on his
passed
it
: !

passed through the body, and, drawing out

back.

When being upon him, I re-demanded if he would request his life but it seemed he prized it not at so dear a " rate to be beholden for it, bravely replying, He scorned
;

it."

Which answer
I

of his

protest

could not find in

was so noble and worthy, as I my heart to offer him any more

violence, only keeping him down until at length his surgeon, " He would immediately die if his wounds afar off, cried,

were not stopped." Whereupon I asked him if he desired his surgeon should come, which he accepted of and so, being drawn away, I never 6ffered to take his sword, accounting it inhuman to rob a dead man, for so I held him to be. This thus ended, I retired to my surgeon, in whose arms, after I had remained awhile, for, want of blood I lost my But sight, and withal, as I then thought, my life also. strong water and his diligence quickly recovered me when
; ;

escaped a great danger

for

body dreamt of it, came full and had not mine with my sword interposed himself, I had been slain by those base hands; although my Lord Bruce, weltering in his blood, and past all expectation of life, conformable to all his former carriage, which was undoubtedly " noble, cried out, Rascal, hold thy hand !"

my Lord's surgeon, when noat me with his Lord's sword,

One of the most noted duels ever fought in England was that between the Duke of Hamilton and
Lord Mohun, in Hyde Park, London, with small swords, on the i5th of November, 1712. Mohun was at one time as great a scamp as ever lived, and had been concerned in several fatal encounters and was
twice tried for murder. After having been acquitted of the assassination of Mr. Montford, an actor, " he expressed his confusion for the many scandals he

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

"and promised

185

had brought upon his degree, as a peer," says Noble, to behave himself so for the future as not to give further scandal; and he afterwards applied himself to pursuits becoming his station, and
in the House of Peers often distinguished himself by He afterward accompanied the judicious speeches. Earl of Macclesfield to Hanover, and lived with great sobriety." Shortly after this, Macclesfield died

and

left Mohun a large estate. Later, Macclesfield 's bachelor brother dying, a dispute arose about the

property between the Duke of Hamilton (who had married Elizabeth, sole heir of said property) and

Lord Mohun (who also had claims upon the estate), and during their presence at an examination before a Master of Chancery, Hamilton reflected upon Mr Whitworth, who had been steward in the Macclesfield family, and said that "he had neither truth nor " he justice in him;" to which Mohun replied that had as much as his grace." On the following day
Lieutenant-General Maccartney conveyed a lenge from the Duke to Mohun, and on the morning (Sunday) the two gentlemen met, and killed the other, after a prolonged and savage
chal-

next each
fight

Colonel Hamilton, the Duke's second (and cousin),

who was

severely wounded by Mohun's second, made oath, according to some accounts, that the Duke of Hamilton received his mortal wound from General

Maccartney; which was partly corroborated by one of the surgeons, who declared that Hamilton could not have received his death-thrust from Mohun. Maccartney at once quit the country, but afterward returned, and was tried for murder and acquitted, and was discharged of the manslaughter by burning with a cold iron to prevent an appeal of murder.

86

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

causeless, or

Of modern English duels, none, perhaps, was more more replete in distressing detail and

than the fatal encounter between Captain Best, of the British army, and Lord Thomas The duel took place near Holland Camelford. House, London, March 10, 1804. Camelford and Best had always been close friends, and both were very fond of women and wine and cards. Early in the month above named they had spent a few hours one evening at Hammond's, a noted gaming-place, when Camelford retired and left his companion at play with one Symons, who had already commenced
circumstance,
to fleece Best through the

medium

of

marked

cards.

The Captain
just as he

shortly afterward

caught the sharper

was about to introduce some extra cards from within a sleeve of his coat; and, jumping up, seized Symons by the throat, and hurled him violently to the floor, and then kicked his face into a jelly, and otherwise so bruised the cheat that his wife hardly recognized him when they met. Mrs. Symons became pallid with anger and disappointment, and promised her husband that he should be avenged.
claimed,

"Leave the fellow to me!" the mad woman " and I will see to it that he gets
deserts."

exhis

quietly, with hell's own fury delineated in her face, and wrote to Camelford, as follows: "I beg you to be strictly on your guard

So she

sat

down,

in

your future dealings and associations with Captain Best, who speaks of your lordship in disrespectful and disdainful terms, especially when he is beside
"

himself with wine."

There," she murmured, after

" is your death-warfolding and addressing the note, rant, my noble Captain; and I smile while contemplating the consequences." In due time the letter

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

8?

reached Camelford; and, upon his next meeting with Best, he declined to accept his friend's hand, and " said: Pardon me, Captain, if I inform you that our
acquaintance must terminate. It has lasted too long, ''Your lordship has the most perfect already."

do as he deems best; but, pardon me, my ask lord, you to assign a reason for such action ?" " interrogated the other, calmly. Speaking of me
liberty to
if I

seem

disrespectfully and disdainfully behind my back " to me to be reasons abundant." And, pray, " I do not care to sir, who is your informant ?"

O, of course not." "Sir, what I mean, sir, that your conduct is do you mean ?" ungentlemanly and dishonorable do you understand that, my lord?" "I understand you to be a liar and a scoundrel, Captain Best, and I want nothing more whatever to do with you." "That is
"

make

that known."

"

perfectly satisfactory, sir, except that I shall hold you responsible for your language. Some one has

been slandering me and making a fool of you." But Camelford had strode away. In the meantime
Best
of

made some

effort

to

solve the cause of his

friend's

misconduct, never for a

or his vindictive wife.

moment dreaming
It

Symons

was soon

set-

tled that they should fight with pistols, as both were excellent shots. When they appeared upon the field,

each accompanied by two seconds, Best said: "It is scarcely probable, my lord, that both of us can leave here alive. You have undoubtedly been imposed upon; and for that reason I am even now willing to receive an explanation of your action, notWe have withstanding the gravity of the insult. long been good friends, and I am anxious to make a " I last effort towards reconciliation." decline to

88

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

word; it is too late. We came here for another purpose, and I am ready," replied Camelford. They then took their positions at fifteen paces; and, at the drop of a white handkerchief held by one of the seconds (who had taken up his position midway between them, but out of range), and the words " One two three fire !" both gentlemen discharged
retract a

weapons simultaneously; Camelford dropBest ping to the earth mortally wounded and escaping unhurt. The dying man then raised himself upon his right hand, and motioned for his adversary to approach, when he whispered: "You have killed me, Best; but the fault is wholly mine, and I relieve you of all blame. Shake hands with me, and and then fly and save yourself from forgive me, Best and his seconds then mounted their arrest." horses and rode to Hounslow; and Camelford's
their

seconds,

becoming demoralized,

also

fled,

leaving

their principal to die alone on the field. mistaken sense of honor prevented

Lord Camel-

accepting terms of reconciliation; for, as the reader is aware, the slightest explanation would have been the means of an adjustment that would have been strictly honorable to both parties. These reflections may serve to introduce another the affair which ought never to have taken place
duel between Captain Stackpole, of the British frigA ate Statira, and Lieutenant Cecil, of the Argo.
naval officer once inquired of Lieutenant Cecil
if

ford from

he

knew Captain

Stackpole; to which he replied that he did, and that he had the highest opinion of him as an

intrepid officer and skilful seaman; adding, however, that he believed him capable of occasionally drawing

a long bow.

This remark at

last

reached the ears of

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

189

Stackpole, who, after satisfying himself that Cecil had made use of such words, declared that he would

hold the lieutenant to an account for them when and wherever he met him. It was so far fortunate that they did not meet for four years; but the opportunity at last arrived, when the Statira was lying in the harbor of Port Royal (Jamaica), and the Argo, of

which Lieutenant Cecil was senior officer, happened to enter that port. Immediately on Captain Stackof the circumstance he sent made aware pole being Lieutenant White on board the Argo, with a message to Cecil demanding an immediate meeting or a suitable apology for the slanderous words he had Lieutenant Cecil did not remember just used. exactly what he had said; but, as they had been quoted by a brother officer, he could not, as a man of honor, act otherwise than avow them; and, as to an apology, he wished Captain Stackpole to understand that, under all the circumstances, while he should have no objection in apologizing to any other officer in his majesty's navy, he could not do so to the Captain of the Statira, who was known throughout the
service as an excellent shot.

In consequence of this

reply the parties met at a place called Park Henderson on the following morning, April 28, 1814, and

took their ground at ten paces. They both fired at the same time, and Stackpole was instantly killed, never even uttering a groan. The duel between Colonel Grey and Major
Egerton, of the British army, was fought at Putney Heath, in the year 1761. Egerton, while returning from the theatre one evening with a lady, was run
into carelessly by Grey, the influence of liquor.

who was somewhat under

Egerton, in his excitement

I9O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

" stupid booby" to Grey, who atapplied the term tempted to draw his sword. Seeing this, Egerton, instead of hurrying away with his lady, imprudently

knocked the tipsy

officer

lenge accepted. The next afternoon they met, each with two seconds, who quietly measured off the distance, which was ten paces. The principals then confronted each other with pistols, and both fired simultaneously

the following

down, and received a chalmorning, which he promptly

without
the

effect.

The seconds then attempted

to

end

meeting, but Grey demanded another shot. Captain Clifford, one of the seconds of the latter, again gave the signal, and Grey fell dead and Egerton received a wound in the side.
In 1829, in England, the Earl of Winchelsea was challenged by the Duke of Wellington, and the dis-

tinguished gentlemen met with pistols.

fired first

The Duke

without injuring the Earl, who discharged his weapon in the air, and subsequently acknowledged, through his second, that he had made expressions against the Duke which were not warranted by facts, which he greatly regretted, and for which he

would amply apologize. A violent polemic had lasted for a long time between two Bonapartist journals of Paris (le Petit Caporal and le Combat], which resulted in a duel between the two editors-in-chief (Diehard, of the Petit Caporal, and De Massas, of the Combat). The police, however, interfered with the first meeting, and the fight was therefore further continued in the columns of the two papers; until, finally, it was agreed that Paul de Cassagnac and Cuneo d'Ornano should be called as arbiThese gentlemen declared that a duel was ters. necessary, and so Diehard and Massas met again

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

\\

September 3, 1882, in a private park at Nogent on the Marne. Monsieur de Massas at once attacked his adversary with vigor, and wounded him three times (in his head, on the shoulder, and in the hand), whereupon Diehard rushed desperately upon and stabbed Massas through his lungs, who staggered and fell on
of the

Friends immediately hastened to the side the doctor, upon examining the wound, perceived that no blood was flowing " the surest sign of death," he said. The internal
his back.

wounded man; and

hemorrhage was not long in doing its worst; for, in a few moments, without saying another word, De Massas made the sign of the cross and expired. The remains were taken to his residence at Colombes, near Paris, where his mourning widow and her four children are living at present. Dichard's wounds did not prove to be serious or severe. De Massas was but He had been an officer in thirty- three years of age. the Third Infantry regiment of the Marine, and had distinguished himself during the war of 1870. In an avenue of the forest of Planoise, at a short
distance from Autun, two

men met on

the i8th of

May, 1883, with swords in their hands, and exchanged a few strokes. Suddenly the seconds heard a cry and saw one of the combatants fall to the ground. They hastened to his support; but, in four hours afterward,
the

wounded man was

dead.

In explanation,

it

may

be stated that M. Asselin, of the Department of the Saone and Loire, was the possessor of a very rich estate; and, having been invested with the title of Lieutenant of Game-Hunting, he assumed the privilege of operating over a vast domain for the purpose of ridding the neigboring country of various kinds of deMonsieur de Saint Victor fifty structive game.

Q2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

of the Cuirassiers.

years old and without a fortune had been an officer After quitting service he had ac-

cepted an offer of his cousins (the Talleyrand-Perigords) to act as superintendent of their large estates in the Department of the Saone and Loire. Saint

Victor did not approve at all of the frequent presence on the latter-named estates of Monsieur Asselin; and, therefore, directed his employees to quietly and carefully watch the movements of this gentleman when on hunting expeditions which took him over the

Talleyrand property. It was not long before Asselin had organized a boar-hunting expedition, at which one of Saint Victor's vigilant guards presented a complaint to the effect that Asselin had exceeded his

powers by not announcing his visit previously, as required by the law. And Monsieur de Saint Victor, while he did not intend to proceed legally, transmitted a letter to Monsieur Asselin, in which he approved of the action of his subaltern.

lively dis-

cussion followed, of course; and, after an exchange of several letters between the two gentlemen, Asselin

despatched two of his friends to

De

Saint Victor with

authority to effect terms of permanent settlement. The latter, on his part, selected two friends, and a

duel was quickly agreed upon; and De Saint Victor (who had been an officer of cavalry) chose the saber
as a weapon, expressing the hope "that the duel would have a good ending." " Is it a duel for life and

death that he wants ?" interrogated Asselin, who was an expert only with pistols and the sword, but not with the saber. " Oui, Monsieur." At which Asselin rushed furiously upon De Saint Victor and gave him a stab of such force that his weapon went clean through the intestines and out by the spinal

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

cord, causing almost instant death. murmured De Saint Victor; "call
priest."

193

"

am
wife

my

dying," and a

and

He was then taken to a house at Fragny, Madame de Saint Victor was sent for, and arrived
survivor only received a slight cut or two on the

just in time to receive the last breath of her husband.

The

hand and cheek.

On the 4th of September, 1843, in the commune of Maisonfort, France, two young men named Lenfant and Melfant, quarrelled while playing at billiards,
and agreed,
at last, to settle their disturbance by a duel with billiard balls; after which they drew lots to see which one should get the red ball and throw first.

Melfant

won

the red ball and the

first

throw, and the

two at once took measured distance

Melfant,
several

their positions in a garden at a of twelve paces from each other.

when

the signal

was given
to
first

going

to kill

motions, saying you at the

his

am adversary, throw." And then he

I

to throw, "

made

hurled the ivory sphere with deadly aim and effect, for it struck Lenfant in the middle of the forehead, and he dropped dead without uttering a word. The
survivor was arrested and tried for wilful murder, and

convicted of manslaughter.
as his second)

Lord Shelburne (with Lord Frederick Cavendish and Colonel Fullerton (accompanied Lord by Balcarras) met in Hyde Park, March 22, and 1780, fought with pistols at twelve paces. After the parties had taken their ground Colonel Fullerton desired Lord Shelburne to fire first, which he declined to do. The seconds then commanded Fullerton to Then Shelburne fired fire, which he did, and missed. and missed. Fullerton then fired a second shot and
hit his antagonist in the right groin.

Mr. Shelburne,

194

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

however, declined to give up his pistol to his second, saying, "I have not yet fired a second time." Mr. Fullerton, at this, returned to his place, which he had left with a view of assisting his lordship, and commanded Mr. Shelburne to fire. The latter cried out, " No, sir; I hope you don't think I would fire again at you;" and his lordship then discharged his weapon in The seconds then asked Shelburne if he had the air. any difficulty in declaring he meant nothing personal " to the Colonel, and he replied, This is no time for explanation, as the affair has taken another course. Although I am wounded, I am able to go on if Colonel Fullerton feels any resentment." The latter declared that he was incapable of harboring any such sentiment. "Besides," added Fullerton, " as your lordship is wounded, and you have fired in the air, it is
impossible for me to go on." Both were members of Parliament at the time, and Fullerton had been commissioned a Lieutenant-Colonel in the army and had been a member of the English Embassy at the Court
of France.

The cause of

the duel was an attack

upon

intimated that the Colonel and his regiment were as ready to act against the liberties of England as against her enemies. A duel of much the same character took place in
Fullerton by Shelburne,

who

Hyde Park between William Adam and Charles James Fox, Members of Parliament, in 1789. General Fitzpatrick acted as second for Mr. Fox, and Major Humbertson for Mr. Adam. The latter fired
first and wounded Fox, who fired without effect. The seconds then interfered and asked Mr. Adam if he was satisfied, who replied, "Will Mr. Fox declare

he meant no personal attack upon

my
is

character?"

Upon which

the latter said, "This

no place for

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

apologies

19$

go on."
effect,

Mr.

Adam

then fired his second

and Mr. Fox discharged his rein the air, and declared that, as the weapon maining affair was ended, he had no difficulty in stating that he meant no more personal affront to Mr. Adam than
pistol without

he did to either of the other gentlemen present. Mr. Adam then advanced and replied, " Sir, you have behaved like a man of honor." Mr. Fox then said that he believed himself wounded, which was a fact. It is a curious circumstance that Adam wounded his antagonist with the same pistol with which Fullerton used in his duel with Shelburne a few months before, and that both gentlemen were hit in the groin. Mr. Fox, in speaking of the duel afterward, maintained the same opinion he had expressed in interrupting
Colonel Fullerton in his invective against Lord Shelburne that "if it were once admitted as a principle
a personal affront was offered to gentlemen whenever their names and conduct were mentioned, the most essential of all the rights of Parliament would be lost, and there would be an end to all freethat

dom

of debate."

Manuel and Beaumont were wealthy bankers and stockbrokers of Paris. Mrs. Manuel, who was young and beautiful, had fallen in love with Beaumont. Of this fact Manuel was first notified by one of
those cunning devils an anonymous correspondent. Thereupon he watched the erring couple, and soon

learned the worst.

He

immediately quarrelled with

and challenged Beaumont, and they soon afterward met with pistols, and Manuel was shot dead. This
affair

took place in the Bois de Boulogne in 1821. Previous to the fatal meeting, Manuel, who was an excellent man, besought his erring wife to abandon

IQ

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

" For the sake of our six children," en" the frantic treated husband, give up this base man. If you are lost to all honor, yourself, spare our dear

Beaumont.

ones the further taints of your dishonor and But the guilty creature turned a deaf ear disgrace." In a short to these, the last words of her husband. time after the killing of Manuel, Beaumont abandoned Mrs. M., of course. Both gentlemen were
little

possessors of great wealth. An exciting duel took place during the reign of Henry the Third of France between two officers

named Deveze and

Deveze,
in

Soeilles.

The

latter

had been

discovered to be on too intimate terms with the wife of

his brother-officer and shot After his recovery Soeilles challenged Deveze, who accepted, fired first, and then turned and. showed his heels. Soeilles afterward betrayed Deveze's sister, and was waylaid and killed by Deveze as soon as he was made aware of the fact while the latter was in turn murdered by a cousin of Soeilles named D'Aubinac. La Fontaine, who had a very pretty wife, became jealous of a young officer, whose really honorable intentions were too marked to please a certain gentle-

who challenged
the shoulder.

him

man

of the lago

stamp

the bottom of the whole

and who, in reality, was at affair, and who was quite

willing to see either the old philosopher or the young ensign or both put out of the way and a duel was the consequence. La Fontaine was disarmed, artistically, when he invited his antagonist home, where the

madame met them at the door, and kissed them, as was her custom often before they fought. On March 19, 1778, the Count d'Artois (the youngest brother of the French King) and the Duke

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

97

of Bourbon (a son of the Prince of Cond6) fought with swords, near Paris and, after a furious enThis counter, d'Artois was wounded in the arm. duel grew out of an affair at a masquerade, at which
;

the Duchess of

Bourbon

lifted the

mask

of the

Count

who was incognito with a dismissed lady of honor (Madame de Cavillac) and had her nose vigorously wrung for her pains, to the great confusion of all The young Count was afterwards exiled by present.
the King, notwithstanding the injuries he had received in his duel with the husband of the meddle-

who was, with the young Count, and was naturally enough turbulent with jealousy and rage at the presence together of d'Artois and the bewitching De Cavillac. On the iyth of November, 1778, at Bath (England), Count Rice and Viscount du Barry quarrelled at the
la

some Madame

Duchesse de Bourbonne

in fact, greatly infatuated

of the latter, and agreed to settle their disturbance just outside of the city the next morning at dayEarly the following day the principals met light. according to agreement, accompanied by seconds and a surgeon, provided with pistols and swords. As soon as they arrived, the ground was marked out by the seconds, and the principals took their places. Viscount du Barry fired first and lodged his bullet in Rice's thigh, the ball from the Count's weapon taking effect in Du Barry's breast at the second shot they both fired together, but their pistols "flashed in the pan." They then threw away their pistols and advanced toward each other with their drawn swords, " when, all of a sudden, Du Barry fell, saying: Je vous demand ma vie" (I ask you for my life) to which Rice replied " Je vous la donne" (I give it to you)-,
;
; ;

home

198

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and in a few seconds Du Barry expired. Rice was at once conveyed to his own home, where he lay in great agony for a long time, but finally recovered. The coroner's jury rendered a verdict of manslaughter, but at the trial Rice was acquitted. On July i, 1843, Lieutenant-Colonel David Lynar was
Fawcett, of the Fifty-fifth Regiment (British) Foot, killed by Lieutenant Alexander Thompson of the

Royal Horse-Guards. The two officers had married sisters, and the settlement of some property which had fallen to the ladies had been left to Thompson, whose manner of proceeding had not been satis-

The latter not only gave the factory to Fawcett. lieutenant a vigorous piece of his mind concerning the matter in trust, but ordered him out of his (Faw-

"You this, on the 3oth of June, 1843. from me, sir, for this, immediately," exclaimed Thompson, as he departed. " And you will not have to wait long for a reply, rest assured," recett's)

house

shall hear

joined Fawcett. They fought with pistols at Camden Town the following morning, and Fawcett received a

mortal

wound

in the side at the first fire,

and died

in

three days. On the 4th of May, 1790, Mr. Power, son of Richard Power, fought with Captain Grumbleton, of the Thirteenth Dragoons, in the county of Water-

ford (Ireland).
paces,
first

The weapons were pistols, at twelve and Mr. Power fell mortally wounded at the fire, and died while being taken home.
the 4th of September, 1783, Colonel

On

Cosmo

Gordon and Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas met at Hyde Park and fought with pistols. The terms
were that they should, after receiving their weapons, advance and fire when they pleased. When within about eight yards the Colonel fired without effect,

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

They
third

99

but was wounded by his antagonist in the thigh. but at the fired the second time without effect
;

mortally wounded, and died while being taken from the field. On the seventeenth of the following month of the same year,
fire fell

Thomas

Captain Munro, of the Sixteenth Regiment of Dragoons, and Mr. Green met with their seconds near Battersea bridge and fired at each other three times, when Green was wounded in the side. The seconds then asked Mr. Green if he was satisfied, and he replied that he was not unless Mr. Munro was willing to make a public apology which the latter declined to do. "Then one of us must die," exclaimed Green; and they again fired, Mr. Munro receiving a bullet in the knee and Mr. Green one in the heart.
;

An many

exciting event transpired at Madrid in 1855; accounts of which (some of them very contra-

were published at the time in English, and American newspapers. It seems that at French, a soiree given at Madrid by Marquis de Turgot (the French ambassador), at which were present Pierre Soule (Minister from the United States to Spain) and his wife, the latter was likened to Margaret of Burdictory)

gundy,
the

in

Duke

d'Alba.

the hearing of her son, Neville Soule, by The next day the latter was chal-

lenged by young Soule, and upon the following morning the parties met and fought with swords for more than half an hour, when the Duke was wounded in
the neck; after which their seconds (Colonel Milans del Bosch and Secretary Perry for Mr. Soule, and the Count of Punonrostro and General de la Concha for the

Duke) brought about a termination. That same it became very generally reported thoughout genteel society in Madrid that the French ambassaday

200

THE FIELD OF

dor himself had first made use of the insulting expression; and he was promptly challenged by the American Minister, which challenge was accepted by the Marquis, who designated pistols as weapons. Mr. Soule was attended by M. Picon and General Valdes, and de Turgot by Lord Howden and General Caillier. They fought at ten paces and fired once without efAt the second fire the French ambassador was fect. severely wounded in the left leg near the knee, and While being taken to his carnage fell to the ground. the Marquis stated that he had never used the expression, or any insulting remarks whatever, regarding Mrs. Soule, as reported. The New York Home Journal of January 18, 1884, contained a description of the foregoing duel contributed by Mr. A. L. Taveau, an eye-witness, as follows:
arriving at Madrid, in the month of December, 1854, repaired to the elegant palace of the American Embassy with letters of introduction. But I had scarcely seen the

Upon

major-domo disappear up the massive marble stairway with my missive^ when, in a few moments, one of the most remarkable men I ever saw came descending to meet me. With both hands extended for a cordial shake of the hand, and returning me, at the same time, my document, he exclaimed, " Take this back, my friend, you come from a State of gentlemen a gentleman from South Carolina needs no letters of introduction to Pierre Soule ;" and shaking my hand very
cordially with both of his, led me into his private cabinet. His tout ensemble was so striking that the whole man was

how

instantly photographed on my mind and I do not know better to draw his portrait than to say that I could almost imagine myself standing in the presence of Napoleon
;

Bonaparte.
his

Nor was it a personal resemblance alone but whole manner, together with his rapid and eloquent
;

speech, recalled to

mind

all

that his biographers

tell

us of

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

:

2OI

the emperor. The next day found me installed in his cabinet as private secretary " I want you," said he, " to receive my letters, read them over, and give me the important
points of each
;

and

will instruct

you what to

reply."

Such

a position was a very important advantage to me, as it immediately introduced me to court, and gave me the entree to all the best salons. It was thus that I was enabled to hear everybody talk about the famous duels, and ascertain the facts connected with them. It was during Mr. Pierce's administration that the subject of the annexation of Cuba to the United States was the all-engrossing topic of the day and Mr. Soule, who had warmly supported the idea in Congress, was appointed by Mr. Pierce as Minister to Spain. This appointment was so distasteful to France that Mr. Soule, on entering that kingdom, en route to Spain, was sub;

jected to much annoyance, and slighted by the government of Napoleon III. It was not long after the minister's arriit was made known to him, in various the of Louis Napoleon, that his presence, minions ways, by as ambassador, was distasteful. This culminated in an affront offered to Madame Soule by the French Minister,

val in

Madrid that

Monsieur de Turgot, at a ball given at his own palace, to which, of course, the American Minister and family were inWhen the Soules arrived, the marquis, with the vited. Duke of Alva and others, were standing at the entrance-door of the ball-room. The Soules paid their compliments of salutation to the host, and passed on. One gentleman re-

marked both upon the beauty of Madame Soule and her rich " Dou you think so ?" replied the marquis, " well, I do not share in your admiration of this woman, for she strongly reminds me of Margaret of Burgundy." So shocked were the Soules' friends at such an insulting remark by the host himself, of so estimable a lady, that Mr. Soule was
attire.
promptly informed of it. Walking deliberately toward the marquis, he hunched him in the side with his elbow, and, giving him a significant look from his splendid, but now " I have heard, sir, of your indefiery eyes, quietly remarked cent remark you shall also hear from me to-morrow ;" and,
:

2O2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

rejoining his family, the Soules immediately retired. In the meantime it began to be whispered about that the remark

had originated with the Duke of Alva. He, being a younger man, Mr. Soule's son, Nelville Soule, promptly sent him a challenge next day. This the duke at first declined, on the plea that he was not the author of the insulting remarks. But a telegram soon came from France announcing to him that, unless he accepted the challenge, he was no more to the Duchesse call himself the brother-in-law of the emperor of Alva and Eugenie, the empress, being sisters. This setThe challenge was accepted, and tled the matter at once.
the duke being the challenged party, exercised the privilege of the choice of weapons. Being one of the best swordsmen

he chose broadswords as the weapons for the comThis was awkward for young Soule, who had never handled a sword in his life. Nevertheless, the choice was accepted and an instructor procured. Only one lesson, however, was the professor allowed to give, for he was a Frenchin Spain,

bat.

man, and was -promptly warned of his likelihood of being With one lesson did the if he persisted. young champion of America enter the lists, and so lustily did his sinewy arm sway the falchion, that the duke shortly became demoralized, and, after receiving a wound in the neck, from which sangre azul (blue blood) poured very freely, the fight was arrested by their mutual seconds, and satisfaction declared given and received. This being ended, Mr. Soule then challenged the French Minister, M. de Turgot, to combat also. The challenge was promptly accepted, and pistols chosen. The hostile parties met outside the city, in an open field, bounded on one side by a high wall, adown which, was afterward remarked, descended a line, in front of which Mr. Soule was unwittingly posted. Upon shots being exchanged, the marquis fell prostrate to the ground Mr. Soule unhurt " remained immovable as a " Stonewall and it was found that Mr. Soule's ball had inflicted a very painful, if not dangerous wound in the marquis' hip. The fight was declared ended, and once more the "star spangled banner waved over the free and the brave," at the American embassy, where it
sent to Caen,

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

Continued to
float,

2O$

power

until Mr.

Soule's return to America.

unmolested or insulted again by any So far from

these duels causing the Soule's to become unpopular with the Madrilenos, they became the cynosure of all eyes, and received the most marked attention from the whole royal
family. The writer of this, having remained in Madrid the whole winter, was thus enabled, personally, to see not only what popularity the Soules had gained by their courage, but, also, that los Etados Unidos (the United States) were more respected than ever.

204

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER XL
EUROPEAN DUELS
CONTINUED.

The Fatal Meeting between Colonel Montgomery and Captain Macnamara Two Sanguinary Affairs Lord Macartney's Two Duels A Number of Memorable Combats The Foolish ApothA Number of ecary How Aldworth Obtained Satisfaction
Fatal Duels

ing Americans

Fatal Quarrel between English Officers concernM. Pierre Alphonse de Lamartine's Duel

Bonaparte's Affairs of Honor Other Quarrels among Distinguished Persons The Fatal Duel between Signers Levito and
Nicotera, the Picturesque Italian Conspirator, at Rome Aurelian Scholl, the Witty Chroniqueur, and Count Albert de Dion settle their Long-standing Difficulty with Swords at the Race-course of Longchamps Signer Rossi's Duel at Casala

and

its

Consequences.
fatal duel

THE
the

between Colonel Montgomery, of

British army, and Captain Macnamara, of the British navy, in 1803, may be presented as one of the

most melancholy events in all the annals of duelling. Both officers had distinguished themselves in hardfought battles, and both were under thirty years of age. They were one day riding in Hyde Park,
accompanied by their dogs. The latter quarrelled, during which the two officers got into an angry altercation, which ended by Montgomery presenting Mac-

namara his card of address. In three hours afterward the two gentlemen met at Primrose Hill Mont-

gomery being attended by Sir William Kier, and Macnamara by Captain Barry. They fought with

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

pistols, at

2O5

twelve paces, and at the first fire MontMacnamara's bullet in the heart, received gomery and the latter received his antagonist's missile in the
hip.

Colonel Montgomery was taken from the

field

dead, and Captain Macnamara was shortly afterward tried at the Old Bailey on a charge of murder, and
acquitted.

paper

in his defence,

During the trial the survivor read a which concluded as follows

:

The origin of the difference, as you see it in the evidence, was insignificant. The heat of two persons, each defending an animal under his protection, was natural, and could not have led to any serious consequences. It was not the deceased's defending his own dog, nor his threatening to destroy mine, that led me to the fatal catastrophe it was the defiance which most unhappily accompanied what was
;

Words receive their interpretation from the avowed intention of the speaker. The offence was forced upon me by the declaration that he invited me to be offended, and
said.

challenged

me

for satisfaction.

to vindicate the offence by calling upon him " If you are offended with what has passed,

you know where to find me." These words, unfortunately repeated and reiterated, have over and over, and over again, been considered by criminal courts of justice as sufficient to support an indictment for a challenge. The judgments of courts are founded upon the universal understandings and feelings of mankind, and common candor must admit that an officer, however desirous to avoid a quarrel, cannot refuse to understand what even the grave judges of the law must I declare, thereinterpret as a provocation and a defiance. fore, most solemnly against the deceased nothing, indeed, but insanity could have led me to expose my own life to such immense peril, under the impulse of passion from so
;

inadequate a cause as the evidence before you exhibits, when separated from the defiance which was the fatal source of mischief, and I could well have overlooked that too if the I world, in its present state, could have overlooked it also.

206
went into the
I

THE FIELD OF
field,
life

desire to take the

therefore, with no determination or of my opponent, or to expose my own.

went there in hopes of receiving some soothing satisfacwhat would otherwise have exposed me in the general feelings and opinions of the world. The deceased was a man of popular manners, as I have heard, and with a very general acquaintance. I, on the other hand, was in a mantion for

ner a stranger in this great town, having been devoted from my infancy to the duties of my profession in distant seas. If, under these circumstances, the words which the deceased

intended to be offensive, and which he repeatedly invited to be resented, had been passed by, and submitted to, they would have passed from mouth to mouth, have been ever

exaggerated at every repetition, and my honor must have been lost. Gentlemen, I am a captain in the British navy. My character you can only hear from others but to maintain my character and station, I must be respected. When called upon to lead others into honorable danger, I must not be supposed to be a man who had sought safety by submitting to what custom has taught others to consider as a
;

not presuming to urge anything against the or of this land. I know that, in the eye of religion and reason, obedience to the law, though against the general feelings of the world, is the first duty, and ought
disgrace.
I

am

laws of

God

to be the rule of action.

my

But in putting a construction upon motives, so as to ascertain the quality of my actions,

;

you will make allowances for my situation. It is impossible to define in terms the proper feelings of a gentleman but their existence have supported this happy country many and she might perish if they were lost. Gentlemen, I you no longer; I will bring before you many honorable persons who will speak what they know of me in my profession, and in private life, which will the better enable you to judge whether what I have offered in my defence may safely be received by you as truth. Gentlemen, I submit myself entirely to your I hope to judgment. obtain my liberty through your verdict; and to employ it with honor in the defence of the liberties of my country.
ages,
will detain

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

2O?

In 1721, in Lincoln's Inn Fields (England), Mr. Fulford and Captain Cusack met with swords, attended by two seconds on each side. A description of this duel, in an old English magazine, concludes as follows: " It had lasted but a few minutes, when

Fulford had the imprudence to raise his arm and expose his chest the Captain's sword glided swiftly below it, and pierced him to the heart. Fulford fell back and died without a groan." The same maga;

zine presents a graphic description of the duel (in 1589) between Henry of Essex (who bore the royal
II. when that monarch invaded and Robert de Montford who commenced Wales) their fight on horseback, and followed it up on foot which concludes: "The encounter was desperate; and, so equal were the parties to the struggle, that the chance to either. it was uncertain to give At last, with a more than human strength, and with a false parry on the side of Essex, de Montford hurled his adversary to the ground, and with a quick and sudden motion, drove his sword into the neck of

standard of Henry

Essex."

Lord Macartney and Mr. Sadlier had an altercation Board at Bombay on March 16, 1784, and afterwards fought with pistols, Macartney receiving a dangerous wound, from which he recovered, however. On the 8th of June, 1786, Macartney met General Stuart near Kensington, and fought with When they were about pistols at twelve short paces. to fire Stuart told Macartney that his pistol was not cocked, at which his lordship thanked the General, and cocked. Macartney was wounded at the first fire, and the seconds at once declared that the matter must rest. But Stuart exclaimed " This is no satat the Council
:

208

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

isfaction;" and asked Macartney if he was not able " With pleasure;" to fire again. His lordship replied:

and urged Colonel Fullerton (his second) to permit him to proceed. Colonel Gordon (Stuart's second) informed the General that his antagonist was who replied wounded and could not proceed "Then I must defer it till another occasion." To which Macartney added: "If that is the case we had better proceed again, now." But the seconds put an end to all further conversation between the parties, and his lordship was removed from the field in an easy carriage to his home. In 1794, in England, Lord Tankerville and Edward Bouverie, Member of Parliament, met with pistols, and the latter was killed. In 1740, in England, General Braddock (who afterward died in America) and
;
:

Colonel Gumley, officers of the British army, fought with swords, and Braddock was disarmed, but uninIn jured, although he refused to beg for his life. in Colonel le Oliver Neve and Sir 1699, England,

Henry Buckinghamshire, Member of Parliament, met with swords, and the latter was mortally wounded. In 1809, in England, Lord Castlereagh and George Canning (then Foreign Secretary) met with pistols on Putney Heath, and at the second shot Canning received a thigh wound, after which the seconds of the two statesmen put a stop to the combat. In 1841, in England, Captain Harvey G. Tuckett and James Thomas Cardigan met with pistols on Wimbledon

Common, and

the former was severely

wounded

at

the second shot.

On May i, 1760, at Manchester (England), while Major Glover, of the Lincolnshire militia, was passing pompously along, a Mr. Jackson (an apothecary)

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

209

dashed out of his store and tapped the militiaman playfully on his back. Subsequently the two met, and Glover touched the frolicsome compounder of
nauseating preparations perceptibly with a switch; which the apothecary flew into a rage, and challenged the militiaman to meet him at once in mortal The latter was greatly surprised, apolocombat. what might have seemed insulting, and for gized
at

joke.

declared that what he had done was only meant as a But the apothecary would listen to nothing
short of a hostile meeting; so the two at last went into a neighboring coffee-house, and in a very few

moments Jackson received satisfaction by being run through with Glover's sword and just before he died, the foolish apothecary declared that everything connected with his death was his own fault.
;

In 1714, in England, Colonel Chudworth, of the British army, insulted William Aldworth, Member of

Parliament, by calling him a Jacobite. The latter challenged Chudworth, and a meeting was arranged
to take place at Marylebone Fields, at which Aidworth was killed; weapons, swords. In August, 1790, M. de Cazales and M. Barnave, two French lawyers, fought with pistols near Paris, and the former was wounded in the leg. In 1790 Barnave fought a* duel with Viscount de Noailles with pistols, but neither

received

serious

injuries.

Oliver

St.

John, of the

house of

Captain Best, of the swords in 1589, in with Queen's Guards, fought In and Best was killed. 1760, in England, England, James Stewart and the Duke of Bolton met at Marylebone Fields with swords. Bolton had wounded his antagonist, and while making a desperate pass fell and broke his leg, and was unable to rise. " Get up

Bolingbroke, and

2IO

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

" or beg for your life!" cried Stewart. Never!" exclaimed the Duke. And thus the combat ended.

On June i, 1790, Mr. Macduff captain's clerk of the British sloop-of-war Racehorse, and midshipman Prince, of the same vessel, fought in England, and
July of the

was killed at the first fire. On the 3d of same year Mr. John Alcock and Mr. Sewell met with pistols at Guilford (England), and fired at
the latter

each other once without effect. They then fired a second time, when Sewell's pistol went off accidentally, and the bullet went through his own foot, while
the ball from his antagonist's weapon passed through the skirt of his coat. The seconds then arranged the

day

matter with satisfaction to both parties. On the 6th of the same month Lieutenants Cowper and Dyer,

of the Fifty-Sixth Regiment of English Foot, met near Dublin, and the latter was severely wounded at

the

first shot.

On

the 2oth of the

same month, same

year, Mr. Stephens, a young gentleman of twenty years of age (and only surviving son of Philip Stephens, of the Admiralty), and Mr. Anderson, an

attorney, met at Margate (England), and exchanged shots without effect. The seconds then interposed, but Stephens insisted on an apology from his adver-

gize

Mr. Anderson replied that he could not apolowords he had never used. Whereupon Stephens demanded another shot, and received his
sary.

for

On antagonist's bullet in the head and fell dead. August 3, 1772, near Paris, between Marquis de Fleur and Captain Cardineaux, in which the latter was killed and the former wounded in the arm weapons,
;

pistols.

On

the
of

i6th

of

(France), between Signor Romanza the

May,

1767, at

Marseilles

Duke

Triffonier.

The

(a Corsican) and latter had made

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

211

derogatory remarks about the British nation and its sovereign, to which Romanza responded by saying that the British nation was a nation of men, and that
the

King was the best monarch

in

Europe; for which

declaration Triffonier challenged the Corsican, and received a mortal wound; weapons, pistols. On the

3d

of

August, 1769, at
officers (a captain

English
rines)

Plymouth (England), two and a lieutenant of ma-

to dine, during which an intoxicated into condition, and afterward they got each and other, the lieutenant quarrelled fougnt

went out with each other

being killed; weapons, swords. In August, 1769, in Park, near Kilkenny (Ireland), a second duel took place between James Agar and Henry Flood (the former having been wounded in the arm

Dunmore

in

the

first affair), in

the heart.

The second

which Agar was shot through quarrel grew out of a con-

troversy over the loss of a case of duelling pistols. Agar fired first, and then took up a second weapon,

and cried out

his

to Flood,

who was about

to discharge

pistol

in

the

air:
fire,

And Flood
killed him.

did

"Fire, you scoundrel, fire!" and Agar never knew what

In August, 1779, Major Ackland and Lieutenant Lloyd, of the British army, fought near London, with pistols, and the former was killed. Lloyd had charged the American people with ingratitude and

cowardice, and Ackland, in defending the Americans,

gave Lloyd the lie, which resulted as aforesaid. On the nth of September, 1765, two gentlemen, who had long been intimate friends, quarrelled and fought with swords near Kensington (England), and both were severely wounded. One of the combatants, after arriving upon the field, drew from his pocket his will,

212

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in which he had bequeathed to his antagonist ^1000; and which he declared he would not take back. The duel was proceeded with, however. In Hyde Park, in 1748, Captains Innes and Clarke, officers in the British navy, fought with pistols, and the former was mortally wounded. The survivor was afterward tried and convicted of murder, but was pardoned by the King. The same year Mr. Ball, an

attorney, fought the Earl of Kilkenny with pistols, in In 1825, Ireland, and the latter was wounded twice.

Alphonse de Lamartine, the celebrated French poet, and Colonel Pepe, an officer in the Italian army, fought near Florence (Italy), and Lamartine was In 1794 Colonel Roper and seriously wounded. Lieutenant Purefoy, officers of the same regiment in the British army, met near London with pistols, and Roper was shot through the heart. In 1850, M. Valentine and M. Clary, members of the Chamber of Deputies, fought with swords near Brussels, and the former was dangerously wounded. On the 24th of November, 1849, M. Pierre Bonaparte fought M. Rovigo (whose face he had slapped publicly) with sabres, in the Bois de Boulogne, and was wounded. A day or two afterward he exchanged shots with Adrian de la Valette, a Parisian journalist, in the woods near Paris, without injury to either. In 1851 M. Pierre Bonaparte and the Count Nienkerke met with swords in the Bois de Boulogne, and the latter was sevely wounded in the thigh.
the 24th of February, 1832, in Paris, Charles Leon, a natural son of Napoleon, dined with M. de Rosambert, and met, at dinner, Captain Hesse.
lost eighteen

On

During the evening play was introduced, and Leon thousand francs; after which, he quar-

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

relied with Hesse,

21$

and the two arranged for a duel, which was fought in the woods upon the following morning, and Hesse was mortally wounded. On the i9th of March. 1830, Captain Smith, of the Thirtysecond Foot, British army, and Standish Stamer

O'Grady
pistols

accompanied

respectively

by

Captain

Markham and Lieutenant Macnamara

met with

near Dublin, and O'Grady was shot dead. Subsequently Captains Smith and Markham were arrested and tried for murder, and convicted of manslaughter and sentenced to twelve months' imprisonin Kilmainham jail. Smith, after listening to the sentence, cried out, "My God! my God! I am disgraced forever!" and fell into Markham's arms.

ment

In 1835

Morgan O'Connell, Member

of Parliament,

and Lord Alvanley fought in Hyde Park with pistols, and fired at each other three times without effect. In 1853 M. Charles Moncelet and M. Emile Angier met near Paris and settled their difficulty by firing at each other once without effect. In 1731 Lord Hervey and William Pulteney fought with swords near Bath, and the former was slightly wounded. In 1822 the Duke of Bedford and the Duke of Buckingham met in Hyde Park with pistols. The Duke of Buckingham fired without effect, and his antagonist discharged his pistol in the air. In 1849 M. Berard and M. Brives, members of the Chamber of Deputies, met near Paris with pistols, and satisfied honor after one shot from Brives; Berard's weapon missing fire. In 1833, in England, Sir John Jeffcott and Captain Hennis fought with pistols, and the latter was mortally wounded. In 1835, after a quarrel in the Cortez, Sefior Mendizabal, Prime Minister of Spain, and

214

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and

Sefior Isturitz, fought with pistols near Madrid, exchanged shots without effect.

On the 7th of December, 1883, Signers Levito and Nicotera met with sabres near the iron bridge which spans the Tiber, at Rome; and, after a desperate enwounded in the The seconds then endeavored to terminate the affair, when Levito suddenly rushed forward, snatched Nicotera's sabre away and slashed the unarmed man a deadly blow over his head and neck, from which he died in a short time afterward. The New York Times, in noticing this affair, said:
counter, the former was dangerously
heart.

The killing of Baron Nicotera, although it took place in a duel, was a murder, or rather a bloody butchery, for his antagonist killed him in a way which involved a total disregard of the "code," and which will probably result in the homicide's trial and condemnation by a criminal court. The death of Nicotera is an event of no little political importance. He led a small party in Parliament which was absolutely devoted to his interests, and his hold on his Calabrian constituents, being purely personal, could not be shaken, whatever political somersaults he might have made.

Nominally a leader of the

Left,

he fought for his own ad-

vantage, and his readiness either to ally himself with any party that would purchase his services or to attack any

Ministry or measure, made him a factor in politics that no or statesman could entirely ignore. There is no principle nor programme that loses by his death, but the
party

complete extinction of the Nicotera group which it necessarily involves will simplify the problem of parliamentary Nicotera was a picturesque figure in the government. rapidly diminishing ranks of the Italian revolutionary patriots.

He

belonged to the era

now

happily closed

of

Italian conspirators. During the greater part of his turbulent life he was always conspiring or fighting against tyrj

and he began

this course so

young

that by the time he

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

was twenty he was an
exile

from Naples and had been

wounded by a French bullet while fighting for the Roman Republic of '48. Twenty years more were passed by him in the underground work of the Italian secret societies, and at
the end of that time he was captured and condemned, first to death and afterward to the galleys for life, for having

made one of an armed band sent out by Mazzini to face almost certain death by landing in Southern Italy and attempting to incite an insurrection against the king. Liberated by the Sicilian revolt, Nicotera was sent by Bertani to head an expedition against Rome. The expedition was ostensibly a Garibaldian movement, but was undertaken without the knowledge of Garibaldi, and was afterward denounced by him as a specimen of the folly of republican It was broken up by the Sardinian Governdoctrinaires. ment, and Nicotera thereupon joined Garibaldi in South At Aspromonte he was with the simple-minded Italy. hero whom Rattazzi had lured into loyal rebellion for there
;

question that Garibaldi was made to believe that in engaging in the Aspromonte campaign he was really
is

now no

obeying the wishes of Victor Emmanuel. Such a man was not able, fearless, trained to conflict with authority the man to suddenly develop into a statesman. Nicotera was a* guerrilla in politics as he had been in war, and he never learned that there could be virtue in obedience to
law.

tions was

As Minister of the Interior his manipulation of elecmore reckless and shameless than anything of the

kind ever perpetrated by an imperialist Prefect in the early days of the last French Empire, and it stained his reputaHad he lived, he could have had no tion ineffaceably. reasonable prospect of ever again entering an Italian CabHis political career after his withdrawal from office inet. was that of a clever, unscrupulous trickster, and with the

growth of true parliamentary government his influence as the leader of a group would have steadily diminished. There was one touch of chivalry in the veteran conspirator.

The magic
lican as

of the beautiful Italian queen made him, repubhe was, thoroughly loyal to the throne and that
;

2l6

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

the queen could have exerted this influence over such a man without the loss of dignity or the slightest breath of
suspicion is not the least of her claims to the respect and The conspirators with whom Nicotera love of her people. belonged, and of a certain class of whom he was a type, will

soon have passed out of the political life of Italy. In their day they did good service, and those whose freedom was in large measure won by the bravery and sufferings of these men can well afford to pardon the offences that die with With all his faults Nicotera never hesitated to them. brave the gallows and to face the bullets of the enemies of He was useless and out of place as a lawItalian freedom. maker but before the Italian Parliament was born he had
;

worthily filled a place among the soldiers of freedom. Italy will be less heroic when the men of Mazzinian conspiracies

and red-shirt campaigns are gone; but the cause of good government loses nothing by the death of the bold, restless, and reckless Calabrian Baron.

York Herald from special cablegram to the Paris, dated the loth of January, 1884, presented the
following spirited description of the duel between

New

two famous Parisians, as follows: The duel between M. Aurelien Scholl, the witty chroniqueur of the Evtnement, and Count Albert de Dion, a prominent ornament of the gayest coterie of Parisian society, took place at noon yesterday. To-day it exclusively absorbs the attention of Paris. The cause of the duel originated four years ago, and is too complicated to be unravelled in a telegraphic summary. Readers of the Herald will doubtless recall the scene at the famous restaurant Bignon in 1880, when the Count de Dion threw a bottle of champagne at M. Scholl's head and otherwise roughly handled him. The Count de Dion was for this assault locked up in jail for two months. When the Count de Dion came out M. Scholl's two seconds waited upon him. The Count de Dion was most eager to fight, but in Belgium, not in France, as the

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

cumulative punishment for a duel on top of an assault and battery would be too serious a matter. M. Scholl, on the other hand, refused to go to Belgium. Hence the status quo was maintained until last week, when the Count de Dion fought a duel with M. de Bryas. This duel fanned into activity the latent fire of M. Scholl concerning the imbroglio with the Count de Dion, and on Tuesday M. Scholl
published in the Evenement a sarcastic appreciation, of the Count de Dion, headed " A Surprise." The Count de Dion never reads the Evtnement, but the next day (yesterday)
his friend

M. Sohege showed him M.

Scholl's provoking

sarcasm.
article

The Count de Dion

his feet,

grow under

did not allow the grass to and ten minutes after reading the

he sent the General Prince de Bauffremont and Commandant Franchet d'Esperet as seconds to demand reparation of M. Scholl, who referred those gentlemen to his own seconds, MM. Robert Mitchell and Adolphe Tavernier. The following is the narrative of the details of the duel as related to your correspondent by one of the four

seconds

place at

The duel took officiated on the occasion noon near the grand stand of the race-course of Longchamps. We wanted it to take place in the pesage,
:

who

but when we arrived with our principals the keepers said that the proprietors of the race-course would not allow any So we were duelling to take place on their property. obliged to go further. We halted finally in one of the M. Taverretired and picturesque promenades of the Bois. Prince nier tossed up a louis for the choice of position.

Bauffremont cried

"

Head

!"

and won.

M. Tavern ier then

tossed up again a louis for the choice of weapons. Prince Bauffremont cried " Head !" and again won. The Count

de Dion then selected his position and chose his own weapons, a magnificent pair of swords with costly steel guards ornamented with his initials and the coronet of the count embossed in solid gold. M. Tavernier, to whom we delegated the direction of the combat, put the adversaries in position and engaged their swords. At the command, " Allez, Messieurs /" the two combatants took ground en

218
rampant.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Then M.
The Count de Dion
Scholl attacked furiously with right all the while smiled

points and thrusts.

most ironically and parried M. Scholl's attacks with highly finished but rather fantastic play, frequently tantalizing his
adversary by raising his sword quite out of position of guard, M. Scholl for an instant completely exposing himself. made play at the chest, the Count de Dion at the stomach.

At the expiration of four minutes M. Tavernier, believing that the Count de Dion was wounded in the wrist, stopped
it was merely the Count de Dion's shirt which had been torn. At the second engagement the adversaries ceased to rompre and the play was more M. Scholl continued to attack vigorously and earnest. in wounding the Count de Dion, but the succeeded nearly

the combat, but

sleeve

very adroitly sprang back, missing the point by a The combat continued in the most spirited manner imaginable. M. Scholl kept advancing and making play at the Count de Dion's chest, followed by a well-executed degagement dans la tigne basse. The Count de Dion always responded by the riposte en seconde after each paslatter
hair's breadth.

sage. Finally, by a beautiful riposte du tac au tac the Count de Dion wounded M. Scholl in the side, his sword entering between the eighth and ninth ribs. The sword

bending, broke at twenty centimetres from its point, the broken piece remaining in the wound. M. Scholl stepped " back, saying Je laisse." We seconds all approached, anxious to see if the wound was dangerous. M. Scholl smiled, and said, " I have had worse wounds than this," referring to a severe wound in the chest received from M. Paul de Cas"That's what comes of being so near-sighted," sagnac. continued M. Scholl. Your correspondent here asked " What was the real feeling of the adversaries before and after the combat?" The second answered "They both did their best to kill each other." " Was there a reconciliation ?"
"

No

but before the combat

we seconds

insisted

that our respective principals should formally agree that " this duel would finally settle the quarrel." Is M. Scholl's

wound

serious ?"

"

No

he went at

five o'clock to Tortoni's

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS,

as usual, and then went to Evtnement"
his
editorial

2ig
chair
in

the

Rossi was playing Hamlet one night when a party of young Italians of both

at

Casala,

sexes,

who

had dined too copiously, spoke so loud that the actor was obliged to stop. "I'll keep quiet until you do,"
said

tragedian, quietly folding his arms. The public applauded and demanded the expulsion of the disturbers, but after the performance Signor Rossi
the

found a card

left

with the stage doorkeeper.

The

owner

of

it

insisted

upon

satisfaction for the insult.

Signor Rossi pulled a long face. He did not mind a duel, but he was expected next night at Milan and was bound to start at eight o'clock in the morning.

He went straight to the residence of the challenger, whom he found engaged in trying his skill with a
pair of pistols on an iron plate fixed against the wall. He explained the situation to him. " The rumor of

a duel between us has already gone abroad; the gendarmerie are sure to prevent us in the morning. I have a very spacious apartment at the hotel. Will you come and settle our quarrel there ? We are not likely to be disturbed, especially if we can manage to So said, so done. They repaired slip in unnoticed." to Signor Rossi's hotel; the conditions had been arranged; and they were just about to begin when there was a knock at the door. It was the host, who, seeing a light so late, feared that his visitor was ill, and would not accept his assurance to the contrary for an answer. " There is but one way out of the difficulty we must blow out the candles and take aim by the glow of our cigarettes we are going to light." The condition was accepted Signor Rossi hit his adver;

sary in the shoulder, but the discharge

awakened the

220

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The tragedian had got from the frying-pan into the fire, for he was conducted to the juge de paix. In vain did he consult his watch the hands pointed to seven. To make matters worse, the magistrate received him with a crushing speech.
whole house.
;

years' imprisonment," he began. man of the law has spoken," he " continued, suddenly changing his tone, the playgoer must add a last word. I was at the theatre last

"You

deserve

five

"But now

that the

chastise this good-for-nothing.

god and you did very well to I know that you are expected in Milan, and take this ring as a remembrance of how I look upon your conduct."
night
;

you acted

like a

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

221

CHAPTER
EUROPEAN DUELS

XII.
CONTINUED.

Fight to the Death The Fatal Duel between O'Connell and D'Esterre A Combat with Cavalry Sabres Harry Bellasses
of

and Tom Porter An Old-Time Duel Yarmouth Aston and Fitzgerald

Fighting Musicians

All about the Countess

A Number of

Fatal Duels
Killed

Fatal Encounter with Scissors

and Left

Midshipmen Armstrong and Long General Pepe and Caraocosa Duels from Trivial Causes A Disrespectful Frenchman Neatly Dispatched The Desperate Encounter between Valois and Bezarier A Spectacular Combat and its Tragic Result Two Desperate Affairs Extraordinary and Fatal Duel Atrocities of the Field.
in the Street

DURING an animated discussion between Lieutenants Zigang and Suprin, of the One Hundred and Thirteenth (French) Infantry, concerning military
matters, early in September, 1881, at Paris, the former gave his brother officer the lie, and was dealt a violent blow in the face in return. A duel was the consequence; and the parties met, with pistols, on the twelfth of the month, at Saules, between the rivers Sanitas and Loire. The combatants confronted each other at thirty paces, and at the signal both fired and both fell Zigang hit in the hip and his antagonist in the breast. They were then conveyed to the hospital, where Suprin died in a few days. When Henry III. was king of France there were among his courtiers two gentlemen who were noted

222

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Caylus and D'Entraquet. which his majesty was a jolly participant, Caylus and D'Entraquet quarrelled over cards, and the latter accused the former of cheating, and threw his glove in Caylus' face. Caylus

as masters of the sword

During a night's

dissipation, in

sprang upon D'Entraquet like a tiger and seized him by the throat, but in an instant the two courtiers were separated by friends. "I'll have your life for this!"

"Well said, sir to Caylus, in great rage. once," responded D'Entraquet. Arrangements were quickly made for a meeting at
cried

Fourelles, then, at

Fourelles early upon the following day, with two seconds on each side. Morning came (writes a contributor to an English magazine), and no sooner had the seconds

arranged all the preliminaries than the principals confronted each other and their shining blades glided

For some moments neither gained any Then every movement was cautious, for advantage. each wished to learn the skill and power of his oppointo collision.

nent.

Caylus was the

first

to

break ground.

He

a rapid parry, and lunged like lightning at his A thrust so quick and true that only by opponent.

made

a desperate backward spring did the latter escape. Again the swords crossed, and steel played along steel till Caylus, seeing an opportunity, made a leap and thrust, and his sword was beaten down when It was only within an inch of his enemy's heart. far the evident now that was most clearly Caylus by swordsman of the and two, expert nothing but D'Entraquet's strength of wrist had saved him from receiving a deadly wound. That strength stood him in good stead, and he was determined to exert it to
the utmost.

D'Entraquet now pressed his antagonist heavily and closely, thrust following thrust in rapid

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

succession.
fail

22$

Soon the strength of Caylus began to him, and his defence grew weaker as D'Entraquet,

seeming to gather strength, pressed him hotly. The seconds resolved to interpose. " Enough," they cried. " Honor is satisfied, what more would you have ?"
D'Entraquet seemed inclined
tion; not so Caylus.
to listen to this sugges-

smiled, and waved the seconds back with a gesture of contempt. " Our quarrel cannot be so easily appeased. Fall back we
!

He

death!" he cried. "Be it so," said fight D'Entraquet; "your blood be on your own head, not mine." And bearing down the point of his antagonist's sword with a straight thrust, delivered with all his strength, he drove the cold steel through the breast of his enemy with such force that the point came out
to

the

at

his

back.

That thrust was a

fatal one.

Caylus

stood for one brief second, and then dropped dead. There are Irish writers who have stated that the

Count d'Esterre was imported for the sole purpose of Be this as it killing the famous Daniel O'Connell. it not a member was after d'Esterre became may, long
of the corporation of Dublin that the illustrious Irishman referred to that body as " a beggarly corporaThis was the Count's opportunity; and he tion."
it by sending O'Connell a challenge. This was duly accepted, although O'Connell declared that the meeting was party subterfuge to cut him off. The Count was known to be a dead shot, while no one would have wagered a shilling on O'Connell, who had never fought a duel, and who was at best an in-

quickly embraced

marksman. After taking their stand, arid the getting signal, the parties fired so nearly together that it seemed like one report, and d'Esterre fell mordifferent
tally

wounded, while O'Connell escaped unhurt.

This

224

THE PIELD OF HONOR.

took place at Bishop's Court, in 1815. In 1829, while Robert Peel was Secretary for Ireland, O'Connell " son of a cotcalled the distinguished statesman the
Sir

ton-jenny," which resulted in an agreement fora meeting, which was prevented by the proper authorities.

Subsequently the parties made preparations to depart " Irish Liberator" was arrested for France, but the while on his way from Dublin and held on bail not to
fight.

In 1852, in Paris, M. Laury and M. Vieyra quarrelled in a billiard saloon, and agreed to settle their grievance at sunrise the following morning at a stated
place in the
first,

woods near the

city, the

pistols, at

twelve paces;

weapons to be: and then, second (if

cavalry sabres. hit), to advance with After arriving upon the ground, it was arranged that the combatants should proceed at once with their
sabres, as the reports authorities (who were

neither was

of firearms might bring the on the track of the parties)

quickly to the scene of action. The duel lasted twenty minutes, when Vieyra was severely wounded in the
breast.

that in London, in 1677, between and Thomas Porter. Like Camelford and Best, Harry Bellasses and Tom Porter were genial fellows, and fond of the good things of the world. They met, with some other fellows, one evening, and dined at Jack Castle's, in Spring Garden. Slight intoxication soon followed, and Bellasses and Porter had words, during which the former gave the At this, one of the latter a light slap upon the face. time were all this who by nearly intoxicated, company,
Sir

A singular duel was

Henry
Bellasses

sprang up at once, crying: "Tom,

blow."

wouldn't stand a

"Nor

will I!" cried

Tom

Porter, staggering

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

to his feet.

22$

Sir Harry, a word with you. Bellasses looked at him aghast. "What, Tom !" said he, " are you going to quarrel ?" "No. Quarrel!" he cried, " I am not going to quarrel. I have quarrelled follow me." "I will not fight you!" Sir Henry replied; and making for the door he rushed into the

"

coach was passing, into which he leaped, Tom Porter came rushing out urged on " the words of his friends, he cried: Up the Strand, by " and then to Covent Garden." Ha, ha !" cried Tom Porter, now maddened by drink and excitement. " Did you hear ? He is going round by Covent GarWe can cut across and meet him." In the still den. small hours of the morning, just before the market became alive with people, Tom Porter met the coach,
street.

and, just as

Coward," and stopping it faced Sir " and You are Henry challenged him to fight a duel. Tom !" he his Porter sword as mad, cried, drawing his coat and vest to the as "but flung ground; you will it, be it so." The duel, founded on nothing, and urged on by foolish men, was not many minutes in duration, and presently Tom Porter's sword ran into the breast of his bosom friend, who fell, bathed in In an instant, when he beheld blood, to the ground. the form of his comrade fall death-struck to the earth, Porter saw his crime, and fell on his knees weeping at " the side of his friend. Forgive me I was mad, in broken he accents. cried, "Away, Tom; Harry," "I forgive you. save yourself," cried Bellasses. Fools have wrought this between us." And dragged away by his friends Tom Porter was placed in a coach, forced down to Dover and away to France.
and, calling out,
Jthere

"

During the reign of Henry the Second, of France, was a famous duel between Baron des Guerres

226

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and Seigneur Fondelles, in which the former was defeated and badly wounded. They fought with swords, and both received many desperate cuts. There were
of people present, and during the progress of the combat a scaffold fell containing spectators, and a number of ladies were seriously injured.

many thousands

In 1750, two

Freychappel,

German noblemen, named Swiegel and who were visiting England, fell desper-

ately in love with the beautiful Countess of Yarmouth (then a mistress of George II.), and, becoming greatly

enraged with each other, in consequence, repaired to Hyde Park one morning with swords for the purpose
of settling their differences in the premises of love. The combat lasted nearly an hour, during the prog-

both were many times wounded. while rushing furiously upon his antagonist, slipped and fell, and was instantly run through and killed. On the 29th of June, 1790, Captain Harvey Aston and Lieutenant Fitzgerald, of the Sixtieth Regiment of (English) Foot, who had quarrelled a long time
ress

of

which

Freychappel, at

last,

before at Ranelagh, met in a field at Chalk-lodge farm, near Hampstead, at the break of day, with pistols;

Aston being seconded by Lord Fitzroy, and Fitzgerald They fought at ten paces; and Fitzgerald, having the first fire, rested his pistol on his left arm, and took an aim which sent a bullet through his antagonist's neck. On receiving the wound, Aston called to his antagonist, without firing: " Are you satisfied?" The answer returned was: "lam Mr. Aston was then assisted to his carsatisfied." riage suffering greatly from his wound, which was a

by Mr. Wood.

very severe one. On the 28th of June, 1796, Lord Valentia and Henry Gawler met in a field three miles

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

from Hamburgh, and Valentia was wounded
breast at the
first

22 ?

in the while his fire, lordship's bullet hat of his the On the passed through antagonist. loth of August, 1796, two Americans named William

Carpenter and John Pride fought in Hyde Park, London, and the former was shot through the body and died the next day. The coroner's jury rendered a verdict of wilful murder, but Pride was acquitted

upon

trial.

January 12, 1818, near Chalk-farm, Mr. O'Callaghan and Lieutenant Bayley, of the Fifty-eighth British Foot; they fought with pistols, and Bayley was mortally wounded. O'Callaghan and the two seconds were charged with murder by a coroner's jury, and at their trial were convicted of manIn the duel between Redmond Byrne and slaughter. Thomas O'Connor, near Cork (Ireland), in July, 1820, a spectator at a distance of a quarter of a mile received one of the shots in the arm, while neither of

On

was hurt. On December 13, 1817, in Northwood Park, Isle of Wight, John Sutton and Major Lockyer; the former was killed at the first fire. The coroner's jury returned a verdict of wilful murder against Lockyer and the two seconds, all of
the principals

whom
hurst

On July 19, 1813, near ParkBarracks (England), Edward McGuire and Lieutenant Blundell; they fought with pistols, and Blundell was killed. McGuire and the seconds were convicted of murder and sentenced to death, but the sentence was commuted to imprisonment. In 1728,
fled the country.

in

England, Captain Peppard, of the British army,

and Mr. Hayes, an attorney, met at Hyde Park, with swords, and Hayes was killed. In 1748, in Hyde Park, Messrs. Morgan and Hamilton, with swords;

228

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

On November 13, 1779, in England, Mr. Donovan and Captain Hanson; the latter killed. In Paris, in 1862, the Due de Grammont Caderousse and Mr. Dillon, a journalist; the latter killed. In 1788, in England, Mr. McKeon and George Nugent
the latter killed.

Reynolds, in which the latter was killed and the former convicted of murder. In England, in 1802, Right Honorable George Ogle and Bernard Coyle;
the latter slightly
1861, in Berlin,
ten,

wounded

at the eighth shot.

In

General de Manteuffel and M. Twes-

with

pistols, at eleven paces.

At the

first

shot

the General was grazed in the

antagonist was These gentlemen held prominent positions under the King, who was highly indignant over their offence. In 1711, in England, Mr. Thornhill and Sir Cholmeley Dering; they fought with pistols, and the Baronet was killed at the first fire. In France, in 1851, M. Chavoix and M. Dupont; they fought with swords, and the latter was slain. In 1752, in England, Lord Lempster and Captain Grey, of the British army, with swords; Lempster was run through the body and died while being taken to his In 1851, in England, Viscount Maiden and carriage. Captain Hawkins, with pistols; the officer fired and missed, and his lordship discharged his weapon in the air. In 1854, in France, M. Alphonse and M. Isidore, with swords; Isidore was severely wounded. In 1495, the Emperor Maximilian, of Germany, and Claude de Batre, with swords; the latter was deIn 1789, at Wimbledon, the Duke of York feated. (afterward George the Fourth) and Colonel Lenox

second his

head, and at the wounded in the wrist.

(afterward the

Duke

of

Richmond), with

pistols.

The

latter fired first arid disarranged a lock of his noble

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

antagonist's hair, and the Duke of York discharged his pistol in the air. Theophilus Swift, an Irish attorney, upon learning of the meeting, although unacquainted with Colonel Lenox, declared that the latter ought to be challenged and made to fight until some one killed him for having dared to fire upon a son of the King; and he issued a cartel of defiance accordLenox accepted the challenge, the parties ingly. and Swift was shot through the body at the first met,

In 1647, in Scotland, Donald McCallum and Colkitto Alister, with swords; McCallum was desperIn 1714, ately wounded and died the following day.
fire.

Cornet Castine and Dudley Moore, with swords; Moore was killed. In 1764, in England, the Duke of Pecquigny and M. Virette, with swords; the
in Ireland,

former was badly wounded. In 1503, in Spain, the Chevalier Bayard and Alonzo de Sotomayor. Bayard issued the challenge, and the parties met with swords and daggers, and after a desperate struggle the Spaniard was killed. Ole Bull, one of the greatest violinists that ever lived, fought and killed a fellow musician in Paris in I ^37Jullien, the eminent musical director, just before sailing for America, in 1853, fought a duel near Paris, and was run through the body and taken off the field for dead. In 1851, at Versailles, Prince Charles Bonaparte and Count Rossi, with pistols; In 1660, in England, Sir William Gray neither hit. and the Earl of Southesk, with swords; the former
killed.

James Bruce, the distinguished traveller, a duel with a gentleman at Brussels, and fought

wounded

his adversary several times, in 1757; swords. The first Sir Colin Campbell was weapons, Sir killed by the Lord of Lorn, in Scotland, in 1291.

230

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in Scotland, in In Ireland, in 1808, Mr. Al-

James Johnston and Lord Maxwell,

1613; the former slain.

cock and Mr. Colclough; they fought with pistols, and Colclough was shot dead at the first fire. On February 26, 1812, in Ireland, O. Joynt and P. McKim; they fought with pistols, and the latter was killed at the first fire. On January 3, 1806, near Not-

tingham (England), Ensigns Brown and Butler, of the British army; Brown was shot through the heart and Butler fled the country. On May 5, 1807, at

Combe Wood,

near

Wimbledom Common, James

they fought with

Paull and Sir Francis Burdette;

pistols, and Burdette was severely wounded in the thigh at the second shot. On June 8, 1807, on the

Strand,

at

Ferrybank,

near

Wexford

(Ireland),

Thomas McCoard and Standish Lowquay; the latter wounded in the groin at the second shot. In September, 1820, two young gentlemen named Fenshaw
and Hartinger fought with pistols on the Ascot-heath race-course (England), and at the third fire both fell dangerously wounded. On April 14, 1813, two French prisoners-of-war on board the English prisonship Sampson fought with scissors tied to ends of brush handles, and battled desperately for an hour, when one of them fell dead, while the survivor was cut
in forty places. the 2ist of

On

September, 1806,

in

Hyde

Park,

Baron Hornpesch and Mr. Richardson; the latter was shot dead at the first fire. On the i2th of October, of the same year, Midshipman Armstrong, of the Prince of Wales, and Midshipman Long, of the Resistance, quarrelled at dinner, at Plymouth, and went out and fought with pistols, and Long was killed and left in the street, where he was found by the Port Ad-

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

miral about ten o'clock. Armstrong was charged with murder by the coroner's jury, and sent to jail in In 1823, in England, near Kew bridge, Genchains. eral Pepe and General Carascosa; they fought with swords, and Carascosa was severely wounded in the In 1851, near Bologne, John Petit right shoulder. and George Roussell; they fired twice without effect, but at the third shot the former was killed.
In 1743, in Italy, two Italian noblemen (the Mar-

Bagnesi and Marquis Strozzi) fought with The duel swords, and both were badly wounded. grew out of a quarrel over a small gambling debt. A still more trivial cause for a duel was that of Mr.
quis

MacDonnell, who got enraged

at a ball,
in

at

Lieutenant McLeod,
the latter

Scotland,

in

1790, because

"gave him an impertinent look;" and for this MacDonnell struck the officer with a cane and drove him out of the room. McLeod at once challenged
the offender, and the parties met, near Edinburgh, with pistols, the following morning. Before taking
their places,

MacDonnell said
I

to

ant, I am fully last night, and

convinced that

am

willing to

McLeod: " LieutenI was in the wrong make a proper apol-

ogy."

turned to his second, who claimed that MacDonnell should also submit to the same pun-

McLeod

ishment that he had inflicted upon McLeod, which terms were not acceded to; after which they fired at each other, and the officer was killed. MacDonnell was at once arrested and tried on a charge of murder, but was acquitted.
" Wraxhall, in his Memoirs," relates a very interesting account of a duel which took place in Germany, while the Earl of Stair commanded the British army
in that country, in

which Lord Mark Kerr

(Stair's

232

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

nephew) neatly disposed of an ungentlemanly Frenchman. The quarrel grew out of misconduct at a dinner on the part of a French officer, thus:

A difference

of opinion

having arisen during the repast,

on some point which was maintained by one of the French officers with great pertinacity, Lord Mark Kerr, in a very gentle tone of voice, ventured to set him right on the matter of fact. But the Frenchman, unconscious of his quality, and perhaps thinking that a frame so delicate did not enclose a high spirit, contradicted him in the most gross
terms, such as are neither used nor submitted to among gentlemen. The circumstance took place so near to Lord Stair as unavoidably to attract his attention. No notice whatever was taken of it at the time, and after dinner the company adjourned to another tent, where coffee was served. Lord Mark coming in about a quarter of an hour later than

the others, Lord Stair no sooner observed him, than, calling him aside: " Nephew," said he, " I think it impossible for you to pass by the affront that you have received from the

French officer at my table. You must demand satisfaction, however much I regret the necessity of it." " O, my lord," answered Lord Mark, with his characteristic gentleness of manner, 'you need not be under any uneasiness on that We have already fought. I ran him through the subject. body. He died on the spot, and they are at this moment about to bury him. I knew too well what I owed myself, and I was too well convinced of your lordship's way of thinking to lose a

moment

in calling the officer to account.

One

of the

most memorable,

as

well as

one of

the most desperate, duels in the annals of France took place in Paris during the reign of Henry the Fourth between Lagarde Valois (a gambler, roue,

The and swash-buckler) and Constant Bezarier. former had stabbed a lad named Chretien, whom he had attempted to rob, at a restaurant; and during the melee Bezarier, a friend of the young nobleman,

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

233

precipitated himself into the room, just as Valois was making his exit. Despatching a domestic for a sur-

geon, Bezarier took

off

Chretien's hat, with

its

rich

ostrich plume, and attaching a slip of paper to it, with the words, " Thou thrice-accursed coward, Valois,

meet me, Bezarier, and wear this hat, if thou darest," he sent it by his own servant to Valois' lodgings, and then looked carefully to his sword and dagger, and
Three Brothers," the residence of his He had only proceeded, however, friend .Chretien. as far as the Church of the Sacred Heart when he
left

for the

"

cal hat

saw approaching him Valois himself, with the idention his head. It was a lonely road, and there was ample room there for two desperate men bent on
In an instant their fighting a duel to the death. swords were drawn, and they sternly saluted each The next and the blades crossed. For some other. minutes each man feinted and lunged in turn, and did his utmost to discover the strength of his adversary's
resources.

Then
said

there was a quick pass or two, then

"

an involuntary pause.
expected,"
Valois, " I

We

meet sooner than

face

aglow with the knew the Sieur Bezarier would delight of battle. keep his promise to meet me, but I did not expect to " You are a liar and a see him again before sunset." " and may think cur," retorted Bezarier, sternly, that I to cross swords fortunate condescend yourself with you. Shake not your head in that way, man; I know you Him you did breakfast with, and ply with wine, and afterwards rob, he was my friend, and
his
!

I am about to be his avenger. Therefore, make your peace with Heaven, for short is the shrift I shall allow "Fool!" retorted Valois, white with rage. you." " Who are you, that, on the repute of a few chance

234

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in Paris

encounters with obscure men, would face the best

swordsman
your
teeth.

hurl your defiance back in

With that he you, now!" raised his sword, and with a quick and nimble rush broke over Bezarier's guard, and wounded him in the
at

Have

forehead.

"

How

like

you

that ?"

he

demanded.

quietly wiping the blood from his face, smiled disdainfully, and advanced to the attack. Again the swords crossed. In mere skill and dexterity the combatants were pretty evenly balanced, but Valois was the most
active

Bezarier

made no answer, but

and by far the stronger of the two. Twice had the point of his sword swept like lightning within an inch of Bezarier's heart, and only by the
merest good fortune did the latter escape untouched.

But

his coolness

and

resolution, his patience

and per-

Even these tokens of tinacity, never left him. his adversary's superiority failed to provoke him to be indiscreet. He parried Valois' impetuous outsets
with a calm courage that left nothing to be desired. For the third time they closed. Though Bezarier was bleeding freely from the wound he had received, he bated no jot of his vigilance eye, foot and hand
true. Evidently it was his out Valois before he attempted any serious effort on his own account. Of this Valois

were equally firm and

design to
tire

soon became aware, and his curses were frequent and deep. Once more he made a savage rush, and though Bezarier parried it, the exertion seemed to tire him, and he hung longer on the other's blade than was Valois noticed it. altogether safe. Quick as thought he disengaged, and with a straight and deadly thrust run Bezarier through the body. The latter staggered, but stood his ground without fall-

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

"
ing.

235

That is for the hat !" cried Valois, mockingly. Two quick feints, two again he came on. nimble parries, and once more Valois pierced his '* For the feather, fair sir !" he said. No enemy.

And

pale, and bleeding Bezarier on. The fought tenacity of the profusely, man was wonderful. There were no signs of yielding about him, and it was evident that he would sur-

reply.

Mute and grim, deadly

render only with his life. Another minute, and Valois for the third time in succession broke down
his opponent's guard, and, as his sword went through " And that is for the him, exclaimed exultingly:

loop

!"

Then Bezarier drew himself

together, and

spitting out the

blood from his mouth, drew his

dagger, and leapt like a tiger at Valois' throat. Taken wholly by surprise at the unlooked-for display of

phenomenal
heavily sure death.
chest,

vigor, the latter lost his footing, That fall doomed to the ground.

and fell him to

Bezarier planted his

held

knee

and

him

down

powerless.

upon his Then he

stabbed Valois in throat and breast, and forehead, again and again fourteen gaping wounds in all. Then Bezarier rose, and spurning the body of his dead enemy with his foot, walked quietly back to the inn. And, it may be stated, in conclusion, that, although Bezarier was run through the body three times, he lived for nearly forty years afterward.

On

the third of May, 1808, took place the spec-

de Grandpre and M. de above Paris. An immense crowd of people had assembled in a field near the Tuileries. Each principal was accompanied by one second the weapons were blunderbusses, and the terms were to The ascent took place before noon; fight at will.
Pigne, in balloons,
;

tacular duel between M.

236

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and when at a height of about nine hundred feet, and within less than eighty yards of each other, De Pigne opened fire, the masses below sent up a great But De Pigne missed, while De Grandpre shout. blazed away. Another shout; and then all was still; for De Pigne's balloon had collapsed, the basket had turned over and let its occupants out, and they came down through the air heads foremost, and were dashed to pieces upon the same housetop. Another strange duel was this Captain Raoul de Vere and' Colonel Barbier-Dufai, of Paris, during a
:

quarrel, agreed to settle the matter by getting into a coach with daggers in their right hands, and with their left arms tied, and fighting while the carriage

was being driven twice around the Place du CarRaoul was killed and rousel by their seconds. Barbier-Dufai was mortally wounded.
In England,
in

1608,

Edward Morgan

killed

John

Egerton, although the latter had in a former duel spared Morgan's life. In 1580, in France, the Vis-

count

Turenne was challenged

by

two

brothers,

named Duras and Rosan, whom he fought. The latter, however, took many advantages unfairly, and the Viscount was wounded in twenty-two places, but
lived.

During the early part

in

of the seventeenth cen-

tury two English

Williams fought
tols.
hit,

named Bennett and Hyde Park with swords and pisphysicians

They

first

exchanged

and then

fell

shots, in which both were to with their swords. Bennett, at

:

last, fell,

ful

God

" Mercimortally wounded, but cried out me a little more Almighty give strength !"
!

at the

same time giving his antagonist a cut that brought him down also; in this condition they fought for nearly fifteen minutes, then both expired.

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

Of all the duels which have been fought in deference to the modern principle of honor, none that we have ever read of is more affecting or more sanguinary and deadly than that between his Grace the Duke of B. and Lord B.; a manuscript description of which was found in the library of Mr. Goodwin,
during whose reign have supposed happened. The cause of the duel was an affront given the former by the latter at a ball, out of which an agreement was made to fight in Hyde Park at half-past five in the morning The description of the of the second day following.
author of the
the affair
is

life

of

Henry VIII.
to

affair is as follows:

His

Grace

stripped off

his
lace,

coat,

which

was
B.'s

scarlet,

trimmed with broad ^pld

when my Lord
,

second

on which, with some " Do you take me to be a indignation, his Grace replied person of so little honor as to defend myself by such base means as hiding a shield under my doublet ?" Lieutenant De Lee desired his excuse, adding, he was bound in honor to see justice done to the cause he had espoused. The same ceremony passed upon his Lordship, who had already pulled off his coat, which was crimson, with broad silver lace; and both the combatants being ready, my Lord B. added " Now, if it please your Grace, come on ;" when they His Grace fired and instantly both stepped into the circle. missed but my Lord B. perhaps from more experience, knew that battles were seldom won by hasty measures, deliberately levelled his, and wounded his antagonist near the
stepped in to unbutton his waistcoat
: : ;

throat.

They both discharged again, when his Lordship received a slight wound in his turn. On which, they instantly drew their swords, and impetuously charged each
them meditating the death
safety.

other; rather each of

of his

adversary than his

own

In

the

first

or second

thrust Lord B. entangled the toe of his pump in a tuft of grass, and, in evading a push from his antagonist, fell on his

238

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

on his sword hand, by inconceivable dexterity, sprung backwards and evaded the
right side, but supporting himself

push, apparently aimed at his heart. A little pause intervening here, his Grace's second proposed to his Lordship a reconciliation; but the ardent thirst after each other's blood

so overpowered the strongest arguments of reason, that they insisted to execute each other's will, whatever might be the

consequences. Nay, the anger of his Grace was raised to such a pitch of revenge, that he, in that critical moment, swore if, for the future, either of the seconds interposed, he would

make

his

way through

his

body.

Thus,

after finding all remonstrances of saving them without effect, they retired to their limited distance, and perhaps

one of the most extraordinary duels ensued that the records

of history can produce, fairly disputed, hand to hand. The parrying after this interval brought on a close lock, which,

Monsieur des Barreaux says, nothing but the key of the body can open. In this position they stood for, I dare say, a minute, striving to disengage each other by successive wrenches, in one of which his Grace's sword-point got entangled in the guard of his Lordship's, which, in fact, his Lordship overlooked, so that this disadvantage was recovered by his Grace before the consequence which it might

have brought on was executed. At last, in a very strong wrench on both sides, their swords sprung from their hands;
I dare say his Lordship's flew six or seven yards upright. This accident, however, did not retard the affair a moment, but both seizing their thistles at the same time, the duel was renewed with as much malevolence as ever. By this time his Lordship had received a thrust through the inner part of his sword arm, passing right forward to the exterior part of the elbow his, at the same time, passing a little over that of his antagonist; but alertly drawing back, I think, partly before his Grace had recovered his push, run him through the body a little above the right pass. His Lordship's sword being thus engaged, nothing was left for his defence but a naked left arm and his Grace being in this dangerous situation, yet had fair play at almost any part
;
;

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

239

of his Lordship's body, who bravely put by several thrusts exactly levelled at his throat, till, at last, having two fingers cut off in defending the pushes, and the rest mangled to a

one rib below his both stood, without either being able to make another push, and each of them by this time was in a manner covered with blood and gore, when both the seconds stepped in, and begged they would consider their situation, and the good of their future state yet neither world consent to part, till, by the greater loss of blood which his Lordship sustained, he fell down senseless, but in such a position that he drew his sword out of his Grace's body but recovering himself a little before he was quite down, faltered forward, and falling
terrible degree, his Grace lodged his sword heart, and in this effecting condition they
;
;

with his thigh across his sword, snapped it in the middle. His Grace, observing that he was no longer capable of defence, or sensible of danger, immediately broke his own, and fell on his body, with the deepest signs of concern, and both expired before any assistance could be got, though Dr. Fountaine had orders not to be out of the way that morning.

bravery

gallant men, whose personal can scarcely equal, and whose honor nothing but such a cause could stain.

Thus

fell

these two

history

In 1852, near Windsor (England), M. Barthelmy and M. Courtney, two notorious French duellists, met with pistols, at forty paces to advance ten paces before firing, and then fire twice, and conclude with swords. Courtney fired first and missed (for the first

time in nearly a score of duels), when Barthelmy proposed to surrender his right to fire if Courtney would agree to proceed with swords. Courtney declined,

however, and

Barthelmy presented his weapon, which snapped. He then recapped, and presented again; and again the pistol snapped. It was then
agreed that Barthelmy should use Courtney's pistol, which he did with fatal effect. Upon the return of

240
the

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

weapons to the shop where they were hired, it was found that the " charge" in the " loaded " one consisted of a linen rag, which too plainly and too
atrociously explained

why Barthelmy's

pistol twice

snapped.

On the 7th of June, 1769, M. Chelais, a Member of Parliament in France, was challenged by Captain Beguin, an ex-army officer, who covered himself with an armor which broke the sword of his antagonist, whom he stabbed to death, and was afterward arto be rested, tried, and convicted, and sentenced broken upon the wheel. During the reign of Henry II., Chateauneuf, a
young Parisian
duellist

of nineteen, challenged his

guardian, M. Lachesnaye, an old man of eighty, and literally hacked the octogenarian to pieces; while protecting his own person, it was afterward discovered, with a neatly-fitting cuirass. At or about the same time a youth named St. Andre and an old gentleman called Matas fought with swords near Paris, and the former was disarmed but given his
life

by

his

humane

toward

his horse,

was stabbed

antagonist; who, while turning to death by the infuri-

ated youth. During the reign of Louis XIII. two men of Marseilles agreed to fight each other in a tub

daggers, and both were stabbed to death. Charles Armstrong, of England, after killing his antagonist, was assassinated by the second of the William Harrington, a younger brother of latter. Sir Jonah Harrington, during his duel with Lieudead by tenant McKenzie, in 1777, was shot Captain Gillespie, McKenzie's second. M. Aubarrye, in one of his duels, after being disarmed, stabbed

with

his

antagonist

with

dagger.

Armand

Carrel,

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

after

241

having made a written apology to Emile de Girardin, was slain by the latter in the woods near Paris in 1836. The Prince of Clarence and his two seconds were assassinated by the Duke of Biron and his seconds near Paris, in the sixteenth cenThe killing of M. Dulong by Marshal tury.

Bugueaud, near Paris, in 1834, was clearly a case of John Felton (a notorious villain), when he challenged the Duke of Buckingham, cut off one of his fingers and sent it with his challenge. It was
murder.

proven that Major Oneby, who fought William Gower, in Hyde Park, in 1725, committed murder; he was sentenced to be hung, but cheated the
executioner by taking his

own

life.

242

THE FIELD OF HOHOR.

CHAPTER
EUROPEAN DUELS

XIII.

CONCLUDED.

Old-Time Encounters between Highland Cavaliers The Unfortunate Duel between Lieutenants Riddell and Cunningham
in Europe; also of Europeans in India, Canada, Mexico, the Barbadoes, and at the Cape of Good Hope Lord Lauderdale and Benedict Arnold A Number of Judicial Duels

Many Meetings

of a Gambling Debt Challenged for DisrespectUtterances of the Queen Lord Maiden and the Duke of Norfolk On the Beach at Sandymount Sir Philip Francis and Warren Hastings Fatal Duels in many Lands The Duke
ful

On Account

An Affair of Honor beof Martina and Count of Conversano tween Gentlemen seated in Chairs A Number of Desperate Combats Some Furious Encounters A Duel on Account of a Dispute at College Fifteen Years Before Miscellaneous Engagements down to March, 1884.

IN 1653, on the arrival of General Middleton, to

take chief

command

of the forces

which had been

raised in the Highlands of Scotland for the king's service, the Earl of Glencairn, who had previously been their general, invited Middleton, with all his
suite,

to dine with him. Glencairn's quarters was at the Laird of Kettle's house, four miles south from Dornoch. The following account of a remarkable

is from a manuby John Graham, of Deuchrie, who was eye- and ear-witness to all that passed, from first

quarrel which occurred after dinner

script, written

to last:

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS,

The grace
said

243

called for a glass of wine, lord these words:

and the cloth withdrawn, his lordship and then addressed the general in general, you see what a gallant "My army these worthy gentlemen here present, whom I have
gathered together, at a time when it could hardly be expected that any number durst meet together these men have come out to serve his majesty, at the hazard of their I hope, therefore, lives, and of all that is dear to them you
; ;

encouragement to do their duty that On this, up started Sir George Monro from his seat, and said to Lord Glencairn, " My lord, the men you speak of are nothing but a number of thieves and robbers, and ere long I will bring another sort of men to the field." On which Glengarie started up, thinking himself most concerned but Lord Glencairn desired him to forbear, " saying, Glengarie, I am more concerned in this affront than
;

will give them all the lies in your power."

then addressing himself to Munro, said, " You, for they are neither thieves nor robbers, sir, but gallant gentlemen, and good soldiers." General Middleton desired them both to keep the king's peace, saying, " My lord, and you, Sir George, this is not the way to do the you must not fall out among yourselves king service therefore, I will have you both to be friends ;" and immedi-

you are

;"

are a base liar

" ately calling for a glass of wine, said,

My

Lord Glencairn,

think you did the greatest wrong in giving Sir George the lie you shall drink to him, and he will pledge you." The noble and good Lord Glencairn accordingly took the glass,
;

as ordered by the general, and drank to Sir George, who, in his old surly humor, muttered some words which were not

heard, but did not pledge his lordship. The general gave orders to sound to horse and Lord Glencairn went out in
;

order to accompany him to the headquarters but the general would not allow him to go above a mile of the way. His lordship then returned back, having none in his company but Colonel Blackader, and John Graham, of Deuchrie.
;

When

arrived, he became exceeding merry, causing the daughter to play on the virginals, and all the servants about the house to dance. Supper being now ready, and on
laird's

244

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

the table, as my lord was going to sit down one of the servants told him that Alexander Monro, Sir George's brother, was at the door. My lord immediately commanded to let him in, and met him at the hall door, where he saluted him,

and made him very welcome, saying, "You see, sir, the meat is on the table, and will spoil if we sit not down to it." He placed Monro at the head of the table, next the laird's All present were very merry. My lord told daughter. Monro he would give him a spring if he would dance which accordingly he did with the rest, the laird's daughter playWhile the rest were merry, his lordship and Monro ing. slipped aside they did not speak a dozen words together, as all thought, and after drinking a little longer, Monro deMy lord then called for a candle, and went to bed. parted. There were two beds in his room, in one of which he lay, and in the other lay Blackader and Deuchrie. The whole None knew of his lordfamily in a little time went to bed. ship's design but one John White, who was his trumpeter and valet-de-chambre. The night being very short, and my lord being to meet Monro half-way between his quarters and Dornoch, their meeting was to be as soon as they could perceive daylight so that his lordship got not two hours' rest before he rose and, notwithstanding the two aforesaid gentlemen lay in the room with him, he went out and returned from the encounter without the knowledge of any one in the house except John White, his servant, who accompanied him. Monro came, accompanied by his brother. They were both well mounted each of the parties was to use one pistol after the discharging of which they were to decide the Their pistols were fired without quarrel with broadswords. doing any execution, and they made up to each other with their broadswords drawn. After a few passes his lordship had the good fortune to give Sir George a sore stroke on the bridle hand whereupon Sir George cried out to his lordship that he was not able to command his horse, and he hoped he would allow him to fight on foot. My lord re" You base carle I will show you that I will match plied, either on foot or on horseback." They then both quitted you
;
;
:

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

their horses

24$
foot.

and furiously attacked each other on

At

the very first bout, the noble earl gave him so sore a stroke on the brows, about an inch above his eyes, that he could not see for the blood that issued from the wound. His lordship was just going to thrust him through the body but his " man, John White, forced up his sword, saying, You have enough of him, my lord, you have got the better of him."
;

His lordship was very angry with John, and in a great passion gave him a blow over the shoulder. He then took horse and came back to his quarters. Monro went straight
get

away to the headquarters, and his brother had much ado to him conveyed there, by reason of the bleeding both of The general being acquainted with this his hand and head.

meeting, immediately sent Captain Ochtrie Campbell, with a guard, to secure the Earl of Glencairn in his quarters, which accordingly was done before six in the morning. The gen-

had ordered Captain Campbell to take his lordship's sword from him, and to commit him to arrest in his chamber, taking his parole. This affair happened on Sunday
eral

morning.

In the

week ensuing there

fell

out an accident

which made the breach still wider betwixt his lordship and Monro. One Captain Livingston, who came over with Monro, and a gentleman called James Lindsay, who came over with Lord Napier, had some hot words together. Livingston alleged Monro was in the right, and Lindsay insisted in the contrary. They challenged each other, and went out early in the morning to the links of Dornoch, where, at the very first bout, Lindsay thrust his sword through Livingston's heart, so that in a short time he expired. Lindsay was afterward shot to death, notwithstanding Lord Glencairn and many other officers did all they
could to secure the setting aside of the sentence.

In

1783, in

England, Lieutenant Riddell, of the

Horse Grenadiers, and Lieutenant Cunningham, of the Scots Grays, quarrelled at play, and Riddell challenged Cunningham, who declined to meet him; but

many

of the officers often recurring to the circum-

246
stance, Mr.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Cunningham found

it necessary, for the honor, to call Mr. Riddell out. This appeal Mr. Riddell considered as out of season, and declined yielding to it until he had consulted his

full restoration of his

brother
tion on
this

who agreed that there was no obligaanswer Mr. Cunningham. On learning determination, Mr. Cunningham, with the view
officers,

him

to

of forcing Mr. Riddell to fight, publicly insulted him. The latter observed that as this was a fresh affront it

should not pass unnoticed.

He

then returned home,

and proceeded

to

make some

necessary arrangements,

received a note from Mr. Cunningham, reminding him of the affront which he had passed upon him, and declaring his readiness to give him This note coming, while the wafer was satisfaction. to the hands of Sir James Riddell, who was yet wet, under some apprehension of his son's situation, opened it, and having read it, closed it, without tak-

when he

ing any other notice of its contents than providing the assistance of the most eminent surgeons. The parties met, and eight paces were measured, at which distance they took their ground. They tossed up for
the
first fire,

which Mr. Riddell won.

the
fall.

He

fired,

and
he

shot Mr.

Cunningham under

right breast;
still

kept his ground. Mr. Cunningham, after a pause of a few minutes, declared he would not be taken off the field till he had fired at his adversary. He then presented his pistol, and Mr. Riddell was mortally wounded. He died in the course of the evening, a victim, not to the passion, but to the custom of duelling.

reeled back, but did not

Mr. Riddell

On

mosities

the i8th of July, 1791, at Paris, political anisent the Duke de Castries and Monsieur
into the field,

Lameth

and the

latter

was danger-

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

ously wounded. Messrs. Graham

247

year, attorneys, dined together and quarrelled during a discussion about religion, and settled their differences the next morning

On

the

iQth of July,

same

and

Julius,

upon Blackheath (England) with pistols; Graham (who was an eminent special pleader) being mortally wounded at the first fire. Julius was the challenged
party, his second being Mr. Maxwell; while Mr. Ellis acted as second for Mr. Graham. On the ist of

March, 1792, Messrs. Aikin and Kemble, of Drury Lane Theatre, fought near London, the former firing without effect and the latter declining to discharge his weapon. They had no seconds, but Mr. Bannister, a mutual friend, accompanied them, and effected
a reconciliation after the first fire. On the 2d of July, 1792, a hostile meeting took
place between
dict

Lord Lauderdale and General BeneArnold (the latter the notorious American Arnold traitor), near Kilburn Wells (England). fired without effect, and Lauderdale withheld his fire. He said: "I did not come here to fire at the General, nor can I retract any of the offensive expressions. If General Arnold is not satisfied he may fire until he is;" after which, Messrs. Fox and Hawke, the A day seconds, succeeded in terminating the affair. or two before a similar meeting had taken place between the Earl and the Duke of Richmond. On the 8th of November, 1792, M. Charles Lameth, who had been dangerously wounded in a duel about sixteen months before, by the Duke de Castries, met M. de Chauvigny upon the grounds near the residence of M. Lameth, near Paris, and was again wounded. The weapons used were swords, and the seconds were the Duke de Pierine and Count de Chabane for

248

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

In 1827, at Dublin, bein which the former

Chauvigny, and Mr. Maselet and the Duke d'Aiguillon for Monsieur Lameth.

tween Mr. Brie and Mr. Hayes, was killed; weapons, pistols.

In 878 a judicial duel was fought in France between Ingelgerius and Gontran, with swords, and the The victor was only sixteen years latter was killed.

After killing Gontran, Ingelgerius cut off his head and presented it to Louis the Second. Another memorable French judicial duel was that between Troussel and Du Gueschin, in which the latter was
old.

judicial

During the reign of Charles the Sixth a duel was fought between Sieur Carrouges and Sieur Leguis, in which the latter was defeated
victorious.

and then hanged. In 1509, in Paris, between L'Isle Marivant and Marolles the former killed. During the reign of Louis the Thirteenth, between the Marquis de Themines and the Marquis de Richelieu (a brother of the great Cardinal), in which de Richelieu was killed. Also between Marquis de Valencay and
Marquis de Cavois
the latter killed.

On

the 3oth of October, 1824, at Bull Inn, Edin-

burgh, Captain Gourlay and Mr. Westall quarrelled over a gambling debt of seventy guineas, when the latter called the officer a liar and Gourlay struck the offender with a poker; after which they repaired to a field near town and fought with pistols, Gourlay being shot dead at the first fire. On the 2ist of February, 1827, in Paris, two medical students named Goulard and Caire quarrelled over a game of billiards, and went to the Bois de Boulogne and fought with Caire was arpistols, and the former was killed. rested upon the following day, tried and convicted of murder, and branded and sentenced to hard labor for

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

life.

249

On the 8th of June, 1830, in England, Richard William Lambrecht and Oliver Clayton fought with At Boulogne, pistols, and the latter was killed. Helsham and Lieutenant April i, 1829, Captain Crowther of the British army met with pistols at ten paces, and the latter was killed. On the i5th of July, 1842, between Hon. Craven Berkeley, M.P., and Captain Boldero, M.P., near Osterly Park, with pistols. The latter was charged with utterances disrespectful of the Queen by BerkeThe two gentlemen were attended by Hons. W. ley. Ridley Colbourne and W. F. Mackenzie, Members of Parliament, who terminated the meeting after a harmless exchange of shots. On the iyth of December, 1842, between J. P. Stanfield and Sir R. CardingThe ton, near London, with pistols, at twelve paces.
latter was wounded in the arm, while his own bullet passed through the collar of Stanfield's coat. On the loth of December, 1839, between Lord George Loftus

Lord Harley, at Boulogne; the parties exchanged one shot, without injury to either. On the i3th of June, 1839, between Lord Londonderry and
and
H. Grattan, on

Wimbledom Common; Grattan

his lordship

fired

and missed, and

the
air.

discharged near London, between Captain Cadogan and Lord Paget, who fired once at each other without either sustaining injury. On the 3oth of April, 1796, in England, the Duke of Norfolk and Lord Maiden met in a field beyond
In
1809,

his pistol in

Paddington and fired once without effect, when a was effected by their seconds Captains Taylor and Wombwell. On June 19, 1794, Mr. Rowlls, a brewer, was killed by Richard England in a duel at Cranford Bridge. The affair grew out of a
reconciliation

250

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

disturbance between the two gentlemen at Ascot races a few days before. On the ipth of July, 1796,

England was found guilty of manslaughter, and was sentenced to pay a fine of one shilling and to be imprisoned in Newgate for twelve months. In Paris, in 1819, between Theophilus Walsh and Edward Pellew, (officers of the British army), with pistols; Pellew In 1819, in Ireland, between Charles Phillips killed. and Mr. Henriquez; two shots and neither hurt. In
1685, in

England, Robert Radcliffe was

killed.

In

In the province 1829, in England, Captain Plowden. of New Brunswick, in 1821, George F. Street and George L. Wetmore; they fought with pistols, at fif-

teen paces, and Wetmore was mortally wounded at the second shot, the first shot from his antagonist's The survivor pistol taking effect in Wetmore's arm.

and

his second (Lieutenant R. Davis, of the Seventyfourth British Foot) were tried for murder and ac-

quitted.

On February 12, 1814, on the beach at Sandymount, near Dublin, Counsellors Hatchell and MorThe latter fired first and missed, and was then ley. shot dead by his adversary. In May, 1812, two French officers on parole in Reading (England), being unable to get a case of pistols, agreed to fight with a single fowling-piece, first one to take a shot and then the other, at fifty paces. The first shot, however, took effect. On October 7, 1812, Lieutenants Bagnall and Stuart, of the Royal Marines, fought with pistols, near Portsmouth, and Bagnall fell On mortally wounded at the second fire. September 6, 1810, on Wimbledom Common, George Payne and Mr. Clark; they fought with pistols, and
Payne was mortally wounded
at the first
fire.

On

NO TED E UROPEAtf D UELS.

March
4,

25

1811, at Barbadoes,

Captain Boardman, of

the Sixtieth

Royal West

Foot, and Ensign De Betten, of the Indies Rangers; at the first fire Board-

man
fell

dead.

received his antagonist's bullet in the heart and In January, 1812, two men fought at Bor-

fell dead at the first fire. It was discovered, however, upon examination of the victim, that he had died from either excitement or fright, as he had not been touched by his adversary's

deaux, and one of them

bullet.

In 1783, in India, Sir Philip Francis and Warren Hastings, with pistols; the former was dangerously wounded, but recovered. In India, in 1775, General

Clavering
pistols,

and
fired

and

Mr. Barnwell; once without

they
effect.

fought
In

with

1819, in

Canada, Mr. Caldwell and Mr. O'Sullivan fought with pistols, and both were badly wounded at the first fire. In 1720, at or near Hanover, Vice-Admiral
Tordenskiold, of Denmark, and Colonel Stahl, of Sweden. The latter had swindled a young officer

out of a large
return, called

sum

of

money

at cards, at

which the
in

Admiral gave Stahl a piece of

his

mind; who,

Tordenskiold a rascally sailor. The latter then drove the Colonel out into the street with a cane, and afterward snatched from the officer the sword he had drawn and broke it over his head.
Stahl then challenged the Admiral,

who

accepted,

and was run through the body and killed. On the pth of May, 1802, Generals Regnier and Destaing fought in the Bois de Boulogne with pisDestols, and the latter was killed at the first fire. taing had been made a general of division for gallant behavior at the Battle of the Pyramids; and at the Battle of Aboukir he repulsed the first line of the

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Turks and drove the latter into the sea. He was the challenging party, but the French Government pensioned his widow. At Rathgar, near Dublin, on the 8th of June, 1802, Sir Richard Musgrave was shot in
the thigh by William Todd Jones, the latter having been the challenged party. At the Cape of Good Hope, on the i4th of March, 1802, Lieutenant Rae and Purser Bremen, of his Majesty's ship Hindostan, fought with pistols in the East India Company's garSawdens, and Bremen was killed at the third fire.
yer,

captain's

clerk

of

the

British

war-vessel,

fought with a marine near Deal (Ireland), on the pth of October, 1804, and was killed at the first shot. On the 4th of January, 1806, near LiverBrookes and Major Bolton; the latter Colonel pool, killed at the first fire. On the 22d of March, 1860, on Galleywood Common, near Chelmsford (England) Lieutenant Turrens and Surgeon Fisher, both of the the former morSixth Regiment Foot, with pistols
Inflexible,
;

tally

wounded

at the first

fire.

returned a verdict of wilful and he absconded.

The coroner's jury murder against Fisher,

Lord Lig;

In 1784, in England, Count Alfieri and onier, in which the latter was wounded

weapons,

swords.

and the

1664, in Naples, the Duke of Martina Count of Conversano, with swords. Pre-

In

vious to the duel the

Duke executed

a will and

made

religious preparations for his death, while the Count ordered a magnificent dinner to which he invited a

large

number

of his friends.

The Count, however,

was killed. In 1809, in England, Viscount Falkland and A. Powell, with swords; the former was mortally wounded. In 1770, in Ireland, Sir Edward Crofton the latter was and George French, with pistols
;

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

253

In 1825, in France, Count Segur and Baron killed. de Gourgaud, with swords; the former was wounded. In 1809, in England, Lieutenant Sparling and Capthe latter was killed and tain Grayson, with pistols the former was tried for the offence and acquitted. On the 22d of August, 1838, on Wimbledom Common, Francis Lionel Elliott and John Flower Mirfin, in which the latter was killed at the first shot; Elliott then made his escape but the two seconds (John Young and Henry Webber) were arrested and convicted of manslaughter and sent to Guilford jail for one year. On the 26th of July, 1882, M. Pinac was killed in a duel at Begnires by an Englishman, who had been challenged for writing on the margin of a
; ;

" pamphlet that Everything concerning the battle of Toulouse within is false. Wellington gained a complete victory, and the French army is indebted to the generosity of Wellington that it was not put to the sword." On the 6th of January, 1882, M. Benjamin Constant and M. Forbin des Issarts, near Paris, seated in chairs, at ten paces, on account of the rheumatism of the former. They fired two shots at each

other,

when

the seconds terminated the

affair.

the igih of February, 1797, in Phoenix Park, Dublin, Lord Blaney and the Duke de Fitz James, in

On

which the latter was shot in the side. Also in Dublin, on the i2th of December, 1797, between Colonel Fitzgerald and the Earl of Kingston, in which both were slightly wounded. A son of the latter then met Fitzgerald, and after firing once they grappled with each other and, just as Fitzgerald was in the act of killing young Kingston, the Earl rushed in upon the combatants and shot Fitzgerald through the heart,
;

thereby saving his son's

life.

The Colonel died

254

TfE FIELD OF HONOR.

lamented by none, as he had betrayed a daughter of Early in 1802 Lieutenant Bailey and Mr. Forbes fought with pistols at Bombay, and the latter was killed at the first fire. Bailey and his second were sent to Botany Bay the former for fourteen and the latter for seven years. On the 6th of October, 1802, at Quebec, Major Impey and Lieutenant
the Earl.
Willis, of the Sixth (British) Foot, quarrelled in the

mess-room and fought the next day with

pistols,

Impey March
fourth

On falling mortally wounded at the first fire. 1802, at Paris, in the wood of Boulogne, i,
Knoring, a
fire

Captain
Brusch.

Livonian,
of

was

killed

at

the

by

Hanoverian
the

gentleman

named

The cause

duel was a dispute at

college fifteen years before. In July, 1775, at the Cape of

Good Hope, Captains Ferguson and Roach, of the East India Company's Land Service, quarrelled at the dinner-table, and shortly afterward retired to the street, and fought it
out with swords, Ferguson at last being killed but not until Roach had received several serious cuts in the head and* sustained a dislocation of the left arm.
;

The survivor was

ted at the Cape.
1618, in

tried for

He was

murder, but was acquitafterward tried for man-

was again acquitted. In England, Edward Percy and Philip Constable met with swords, and after a furious contest the latter was killed. On the 2d of February, 1773, the Earl of Bellamont and Lord Townshend fought at Marylebone Fields, near London. They went to the grounds armed with swords and pistols, but upon their arrival it was decided by their seconds (Hon. Mr. Dille for Bellamont and Lord Ligonier for Townshend) that they should fight with the latter
slaughter in England, and

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

the

255

weapons, and the Earl was dangerously wounded at first fire. He was in such great agony from the was in the belly, that he could not ride which wound, in his chaise, and was carried to his residence in a
chair.

In Ireland, in 1772, Captain

Benjamin Barne and

Charles Mathews fought with pistols, and Barne was killed at the first fire. In 1849, near Paris, Monsieur

Lacombe and Monsieur Charles Blanc fought with

swords, and the former was wounded in the arm. In 1822, in Scotland, James Stuart and Sir Alexander Boswell fought with pistols, and Boswell was killed.

The survivor was tried for murder, but was acquitted. It was shown at the trial that Stuart's friends made all reasonable efforts to adjust the difficulty, but that the attitude of Boswell made the meeting The second of Mr. Boswell testified unavoidable.
that the Earl spurned
all

overtures tending toward

reconciliation or adjustment. On the 1 7th of January, 1821, at Calais, between Lieutenant-Colonel Burgos Cumac, of the First

the Guards, and Richard Gough once without and at the second effect, parties shot Cumac was hit in the leg. On the i3th of Febon Wimbledom Common, between ruary, 1832, and Lorenzo Moore Miles Stapylton Major-General
(British)

Life

fired

the latter

wounded

at the first

fire.

On

the 8th of

April, 1826, on Wormwood Scrubs, with pistols, Captain Dickson and Colonel Evans (both of the British

army)

January,

wounded. At Simla (India), in between Lieutenant Frazer, of the Seventh (British) Cavalry, and Lieutenant Rose, of
;

the

latter

1837,

the Eleventh Dragoons

thigh.

the latter
:

wounded

in

the

Also, in

England

On September

18,

1820,

256

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Mr. Henshaw and Mr. Hartinger both desperately wounded on February 12, 1814, Mr. Hatchel and Mr. Morley the latter slightly wounded October
; ;

7,

1812, Lieutenants

Stewart and Bagnal

;

the lat-

February 7, 1815, Colonel and Palmer no fatality Colonel NovemQuentin ber 19, 1835, Mr. Roebuck, M.P., and Mr. Black, editor of the London Morning Chronicle two shots each and neither hurt January 22, 1833, Mr. Storey and Mr. Mathias the latter wounded on the same in day Mr. Maher and Mr. Colles neither hurt December, 1817, Captain Fottrell and Colonel Ross in August, 1827, five shots each, but no fatality Rev. Mr. Hodson and Mr. Grady the latter severely wounded May 29, 1835, Sir Colquhoun Grant and Lord Seymour no fatality May 26, 1836, Mr. Ruthven fought two duels, one with Mr. Scott and one
ter
;
; ;

mortally wounded

with Mr. Close, wounding the latter. On March 9, 1884, at Antwerp, General David (Commander of the Civic Guards) and Mr. Williams (a broker), with swords the latter badly wounded. In Paris, December 1 8, 1883, between Octave Mirabeau and Paul Bonnetain (on account of Marie Colombier's book on Sarah Bernhardt), with swords Bonnetain wounded At Lisbon, on March 12, 1884, between Vistwice. count Roberdo and Major Serpa Pinto, with swords the former wounded in five places. On the 3d of Matamoras near March, 1884, (Mexico), Major Lopez Martablo was killed at the first shot by the editor of
;

the

Matamoras

Cronista.

On
Paris

the i4th of February, 1884, a duel took place in

between M. Laguerre and M. Chauriance, (members of the French Chamber of Deputies,) with pistols, and the former was wounded in the knee.

NOTED EUROPEAN DUELS.

On the 2oth of April, 1884, a duel with swords was fought in the Bois de Boulogne between Joseph Casey, a Fenian, and Captain Scully, an Irish-American. Scully had been suspected of being an informer. The duel resulted in Scully being slightly wounded in the neck. His sword was also broken. On the 8th of May, 1884, near the city of Mexico, between Sefior Torres (formerly Governor of Sonora) and Sefior Garza, with pistols Torres wounded in the right hand.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XIV.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

The
Meeting in the United States A Number of Gwinnett and Mclntosh Generals Howe and Gadsden Lee and Laurens Con way and Cadwallader De Witt Clinton and Swartwout Gardenier and Campbell Finch and White, and many others What English Rudeness to American Officers Cost Affairs of British Officers in America Philip Hamilton's Fatal Duel A Savage Encounter at Bladensburg between Mason and McCarty A Number of DespePrue and Throuet Philadelphia Physicians Kill rate Affairs Each Other Dromgoole and Dugger of North Carolina Stuart and Dade of Virginia Jones and Anderson of Tennessee Allston and Reed and Jones and Gronard of Florida Gist and Fair of Georgia Lanusse and Marigny of Louisiana Huger and Rutledge of South Carolina The First Duel in Kentucky How Two Prominent Americans Took their Positions with Rifles at Sixty Yards on Account of a Quarrel over Twelve and a Half Cents Sullivan's Sentiments Comical Termination of a Seriously Commenced Affair No Bloodshed but Plenty of Old New York Whiskey "All's Well that Ends Well Duels The Maryland Duelling Family of Wrights Shooting a Bunch of Keys out of a Man's Pocket.
First Fatal

Early Affairs

"Two

first fatal duel in (what is now) the United was fought on the Common, in Boston (Massachusetts), between Benjamin Woodbridge and Henry These young Phillips, on the evening of July 3, 1728. had cards at the Royal over gentlemen quarrelled

THE

States

Exchange Tavern,

in

King

Street

(now State

Street),

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

259

Boston; and, under the influence of strong drink, had agreed to settle their differences with their swords in the public grounds above named. They met at a
eight in the evening, and Woodbridge was mortally wounded, and was found dead on the Common upon the following morning. Both were gentlemen of good social position. Phillips was a brother of Gillam Phillips, who had married Marie, the sister of Peter Faneuil, the builder of Boston's famous
little after

hall.

The

visitor at the metropolis of

New England
stop at the

while passing along

old

Tremont

Street

may

Granary Burying Ground, between the Tremont House and Park Street Church, and read upon a

plain slate stone the following:

bridge,

Here Lyes Interred The Body of Mr. Benjamin WoodSon of the Honourable Dudley Woodbridge, Esq., Who Dec'd July y e 3d, 1728, In ye 2oth Year of His Age.
In other words, that simple slate slab, with inscription, marks the mound
first
its

un-

ostentatious

under
victim

which were deposited the remains of the

America.

of the code duello in the English-speaking portion of

Requiescat in pace. In 1777 Hon. Button Gwinnett, M. C. from Georgia (a signer of the Declaration of Independence), and

Lackland Mclntosh, an
Revolution,

officer

in

the

army

of the

fought

with

pistols,

near

(Georgia), and both were wounded On the i3th of August, 1778, Generals Howe tally. and Gadsden fought a duel with pistols, in Georgia,
in

Savannah Gwinnett mor-

the

latter was slightly wounded. During same year Major-General Charles Lee and Colonel John Laurens, aide-de-camp to Washington, fought with pistols, near Philadelphia, and Lee was

which the

260

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

It

wounded.

was

in 1778, also, that

General Cadwal-

lader fought and dangerously wounded General Conway both of the Revolutionary Army. The same

year Pierre Landais and William Cottineau, Captains in the United States Navy, fought with small swords,
in Holland,

met with pistols, near Havana, and the former was killed at the first fire. In 1814 Edward Hopkins, an ensign of infantry, was killed at Bladensburg.

1819 States Navy,

latter was and Cannon Midshipmen

and the

severely wounded. In Pierson, of the United

Hopkins was a native

of Maryland,

and was

slain within sight of his own home. Samuel C. Bloomfield, an officer of the

army, was

killed near

Jersey), in 1814. William K. Blue, of Virginia, a captain of infantry, was killed in a duel, in 1802, at Fort Washington

Weehawken (New

Carolina, Mr. Ladd, a distinguished surgeon, was killed by Mr. Isaacs. Lieutenant James J. Bowie, U. S. A., was killed in a duel near Lake Pontchartrain, in 1809. In 1808 Henry Clay and Humphrey Marshall both members of the legislature of Kentucky at the time met near Lexington, with pistols, and both were touched at the second fire. In 1802 Barent Gardenier, M. C. from the Ulster district of New York, was drawn into a duel with George Washington Campbell, M. C. from Tennessee

(Ohio). In 1786, in South

(afterward Minister to Russia), and the two gentlemen met at Bladensburg, and Garde-nier was dangerously (it was thought at the time mortally) wounded.

Gardenier was a favorite with the Federalists of

York, who
edited a
re-elected

him

after his

recovery.

New He
and

New York

newspaper a number of

years,

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

26 1

His daughter became the died at Kingston in 1822. wife of Theodore Fay, a prominent journalist. While Campbell was Minister to Russia a daughter was

whom he named Leczinska, and who bethe wife of General Ewell, a distinguished officer of the Confederate Army.
born to him,

came

In 1803, apparently a combative year, in Virginia, Wyndam Grymes challenged Mr. Terrell; and, in the

duel (with pistols) which followed, Mr. Grymes was In 1803, in Georgia, Samuel killed at the second fire.
at the first

Howard was dangerously wounded by Joseph Welcher In 1803, in Virginia, James Hughes fire. was killed by James Tucker, who was seriously
wounded. Paymaster James, U. S. A., was killed In 1819 Lieutenant Francis near Savannah, in 1815. B. White, of the United States Marine Corps, and Lieutentant William B. Finch, of the Navy, after quite a correspondence, met on an island in Boston harbor, with pistols, and White, who was the challenger, was In 1803, in the Mediinstantly killed at the first fire. terranean, Lieutenant Osborn, of the United States Marine Corps, and Lieutenant Vandyke, of the United States Navy, fought with pistols, and both were severely

wounded at the first fire. In 1786 Colonel Maurice Simons, who had given offence to Major William Clay Snipes by the character of his testimony in a court of justice, was challenged by the latter and killed. Snipes was afterward arrested and tried on a of murder, but was convicted of manslaughcharge In 1794 Lieutenant Huston and Ensign Bradter. shaw fought in Pennsylvania, near Lake Erie, and both were killed. In 1803 Dr. James Wyer was killed by Surgeon Sargent at Natchez (Mississippi). Also
in Mississippi, in 1812,

Captain John Stewart, U.

S. A.,

262

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

at the first
fire.

by Henry Mason,
sippi,

In 1810, in Missis-

Lieutenant Stephen Rose, U. S. A., was killed. In 1809, near Carlisle (Pennsylvania), Cornet Huxton Milton, U. S. A., was mortally wounded. In 1814, near New York, Captain Macomb, U. S. A., was killed by a brother officer at the first fire. In 1802, at Leghorn (Italy), Captain James McKnight, of the United States Marine Corps, and Lieutenant Lawson, of the United States Navy, fought with pistols, and the former was killed. In 1803 Lieutenant Buck, while on duty near Natchez, was challenged by Thomas

Moore, of that

city,

who was

killed at the first shot,

the weapons being rifles, distance twelve paces. In 1803, at Malta, Midshipman Joseph Bainbridge, United States Navy, after having been rudely and purposely run against three or four times by one Cochran, the

English Secretary at Malta, in the lobby of the theatre, knocked the offender down, and was challenged the same night. Bainbridge, who had
in his life,

never fired at a mark

placed the matter in

the hands of Stephen Decatur then a lieutenant in the American Navy who, having been informed that

Cochran had been practising with a pistol at ten or twelve paces for weeks, named four paces. Cochran's second objected, saying that the distance was simply murderous. Decatur admitted the fact, but declined
to modify his terms, and so the combatants met, and the aggressive Englishman was killed at the second A similar affire, while Bainbridge escaped unhurt.
fair

was the duel

at Gibraltar, in 1820,

between Lieu-

tenant Downing, of the United States Navy, and Lieutenant Smith, of the British Army, in which Smith, who was the challenging party, was killed.

On

the

loth of October, 1777, in

New

York, Cap-

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

tain Pennington, of the

263

Coldstream (Foot) Guards,

was challenged by Captain Tollemache, of the Royal Navy, for writing a sonnet reflecting upon the wit of

The combatants first used without damage to either, and then fell at each other with swords Tollemache Toeing killed on on the spot and Pennington sustaining severe wounds. In 1783 General Coffin and Colonel Campthe wife of Captain T.
pistols,
bell,

also

officers

of

the British

Army

during the

Revolution, fought in

seriously wounded. British Army, and Captain John Smith, of the Ameri-

York, and the former was In 1781 Colonel Stuart, of the

New

can Army, met near Guilford (South Carolina) and fought with sabres; and Smith, after receiving many
his

wounds, brought his weapon down furiously upon adversary's head, cutting it open down to the
In
1802

spine.

Hon. De Witt Clinton and Hon. John Swartwout, of New York, became involved in the same political dispute which brought on the duel between Hamilton and Burr between two and three years later, and met, with pistols, near the city of New York, and exchanged five shots the fourth and fifth of which took effect upon Mr. Swartwout.
Mr. Clinton then declined to fight further or to make In 1879 a correspondent of the PhilaTimes furnished that paper with the following delphia account of that duel, which was not precisely like any other meeting ever chronicled:

an apology.

fact, however, that the most determined duel have any record was fought in New York State and very near the metropolis of that name. The meeting was between De Witt Clinton and John Swartwout, in 1802. It appears probable that if the dispute in which this duel

It is

a notable
I

of which

264

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

originated had taken its natural course the most famous duel in any history that between Hamilton and Burr

would have been omitted. Clinton and Burr had a very fierce and truculent political dispute, which finally became Before it had fairly come to an issue John personal. Swartwout became involved in it, taking Burr's place. He
challenged Clinton, who accepted. remarked that he wished he had
before him.
If

On
the

the field Clinton

principal

(Burr)

wish had been gratified there is little doubt that his fatal precision of shot would have put Burr where he could not have killed Hamilton three years later. Mr. Swartwout insisted that he should have an apology, and prepared one that he insisted Mr. Clinton should sign. Mr. Clinton, of course, declined, and the parties went to the field. The duel was such a remarkable one that I present an account given by Mr. N. S. Smith, who was Swartwout's second. He says The gentlemen took positions and fired without effect. At Mr. Riker's request, I asked Mr. Swartwout if he was satisfied. He answering in the negative, the second shot was fired without effect. I again asked Mr. Swartwout if he was satisfied. He replied, " I am not," and the third shot was exchanged without injury. I then asked Mr. Swartwout, " Are you satisfied, sir ?" He replied, " I am not, neither shall I be until the apology is made which I have demanded. Until then we must proceed." I then presented a paper to Mr. Riker for Mr. Clinton's signature, containing the apology demanded, observing that this paper must be signed or we would proceed. Mr. Clinton declared he would sign no paper on the subject, that he had no animosity to Mr. Swartwout and would willingly shake hands and agree to meet on the score of former friendship. Mr. Swartwout insisted on the signature to the apology, and Mr. Clinton declining, they stood at their posts and fired a fourth shot. Mr. Swartwout was wounded in the left leg, about five inches below the knee. Being asked if he was satisfied, Mr. Swartwout replied " It is useless to repeat the question. My determination is fixed, and I beg we may proceed." Mr. Clinton repeated that he had no animosity against Mr.
his
:

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

;
;

26$

Swartwout was sorry for what had passed proposed to advance, shake hands, and bury the past in oblivion. During the conversation the surgeon, kneeling at his side, extracted the ball from Mr. Swartwout's leg. The fifth shot being fired, Mr. Swartwout received a ball in the left
leg,

about
I

five inches

above the ankle,

satisfied ?"

still,

ing at his post perfectly composed.

At the request

however, standof Mr.

:

He forcibly answered Mr. Clinton then quit his post, declining the combat, and declared that he would fire no more. Mr. Swartwout expressed himself surprised that Mr. Clinton would neither apologize nor give the satisfaction
Riker
No,
asked
; :

"Are you
not.

"

sir

am

Proceed."

Mr. Clinton declines making the apology required, refuses taking his position, and positively declares he will fight no more. His second appearing to
I
:

required, friend ?"

and addressing me,

answered
"

said

"
:

What

shall

do,

my

acquiesce in the disposition of his principal, there is nothing further for you to do now but to have your wounds dressed."

The surgeons attending dressed his wounds, and the men returned in their respective barges to the city.

gentle-

most distressing among the early Amerihonor" was that in which Philip Hamilton (eldest son of General Alexander Hamilton who was killed by Aaron Burr some thirty months later) This young gentleman was only eighteen lost his life. of age; had just graduated from Columbia Colyears with high honor, and was a lad of great promise. lege He was a favorite with all with whom he came in contact, and to a remarkable degree mirrored the brilliant talents, elevated ambition, and arrogant temper of his

One

of the

can "

affairs of

distinguished parent. On the 4th of July, 1801, Philip stood and listened to an orator who hurled severe inA short time afterward young vective at his father.

Hamilton and a friend occupied a box at a theatre; and in an adjoining compartment sat G. J. Eaker

266

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Hamilton and his companion the orator alluded to. at once let fly furious and incessant shafts of ridicule
of Eaker's
at
last

Independence Day pyrotechnics, and were to the lobby, where Eaker met them, and, applying an insulting epithet to Hamilton and his friend, seized the former by the nape of the Hamilton's neck and rushed him out into the street. friend sent Eaker a challenge the following day, a duel took place and four shots were exchanged without injury to either. This termination of the affair was so unsatisfactory to Philip Hamilton that he reopened the controversy by sending Eaker a challenge, which was at once accepted. The combatants met on January 10, 1802, at Weehawken (N. J.), and fought with pistols at twelve paces Hamilton receiving his antagonist's bullet in a vital part, from which he died General after an excessive agony of twenty hours.

summoned

Hamilton, when apprised of the place of meeting, hurried forward to prevent it, but fainted on the way. On the 6th of February, 1819, Bladensburg, Md., already the locus in quo of belligerent meetings was made additionally famous by the desperate encounter,
with muskets, of General Armistead T. Mason and Colonel John M. McCarty (cousins), both of Virginia. The two gentlemen had quarrelled at an election, out of which grew a challenge from McCarty to Mason, who was a United States Senator from Virginia at the

The former, having substantially prescribed time. terms and conditions and method of arrangement, met with refusal, although Mason, in his letter of declension, intimated that he would accept a challenge written and sent in proper form. McCarty then
posted" Mason as a coward, and was quickly challenged by the latter, and declined on the ground that
"

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

267

the challenger was wanting in courage and did not "mean business." Here the matter ended for some

it

when General Jackson came upon the scene, and was unexpectedly reopened by Mason sending McCarty a challenge, which the latter declined by proposing that he would submit to one of three
time,

things, namely: either that they should leap together from the dome of the Capitol, fight together on a barrel of powder, or meet in a hand-to-hand encounter

with dirks. It was at last arranged that they should meet with shotguns, each loaded with a single ball, When they were placed in position at four paces. and at the muzzles of their weapons nearly touched the word of command both fired together, and Mason Mason fell dead and McCarty was seriously wounded. was a member of that distinguished Virginia family to which belonged James Mason, the Senator, and
;

James Y. Mason, the Minister of the Confederate Government to France, who was taken from an English ship by Commodore Wilkes during the first year of
the

years ago, two Frenchmen named Pauline Prue and Hippolyte Throuet fought
In

War of the Rebellion. New Orleans, many

by being placed back

structions to turn at the given

to back, at five paces, with inword and fire at will.

;

They both turned at the word and, though Prue's weapon was discharged accidentally, Throuet took
deliberate
heart.

aim and shot his antagonist through the most sanguinary encounter took place in Philadelphia in June, 1830, between two physicians named Jeffries and Smith. They had arranged to meet with pistols, at eight paces and, at the first but at the second Smith had his shot, both missed

left

arm

shattered.

The wounded man then

de-

268

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

shot,

manded another
fell

and

this

time

Jeffries received
fire

Smith's bullet in the thigh.

Jeffries

At the fourth
the

both

mortally wounded and died upon

I

field.

When
:

was informed that Smith had expired, he said

"Well,

am

afterward.

And he never spoke willing to die, too." In 1837, in North Carolina, Hon. G. C.
C.,

Dromgoole, M.

and Mr. Dugger fought with

pis-

tols, at four paces, and the latter was mortally wounded In May, 1820, Richard Stuart and at the first fire.

Townsend

S.

Dade

(relatives), of

King George County

with double-barrelled shotguns (Virginia), loaded with buckshot. Each received the other's fire Dade falling dead and Stuart receiving a wound from which he died upon the following day. In 1837, in Tennessee, Richard M. Jones and Henry W. Anderson met in murderous combat with pistols, at four feet, in which Jones was shot dead the bullet
;

met

from the weapon of the latter lodging in the muzzle In 1823, in Virginia, Colonel of Anderson's pistol. Richard Graves sent a cartel of defiance to Captain Lacy, and proposed that two cups should be filled one with deadly poison and the other with pure water and that they should draw lots to determine which one should drink the poison; and that the one who should draw the blank should have the choice of cups and swallow the contents of the one selected and that the other, who must draw the letter P, should be bound upon his honor to swallow the contents of the remaining cup. Lacy replied that he would fight Graves like a gentleman, but declined to drink poison to accommodate any one. Graves then renewed his that and they fight with knives, proposed challenge arrested and afterward tried for he was whereupon
;

his atrocious conduct, but acquitted.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

269

In 1852, in Florida, Colonel Gronard and Major Jones met with bowie knives, and after a desperate

encounter in which both were horribly cut, Jones was In 1839, at Tallahassee (Florida), Major Allkilled. ston challenged General Reed and was killed. Willis Allston, a brother of the deceased, then killed Reed
fled the State. On the loth of December, 1841, near Brazoria (Texas), the latter got into an altercation with Dr. John Stuart and killed him, at which " a party of vigilantes took out" Allston and perfoIn 1832, in Georgia, two rated him with bullets. men named and Fair met with pistols, Gist young

and

and the latter was killed. Three of Gist's brothers were in attendance with pistols and shotguns, presumably to see fair play. In 1830, at New Orleans, Mr. Lanusse and Mr. Marigny met with swords and pistols, and after firing at each other twice, fell to with their swords, during which both were many times
desperately wounded, Marigny dying while being conveyed from the field. In 1853, in the same city, two men named Scott and Travis fought with bowie knives, and both were desperately wounded, Scott dying from the effects of his injuries some months
afterward.

Judge Huger, of South Carolina, once challenged Major Rutledge (his brother-in-law), to the great surprise of the latter, who, being an officer of conspicuous honor and courage, felt the necessity of accepting the
but inquired of Mr. Loundes, who bore challenge the challenge, what offence he had given. Mr.
;

Loundes, however, although an intimate friend of the challenging party, declared that he had no knowledge whatever of the cause of the hostile message. The duel took place, nevertheless, and Major Rutledge

2/O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

tell

was wounded, although no one could ever was the cause of the hostile affair.

what

The Southern Bivouac, early in 1884, presented its readers with the following graphic description of the first duel (so called) in Kentucky:
Previous to the separation of Kentucky from Virginia there were hostile meetings between her citizens, but the

combatants were usually plain pioneers, who, knowing little and caring less about the code, settled their difficulties with the weapons with which nature had armed them. They battered and bruised with fists and feet, gouged out eyes with their thumbs, and bit off ears and noses with their teeth, and thus inflicted injuries which the chivalry of a later day pronounced worse than the effects of the fatal steel and deadly lead. The first duel a la mode in the State of Kentucky was arranged at Louisville in 1792, and luckily for all concerned, had a comic instead of a tragic terminaThe principals and seconds were among the most tion. prominent citizens of that period, whose descendants are yet in our midst, occupying the highest social positions. John Thurston, a son of the celebrated fighting parson of
Virginia,
rebellion,

who

laid aside his sacerdotal

War of Independence the uniform of the on gown, put raised a company and led it against the British,
at the beginning of the

was the challenging party. John Harrison, a member of that distinguished family which gave a Governor to Virginia and a President to the United States, who went into the
Revolutionary war a private and by brave deeds came out a Major, was the challenged party. Robert Breckinridge, a member of the convention which framed our first Constitution and sat as the first Speaker of our House of Representatives, was the second of Thurston, and Jacobus Sullivan, a fearless pioneer, who would at any time avoid a good dinner for what he called a good fight, was the second of Harrison. In those early days the best citizens of each county were

commissioned by the Governors as Justices of the Peace.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

2/1

Thurston and Harrison had both held this office under Governor Randolph of Virginia, and as soon as Governor Shelby was seated in the Gubernatorial chair of Kentucky he recommissioned them for Jefferson county. It was not long after 'Squire Thurston opened his office in the new State before he was called upon to try an issue between two of his neighbors. It was Thurston's first case under his new commission, and he saw in it the elements of a family quar.-matter what judgment he rel, which indicated that no of his render one neighbors would be dissatisfied. might He therefore issued the warrant and made it returnable before 'Squire Harrison for trial. Harrison, in trying the case, discovered that it was based on family differences that ought to be adjusted, and as it was his first case also in the new State, he took particular pains to reconcile the parties. He succeeded in bringing the parties to a better understanding, rendered a judgment satisfactory to both, and, being pleased with his own work, charged no fees. Soon after the trial was over Thurston called on Harrison for the twelve and a half cents allowed him by law for issuing the original warrant in the case. Harrison told him he had charged no fees in the case and had not collected the twelve and a half cents. Thurston replied that while it was Harrison's unquestioned right to
charge nothing for his own services, yet that right did not extend to the remission of the fees of another for services rendered. Harrison admitted that this was true, but said that if he were to pay the twelve and a half cents it would have to come out of his own pocket, and this he did not intend should be done. One word brought on another until a quarrel ensued, and epithets were exchanged that were easier spoken than borne. They separated full of wrath, with mutual assurances that each might expect to hear further from the other. Thurston hurried from the scene, sent for his friend Breckinridge, detailed the occurrence at Harrison's office, and, without asking the advice of his friend as to what should be done, handed him a peremptory challenge with a request that he bear it immediately to
Harrison.

Breckinridge did not like the lightning speed

2/2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

with which things were starting off, but in a kind of mechanical mode bore away the hostile note, and before the sun of the same day was set handed it to Harrison. What Harrison might have done if a little more time had been allowed does not appear, but it is possible if he had not received a challenge he would have sent one. As soon as Harrison received Thurston's note he accepted its terms, and named rifles at sixty yards as the weapons and distance.

Then summoning his friend Sullivan to his aid he directed him without delay to arrange with Breckinridge the time
and place of meeting. Here Sullivan, like Breckinridge, was hurried along with a rapidity he did not fancy, but
to avoid. The seconds got together the night of the same day of the difficulty, and arranged for the hostile meeting the next afternoon at a small opening in

knew not how

the woods back of the present Broadway. When the place of meeting was reached at the appointed time sixty yards were stepped off by the seconds and the positions of the

The rifles were then loaded by the Breckinridge loading one and handing it to Sullivan for Harrison, and Sullivan loading the other and handEverything was ing it to Breckinridge for Thurston. conducted with the scrupulous courtesy indicative of the ball-room rather than the duelling-field and no one would
principals designated.

seconds

have inferred from the countenances of Thurston and Harrison that anything involving life was in contemplation. The principals having been placed in position and their rifles handed them, the seconds tossed a dollar for the word. but instead of turning at once to the Breckinridge won principals and giving the word, he asked Sullivan what he thought of the affair, anyhow. Sullivan answered that the movements had been so rapid that he had had no time to think at all, and in turn asked Breckinridge what he thought. Breckinridge replied that he did not like the appearance of things, and feared that the world might misinterpret the facts and assume that two prominent citizens had been hurried into a duel about twelve and a half cents. Sullivan admitted that such might be public opinion, and added that
;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

2/3

if the duel should prove fatal it would be too bad for the world to say two such citizens had slain one another for a ninepence. The seconds, therefore, agreed to call the prinWhen they got cipals together and try to reconcile them. together Breckinridge, in an earnest and feeling manner, stated that he and Sullivan had just talked the matter over, and were agreed that the meeting had been unwisely hurried too far without the advice of friends, chosen for the purpose, having been either asked or given that the fact of the difficulty having arisen out of the twelve and a half cents allowed a magistrate for issuing a warrant would lead many to say, no matter how unjustly, that the duel was fought for that paltry sum, and that such a reputation would be intolerable for men in their positions. He reminded them that they were both heads of families and civil officers, with other claims than their own upon their lives and reputations that although the affair had been too rapidly conducted to allow hot blood to cool, there was yet time for reason to resume her sway over passion; and then besought them as old friends, with but a single jar in a life of unusual smoothness, to forget and forgive a single offence, and act toward one another as if nothing to ruffle their former feelings had occurred. If there was any hesitation in the minds of the
;

principals as to the propriety of a reconciliation, after these manly words of Breckinridge, it was not increased by the

unexpected speech and queer proposition of Sullivan which followed. As soon as Breckinridge had ceased, Sullivan, without waiting to hear what Harrison or Thurston might " Fellow-citizens, them's my sentisay, spoke as follows ments It won't do for this fight to go on The Bargrass people, whar 'Squire Thurston lives, will swar he fit for twelve an' a half cents; and them bad town boys, where 'Squire Harrison lives, when he runs them out of his watermillion patch, will call him an 'old fightin' ninepence.' I like a good fight better than a hot toddy of a cold night, but I hate a bad fight worse than a nest of yaller-jackets. There ain't no good in this fight, nohow. I don't like the
: !

weepons, nuther.

Rifles

is all

right for Injuns

and

bars, but

274
they are

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

awful

If you had things turned agin friends. painted yer eyes black with yer fists, or even doubled one another up by kicks in the belly, when you quarrelled, it

would have been reg'lar, but to go to borin' holes through one another with rifle balls, like augers through poplar The commandment of the Scripter logs, won't do at all. says: 'Thou shalt not kill,' but it don't say thou s halt not hit with the fist and kick with the foot when a feller makes you mad. I propose, tharfour, that we wind up this fight
with a shootin'-match for a gallon of whiskey. Our side agin your side will shoot at a tree the size of a man, sixty yards, at the word, and the shot nearest the .centre wins." As soon
as Sullivan finished his speech, Thurston and Harrison, who had both been compelled to laugh at its oddity, simulta-

neously extended to one another the right hand. A hearty shake followed and the difficulty was all over. Nothing now remained to be done on the ground but to have the A beech, about shooting-match proposed by Sullivan. the size of a man, was selected, at sixty yards, and Thurston
the first shot. The tree was hit on the left side, and Harrison acknowledged that, if he had been there, he should have had a stitch in the side. Harrison shot next and hit the tree in the centre. Thurston now acknowledged that if he had been there he should have had a stomach-ache. Breckinridge shot next, and hit midway between the shots
of Thurston

made

and Harrison.

All

now agreed
it

that this was

the shot of a mediator, and that midway between the other two.

was

in its
all,

proper place,

Sullivan shot, and missed the tree. hearty laugh followed at the expense of Sullivan, but he said he imagined the tree to be a

Last of

man shooting at him, and suggested that if the others had shot at men shooting at them their shots might have been The ball of Harrison having hit the centre, it different.
was decided that Thurston and Breckinridge must pay for the liquor. Off all started in high good humor for the grocery store of Charles Nabb to get the whiskey. A gallon was measured into a stone jug, and after all had taken a
friendly
glass

the balance was voted to Sullivan for his

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

2?$

remarkable speech and shot. Sullivan bore off the jug in triumph, and would often have gone through the same scene Thurston and Harrison were the good for such a reward. friends in after life that they had been before, and both of

them

often told and joked of the intended serious meeting

that ended so comically.

A New York paper gives the following account of a singular and fatal duel which was fought many years ago in New York by the late Stephen Price, well
known
in

England

as a former lessee of

Drury Lane
of his

Theatre:

Benjamin Price was considered the handsomest

family, though his brother Stephen was not to be despised, either as regards good looks or abilities. Benjamin one

evening had escorted a very pretty woman to the Park Theatre, when, during the performance, a British officer in an adjoining box took the liberty of staring her
full in

the face.

She complained

of

it

to

Ben

Price,

who,
" his

on

its

repetition, seized the offender

by the nose with

and thumb and wrung it most effectually." The officer left his box and went to Ben Price's. Ben in answer to a knock opened the door, when the officer, whose name was Green, asked Ben what he meant, remarking at the same time that he meant no insult to the lady. " Oh very well," " neither did I mean to insult you by what I replied Ben, did." Upon this they shook hands as sworn brothers, and some time afterward Mr. Green went to Canada to join his
finger
!

regiment. The facts of the affair, however, reached Canada before Mr. Green did, and of course got noised about. An
officer of his

regiment having a pique against him was par-

ticularly active in airing the scandal, and brought the matter so strongly before his brother officers that one of them, a

Captain Wilson, insisted upon Green being ostracized unless New York immediately and challenged Price. Green, however, being no shot, he was allowed time to get up his pistol practice to a favorable standard, and

he went back to

276

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

five

having practised for

hours

daily, until

he could

hit

dollar at ten paces nine times out of ten, then he came to New York and challenged Ben Price. They fought at

Hoboken, Price being killed at the first fire. The seconds immediately decamped, while Green, who had obtained leave to go to England on urgent private affairs, took a small boat, crossed the river, and got on board a vessel in the bay ready to sail for the old country. Price's body was found where he had fallen, with a piece of paper attached to the breast, on which were written the following words
:

*'

This

is

Benjamin

Price, boarding in

York; take care of him." The death of city quietly, and he was buried in New York. Ben Price was, however, but one-half of the tragic transaction that resulted from the pulling of Mr. Green's nose.

Vesey Street, New The body was brought to the

who has been already refrom England on his way to Canada, and put up at the Washington Hotel. There one day at dinner the conversation turned on the death of Ben Price and the manner thereof, when Captain Wilson, who had joined in the conversation, took credit for having been mainly instrumental in bringing about the duel, detailing all This statement was the particulars connected therewith. carried immediately to Stephen Price, who was lying ill of the gout at home. His friends said that he at once implic-

Some

years later Captain Wilson,

ferred to, arrived in

New York

itly obeyed the instructions of the physician, and, obtaining thereby a short cessation of the gout, was enabled to hobble out of doors, his lower extremities being swathed in flannel. His first course was to seek the Washington Hotel, where " " He is," Is Captain Wilson within ?" his inquiry was
:

"Show me up to his room," said Stephen, and up he was shown accordingly. Hobbling up-stairs with much difficulty, cursing alternately as he went the gout which caused the pain and the Captain who was the cause of his having to hobble with equal vehemence, he at last reached Captain Wilson's room, his feet cased in moccasins and his hand grasping a stick. Captain Wilson rose to receive him, wondering all the time who his lame visitor could
said the waiter.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

but his mind on that point was soon relieved. " Are you Captain Wilson?" said the stranger. "That is my name," replied the Captain. "Then, sir, my name is Stephen Price. You see, sir, I can scarcely put one foot before the other I am afflicted with the gout. My object in coming here is to insult you. Shall I have to knock you down, or will you consider what I have said a sufficient inbe,
;

sult to act accordingly?" smiling; "I shall consider

cient,

"

No,

sir,"

what you have

replied the Captain, said quite suffi-

and

shall act accordingly.

You

shall hear

from me."
to
;

In due time there

;

came a message from Captain Wilson

Stephen Price time, place, and weapons were arranged and early one morning a boat left New York in which were seated face to face Stephen Price, the Captain, and two
took their positions, and Captain Wilson
landed at Bedloe's Island, the principals fell dead at the The Captain's body was interred in the vault first shot. there, and Price and the two seconds returned to New York. Captain Wilson's friends in America thought he had
friends.

They

all

departed suddenly to Canada, and his friends in England thought he had either died suddenly or had been killed in a duel on his way to join his regiment.

of April 23, 1884, tells the following interesting story of a duelling family:
Dr. Robert Wright, whose death at Centreville, Md., in was announced yesterday, was the

The Baltimore Sun

his eighty-seventh year, son of Solomon Wright,

who was a judge of the Maryland Court of Appeals from 1778 to 1801, and the grandson of Solomon Wright, who was a distinguished lawyer, and
Queen Anne County
in the Provincial

represented

Assem-

bly as far back as 1709-11. One of Dr. Wright's uncles was Robert Wright, for whom he was named, one of the most

duced.

successful politicians that the Eastern Shore has ever proHe was successively a member of the House of

Delegates, the State Senate, the United States House of Representatives, and the United States Senate. In 1806 he

278

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

was elected Governor of Maryland, and at the time of his death, in 1827, was a judge in the judicial circuit comprisDr. Wright was a gentleman of ing his native county. varied information, and a mine of interesting reminisences about men and affairs in his section of the State. Just a year ago he wrote and published an interesting sketch of In this he stated that some of the Wrights had his family. a marked propensity for duelling, and narrated the following anecdotes concerning those of his relatives who became involved in affairs of honor " Gov. Robert Wright fought a
:

duel with Gen. Lloyd, the former being shot in the wrist, which ended the matter. Robert, son of the Governor, fought with Alexander Stuart, and was shot in the shoulder.

Gustavus fought with Benjamin Nicholson. They both expected to be killed, and it is marvellous how they escaped death, as each had two shots and were only stationed six to
eight feet apart. At the first shot Nicholson was shot in the hand, and at the second in the side. The wound being considered mortal ended the matter. Nicholson, as brave a

man as ever lived, recovered, and was aide to Gen. Z. Pike, and, with Pike and his whole command, was blown up and killed at Little York, now called Toronto, Canada, in the
war
son,
of 1812.

whom
;

Jarman was wounded Major Hook.

Mr. Wright also had a duel with Capt. Wathe killed. Clinton had a duel with Lieut. they had two shots. At the second shot Wright
in the

arm.

He

Wright was shot down

afterward fought a duel with at the first shot, and,

being unable to stand, proposed to Hook to lie side by side and take another shot. To this both Hook and his second objected, and very properly, but said if they could make Mr. Wright stand they would give him another exchange

Wright put his hand in his pocket, and drawing out an old bandana handkerchief, gave it to his second, telling him to pass it under his arms and draw him up to the limb of a small tree close by. This being done, they had another exchange of shots, when Hook received what was supposed to be a mortal wound, but both he and Wright recovered. Henry R. Pratt (who married one of the
of shots.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

Wrights) had a duel with William Elbert.

279
shot a bunch

He

of keys out of Elbert's pantaloons pocket, and, both being thereby satisfied, kissed and made up. They afterward

Another one of the Cadet Lindsey, of Philadelphia, but a timely apology from Lindsey put a stop to it. By way of showing that the Wrights were not quite so bloodthirsty as some have endeavored to make them out,

became and continued family was on the eve

fast friends.

of a duel with

I will say that in every instance, the challenged parties."

believe, the

Wrights were

28O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XV.
CONTINUED.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

Andrew Jackson's Famous Meeting with Charles Dickinson "Great God! have I missed him?" The Iron Will of "Old
Hickory" Sam Houston's Duel with General White Gumming and McDuffie The Fatal Crittenden-Conway Duel in Arkansas The Dreadful Meeting of Major Riddle and Hon. in 1830 Spencer Pettis on Bloody Island in 1831 Both Combatants
"

Mortally Wounded at the First Fire The Weapons used by Riddle and Pettis at present the Property of Innis Hopkins of The Fatal Duel near Vicksburg between Menefee and St. Louis

McClung

A
A

Highly Dramatic Affair

Game on
Sharpers

the Mississippi
of a Military

Tragic End of a Poker James Bowie Surprises a Gang of

What came

Duel upon the Wheel-houses of a Steamboat Man's Boasting.

THE fatal duel between General Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson, which was fought near Adairville (Tennessee), on the 3oth of May, 1806, ranks among what are justly termed the noted American
duels; not only on account of the distinguished character of the combatants, but because they were in" comparably crack shots," and because each intended Dickinson had invited a challenge to kill the other.

from Jackson by aspersing the character or social standing of the wife of the latter. Each undoubtedly expected to receive a mischievous bullet, but hoped,
at the

same

adversary.

It

time, to dangerously wound or kill his was understood that there would be no

frOTED AMEKiCAtf DUELS.

28l

love or sentiment displayed during the hostile meeting, and, of course, no white feather. Both men were

notoriously brave and unspeakably angry. Both were experts with rifle and pistol; and Dickinson, while on his way to the rendezvous, amused his associates by

displaying his wonderful skill with a pistol. Once, at a distance of twenty-four feet, he fired four balls, each at the word of command, into a space which could be covered by a silver dollar. Several times he cut a string with a bullet from the same distance. It is related that he left a severed cord hanging near a " If tavern, and said to the landlord as hg rode off: General Jackson comes along this road, be kind enough to show him that." The meeting took place in the morning, and both parties appeared to be perfectly collected.

that the pistols were to be held

The arrangement agreed upon was downward until the

to fire, then each man was to fire as soon as he pleased. As soon as the word was given Dickinson raised his pistol and fired. A puff of dust flew from the breast of'Jackson's coat, and his second

word was given

saw him

raise his left

his chest.

arm and place it tightly across The General, however, stood firm, while

Dickinson recoiled, crying out: "Great God! have I missed him?" A moment after, Jackson took deliberate aim and pulled the trigger, but the weapon stopped at half-cock. He drew it back to its place, took aim a second time, and fired. Dickinson reeled, and his face turned white; and, as his friends hurried toward him, he sunk upon the ground. The murderous missle had passed through the body below the
ribs.
It

was only

after this that

it

was discovered

that one of Jackson's shoes was full of blood. On examination, it was found that the bullet from Dick.

282
inson's

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

weapon had hit Jackson in the breast, breaking two ribs, and making a painful but not dangerous wound. Dickinson lived until about nine o'clock in
the evening, at which hour he expired, having bled to death. It was on this occasion that Andrew Jackson

would have

exhibited his iron will by saying to his second that he lived long enough to have killed his anif

he had been shot through the heart. Dickinson for the honor of the woman Jackson fought he loved. A description of this duel lately appeared in the Louisville (Ky.) Courier-Journal, which called out a communication from S. Park Baker, of Youngstown (N. Y.), which concluded as follows:
tagonist even

one feature about this duel with Dickinson, howseems a little peculiar, and that is that General Jackson, who was a very spare man in his person, should have been dressed in a loose-fitting gown or coat, so that his

There

is

ever, that

antagonist could not readily

tell

the location of his body."

Dickinson aimed right; and if Jackson's body had been where Dickinson supposed it was, and where, perhaps, the code duello would say it ought to have been, there is no just reason to doubt that General Jackson would at that time have "passed in his checks;" for the ball from Dickinson's pistol would have struck his heart beyond any doubt, accordNow, the criticism and ing to the account of the duel.
" point I make in the character of Old Hickory," in respect to this duel, is this Having dressed himself in a manner to
:

deceive Dickinson as to the precise location of his (Jackson's) body, and having received Dickinson's bullet without
injury, it was not a just and fair thing in Jackson afterward to take deliberate aim at Dickinson and kill him.

any serious

No matter what the provocation was on the part of Dickinson which led to the duel, it seems to me that, having resorted to what was then considered an honorable method of settling the difficulty, they were each bound to give the other fair play and the only excuse or justification I can
;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

find for General

283

Jackson for his deliberate and premeditated Dickinson is the fact that, perhaps, upon general principles, Dickinson ought to have been killed for slandering so upright and honorable a woman as the wife of Genkilling of
eral Jackson.

Near Nashville (Tenn.)

is

is

the " Hermitage," which

approached through a long row of cedars on either hand. Here, says the Courier -Journal,
in this quaint old building,

brick, with

main rooms and shed-rooms of wooden columns and wooden copings in front,
Jackson, adopted grandson of the and mother and two old negroes, man was about sixteen years old when it was

resided Colonel

Andrew

hero, with his wife

and

wife.

He

General purchased by Jackson, nearly sixty years ago. Jackson and wife sleep side by side in the little garden near the residence, each beneath a broad granite slab. Inscribed in old-fashioned Roman letters are the words on the slab which covers Mrs. Jackson, composed by her devoted husband " Here lie the remains of Mrs. Rachel Jackson, wife of President Jackson, who died the 22d December, 1828." The old hero had been elected President for his first term, but did not take his seat till March 4th following. The inscription recounts her virtues in words forcible and tender
:
:

being so gentle and yet so virtuous, vile slander might wound but could not dishonor. Even death, when he tore her from the arms of her husband, could but transport her
to the
feeble

"A

of her God." The day of the funeral, Jackson, and heartbroken, walked slowly behind the coffin, leaning upon a long cane he was accustomed at that time to carry about his farm. As the friends of the dead gathered about to look for the last time upon her face, General Jackson lifted his cane as if appealing to Heaven, and by a look commanding silence, said, slowly and painfully, and with a

bosom

voice
saint

" In of bitter tears the presence of this dear can and do forgive all my enemies. But those vile wretches who have slandered her must look to God for
full
:

284
mercy."

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

One of the most beautiful and redeeming traits in rugged and heroic nature was the unaltering love and devotion he bore his wife. For seventeen years after her death the memory of this noble woman was cherished, until the summer of 1845, when he was laid to rest beside the only woman he ever loved loved with a romantic tenderness and strength surpassing the dream of fiction.
all this

Sam Houston, while M. C. from the Nash(Tennessee) district, in 1826, fought a duel with General White, which created much excitement throughout the United States at the time. The duel was fought on the farm .of H. J. Duncan, in Simpson
General
ville

County, about six miles south of Franklin.

curious circumstance
fight:

It

was a

Houston documents and some seeds for distribution, which they had failed to receive, and for which failure he blamed Postmaster Curry, of Nashville, whom he denounced as a scoundrel. For this Curry sent Houston a challenge by General White; who declined to receive a cartel " from such a contemptible
of

that which brought about this had sent to his constituents a number

source."

"I

am

not surprised,

sir,"

said White, ad-

dressing himself to Houston, "as no one

who knows

you expected you would fight." "I will fight you, sir, or any gentleman; but I will not fight a scoundrel like Curry," replied Houston. "I am not sure of that." "Try me." That same day White sent Houston a challenge, which was promptly accepted, and time, place, terms, and conditions named: on
the
feet.

23d of

September, 1826, at

sunrise,

near the

State line; weapons, holster pistols; distance, fifteen

The
fell

White

parties met, according to agreement, and dangerously (it was thought at the time
at the first
fire.

mortally)

wounded

Houston started

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

for the State line, about

285

two hundred yards distant, his adversary fall; but, upon hearing White call, returned, and knelt by his side, when the wounded man said: "General, you have killed me." " I for

when he saw

am

Houston,
"I

know

very sorry you, White," responded " but you know it was forced upon me." White had been shot it, and forgive you."

through just above the hip, and the surgeons, to cleanse the wound of blood, drew one of their oldfashioned silk neckerchiefs through the bullet-hole.

Upon the complete recovery of White none were so overcome with joy as the one who had narrowly escaped becoming his executioner. Colonel Gumming, of Georgia, and Hon. George McDuffie, of South Carolina, met near Sister's Ferry (South Carolina), on the 8th of June, 1822, to settle a which they did by firing at each political quarrel
other once with pistols at twelve paces Mr. McDuffie receiving his adversary's bullet in the back just below the short ribs. The South Carolinian, while he declared his intention of firing a second shot, was induced by his seconds and the surgeons of both

him

parties to retire from the field, they having assured that he had received a dangerous wound.

McDuffie's pistol was prematurely discharged, its ball striking the ground about midway between the combatants; and, although the distinguished states-

man

Georgia

never fully recovered from his severe wound, his " friends" never let up on him for getting

shot in the back.

remarkable meeting took place in Arkansas in 1830 between General Conway and Colonel Robert Crittenden, in which the former was killed. These two gentlemen were canvassing the (then) Territory

286
of

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Arkansas for delegate to Congress. Conway was politically termed a "Jackson man," while Crittenden sailed under Anti-Jackson colors. A correspondent of the New York Courier and

what was then

Enquirer, who as follows:

was

present, tells the story of the duel,

There was an imand party feeling The discussion became personal, and ran very high. Crittenden at the close of his second speech remarked that he " trusted no gentleman would utter words in the heat of debate toward him such as could not be tolerated by the
Little

They met in debate at mense concourse of people

Rock.

in attendance,

code of honor."
calmly rejoined

Conway
"
:

retorted in a torrent of bitter in-

vective and personal denunciation.

Crittenden briefly and

Your language, General Conway, admits of only one answer and that, you may be sure, I will make right speedily." A hostile message was sent the same day, and the meeting arranged for the following morning. A
;

had collected to witness the duel, for there had been no attempt made to conceal it. Ben Desha, a son of Governor Desha, of Kentucky, was Crittenden's second, and Colonel Wharton Rector was the second of Conway. There was some delay in settling the preliminaries, at which General Conway became impatient and excited, while Crittenden remained perfectly cool, stretched quietly on a blanket, with his eyes closed, as though he was sleeping. The Finally, the principals were called to their positions. spectators, says an eye-witness, at a glance contrasted their Crittenden inherited the noblest of aspect and bearing. human forms, with fair hair, blue eyes, and a lofty countenance, frank and open in its expression, and wearing the seal of death-defying bravery. He stood cool, collected, and unconcerned, like a rifleman about to fire at a mark. But Conway had a stern face, eyes dark as night, and his look of indubitable courage was perceptibly tinged with revenge. At length Desha gave the word in a voice that rang over the hills like the peal of a trumpet Fire One Two Three
vast throng
!

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

"

287

At the sound " Fire Conway raised his weapon and drew the trigger. His bullet grazed Crittenden's breast and But cut a button off his coat, without more injury. Crittenden waited until the last echo of the word "Two," and then his pistol exploded. General Conway dropped to The ball had pierced his heart. the earth like lead.
Crittenden died of fever a few years after these events.

On the 27th of August, 1881, Mr. Edward Dobyns, of Fulton (Mo.), addressed the editor of the St. Louis Globe-Democrat the following interesting communication:

Just fifty years years ago to-day, August 27, 1831, at three o'clock P.M., Major Biddle, of the United States Army, and

the Hon. Spencer Pettis, only

Missouri,
settle

member

of

Congress from
St.

met on Bloody

Island,

opposite

Louis,

to

an affair of honor. They took position at five feet apart and exchanged shots. Both fell mortally wounded, and were borne across the river by their respective friends It was my privilege to stand by the bedto their homes. of the dying statesman side through a night of Never can I forget the look of pain and agony. the young statesman. He turned his head, and looking me in the face, said " Oh, if I can only survive this." I Nor can I well knew the meaning of these words. forget the majestic form and noble bearijig of the late Hon. James H. Peck, then Judge of the United States District Court for the District of Missouri, who passed that memorable night at the bedside of Mr. Pettis, cheering and
:

encouraging him

in his last

hours;

in

this

showing

his

gratitude for kindnesses Mr. Pettis had

shown him when he

(Judge Peck) had been impeached and tried before the Senate of the United States for "alleged charges of oppression of a distinguished lawyer of St. Louis, Colonel Luke E. Lawless. Though an avowed political enemy to the party to which Mr. Pettis belonged, I felt there was a beauty and moral grandeur surrounding the scene, and there was.

288
Gratitude
is

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

one of the noblest instincts of man. Just as approaching Mr. Pettis gave a deep moan. " Mr. Pettis, you have shown yourself a Judge Peck said brave man, now die like a man." Mr. Pettis replied, " Yes, sir." I believe these were his last words. On the morning of August 28, 1831, about ten o'clock, his spirit left its frail tenement and passed away. Major Biddle survived
death was
:

until three o'clock

Sunday morning, when

his strong consti-

tution and athletic frame yielded to the fatal wound, and Thus ended this tragic affair his spirit took its flight. which has been so much misrepresented.

The

pistols

used in the Biddle-Pettis duel are at

owned by Innis Hopkins, of St. Louis, having been left him by his father, Colonel Brent Hopkins, who died at Henderson (Kentucky) on the yth of March, 1884. It has been stated that these same
present

were used by Hamilton and Burr, which is a positive mistake; as the latter are owned by a gentleman of Rochester (N. Y.), and are three inches longer than these used at Bloody Island: they were once the property of Aaron Burr, however, who brought them from England upon his return to his native land. They were manufactured by H. W.
pistols

Mortimore, of London, gunmaker to his Majesty. pistol which was used by Pettis may be identithe fied by a long deep notch indented on the handle one used by Burr is marked by a cross filed under the lower part of the barrel. The barrels of these pistols are thirteen inches long and carry an ounce ball. They have flint-locks; the pans for the priming are lined with gold, and the touchholes are bushed with the same metal. They are hair- triggers, and shoot with great force and accuracy. The locks are pieces of very superior mechanism. The pair came into the possession of Colonel Brent Hopkins, through

The

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

his uncle,
A.,

289

Captain Samuel Goode Hopkins, U. S. who purchased them from Burr, paying him a The weapons have 'surely large amount for them.

a blood-stained history.
fatal
effect

They have been used with

Pettis
killed

in

eleven

duels.

Biddle

with one of them; Edward a Frenchman near New

Towns

of Virginia killed

Goode Hopkins

killed

Orleans; Captain a Spanish Count near

Sam

New

Madrid (Mo.); Hugh Brent killed a man from Georgia on Diamond Island, below Henderson (Ky.), and they were used several times in Virginia, twice in South Carolina, and more than once in Kentucky,
with deadly
effect.

McClung and Menefee met near Vicksburg a

time before the Mexican
large

War

in the

short presence of a

number

of

spectators.

The weapons were

Mississippi rifles, distance sixty yards. McClung was a dead shot, having never missed his man, while Menefee, who had lately arrived in Mississippi from

description of the duel

ent:

Kentucky, was no novice with shooting-irons. The is thus told by a correspond-

Sixty yards was the distance chosen, and when the seconds went to measure off the ground it was with great difficulty that the crowd could be forced back so as to allow the fight to go on. The positions were taken and the rifles were placed in the combatants' hands. "Are you ready?"
" Fire; one, two" bullet whistled by and the exploded, the head of McClung and lodged in a tree that appeared to be on an exact line with the body of the latter. To the sur"

Ready,"

both

firmly

responded.

Here Menefee's

rifle

prise of everybody, instead of firing his piece, McClung attempted to break it in half, and with a fierce oath hurled it

a distance of twenty feet away, where

of sand and
stuck,

it

alighted upon a pile

in
it.

muzzle down, several feet

The

290

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

seconds soon learned the cause of this strange action the gun had hung fire. It was rescued, the sand removed from the muzzle, and reloaded. After an interval of ten minutes
the

combatants resumed their positions, and the crowd During the interval many gathered around them again. bets had been wagered on the result of the duel, the odds being generally in favor of Menefee, who was a popular
favorite,

and who, moreover, was generally supposed to be rifle. The word was again given. This time McClung's piece was more faithful. Before Menefee's finger had pressed the trigger of the rifle that of McClung had been discharged, and the ball, striking the cock of Menefee's gun, hurled a piece of it deep into the brain of the unfortunate young man, who fell, and died before he could be removed from the field.

more

proficient with the

In ante-bellum times

nowhere on the continent

were more

exciting scenes witnessed than in the cabins of some of the Mississippi river steamers, and of these none were more dramatic and tragical than

the following incident. Gambling, oftentimes for the highest stakes, was universal, particularly on the

Orleans packets, and professional gamblers frequently made these boats their homes. Much has been written concerning the lives and characters of
these men, and many are the incidents related in which they bore conspicuous, if not always honorable, parts. Amongst the various gambling scenes that have occurred on western and southern rivers, there is one which should not be forgotten, the more so as one of the principal actors in the event is known throughout the country to have been a man of tried bravery and courage, and his name, James Bowie, is

New

always associated with the idea of fearlessness. In a recent conversation with an old steamboatman, a reporter of the St. Louis Republican learned of the

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

following,

29 1
steamer

which

occurred

on board the

Orleans, Captain Davis father of Captain John B. Davis, late of the Diamond Jo line master, in the
Fall of 1832.

At that time the

river steamers

were be-

ginning to be infested with organized bands of gamblers, which in a few years embraced in their ranks

and confederates many of the barkeepers and other officers of the boats of higher rank, and with their assistance and connivance many a planter was robbed of his all and driven to suicide or murIn the Fall of the year the merchants and der. planters of the country along the lower river went
as allies

East to purchase goods or to collect the proceeds of

the year's crop of cotton or sugar, and their arrival

and departure from New York were carefully noted by emissaries of the gamblers. If it was known that they carried back to the West or South any large amount of money, they were watched, and an efficient gang of sharps was placed upon their In the summer of 1833 a young gentleman tracks. of Natchez, who had just been married, made an extended wedding trip to the North, and on his way back home had stopped in New York to collect a number of bills which had been intrusted to him for collection by planters at and near Natchez, and the
at

amount
spotted,

in

after his arrival in

the aggregate was quite large. New York the young

his acquaintance

Shortly

man was

and

made by

several of the

gambling fraternity, but, though they tried hard to do so, they failed to inveigle him into any of their
dens.

When

young man started knowing of his probable

the

he had transacted his business there for home with his wife, but, route, a well-organized gang

started ahead of him, leaving two of the fraternity to

292

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

their intended victim

accompany
sight.

Learning

New Orleans packets for Natchez, they joined him on the boat, and on the trip to Louisville card playing was introduced to while away the time. Having been allowed
to

steamer a few days, and then take one of the

at Pittsburg that there for Louisville, where

and keep him in he would take a he would remain

win small sums, by the time they had reached

Louisville the victim imagined he knew all about the game. This game, which at the time referred to was

much in vogue, was called 20-card poker, and was played with the tens, jacks, and queens, kings, and aces of the pack, and as but four could play at a time the game was admirably adapted for what is known to the gambling fraternity as "three pluck one." After a pleasant visit in Louisville the young man took passage on the steamer Orleans for Natchez.
cabin, where all the card-playing was done, was on the main deck, directly under the Instead of the round wheel-houses ladies' cabin. now seen, the Orleans' were square, flat on top, and came up to within two feet of the hurricane deck, and the distance between them was about thirty-five
feet.

The gentlemen's

Not long

after leaving Louisville card-playing

was resumed, and so effectually had the gamblers carried out their scheme that they had won nearly all their victim's money before reaching Vicksburg, and had intended to complete their work before Natchez was reached, a comparatively easy task, as he was drunk and desperate. A few miles above Vicksburg a tall, straight, and dignified gentleman, having much the appearance of a preacher, got aboard the boat, and in a few minutes took a seat near the gamblers, where he could see all that was going on. Several

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

293

times during the continuance of the game, and after the tall stranger had come aboard, the young wife of the gamblers' victim had besought him to leave

company, but in vain, so deep was the infatuagame, and so strong his belief that he could yet win back the money which he. had lost. Play continued into the night, and by i o'clock in the morning his money was all won from him, and, rendered desperate by the knowledge that he had been recreant to the trust reposed in him, the victim rose from his seat and rushed wildly to the side of the boat, intent upon self-destruction, but just as he was in the act of springing overboard he was seized by a grip of iron and held, and, his young wife appearing at that time, he was taken to his room by the stranger, who assured her that all would be right if she would only keep her husband in the room until his return. Returning to the cabin, where the gamblers and their friends were standing around the bar
their

tion of the

drew out of his pocket a welland taking out of it a $100 bank note, asked the barkeeper to change it for him. This the barkeeper could not do, but referred him to the prindrinking, the stranger
filled wallet,

" This gentleman can cipal gambler, saying: it for you." "Oh, yes," he answered at once,

change "won't

you take a drink?"

Thanking him, the stranger accepted the invitation, and whilst the change was being made, just touched his glass to his lips. The gamblers had all seen the well-filled wallet, and, as
the stranger casually remarked that he stopped at Natchez, they determined to try to catch and fleece

him.

One

go

to bed,

of them remarked that he did not care to and proposed that another game be played,

to which, of course, the others agreed, but, as there

294

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

were but three of them who understood the game, and it required four to play it, the stranger was invited to join them, which, after a little hesitation on his The game began by the part, he assented to. stranger being allowed to win several large bets. But he kept his eyes open, and although they did not know it, he was perfectly aware of what was going on. After playing for about an hour, and just as day was breaking, the gamblers concluded to finish by giving the stranger a hand which would induce him to bet largely, and as there were three of them, and he could not call, they felt certain they could force him to put up all he had before they would allow him to have a show. Everything worked as they had anticipated the man opposite the stranger dealt the cards and the man on his right went $10 blind; the ante was $5. When the cards were dealt the stranger put up $20, and the next
;

man

did the same,

when

the dealer raised

it

putting up $40.

When

came

him $20, to the turn of the

one who made the blind he put up $130, thus raising it $100. The stranger quietly put up the requisite and when the next man bet $100 more, the amount, next man, the dealer, then threw up his hand and drew The two remaining gamblers then kept raising out.
the bet whenever
it

came

their turn, the

stranger

coolly putting up whatever sum was necessary until the total amount on the table was fully $100,000, of

which the stranger had contributed one third. Whilst the betting was going on the stranger had kept his eye on the dealer and had, by his watchfulness, prevented any changing of cards. Toward the last he saw a card slipped by the dealer to the man who had made the blind, when, seizing him by the wrist with

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

295

one hand, he drew a murderous looking knife with the other and forced the gambler to lay his cards on the table face down. All sprang to their feet and
the stranger quietly said that when that hand was raised and it should be found to contain six cards,

he would

kill the owner; telling the other to show his cards, he threw down his own hand, which conThe baffled sisted of four kings and a ten spot.

gambler,

livid

with rage and disappointment, swore

that the stranger should fight him, demanding, with

an oath, to
as
if

in the

"James

Quietly, and of the ladies, presence stranger answered, Bowie." At the sound of that name two of

know who he was anyway.

the gamblers quailed, for they knew that the man who bore that name was a terror to even the bravest;

but

the

third,

who had

never heard

of

"

James

This was acBowie," demanded a duel at once. ceded to at once by Bowie, with a smile; pistols were the weapons selected, the hurriderringers cane-roof the place, and the time at once. Sweeping the whole of the money into his hat, Bowie went to

room where the unhappy wife sat guarding her husband's uneasy slumbers, and, rapping on the door, he handed her, when she had opened it, the hat and its contents, telling her that if he did not come back, two thirds of the money was her husband's and the balance his own. Ascending to the hurricane-roof the principals were placed one upon the top of each wheel-house. This brought them about twelve yards apart, and each was exposed to the other from the knee up. The pistols were handed to them and the gambler's second gave the word, "one, two, three, fire, stop," uttered at intervals of one second each, and they were allowed to fire at any time between
the

296

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and
stop.

the utterance of the words one

As "one"

rang out in the clear morning air both raised their " weapons, as three" was heard the gambler's pistol

rang out and before the sound had ceased and whilst the word "fire" was being uttered, Bowie's pistol sounded, and simultaneous with this sound the gambler fell, and giving a convulsive struggle rolled off Bowie coolly blew the wheel-house into the river.
the

use at the time), and going down into the ladies' cabin obtained his hat and divided the money which it contained into three portions.
flint-lock
in

smoke out was

of his pistol, shut

down

the pan (the

Two

of

these he gave to the

young wife and the

other he kept, as it was his own money. Having awakened her husband, the fond wife showed him
the money, and told him all she knew about the When the husaffair, not having heard of the duel.

band became acquainted with all the facts, his gratitude to his benefactor was deep and lasting. Not desiring to be made a hero of, Bowie, when the boat reached Rodney, determined to go ashore; and as he was leaving the boat both the husband and wife clung to him as though he was a father leaving them. It was afterward ascertained that the amount which Bowie returned to the wife was within less than $100 of the sum which the gamblers had won from her
husband.

A Buffalo (N. Y.) correspondent of the New York Times writes as follows, under date of August n,
1883: the handsomest residences along the Niagara W. C. Allen, near the head of Grand Island. A portion of his lawn now occupies a spot which should have no little historical interest. The incident giving it that
of

One

River

is

that of

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

interest
is
is

297

probably

little

known

outside of local circles, and

now

recalled only through the existence of a

document

which has been preserved in a prominent family now resident at Niagara Falls. This document is as follows: "A meeting took place between General Smyth and General Porter yesterday afternoon on Grand Island in pursuance of previous arrangements. They met at Dayton's Tavern, and crossed the river with their friends and surgeons. Both gentlemen behaved with the utmost coolness and unconcern. A shot was fired in as intrepid and firm a manner as possible by each gentleman, but without effect. It was then represented by General Smyth's second that General Porter must now be convinced that the charge of cowardice against General Smyth was unfounded, and should in honor be retracted, which, after mutual explanations as to the matters which had given rise to the charge, was accordingly done by him. " General Smyth then explained that his remarks on General Porter were the result of irritation, and were intended as provocation from having been assailed by General Porter, and that he knew nothing derogatory to General Porter's character as a gentleman and an officer. The hand of reconciliation was then offered and received.

"We

this fortunate termination of a difference arising

congratulate the friends of these gentlemen upon from too

much precipitation, but which has been adjusted in a manner so honorable to both.

"WILLIAM H. WINDER, "SAMUEL ANGUS.

"BLACK ROCK,
Dec.
13, 1812."

In 1810 General Peter B. Porter was a resident of Canandaigua, which was then the most prominent place in western New York, much of which was, in fact, but little more than a wilderness. In the year named he was elected to Conlife, he retired from it the next year and removed to Black Rock, where he owned large He resided estates, which are now a portion of Buffalo. there at the breaking out of the war of 1812, and as the

gress, but, disliking political

298

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Canadian frontier was to be an important strategic point in the contest, all of the militia of western New York was ordered for service at the various points along the frontier. General Porter was appointed to the command of the militia by the Governor of the State, to act in concert with the
regular troops, which were placed under

command
latter

of a

Virginian named Alexander Smyth.

military experience, except in a local of great assurance, and of a bombastic, vainglorious dispoPorter's headquarters were at Black Rock, and sition.

had no way, but he was a man

The

Smyth's were nearby. "Soon after establishing himself at Black Rock," says a gentleman to whom General Porter related the circumstances fifty years ago, "General Smyth issued a long proclamation to his troops, couched in the most extravagant language and filled with boasting prognostications of what he intended to do with the British

upon the opening of Spring. The tenor of the proclamation was that if Spring opened early and favorably he would immediately invade Canada, capture all of its strongholds, and put a summary end to the war. This bombastic document

made the egotistical Southerner the subject of the greatest It so disgusted Genridicule both in and out of camp. eral Porter that he charged openly that such language and
boastfulness could not emanate from a man of courage and bravery. This remark of General Porter was communicated at once to General Smyth, and he sent at once a fiery challenge to General Porter to meet him on the field of honor and test his courage. General Porter was not a duellist nor a believer in duelling, but, holding the position he did, he did not feel that he could decline this challenge, and he promptly accepted it. He selected General William Winder, of the regular army, as his second, and General Smyth chose Adjutant Samuel Angus, of his command. Dayton's Tavern, where the parties met, was then a wellknown hostelry of that day, but was long ago torn down. Its site is six miles below Buffalo, on the banks of the Niagara River, and is now occupied by the residence of the
silly

John A. Hopkins

family.

The

official

report of the duel

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

299

reads well, but General Porter always said that General Smyth's bearing and conduct during the affair were in no

way
up

or in any
his

calculated to convince any one that he was courageous way fitted for a military command. Smyth gave

afterwards, and returned to Virginia, returned to Congress for his district for several years, where his manners made him the constant butt of his fellow-Congressmen."

command soon

He was

300

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XVI.
CONTINUED.
their

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

Journalistic Encounters

Editors

who have Backed Up

Opinions with Swords, Pistols, Knives, Rifles, Shotguns, Blunderbusses, and Yagers Fatal Meetings in Virginia A Bloody Affair at Belle Isle Messrs. Beirne and Elam's Picturesque

Drama Joaquin
Editors

Miller's

Symposium

Belligerent Mis-

sissippi

Fighting Newspaper and no Mistake Louisiana Belligerents Creole Punctiliousness Duels among

Editors Gilbert and Denver John Nugent's Two Badly Wounded in both Carter and DeCourcey Washington and Washburne Will Hicks Graham's Desperate Duels with Frank Lemon and General William Walker, the Great Filibuster Calvin B. MacDonald's Graphic Description of the Tevis-Lippincott Duel The Meeting between Judge Stidger and Colonel Rust A Clash between Northern and Southern Pluck Wilson and Beane James Watson Webb and Thomas F. Marshall Gibson and Irving, of Tennessee Bynum and Perry, of South Carolina James Gordon Bennett and Fred May, of New York Goodman and Fitch, of Nevada An Episode of Mobile, after the War How two Men " Fought with Rifles and afterward Drowned their Sorrows in the Flowing Bowl."
California

Duels

TIME was when the average American editor was upon to defend his printed statements upon a hostile field; and it is a noteworthy fact
liable to be called

that

many an

unfortunate scribe has been ceremoni-

ously slain thus proving conclusively that the pen is not always mightier than the sword. Seriously, the

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

3OI

practice of duelling prevailed to a considerable extent among American journalists in ante-bellum days, and especially among the editorial brotherhood in

the States lying south of the so-called "Mason and Dixon's line" and in the States and Territories of the u Far West." Many famous meetings have taken place among belligerent members of the Virginia press, one
of the most noted being that fatal one a number of years before the Southern Rebellion between Mr.

Ritchie (of the Richmond Enquirer] and John Hampden Pleasants (of the Richmond Whig). Ritchie was the editor of a violent Democratic paper, while Pleasants was an uncompromising Whig. A personal attack in the columns of one paper, responded to by a no less personal answer in the other, resulted in a challenge and a meeting. The scene was Belle Isle, the little islet in the James River, at Richmond. Here, in sight of the city's busy streets, the two editors met and fought. They had each gone to the The fray armed with duelling pistols and swords.
conditions of
the fight, as agreed

upon

by

their

seconds, were that after the first fire with the pistols, if neither should be hurt, they should have recourse
to their swords.

The swords remained

in their scab-

bards, however, for at the first shot Pleasants fell dead in his tracks. On the i2th of June, 1869,

Robert W. Hughes (of the Richmond State Journal) and William E. Cameron (of the Richmond Index) fought with pistols in North Carolina, and the latter was hit in the breast at the first fire. In March, 1843, Melzer Gardner, editor of the Portsmouth (Va.) Chronicle, was killed by a lawyer named Mordecai Cook, Jr., on Ferry Wharf; and on the following day
a

mob

threatened to tear

down Cook's

house, at

302

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

which Mrs. Cook took fright and died in a few hours. During the Summer of 1883 Messrs. Beirne and Elam (respectively of the Richmond State and Despatch) created a great sensation throughout the whole country by their picturesque drama, which culminated in E. W. Johnson and J. M. the wounding of Elam.

met at or near Bladensburg harmless shots, and then retired 1852, exchanged the friends. During following year Robert Ridgeway (a Virginia editor) and HOJI. S. G. Davis engaged in a similar affair at Bladensburg. On the 20th of October, 1883, Joaquin Miller, who had been studying the traits of a number of the
Daniel, Virginia editors,
in

modern
follows

duellists of Virginia, writes, felicitously, as from Richmond to the San Francisco

Chronicle:

as far as Richmond, are you? Well, give you a letter to my friend Beirne, editor of the State" "What Beirne, the fighting editor, who shot Elam last Summer, and who fought United States Senator Riddlelet

"Going down South

me

? Yes, give me a letter to this gay duellist. I want to see him. I want to ask him just exactly how a man feels when standing face to face with a Christian gentleman only

berger

ten steps away, waiting for the word of death. I will make a letter of it. I will publish it to the world exactly as he tells it to me word for word, letter for letter. It will make

good reading maybe it will do good. It will certainly do no harm." Finding I was really interested in duellists, my
;

friend gave me a cordial letter not only to Beirne, editor of the State, at Richmond, but also to Mr. C., editor and of the Dispatch, as was his father before him. This gentleman has in fact been in even more mortal combats than Mr. Beirne. But they were not quite so recent nor so fresh in my mind in fact, not nearly so picturesque as the singular duel between Beirne and Elam last Summer, in
latter
;

owner

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

which the
latter

303

was thought to be mortally wounded for And so my heart went out with a boundless desire to see, to shake hands, if I could do it safely, with this bloody duellist, who had shot down Elam, gracefully lifted his hat, bowed good-morning to him as he lay there in his blood on the grass, and turned back to his work at the editorial desk as if nothing had happened. As I whirled away on the road to Richmond I recalled the comic
the second time.
as well as the serious incidents of the Beirne-Elam duel last

Summer.

mond

to

You may remember that they went from RichWest Virginia to fight were arrested at once,
;

on giving security to keep the peace in that State, and so agreed to fight somewhere else. You will also remember that it was afterwards and finally settled that Beirne was to meet Elam several hundred miles distant in Virginia, but somehow the word did not reach Beirne so
released

soon as expected informing him of the place of meeting that he had set out at midnight and in the midst of a thunder-storm that there was no railway and the journey had to be made on horse-back and by carriage. You will
; ;

the fact of this bloodthirsty gentleman in his zeal to reach the spot in time being washed away by a mountain stream, borne half a mile down in the freshet, carriage and
recall

drowning his horses and barely escaping with his life. But he crawled out of the water and kept on. Then to add to all this the officers of the law were close on his heels, and were only kept back by the dangerous mountain torrents. You may remember, too, that at one mountain hamlet the
all,

lodged in the house while the duellist, whom they supposed still ahead of them, was cosily and peacefully sleeping in the chicken-coop, while the seconds kept watch and cleaned and dried the pistols for the deadly encounter on the morrow. Well, you see, I did not care so much about this funny part of it, but what I wanted was to get right at the heart of the man's heart, if you will pardon the expression. I wanted a candid, square man to tell me just precisely how he felt, whether angry still whether bitter at whether he did not wish he heart, or kind and forgiving
officers
;
;

304
hadn't

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

come
after all

his way, rather than bullet in his breast, and

and

and let the other fellow have his say have at the last to plug an ounce
send him home a bleeding corpse The day after my arrival in Rich-

to his wife

and babes.

I sent my letters of introduction to the newspaper and waited the result. About noon the cards of the two famous duellists came up together. This was delicious.

mond

offices

Now

indeed should

know

all

while waiting

of standing before a Christian the muzzle of his pistol as the "

about the singular sensation gentleman and looking down moments swelled into hours

Fire The one, two, three editor of the Dispatch put me at ease at once by his quiet and graceful way of bidding me welcome But the other man absorbed all my attento Richmond.
the words,

handsome young

tion

instantly.

Desperate?
bless

Tall, gaunt,

bony and bloodis

thirsty?

Why, God

your

soul,

he

the sleekest,

sleepiest, best-fed, fattest, best-natured

looking editor in the United States. His blue eyes are mild as a child's. He looks and acts in fact like a great big green boy just out of school. And intellectually, he looks as if, like myself, he had never been quite able to enter into familiar relations with the multiplication table, or even any high
degree of mental arithmetic.

Permit

me

to say here, by

way

of parenthesis, so that

my

friends in California

may

not

be uneasy on
lished
cisco.
I

account, that before this sketch is pubshall be on my way either to London or San Fran-

my

Well, after the ordinary salutations we sat down and, ordered cigars. No they would not smoke, these young " I never smoke but one cigar a day and that is fire-eaters. at night," calmly said the editor of the Dispatch, as he toyed with his cane and glasses. Then I had brandy brought up, as I had been taught to believe that these bloody duellists and Southerners lived on brandy when they could not get blood to drink. No they would not drink at The big, green schoolboy who had stretched so many all. of his enemies on the grass said he never drank anything stronger than beer, and only a glass or two of that toward the close of the day, when his work was done. I did not
; ;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

305

see just then any good opportunity to wedge in an inquiry directly about duels, as the conversations led over the ordinary routes of congratulation and inquiry as to the various
features of the South,

when they

arose to leave

and so felt a it was to

bit disappointed.

But

my

infinite delight ar-

ranged that we should all three, along with an old Californian, also a dead shot and duellist, go out driving under the

magnolia trees and through the beautiful and sadly impressive Richmond Cemetery. The first thing these three duellists did was to drive me to the famous club-house here, celebrated not only for its wide-door hospitality, but for many That of Pocahontas seemed costly and historical pictures. How many Virginians have deto abound everywhere. scended from Pocahontas it is hard to say. But if any ten other Indians had increased as she is supposed to have increased it is safe to say that the race of savages, so far from perishing from the earth, would to-day, numerically at At this elegant least, be in the ascendant over the Saxon.
club

my

recollection-

is

that these three duellists ordered

brandy and seltzer, but as they drank only seltzer they left me nothing but brandy. I had to drink what was left, for no wise man will be particular when alone with three duelThe conversation as we sat there took a historic turn lists.
at the

the early settlement of Virginia, the great battle just out edge of the town at what is still called Bloody Run, the Indians, the generosity of Virginia in giving half a

dozen States to the Union and receiving, asking, indeed, not one cent for all that boundless domain. Then we had more brandy and seltzer, divided up as before. By this time I had mustered- a little valor and tried to get my shoulder under the conversation and lift it up into the atmosphere of
the
field of honor, but just then the black boy in buttons called out the carriage at the club-house door, and in a mo-

ment more we were driving toward the great cemetery under the beautiful magnolia trees, up the banks of the classic James, overlooking Belle Island. Nearly a mile of the most delightful drive on this earth, so far as scenery goes, peeps through the trees a drop-curtain for a theatre, in fact, at

306

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

almost every turn of the wheel and we drove through the gate, with its great broken ivy-covered columns.

The

Virginians.

Mississippi editors were quite as hostile as the In 1838 Dr. James Hagan, of the Vicks-

burg Sentinel, fought with the editor of the Vicksburg Whig, and the latter was wounded. In 1843 Hagan was assassinated on a public street in Vicksburg by Daniel W. Adams, who admitted the shooting at the Coroner's inquest, and said that he had killed Hagan on account of an article written by the latter reflecting on Judge George Adams, of Jackson
In June, 1842, James (Mississippi), father of Daniel. F. Fall, one of the editors of the Sentinel, fought with

T. E. Robins, of the Railroad Bank, and was wounded.

Sentinel,

In May, 1844, Robins again met an editor of the James M. Downs, and the latter was wound"yagers,." at
fifteen

ed.

They fought with

paces.

Shortly after this affair Captain Walter Hickey, a fresh Sentinel editor, had a meeting, with revolvers,

with Dr. Macklin, and the latter was mortally woundAfter this duel Hickey came out best in several ed. encounters in and around Vicksburg, but was finally In "laid out" in Texas by Joseph Moses, in 1849. 1845 James Ryan, another Sentinel editor, was sent to his last account by R. E. Hammet, of the Whig. Still later, an editor of the Sentinel named Jenkins was killed by H. A. Crabbe, who was afterward beheaded
in

Sonora.

In 1851 John William Frost, one of the editors of the New Orleans Crescent, and Dr. Thomas Hunt, a

distinguished physician of New Orleans, fought near the United States Barracks, below the city, with
double-barrelled shotguns, and the editor was mortally wounded at the second shot and died in half an

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

hour.

307

Dr. Hunt was the challenged party. A few months previous to this fatal affair, Messrs. Walker and Kennedy, both editors of New Orleans papers, had met with pistols at twelve paces, exchanged shots,

and retired
the

satisfied.

In 1852 E. T. Carroll, editor of

M. Barbagon, met near Lake Ponchartrain, with rifles, took two shots at each other without effect at forty paces, and then declared their In 1853, Mr. Cohen (editor of difficulties at an end. the New Orleans Staats Zeitung) and Dr. Wintzel (of the Deutsche Zeitung) met with pistols, and at the first shot Cohen was dangerously wounded. In August, 1843, there was a desperate encounter between J. Hueston, editor of the Baton Rouge (La.) Gazette, and Alcee Lambranche, M. C. from that district. The parties met at "The Oaks," with double-barCrescent,
J.

and

and Hueston
of

relled shotguns, loaded with ball, distance forty yards, fell mortally wounded at the fourth fire.

In 1825 Michael

New

De Armas was a notary and attorney Orleans, and a representative of a fine old

During his term of office a Mr. editor of a New Orleans paper, criticised an Jackson, De Armas one morning severely. Michael was both a French and Spanish scholar, but spoke very little and read no English. Seventeen years younger than Michael was his brother Felix. The latter read the English as well as the French and Spanish newsSpanish family.
Felix perused with horror the article repapers. ferred to, and in the afternoon called upon Mr. Jackson,

and said: "I fear, Mr. Jackson, that you are " "Don't laboring under some misapprehenson

you give yourself any uneasiness, Mr. De Armas; I am laboring under no misapprehension." " But you " " "I will permit me "No, sir, I will permit

30S

THE FIELD Of HONOR.

to say,

was merely going

permit

me

to

demand

Mr. Jackson, that you will that satisfaction which one

to

gentleman has a right

demand from

another."

"Oh, certainly; that is the custom of the country, you know." Jackson received and accepted the challenge from Felix De Armas the same day, and upon the following morning the two gentleman met with pistols, near the U. S. Barracks, and Jackson fell dead
at the first
fire.

Michael knew nothing of the

it

affair

until he read of

in detailed

form

in the

afternoon

edition of his favorite French paper. Hostile meetings among California journalists were quite frequent during the early days of the Golden
It was at a date State. among a people and in a country when, as Judge Edward McGowan has many times truthfully said and written, "it required more bravery to decline than to accept a challenge." The code was generally acknowledged, declared

Judge McGowan;

"and

the

man

in

California in

those early days who refused to fight when challenged was considered outside the pale of genteel A description of the fatal meeting between society."

Hon. Edward Gilbert

the Daily Alta

(at the

time editor-in-chief of

California) and General James W. Denver (then Secretary of the State of California) is presented as one of the most dramatic and con-

spicuous affairs of this character.

The Legislature

of California, at its session of 1852, had passed a bill to provide for the sending of relief to overland im-

migrants who might be in a destitute condition, or exposed to danger from hostile Indians. This bill required the Governor, who had made the recommendation to the Legislature, to raise a company and supply trains sufficient to meet the necessities which

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

309

might exist during the season. The Governor had obeyed these instructions, and had marched in front of the train through the capital of the State as it was setting out upon its humane expedition. Mr. Gilbert vigorously opposed .this whole measure, frankly stating that he believed the movement was designed for the purpose of making political capital, and that it would be a heavy expense to the State, and render
little

aid

to

nounced the departure

the immigrants. When the press anof the supply train, and com-

plimented the Governor, who escorted it out of Sacramento, Mr. Gilbert ridiculed the parade and show that was made about it, and intimated that the whole thing was projected to increase the Governor's General Denver, who was connected popularity. with the relief train, and who was a personal friend of Governor Bigler, replied to Mr. Gilbert's articles by publishing a card, in which he made use of unmistakably discourteous language. Mr. Gilbert reA challenge plied, and General Denver retorted. was immediately sent to General Denver, and accepted, and rifles selected as weapons. Mr. Gilbert fell at the second shot and expired in less than five
minutes.

The

victim was a native of Albany

(New

York), and was a member of the convention to form the Constitution for the State of California, and immediately after her admission into the Union was

chosen a Representative to Congress. He was only thirty-three years of age at the time of his death, had been a pioneer of the daily press of San Francisco, and was an earnest if not brilliant writer. The author has carefully perused a great many accounts of this melancholy affair, which agree, in the main, In 1880 General Denver's name with the foregoing.

310

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in connection with the Democratic nomination for the Presidency, which prompted the New York Herald to reproduce a description of this episode in Denver's life, which it is presumed should or would handicap Denver for such eminent preferment. This article was replied to by Mr. W. A.

was mentioned

Cornwall, of San Francisco, as follows, in a communication to that paper:

The San Francisco Bulletin republished an article from the Herald, in which General James W. Denver is mentioned as an eligible candidate for the Presidency. In it reference is made to the fact that at the time Denver was
Secretary of State of California he engaged in a duel with Edward Gilbert, who was then editor of the Alta California.

The article is prejudicial, because it does not detail the circumstances connected with that fact and the deplorable duel. The incident of which it was the result was an article published in the Alta California respecting a family named Donner, which perished en route in its attempt to emigrate
overland to California in 1850. The State, learning of the distress of the emigrants, provided means for their relief; and the duty of dispensing it was delegated to the Secretary

This was prompt and humane, but it was bitterly and sharply assailed by Gilbert. Denver is a clearheaded, sound man, sensitive and brave. He retorted, and his retort was terrible. Gilbert, who was a member of Colonel Stevenson's New York regiment, challenged DenThe weapons were ver, and the parties went upon the field. and I assert, as a witness, that no man rifles, at short range
of State.
criticised
;

in the tide of all the centuries ever displayed a more knew that Gilbert less temper than Denver.

daunt-

was a brave soldier, and that he was reckoned to be a deadly shot. Nevertheless, Denver reserved his fire, and purposely threw

He

away
for

effort

own. Happily, Denver escaped untouched. Every was then made by the seconds and by mutual friends peace Gilbert was informed that his antagonist wished
his
;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

31

to clasp hands, but Gilbert refused the request in terms which showed his friends that he had determined to kill

Denver.
"

The

principals

returned

to

their

positions.

" I Now," said Denver, in a tone I shall never forget, must defend myself ;" and at the word Gilbert fell, pierced through the heart. I assert that no man more than Denver

disdains this deadly mode of arbitration, but Washington himself would have defended his own life. He offered it,
like Denver, to his country. He would have defended it as a trust and legacy from the Creator. He was an impersonation of the great thought, Duke et decorum est pro pair id

mart.

In 1884 General Denver's name was again mentioned in connection with the Presidential nomination,

April, 1884, wrote as follows

and Judge Edward McGowan, on the lyth of from Washington to the

obituary notice of the late Judge McCorkle I inreferred to the duel between General James

San Francisco Evening Post :

In

my

advertently

Denver, now a resident of this city, and Edward Gilbert, founder of the Alta California of your city, which took place over thirty years ago at "The Oaks," forty miles from Sacramento. General Denver will be a candidate for President before the Democratic National Committee, which will meet in Chicago on the 8th of July, and the old story of censure, which was cast upon him by the anti-duellists and the friends of Mr. Gilbert at the time the affair came off, has been revived in certain circles in this city to his great detriment, although he was not altogether to blame for the "taking off" of Mr. 'Gilbert, as every opportunity was afforded his friends by the friends of General Denver for a settlement of the difficulty without a further resort to arms, after one shot had been exchanged between the parties without either being hit. At the time of the duel General

Denver was Secretary of State, under the administration of the late Governor John Bigler. The meeting was caused by

312

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

a severe article in the Alfa California, an opposition press, criticising the conduct of the Governor in appointing General Denver to the head of the expedition over the mountains for the relief of the emigrants.

This was at the time

a position of the most difficult and responsible character. Denver replied to these strictures in the Alta in pretty severe terms, and Mr. Gilbert, being the responsible editor, sent the challenge. General Denver threw his first shot away being

although his opponent was no novice After the first fire a proposition was made by the friends of the challenged party to adjust the affair. This the friends of Mr. Gilbert refused to assent to. General Denver then threw off his coat and took his Dr. Wake position, making a remark to one of his friends Brierly about "not standing here all day to be shot at." At the second fire Mr. Gilbert fell dead pierced through the heart by a bullet from his opponent's rifle. Mr. Gilbert himself would not agree to a settlement, fearing he would be compromised. He had had a previous difficulty with John Nugent, editor of the San Francisco Herald, and the affair was adjusted without resorting to the field of honor, and it was reported that Mr. Nugent had the best of the settlement. If this were true, it was a wrong settlement. All adjustments of affairs of honor should be made without casting a shadow of doubt upon the standing of either party as a gentleman and man of courage. General Denver was elected to Congress from California, serving in that body in the year 1855-6. His colleague was Colonel Philemon T. Herbert, who since received his death-wound at the battle of Mansfield, Texas, while in command of the Seventh

an expert with the

in the use

rifle,

of firearms.

Texas.
tory
of

Denver was also appointed. Governor of the TerriKansas by President James Buchanan during

"Border Ruffian "days. His predecessors as Governors of that Territory, during the contests of the free-State and proslavery men for the supremacy in that Territory in those bloody days of intestinal strife, were Robert J. Walker,

Edwin M. Stanton, Colonel John W. Geary, first Mayor San Francisco, and Wilson Shannon, afterward a resident

of
of

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

California.

31$
faithfully, in

All

of these

men had wrought

and had either thrown up the task in despair, or had been removed by the President While Governor of Kansas, Denver held for inefficiency. the respect of the free-State men and the late Albert D. Richardson speaks of him in his well-known work, " Beyond
vain, in the

work

of pacification,

crat,

He says: "Though a Buchanan DemoDenver proved more fair and just than any previous Governor of Kansas. During the rebellion he won a Brigadier-Generalship in the Union service, and the thriving
the Mississippi."

metropolis of Colorado still perpetuates his name." He is now President of the Mexican Veteran Association, and did good service among his Congressional friends for the passing
of a bill for a pension to the Mexican veterans, which the House passed this session.
bill

John Nugent, who died in San Francisco a short time ago, fought two duels one in 1852, with Alderman Cotter in Contra Costa County, in which he was severely wounded in the left thigh at the second shot; and the other in 1853, near San Francisco, with Alderman Hayes, in which he was again severely wounded at the second fire. The first duel was fought with pistols, at ten paces, and the second with rifles, at
twenty paces. Nugent was for many years editor of the San Francisco Daily Herald, a noted newspaper in
its

day. In 1852 W. H. Carter and of the Calaveras Chronicle,

pistols,

and the

latter

Harry De Courcey, editor met in Yolo County with was dangerously wounded. Mr.

James A. Avers, State Printer of California under Governor Stoneman, in a contribution to the Sacra-

mento Bee
follows:

of

January

i,

1884, writes of

De Courcey

as

Harry De Courcey was a peculiar character.

A man

of fine

presence and very dressy, he would be noticed in any crowd

314

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

he bore
in the

for the remarkable likeness

opment

of his forehead

and

in his facial features to the

shape and develim-

mortal bard of Avon. Harry was, however, more showy than substantial. He was a pretty good paragraph ist, but lacked depth of understanding and reach of thought. He
was, withal, a great spendthrift, and delighted in display and splurge. With all his faults he was a splendid fellow and a

man of nerve. He fought a desperate duel in Washington, Yolo county, in 1852, with one Carter, who sent his bullet clear through De Courcey's abdomen. Fortunately, Harry's second, Ed. Kemble, of the Alta California, was a shrewd manager of such affairs, and had had great experience with the duello. When Harry asked him to act, he consented to do so on the condition that he would throw himself entirely into his hands. De Courcey agreed, and Kemble shut his man up in a room. He then entered into a dilatory correspondence with the opposite party, so as to gain time to get Two days were consumed in sparring his man in condition. between the seconds before the affair came off, and when it
did take place Carter's bullet, as before stated,
clear

made a hole

through De Courcey's body. When I got to the wounded man's bedside, about two days after the affair, I was not only astonished to find him alive after the terrible wound he had received, but amazed to see him in jovial I could not believe my eyes when I looked at the spirits. ugly aperture and beheld the pleased, confident, self-satisfied countenance of the victim. To my remark that I feared it was all day with him, he ridiculed the idea and fairly laughed at me. Of course I went away in the belief that he was near his end, and that the surgeons were merely keepI came over to Sacraasked him what he thought of Harry's chances. He coolly replied that he was all right and would get well. " But," I said, "he is shot clear through the " In most cases," bowels, and a man so shot cannot live." " he said, that would be true. But in De Courcey's case it is different." He then went on to explain that he had, during the two days' negotiations, kept his man closely locked in

ing up his spirits with stimulants.

mento and found Kemble.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

his room,

31$

and had only allowed him a little tea and toast at very long intervals. The result was he went on the field with an empty stomach, and the bullet passed through between the intestines without cutting any of them. Kemble's care saved Harry's life for he soon recovered, and lived for
;

years afterward in excellent health.

Frank Washington (of the San Francisco and Transcript) and C. A. Washburn (since Minister to Paraguay) met with rifles, at forty paces, and the latter was severely wounded at the second In 1851 Will Hicks Graham and S. Frank fire. Lemon, a San Francisco editor, met near Benicia with pistols, and Lemon was badly wounded at the second shot. Shortly after this affair Graham and William Walker, the " gray-eyed man of destiny" as the famous filibuster was often called (then an attache of the San Francisco Herald} met with pistols, and Walker was very severely and dangerously wounded.
In 1854

Times

An

in the

old Californian miner, speaking of Graham, says, San Francisco Call of a late date:

grit in that little cuss, and the biggest rough gave him a wide berth. As fur me, I know'd all the time what kind of stuff he was made of. Maybe I warn't down to 'Frisco when Hicks fought the great filibuster Walker. He was a youngster then, working as a clerk in a law- office near the Plazer. Walker had a newspaper, and used ter pitch inter everybody red-hot. Nobody liked to tackle him, for somehow or other he had got the reputation of the gamest man that ever came to Californy. Well, one day Walker's paper made an all-fired savage attack on an old friend of little Graham's, who held an office there, and the youngster went right off and writ the worst kind of a letter to the fighting editor, calling him a coward, a liar, and everything else. Of course, there was bound to be a fight, and the old question about North and South got mixed up
in the Territory

Thar was true

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in it, too. Yer see, Walker was a regular Southern fire-eater, and the young bloods from the South rallied around him as their champion. When it was known that little Hicks was to fight the famous duellist, people jist smiled fur pity of the poor young feller who was a-throwin' of his life away. But he fit him all the same, and showed that William Walker met his match when he met Will Hicks Graham. The duel was talked about all over town, and a terrible big crowd went out to see the fun. Walker was jist as game as Graham, but he couldn't shoot worth a cent, and the end of it was that the Pennsylvania boy shot him so bad that the surgeon said he couldn't live an hour. But Walker pulled through, as you all know, and afterward became a great filibuster. And that wasn't the only fight Hicks Graham had Another of them editor chaps, named Frank in 'Frisco. Lemon, got after him on the street, one day, knocked the spunky little cuss down, and shot nearly all the teeth out

of his head.
feller gets

tell ye,

boys,

it's

a purty close

call

yer
it

down and then jams a

off.

pistol inter yer

Everybody thought it was all But he got 'round again, although badly shot in two places. And would ye believe it, 'fore he was half well, and while toting his left arm in a sling, Graham

and teches

when a mouth up with

Graham

that day.

challenged Lemon to a duel to the death. They fought, it 'pears to me, near Benisha, and this time the tables war turned, and the big feller didn't have everything his own way. Like Walker, Lemon was a brave man, but he had

met

his match.

By

the terms of the duel, proposed and in-

upon by Graham, they were to fight to the death. At the first fire nobody was hurt, and friends tried to make it up betwixt 'em, but 'twas no use. Both insisted on fighting, and at the second fire Graham shot him through and through. Dr. Hitchcock said it was all over with Frank Lemon, and so Graham left the ground. He got well, howsomever, after a long spell of sickness, and just as soon as he
sisted

got 'round agin Graham sent another challenge. Friends interfered with better luck this time, and the trouble between

'em was patched up.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

General Walker,
after stirring
in later years, left California, and,

up Mexico and Central America by his daring exploits as a filibuster, perished by the hands of the people he had alarmed and whose country he Frank Lemon went East when the had invaded. civil war broke out, and died fighting gallantly for the Union at the head of a New York regiment. As for Graham, after a life full of excitement and adventure in the wildest days of Nevada, during which he shot Jack McBride and one or two others, he removed to Los Angeles and died there in peace and poverty. A correspondent of the San Francisco Evening Post,
in alluding to
"

Walker, says of him:

The Gray- Eyed Man of Destiny" the greatest filibuster modern times was a lawyer, and followed the profession in several States. He also studied two other professions medicine and divinity. He was a Tennesseean small in stature, quiet in manner, always self-possessed, and attracted the eye chiefly by his own enormous gray orbs, which gave him the title above. He was a born adventurer. Yet was he gentle in speech and subdued in demeanor. His information was wide. He frequently had personal altercations, and fought several duels, but went into conflicts of every
of
;

kind with phenomenal composure. His habits were good, and he was generally well liked. A mighty visionary was His ambition was to effect a conquest on the Isthmus he. as a nucleus for a broad dominion, to be extended into MexIn both Honduras and Nicaragua ico and South America. he was a conqueror. The land was his, and the people at
but Anglo-Saxon power overthrew him. After being driven out of Nicaragua, he repaired to New York to devise other plans of conquest. Colonel E. C. Marshall there met him, by chance, under the gaslight. He was enthusiastic over his Honduras scheme said that it dwarfed all his former plans. He was going to establish a great rehis feet,

public between the continents.

It is believed

by those who

318

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

knew him that had he succeeded in establishing his power he would have been a wise and beneficent ruler. His political knowledge was great. General Walker had all Europe and half of America against him. He had not been long in Honduras when the forces from a British fleet, well knowing that Uncle Sam would interfere, captured him and turned him over to the native Honduras authorities. He was promptly shot. The fate of Walker was that of Henry A. Crabbe and State Senator McCoun, two lawyers of this State, who led an expedition into Sonora, Mexico, in 1857. Crabbe was from Tennessee, and practised law in Stockton. He was one term senator from San Joaquin. His name, which was that of his father, once prominent at the Tennessee bar, was before the Know Nothing caucus with those of Foote and Ferguson for United States Senator. McCoun was in the Senate from Contra Costa County. He was a Kentuckian. They entered Sonora with a few hundred men, relying upon an uprising of the people against the government. They were attacked by a force largely superior in numbers and retreated into a church, which was set on fire by a burning fagot attached to an arrow shot into the roof. Compelled to march out, they were captured in a body, and summarily and ignominiously put to death. They were stationed in rows in front of their open graves, hands tied behind them, and shot in the back. McCoun, on hearing the command to fire, quickly faced about, and received his bullet in his breast. He was a man of commanding form and noble spirit. Crabbe, who had a wife, a Mexican lady, in California, was given time to write to her a letter, and he was then beheaded.

The duel in which young Robert Tevis (brother of Lloyd Tevis, the famous capitalist of San Francisco) lost his life, in 1855, near Downieville, was a pecuTevis was a Kentuckian, liarly unfortunate affair. and had betrayed political aspirations from a " Know"

Nothing

standpoint.

Charles E. Lippincott, a

Dem-

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

319

ocratic editor from Illinois, burlesqued the would-be candidate for Congress, who published a card in which he referred to Lippincott as a "liar and a The latter at once challenged Tevis, slanderer."

who promptly

accepted, of course, and the result was that the two gentlemen met soon afterward

with double-barrelled shotguns, carrying ounce balls, distance forty yards, and that at the given word both
time, the bullet from Lippincott's weapon going directly through his antagonist's heart, and the survivor narrowly escaping as was shown
fired at the

same

by
side

his

losing a large lock of hair from the left Mr. Calvin B. MacDonald conof his head.

tributed a very touching and very graphic account of this duel to the Sacramento Record- Union in 1879,

which follows

Some time in 1855 there came to this State a female temperance-lecturer, Miss Sarah Pellet, a friend qf Lucy Stone Blackwell, Antoinette Brown, and that confederation of lady reformers. She was young, intelligent, good-looking, and pure, and will be kindly remembered by many who shall read this sketch. The writer of this was then con-

ducting the Sierra Citizen at Downieville, and Miss Pellet having been scurrilously referred to by certain other papers, she there found defenders, came to Downieville, and we became fast friends. Through her exertions a large and
flourishing division of the Sons of Temperance was there established, and all the respectable young men temporarily stopped drinking and became enthusiastic advocates of

A temperance Fourth-of-July celebration was projected, and we nominated our friend Miss Pellet to
total abstinence.

make

against

the oration, and, notwithstanding a strong prejudice women orators, succeeded in procuring her the

coveted invitation. A short time before that, Mr. Robert a promising young lawyer and a brother of Lloyd Tevis-,

32O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Tevis of San Francisco, who had come there to run for Congress, joined the Temperance Division, and was anxious to make the speech in order to present himself favorably to
the public. He was hard to be put off, and was never reconciled to the disappointment though to pacify his
;

opposition to the lady speaker he was appointed to read the Declaration of Independence, with the privilege of

making some remarks on the

illustrious

document.

The

glorious Fourth shone brightly on two or three thousand people. The celebration began with a salvo of all the anvils
in

town

the primitive band blew the blast of Freedom

brass,

through patriotic
to

and Mr. Tevis, having read, began

the Declaration in a long speech, greatly to the displeasure of the gallant Sons. In order to 'terminate his malappropriate oration, the anvils were set to firing

comment on

with such a thundering and consecutive noise that nothing else could be heard, and Mr. Tevis, being very angry, gave

and sat down. The event made a great and brought the ambitious young man into very unpleasant notoriety instead of fame. The Democratic party had procured the use of two columns of the local paper, and had appointed as editor the Hon. Charles E. Lippincott, State Senator from Yuba County. Lippincott had a keen appreciation of the ludicrous, and as Tevis was a Know Nothing, he took occasion to roast the unfortunate young man in the Democratic corner of the paper, and it

way

for the orator

deal of talk,

created a great deal of fun in the town. The next day Mr. Tevis came to me I had no jurisdiction in the Democratic
side of the paper and demanded the publication of a card which pronounced the author of Lippincott's article " a liar and a slanderer." He was white with rage and trembling, and would not be reasoned with. Knowing the nature of his antagonist and his deadly skill with arms, I tried to dissuade Tevis from the rash and dangerous publication, and dwelt on the inevitable consequence. But he would hear nothing he wanted to fight, he said, and would fight in the street or otherwise and if the card was not published he would consider it an act of hostility to himself; and so the
; ;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

$21

unconscious type gave out the fatal impress, and a challenge from Lippincott followed promptly, and was as promptly accepted. The difficulty took a political shape Democrats

and Know Nothings

though some leading Democrats did

Both belligerents betheir best to prevent the meeting. longed to the order of Odd Fellows, but as neither was a

member of the local lodge no direct authority could be imposed, though the good brethren kept in session all night devising means to prevent the encounter. Several times
the difficulty was supposed to be settled, but as often it would be renewed by certain chivalric vagabonds, who seemed eager to see bloodshed when not flowing from their own veins. Morning came the forenoon passed. The
;

peacemakers having been so often baffled gave up their humane exertions, and it was understood that the fight would come off that afternoon. In the mean time the principals and their friends had gone to the wood, the public not knowing when or where, and the sheriff was in pursuit. The duelling-ground had been selected some six miles from town, on a flat near the top of the lofty hills of Sierra County, where never a bird sings and where the sombre firtrees spread their eternal pall; but when nearly ready for their sanguinary proceedings the sheriff and his posse were

on a distant eminence, and the duelling-party into an adjacent county, beyond the jurisdiction of the pursuers. There another arena was prepared, and the great act of the tragedy was ready to come on. In the mean while the principals had been away with their seconds
descried

moved on

guns, loaded with distance agreed on,

with double-barrelled shotyards, the weapons and and I was afterward told that each had broken a bottle at the word. Lippincott was a low, heavyset man with light hair, piercing black eyes, deliberate and
in opposite directions, practising
ball, at forty

resolute in his speech, and with that peculiar physical structure indicating steadiness and self-possession. He was the son of a clergyman in Illinois, and was exemplary in his
habits,

was except the ordinary drinking of that time highly cultivated in mind, and was an exceedingly good
;

322

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

writer.

humorous and sentimental

wish to
kill his

He

declared he did not

adversary, to whom he had never spoken in person, did not want to fight if it could be avoided, but the nature of the public insult and the customs of the time

compelled him to send the challenge. During a previous winter he had been engaged in hunting deer and bear, and was known to be a remarkably good woodsman. In making
his choice of weapons, Tevis unknowingly selected those with which his adversary was most familiar, double-

tall,

barrelled shotguns carrying ounce balls. Mr. Tevis was a spare man, of a highly nervous and excitable temperament. He came from Kentucky, and possessed the ideas of

chivalry and honor prevailing at the South, and was an excellent sporting marksman, but too little skilled in woodcraft to know that in shooting down hill one should aim

low, else he will overreach the mark. He was possessed of good natural abilities, but was somewhat eccentric in manner,

and did not possess the element of popularity.

In

walking out with him on the evening before the meeting I observed his manner was abstracted and his speech confused and faltering as he talked of his solemn situation, but his courage and resolution were unwavering, and he seemed absolutely athirst to spill the blood of one who had made him the object of mortifying ridicule. That was our last and the pale interview, and his last night upon earth ghost-like face, as it then appeared in the twilight when we walked under the frowning hills and beside the resounding I had seen the boundriver, hangs in memory to this day. ing deer sink down before the aim of his iron-nerved antagonist, and felt then that he was a dead man walking the lonely outskirts of the world. The combatants took their
;

the ground was a little sloping, and the highest situation fell to the lot of Tevis. The sun was going down upon the peace and happiness of two families far away, and upon a brilliant young man's ambition and life. As his second walked away he turned toward Tevis and laid his finger on his own breast, as an indication where to aim, and Lippincott observed the
places, forty yards apart
;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

323

gesture and fixed his eyes on the same place. The word was given both guns cracked at the same instant. Tevis sank down, shot directly through the heart, and a lock of hair fell from near Lippincott's ear. The fallen man had
;

necessary allowance for descending ground, murderous lead had passed directly over his adverThe wound was sary's left shoulder, grazing his face. it had been bored as frightful, though through with an auger, and the ground was horrible with its sanguine The survivor and his friends took their departure, libation. and the dead man was temporarily buried in that lonely place, which in the gathering twilight seemed like the chosen abode of the genius of solitude. On the following day the body was taken up, properly enclosed, packed on a mule to Downieville, and interred in the bleak hillside cemetery. The funeral was very large and demonstrative, and seemed to be a death-rite performed by the KnowNothing party and although the duel had been fair enough, according to the murderous code, the better class of citizens regarded Tevis as the victim of that fell and devilish spirit which has stained the history of our State with human blood. Lippincott fled to Nevada and when he afterward returned to Downieville, he felt himself like another Ishmael. Old friends extended their hands reluctantly, and then the man of sensibility felt that he was overshadowed by that voiceless, noiseless, horrible thing which made a coward of Macbeth. Miss Pellet, regarding herself as the innocent

not

made the

and

his

cause of the duel, stood courageously by her friend, visited him in his exile, exerted all her personal influence to reconcile public opinion to the survivor, and behaved altogether like a brave, true-hearted woman, as she was and still is in her fancied mission of reform. After completing his term

Mr. Lippincott returned to his home in reverend father dying. I heard that his son's connection with the fatal duel broke the good man's At the outbreak of the war Lippincott heart, and he died. joined the Union armies, distinguished himself in the battle
in the State Senate,
Illinois, to find his

by

his reckless

daring, and

became a

brigadier-general.

324

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

afterward the Republican State Auditor of Illinois. come to the attention of his

He was
If

this brief sketch should

personal or political friends, let them know that his career in California was distinguished and honorable that he was respected and beloved by his acquaintances, and that his
;

tion

unhappy entanglement in the duel resulted from his posiand the prevailing spirit of border life. At that time a politician who would have suffered himself to be published a liar and a slanderer, without prompt resentment, would have been considered as disgraced by most of his fellowMr. Lippincott was an intimate friend and strong citizens. supporter of the late Senator Broderick, and was by him regarded as his ablest advocate and partisan. Miss Pellet went to Oregon, and there, while a gallant settler went to pilot and protect her through the wilderness, the savages came upon and murdered his family and burnt his house. So did disaster seem to follow the poor girl. Afterward she returned across the plains to the East, and I have lately heard of her at a Woman Suffrage Convention in

Her Temperance Division at Downieville has melted away some of her cold-water converts are dead others have been separated from their families by the foul fiend whom she almost drove from the place, and one remains to be the brief historian of her memorable and
Syracuse.
;

melancholy campaign.
of time.

And

so swiftly turns the whirligig

ville,

In June, 1853, Judge Stidger (editor of the MarysCal., Herald} and Colonel Rust (editor of the

California Express)
in

met two miles south

of

Yuba

City,

Sutter County, with Mississippi yagers, at sixty paces, and fired twice at each other without effect.

years ago an eye-witness of this duel prea very elaborate account of it for a San Franpared cisco paper, which entitled the article "A Clash between Northern and Southern Pluck." This ac-

Some few

count

is

presented:

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

$2$

In the early days of California the writer resided in the then bustling and since beautiful city of Marysville. Of course he witnessed many exciting scenes. There was a vast mixture of the tragic, comic, and melodramatic, which could be woven by a master-hand into a volume of absorbing
interest.

The meeting
J.

for

mortal combat between Judge

Field and Judge W. T. Barbour, which, with the farcical incidents, is described by Judge Field in his valuable

Stephen

little book of reminiscences; the latter judge's long and vexatious controversy with Judge Turner; the beating of Dr. Winters by Plummer Thurston the attempt to kill
;

Judge O. P. Stidger by Plummer Thurston, just named, and Judge Barbour these are but a few of this class of occurrences which agitated Marysville from 1850 to 1855. It is
only the writer's intention
of a duel between

now

to narrate the circumstances

Judge Stidger and Colonel Richard Rust, which took place in June, 1853, in Sutter County. Judge Stidger was then one of the editors of the Marysville Herald, a Whig paper, while Colonel Rust edited the Democratic organ in that city, the California Express. The two gentlemen had engaged for several days in a violent newspaper war, during which each had called the other anything but tender names. Judge Stidger's friends claimed that he was victor in the war of words, because he could say more mean things of his adversary in a minute than the latter could think of in a day. The Judge had a peculiar way of driving the steel home at every thrust, and his antagonist was not able to return like for like. The consequence was that the Judge was invited to transfer the quarrel to a field
of a different kind, that
it might be settled in actual physical encounter by the arbitrament of the bullet. He owned his printing material, but was in debt, and John C. Fall was his endorser. Fall was approached and asked to withdraw from beneath Stidger his sustaining arms, and let the Herald pass

into other hands.

on.

Fall declining to

do

this,

the fight went

Finally, Colonel Rust's friends prevailed

upon him to

send the Judge a challenge to repair to the bloody and historic field of honor. It will not be doing him any injustice,

326

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

perhaps, to say that they reasoned in this way. "Judge Stidger was born in Ohio, and was raised to look upon duelHe won't accept a challenge, and if he does ling as a crime.

not he will be disgraced and compelled to leave the country."

The challenge was sent, the bearers being Lee Martin and Charles S. Fairfax, both now deceased, the party of the second part receiving it on Friday, at the Herald office. It
was promptly accepted, Judge Stidger's reply being delivered by Judge Gordon N. Mott, now a resident of San Francisco. Subsequently Judge T. B. Reardon (who presided at the second trial of Mrs. Fair, and is now practising law at
Oroville)

came

into the affair as a friend to the challenged

On the day the party, and performed an important part. hostile missives passed, with commendable despatch pistols for two and coffee for six were provided. Being the challenged party, Judge Stidger was, under the code, entitled to dictate the kind of weapons to be used, and the distance. He was a crack shot with the rifle. He chose Buckeye

with set triggers, and fixed the distance at sixty paces. Judge Mott and Colonel Fairfax sallied forth in search of the needful instruments of death. They could not find any " Buckeyes" in the city, and the only two weapons of the These would kind to be had were Mississippi yagers. The opposing suffice, of course, if they were of equal merit. seconds took them out and " tried" them. One proved to be more reliable than the other. Another could not be had. What was to be done? The seconds determined the choice by lot, and Fairfax won the best gun for his principal. Judge Mott felt bad but said nothing. It was agreed that the meeting should take place at sunrise on Sunday was then late on Friday), at any place in Sutter (it County selected by the seconds over five hundred yards from
rifles

the

Yuba County line. On Saturday night the seconds of Colonel Rust reported that he was severely ill, and asked a postponement of the battle for one week, which was granted.
was believed by Judge Stidger and his friends that this was a ruse to get time to enable Colonel Rust to practise
It

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

Z27

with his weapon. Be that as it was, the parties met one week from the time first appointed, the spot selected being a pretty grove of native oaks, about two miles south of Yuba City, near the public road between that " city" and the
celebrated
"

Hock Farm," then occupied by General

Sutter.

In addition to their seconds before named, Judge Stidger was accompanied by Dr. McDaniel, and Colonel Rust by his
brother, Dr. Rust, as surgeons. The weed's postponement had had the effect to let out the secret, and several hundred
citizens of Marysville

scene.

were anxious spectators of the solemn distance being paced off, the choice of position and the giving of the word were, by chance, won by the seconds of Colonel Rust. It then looked bad for Judge

The

Stidger.

get killed

Judge Mott said to himself, My man is going to Rust has the best gun and the best standpoint." Such was the fact, enough to inspire foreboding of evil. Rust stood within the shade of a large oak-tree, his back to If the rising sun, which shone full in the face of Stidger. Colonel Rust had not been practising with his weapon during the preceding week, he was yet familiar with its species, while Judge Stidger never saw a Mississippi yager until he was handed one on that portentous morning. The He writer recalls the Judge's remark upon taking his gun. was standing at the spot marked out for him, his base of operations Dr. McDaniel was about twenty feet to his left, the writer being near the Doctor. Judge Stidger examined " his gun carefully, and said to McDaniel Doc, what kind I never saw one like it before." of a gun do you call this ? McDaniel gave the weapon's name. " Well," continued the
;
; :

"

" Judge, the bore can carry a half-pound ball if I get hit there won't be a grease-spot left of me." Just then Judge Mott approached and told his principal to keep cool. The
;

I chose Oh, I'm as cool as a cucumber. " I never saw a Buckeye rifles," continued the principal. gun like this before, and I don't know how to handle it." Judge Mott said that Buckeyes of equal calibre could not be found, and he had done the best possible, and he explained the circumstances. Immediately after this the parties were
:

reply was

"

328
instructed

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

how
to hold their guns until the

word was given,

the word would be given, and at what time to shoot, thus: "Gentlemen, are you ready?" On both principals

how

responding " one Fire

!

"

Aye," or

"

Yes," these words would follow

which the combatants were placed in position. The seconds took their proper places, and the surgeons were within conversational distance. It was a scene that left an indelible impress on the mind of the beholder. The harmony of nature and the antagonism of men presented a striking contrast. The eight comprising the two groups were fine specimens of manly strength and symmetry of form. Their average age was about thirty The Rust party were all Southern men the Stidger years. party comprised two Southerners Reardon and McDaniel while Judges Stidger and Mott were from Ohio. They stood beneath the tattered banner of a -code which was hoary with age and had reached the last decade of its sway in American States. Cut bono? Being near to Judge Stidger's position and some sixty yards from Colonel Rust, I saw more of the former and necessarily write more conafter
;

any gave the instructions,

stop !" momentary pause would follow each word, and the principals were to fire at time between the words " fire" and " Fairfax
stop."

two

three

cerning his action. I can say of Colonel Rust, however, that his bearing was brave and resolute. The word came, " Gentlemen, are you ready ?" Judge Stidger responded in

a loud tone, " Aye." Immediately afterward followed (I did not catch Colonel Rust's response) " Fire one two three stop !" At the word " two," slang-bang went both guns. Stidger's shot passed high over the head of Rust; the latter's lodged in Stidger's coat-tail pocket, riddling a handkerchief. [It was a happy circumstance that the handkerchief caused the tail of the coat to bulge out, as it enabled a punster to exclaim with delight that the pocket was "rifled."] "Are you hurt?" inquired Dr. McDaniel,
!

approaching his principal, desiring to know if his services were needed. " Hurt ? No," was the answer. " Examine your pockets," said the Doctor.

The Judge did

so,

and

re-

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

marked
"

329

That was a pretty clever shot." "Yes," replied now there must be no more foolishness. You must kill him, or he will kill you." To this the Judge " I do not want to kill him. I don't want his answered, blood on my hands. He has a family to maintain, and I don't want to rob them of their support." " That may be all
the Doctor, " and

very
kill

fine in theory," said

is

the Doctor, " but the fact

you, and, to prevent
it,

is

before

you that he

trying to

kill

you must

him. You can do it, if you will." Judges Mott and Reardon now came up, and said that Rust demanded another shot. " Very well, I am willing," said Judge Stidger. The latter was then told by Judge Reardon that he (Reardon) would leave the field unless he (Stidger) promised to shoot at Rust. The Judge promised. Judge Mott then informed him that his position at the first fire was awkward, and he must stand erect that if he continued to present so many angles to the enemy he was liable to get hurt. This admonition had good and immediate effect. Stidger thereafter stood straight as an arrow, and at the same time bore himself with perfect ease. The seconds having retired to load the guns for the second fire, Judge " I promised to shoot at Stidger said to Dr. McDaniel, Colonel Rust, but I did not promise to kill him, and I won't." The Doctor said, " You must kill him, or he will kill you. Your gun carries up. Shoot for his legs and you will hit him in the body. The gun is good for three hundred yards, but at short range it carries up." Finally Judge " I will shoot for Well, Doc, I'll wing him. Stidger said, his arm. I'll cripple him, and then he can't shoot again." " " that would do if you had a Yes," answered the Doctor,
;

guaranty of your own life. Supposing, while you are shooting for his arm, his ball should hit you in a vital place, what then ?" " Oh," said the Judge, " if he should kill me, that would be the end of it."

The Judge was now handed

for the second
fire,

him."

his gun and placed in position with directions to " keep cool and shoot The word was given. As before, both guns went off

simultaneously.

My

eyes were intently directed to Judge

330

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

After the word Stidger, for I expected to see him fall. " stop !" he held his gun to his shoulder, and earnestly eyed his adversary as though about to shoot. This action was

so interpreted by Colonel Rust's seconds,

"

who

called out,

stop !" The fact was that, owing to both guns being fired at the same instant, the seconds of Rust did not know On hearing the words " stop if Stidger had fired or not. threw his gun upon the ground and said, stop!" Stidger

Stop

Doc, this gun ain't worth a damn. I don't believe a man could hit a barn-door with it at a distance of six feet. I had a splendid shot at his arm, and I got a pretty good sight along the barrel. If the gun had been worth a damn I
" his elbow." The Doctor asked, Why you shoot at his body ? I told you the gun carried " " If I had done that," said the Judge. I would have up." killed him, and I didn't want to do that." Well," said the " if he demands another shot what will you do ?" Doctor, " " I will kill him," was the answer I have now given him two fair shots at me. I could have killed him if I had desired to do so. I spared his life because of his family, and because I did not want his blood on my hands. Now, if he I don't want to do it. but if 1 isn't satisfied I'll kill him. must shoot again 1 will end it." To this the Doctor replied,

"

would have struck

didn't

'

Now you are talking right." The seconds again came up and reported that Colonel Rust demanded another shot, and wanted the distance reduced before the next fire. Judge Stidger replied that his gun was no account at sixty paces he thought if the distance was doubled he would fire better. " " Gentlemen," said he to his seconds, I am in your hands. Whatever you say I must do I will do. I only ask you to " That we will protect my honor." Judge Reardon replied, do." Judges Mott and Reardon then took the gun and left, and met the opposing seconds on neutral ground. The four men, after guns were again loaded, appeared to be in earnest consultation. The while the Judge was pacing back and The Judge had got forth, talking with his physician. warmed up, and was chafing. McDaniel advised him to
;

"

keep cool.

"Oh, don't you

fear,

Doc," said the Judge.

"I

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

will
it."

331

be cool enough to kill that fellow, if he forces me to do Several minutes passed seeming to the writer " a vast half-hour" when one of the seconds fired off a gun, which was a signal that some arrangement had been made putting an end to the affair. Judge Stidger's seconds coming back and verifying the " report" of the gun, he asked, " How ? On what terms?" Judge Reardon answered, "Honorably
to you. I drew up the stipulations and saw to it that you The terms are honorable to both are not compromised. All the parties parties, and I am to hold the documents."

then

left

the

field for

the

city.

it was stated that Judge Stidger's second shot cut Colonel Rust's hair just above his ear, and that this it was that caused the Colonel's seconds to make peace. Whether true or not the writer could not learn to He has often talked with Colonel Fairfax his satisfaction. about this duel. He (Fairfax) stated that he had witnessed many meetings of the kind in the South, where he was born and reared, but had never seen two men stand up more manfully to their work than those engaged in this affair. He spoke in glowing terms of Judge Stidger on that occasion, for, he said, he expected to see him wilt, being a North" ern man, unacquainted with the code duello. People " needn't tell me," he said, that men born in the North are It won't do to fool with such I know better. cowards. men. They have pluck and will die game."

Some time

after the duel

In 1851 A. C. Russell, a San Francisco journalist, met Captain J. L. Folsom, and exchanged two shots without harm to either, when Captain Marcy, one of
fair.

the seconds, brought about a settlement of the afLater Russell fought a bloodless duel with

Governor McDougal.

In

1851

editor of the Alta California)

Kemble (an and Colonel McDougal

E. C.
in

went out to meet each other were arrested on the field. In

mortal combat, but

1870, at Los Angeles, an ex-Confederate E. Charles officer, Beane, Captain

332

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and John Wilson, son of Hon. Benjamin D. Wilson, one of the noblest of Californians, met with pistols, and Wilson was wounded in the arm at the first fire. Charles E. Beane died a few years ago in Los Angeles,

beloved by

all

who knew him

well.

native

of Maine, he had drifted down into the sunny South at the age of nineteen, and had found his way into

age of twenty like hunin which he gallantly until the close of the war. In 1850 W. H. fought Carter and William Walker (both editors) met near San Francisco, and the latter was slightly wounded. In June, 1842, General James Watson Webb (editor of the New York Courier and Enquirer) and Hon. Thomas F. Marshall, of Kentucky, met with pistols, in Delaware, and the former was wounded. In November General Webb was brought to trial in New York for leaving the State with the intention of giving or receiving a challenge, pleaded guilty, and was sentenced to two years' imprisonment at Sing Sing, but received a pardon from Governor Seward in a day or two after the sentence. In 1849, in Arkansas,
the Confederate

army

at the

dreds of other Northern boys

Gibson met C. Irving, editor of the Memphis and the latter was dangerously wounded at the first fire. In 1851 Colonel Smythe, an attache of the Augusta (Ga.) Constitutionalist, and Dr. Thomas, a leading physician of Augusta, met near the South Carolina line with pistols, and the editor was danE.

W.

Inquirer,

gerously

In 1832 Mr. Greenville (North Carolina) Bynum, Sentinel, and Mr. Perry, of the Greenville Mountaineer quarrelled for a long time, and then met with pistols,
at the third shot.

wounded

editor of the

first shot Bynum fell mortally wounded. In June, 1869, Sefior Jose Ferrer de Canto, editor of

and at the

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

the

333

New York
La

Cronista,

editor of
in

Revolution,

and Sefior Francisco Porto, became involved in a serious

quarrel over the affairs growing out of the rebellion Cuba at that time, and met at Lundy's Lane

(Canada), with

pistols,

when

Sefior Porto received his

adversary's bullet through both legs at the first fire. On the 8th of January, 1876, James Gordon Bennett, Jr., of the New York Herald, and Fred May, of New

York, fought a duel, without serious consequences, in Delaware. In 1859 Mr. Cross, of a St. Louis paper, and Lieutenant Sylvester L. Mowry, U. S. A., met near Tubac (Arizona) with pistols, but there was no
In 1866 Joseph T. Goodman (then editor casualty. of the Virginia City Enterprise and now editor of the

San Franciscan) and Hon. Thomas Fitch met near Virginia City (Nevada) with pistols, and the latter was slightly wounded.

334

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XVII.
CONTINUED.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

The Hostile Meeting of Hamilton and Burr The Most Famous Duel known in History Hamilton's Opinion of Burr Correspondence between the Illustrious Parties Termination of Direct Correspondence New Correspondence Burr's Challenge to Hamilton The Challenge Accepted Hamilton's "Remarks" on Duelling and hfs Will The Fatal Affair Duel as furnished by the Seconds Dr. Details of the Hosack's Pathetic Story "Remember, my Eliza, you are a
Sabine's Impressions Description of the WeaHamilton Homestead Hamilton's pons used The Old Grave in Trinity Churchyard Hamilton's Birth and Childhood His Early Work and Ambition His General Career His Marriage His Military and Financial Achievements " He Smote the Rock of the National Resources and Abundant Streams of Revenue Gushed Forth" The Career of Aaron Burr From a Private Soldier of the Revolution to VicePresident of the United States His First Marriage His " Not Arrest for High Treason Guilty under the Indictment by any Evidence submitted" Chief-Justice Marshall's Absence of Personal Feeling One of the Marvels of Legal History The Remarkable Man (Burr) as Described by Ben Parley Poore The Recollections of a Lady who felt the Power and

Christian

"

Fascination of Burr's Eyes.

INSEPARABLY connected with the political history of above all other kindred events is that memorable meeting of Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr at Weehawken (New Jersey) opposite the city of New York, on Wednesday morning, about seven o'clock, July n, 1804, in which the former
the United States

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

335

received his antagonist's bullet in a vital part, and from which he died at two o'clock Thursday afternoon. No event of the kind so far as can be discovered by
the author in America, or elsewhere, ever produced such a general and profound sensation. The intelligence of the fall of the illustrious Hamilton, while it was received with marked feeling in Europe, even, fell like a crushing dome upon the American people.

New York City was paralyzed, and the inhabitants of the whole country were plunged into the deepest mourning. Great multitudes of people thronged to
New York
to witness the
in

to take part

melancholy ceremonies, and the funeral procession which was

very large and very impressive. This took place on Saturday, July 14. The funeral address was delivered by Gouverneur Morris, from a platform in front of Trinity Church, Broadway, in the presence of

many thousands

of

grief-stricken

people,

among

whom

were four of the sons of the deceased, the eldest of whom was sixteen and the youngest between six and seven.

As early as 1790 fourteen years previous to the tragic encounter Hamilton and Burr were politiBoth were eminent as cally in each other's way.
builders of the republic in which

we live, and both were renowned for their gallantry and patriotism as Both were recognized as soldiers and citizens. leaders in the parties they represented Hamilton of the organization known as the Federalists, and Burr of that great and growing element called Democracy. The one political party represented the more elevated and intelligent classes of the American people at that time, and the other those elements which, in later years, until 1860, almost continuously ruled the

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Hamilton had been the bosom-friend of Washington, and Burr the unsustained head and front of the Jeffersonian plan. One had held the positions, among others, of Secretary of the Treasury and General of the Army, and the other occupied the chair of the Vice-President of the United States. Both aspired to the position of Chief Magistrate of the Nation. In their ambitions they were alike in nothing else were they alike, unless it might have been in their personal weaknesses. No Americans have lived since who have been just like either of them in all things. It is not strange, then, that Hamilton wrote of Burr as follows, in 1792: " Burr's integrity as an individual is not unimpeached. As a public man he is
country.

one of the worst sort

his interest

a friend to nothing but as suits

and ambition.

Determined

to climb to

the highest honors of the State, and as much higher as circumstances may permit, he cares nothing about the

means of effecting his purpose. 'Tis evident that he aims at putting himself at the head of what he calls the popular party as affording the best tools for an ambitious

man to work with. Secretly turning liberty into ridicule, he knows as well as most men how to make use of the name. In a word, if we have an

embryo Ccesar in the United States, 'tis Burr /" From this time up to the year of the fatal meeting Hamilton's verbal and written allusions to Burr were

and frequent. At last, while expressing an opinion of Burr in the presence of Dr. Charles D.
hostile

Cooper, Hamilton (so

" clared that he looked

was alleged by Cooper) deupon Mr. Burr as a dangerous and one who man, ought not to be trusted with the
it

reins of

government."

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

a published
of

337

This declaration, which first met the eye of Burr in letter, so incensed the latter that, on the i8th of June, 1804, he sent Hamilton a note by hand

W.
:

P.

Van

Ness, which was as follows:

SIR I send for your perusal a letter signed Charles D. Cooper, which, though apparently published some time ago, has but very recently come to my knowledge. Mr. Van Ness, who does me the favor to deliver this, will point out to you that clause of the letter to which I particularly request

your attention. You must perceive,

qualified

sir, the necessity of a prompt and unacknowledgment or denial of the use of any expression which would warrant the assertions of Dr. Cooper.

To
SIR

this letter

Hamilton replied on the 2oth of the

same month,
:

as follows:

have maturely reflected on the subject of your and the more I have reflected, the more I have become convinced that I could not, without manifest impropriety, make the avowal or disavowal which you seem to think necessary. The clause pointed out by " I could detail to Mr. Van Ness is in these terms which a still more General Hamdespicable opinion you To endeavor to disilton has expressed of Mr. Burr." cover the meaning of this declaration, I was obliged to
I

letter of the i8th inst.,

seek in the antecedent part of this letter for the opinion to which it referred, as having been already disclosed.

found it in these words " General Hamilton and Judge Kent have declared in substance that they looked upon Mr. Burr to be a dangerous man, and one who ought not to be trusted with the reins of government" The language of Dr. Cooper plainly implies that he considered this opinion of you which he attributes to me as a despicable one but he affirms that I have expressed some other, more despicable, without, however, mentioning to whom, " when, or where. Tis evident that the phrase, still more
I
: ;

despicable," admits of infinite shades, from very light to

338
very dark.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

How am
shall
I

I to judge of the degree intended ? or annex any precise idea to language so indefiBetween gentlemen, despicable and more despicable nite ? are not worth the pains of distinction when, therefore, you do not interrogate me as to the opinion which is specifically ascribed to me, I must conclude that you view it as within the limits to which the animadversions of political opponents upon each other may justifiably extend, and consequently as not warranting the idea of it which Dr. Cooper appears to entertain. If so, what precise inference could you draw, as a guide for your conduct, were I to acknowledge that I had expressed an opinion of you still more despicable than the one which is particularized ? How could you be sure that even this opinion had exceeded the bounds which you would yourself deem admissible between political

how

opponents ? But I forbear further comment on the embarrassment to which the requisition you have made naturally leads. The
occasion forbids a

more ample

illustration,

though nothing

could be more easy than to pursue it. Repeating that I cannot reconcile it with propriety to make the acknowledgment or denial you desire, I will add
that
it inadmissible on principle to consent to be as to the justness of the inferences which may interrogated be drawn by others from whatever I may have said of a

deem

political opponent, in the course of fifteen years' competiIf there were no other objection to it, this is suffition.
it would tend to expose my sincerity and delicacy to injurious imputations from every person who may at any time have conceived the import of my expressions differently from what I may then have intended, or may I stand ready to avow or disavow, afterwards recollect.

cient, that

Promptly and explicitly, any precise or definite opinion which I may be charged with having declared of any gentleman. More than this cannot fitly be expected from me, and especially it cannot be reasonably expected that I shall enter into an explanation upon a basis so vague as that which you have adopted. I trust on more reflection you will see the

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

339

matter in the same light with me. If not, I can only regret the circumstance and must abide the consequences. The publication of Dr. Cooper was never seen by me till
after the receipt of

your

letter.

Burr again addressed Hamilton, as follows, on the

2ist:

received.
in
it

SIR: Your letter of the 26th instant has been this day Having considered it attentively, I regret to find

nothing of that sincerity and delicacy which you procan never absolve gentlemen from the

fess to value.
.

Political opposition

necessity of a rigid adherence to the laws of honor and the I neither claim such privilege nor indulge rules of decorum.
it

in others.

The common-sense

of

mankind

affixes to

the epithet

adopted by Dr. Cooper the idea of dishonor. It has been publicly applied to me under the sanction of your name. The question is not, whether he has understood the meaning of the word, or has used it according to syntax, and with grammatical accuracy: but, whether you have authorized
this application, either directly or

or opinions derogatory to
is

my

honor.

by uttering expressions The time " when"

in

your own knowledge, but no way material to me, as

the calumny has now first been disclosed, so as to become the subject of my notice, and as the effect is present and
palpable.

Your letter has furnished ing a definite reply.

This
letter

me

with new reasons for requir-

was answered by Hamilton on June

22,

the following day, thus:

SIR Your first letter, in a style too peremptory, made a demand, in my opinion, unprecedented and unwarrantable. My answer, pointing out the embarrassment, gave you an opportunity to take a less exceptionable course. You have not chosen to do it; but by your last letter, received this
:

340

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

day, containing expressions indecorous and improper, you have increased the difficulties to explanation intrinsically

incident to the nature of your application. If by a "definite reply" you mean the direct avowal or dis-

avowal required in your first letter, I have no other answer to give than that which has already been given. If you

mean anything
requisite

different,

admitting of greater latitude,

it is

you should explain.

This terminated the direct correspondence between

the principals which, while brief, discloses characteristics of the distinguished parties which tend to suddenly elevate Hamilton in the esteem and admira;

most unprejudiced minds. The attitude of Hamilton toward Burr, up to the time of Burr's letter of the 1 8th of June, was less noble than that He had publicly denounced of his illustrious rival. Burr as unpatriotic, unsafe, and unprincipled, in many places and at many times during fifteen years, and had never lost an opportunity of privately besmirching Burr's character. Besides, Hamilton had
tion of

vindictively opposed Thomas Jefferson, the leader of the Democracy, and had at the same time intrigued against John Adams, the candidate for President of
his

own

organization.
in

He had

violated the confi(so

it

dence reposed
alleged)

him by Washington

has been

by preserving the draft of the Farewell Address, which he (Hamilton) had written and he was undoubtedly the "power behind the throne" Indeed, when his during Adams's administration. despotic career, his malevolent designs, and his arrogant and ambitious projects are all taken into unimpassioned consideration, Hamilton looms up as certainly the more dangerous man of the two, notwithstanding his long-continued and exasperating at;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

tempts to dispossess Burr of any hold he

34 l

may have had upon the affections of the American people. But the conciliatory, even if somewhat evasive, tone of his answers to the two direct letters of Burr which bristled all over with predetermined hostility suddenly arrests the growing sympathy one feels for the oft-maligned soldier and patriot and, as we continue to pursue the matter to its tragic and unfortunate end embracing Hamilton's will and his remarks explanatory of his conduct, his determination to reserve his fire, and the emotional circumstan;

ces of his death, to say nothing of the almost fiendish nature of his antagonist's course from the moment

seemed to be prompted to adopt extreme measures until the meeting and its fatal consequenwe lose sight altogether of the vices of Hamilces ton and the virtues of Burr, and canonize the memory of the one while we shudder at the name of the
that he
other.

On the 26th of June a new correspondence was opened between Messrs. W. P. Van Ness and Nathaniel Pendleton by the former, who, in the course of his letter, declared that " Colonel Burr could see no disposition on the part of General Hamilton to come to a satisfactory accommodation ;" and concluded by
saying:
liver

consequently again instructed to dea you message as soon as it may be convenient for you to receive it," etc. Mr. Pendleton replied at once that he had placed the letter from Mr. Van

"lam

Ness before General Hamilton, who objected to Colonel Burr's greatly extended ground of inquiry, which seemed to be nothing less than an inquisition into his most confidential conversations, as well as others, through the whole period of his acquaintance

34 2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Mr. Pendleton's letter concluded

with Colonel Burr.

as follows:

While he was prepared to meet the particular case fairly and fully, he thinks it inadmissible that he should be expected to answer at large as to everything that he may possibly have said, in relation to the character of Colonel
Burr, at any time or upon any occasion. Though he is not conscious that any charges which are in circulation to the prejudice of Colonel Burr have originated with him except one which may have been so considered, and which has long since been fully explained between Colonel Burr and himself yet he cannot consent to be questioned generally as to

any rumors which may be afloat derogatory to the character of Colonel Burr, without specification of the several rumors, many of them probably unknown to him. He
does not, however, mean to authorize any conclusion as to the real nature of his conduct in relation to Colonel Burr, by his declining so loose and vague a basis of explanation,

and he disavows an unwillingness to come to a satisfactory, provided it be an honorable, accommodation. His objection is, the very indefinite ground which Colonel Burr has assumed, in which he is sorry to be able to discern nothing
Presuming, therefore, he has instructed me to receive the message which you have it in charge to deliver. For this purpose I shall be at home and at your command to-morrow morning from eight to ten o'clock.
hostility.

short of predetermined
it

that

will

be adhered

to,

On the 2yth Mr. Van Ness addressed Mr. Pendleton for the last time, and enclosed with the letter a
formal challenge, as follows:
SIR
:

The

letter

which

had the honor to receive from

you, under date of yesterday, states, among other things, that, in General Hamilton's opinion, Colonel Burr has taken a very indefinite ground, in which he evinces nothing short
of

predetermined
it

hostility,

and that

General

Hamilton

thinks

inadmissible that the inquiry should extend to his

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

confidential as well as other conversations.

343

In this Colonel

Burr can only reply, that secret whispers traducing his fame, and impeaching his honor, are at least equally injurious with slanders publicly uttered that General Hamilton had at no time, and in no place, a right to use any such injurious expressions and that the partial negative he is disposed to give, with the reservations he wishes to make, are proofs that he has done the injury specified.
; ;

in

Colonel Burr's request was, in the first instance, proposed a form the most simple, in order that General Hamilton

might give to the affair that course to which he might be induced by his temper and his knowledge of facts. Colonel Burr trusted with confidence that, from the frankness of a soldier and the candor of a gentleman, he mrght expect an ingenuous declaration. That if, as he had reason to believe, General Hamilton had used expressions derogatory to his honor, he would have had the magnanimity to retract them and that if, from his language, injurious inferences had been improperly drawn, he would have perceived the propriety of correcting errors which might thus have been widely diffused. With these impressions Colonel Burr was greatly surprised at receiving a letter which he considered as evasive, and which in manner he deemed not altogether decoIn one expectation, however, he was not wholly derous.
;

ceived, for the close of General Hamilton's letter contained

an intimation that
.

if

Colonel Burr should dislike his refusal

to acknowledge or deny, he was ready to meet the consequences. This Colonel Burr deemed a sort of defiance, and would have felt justified in making it the basis of an imme-

But as the communication contained something concerning the indefiniteness of the request, as he believed it rather the offspring of false pride than of reflection, and as he felt the utmost reluctance to proceed to exdiate message.

hope remained, his request was terms more explicit. The replies and propositions on the part of General Hamilton have, in Colonel Burr's opinion, been constantly in substance the same. Colonel Burr disavows all motives of predetermined hostremities while any other

repeated in

344
tility,

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

a charge by which he thinks insult added to injury. a gentleman should feel when his honor is imassailed and without sensations of hostility or or peached wishes of revenge, he is determined to vindicate that honor at such hazard as the nature of the case demands.

He

feels as

The length to which this correspondence has extended only tending to prove that the satisfactory redress, earnestly desired, cannot be obtained, he deems it useless to offer
any proposition except the simple message which now have the honor to deliver.
I

shall

Mr. Pendleton accepted the challenge, as was his Still, Hamilton unonly course, it would seem. doubtedly hoped that a meeting might be averted, and so prepared the following observations on Mr.

Van

Ness's last letter

Whether the observations on

this

letter are

designed

merely to justify the result which is indicated in the close of the letter, or may be intended to give an opening for
rendering anything explicit which may have been deemed vague heretofore, can only be judged of by the sequel. At any rate, it appears to me necessary not to be misunderstood. Mr. Pendleton is therefore authorized to say, that
in the course of the present discussion, written or verbal, there has been no intention to evade, defy, or insult, but a

sincere disposition to avoid extremities

if

it

could be done

with propriety. With this view General Hamilton has been ready to enter into a frank and free explanation on any and every object of a specific nature but not to answer a gen;

and abstract inquiry, embracing a period too long for any accurate recollection, and exposing him to unpleasant criticisms from, or unpleasant discussions with, any and every person who may have understood him in an unfavorable sense. This (admitting that he could answer in a manner the most satisfactory to Colonel Burr), he should deem inadmissible in principle and precedent, and" humiliating in To this, therefore, he can never ^ubmit. Frepractice.
eral

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

345

quent allusion has been made to slanders, said to be in cirWhether they are openly or in whispers, they culation. have a form and shape, and might be specified. If the
alternative alluded to in the close of the letter
is

definitely

tendered, it must be accepted, the time, place, and to be afterward regulated.

manner

This paper was proffered to Mr. Van Ness by Mr. Pendleton, but the former barbarously and disdainfully declined to receive any further correspondence, remarks, or explanations from either General Hamilton or his friend, on the ground that the acceptance

of the challenge had precluded the possibility of any additional attempts at reconciliation or settlement.

Preparations for the duel were then made by General Hamilton, who wrote a letter on the 5th of July to be given his wife, in case of his fall, and executed his
will

on the

9th, leaving his entire property, after

the

payment

of all his debts, to his wife.

On

the even-

ing before the duel General Hamilton prepared a paper containing his opinions of duelling, and expressive of the reluctance with which he obeyed a custom so repugnant to his feelings, in which he
said:

expected interview with Colonel Burr, I think to make some remarks explanatory of my conduct, proper motives, and views. I was certainly desirous of avoiding
this interview for the

On my

most cogent of reasons. and moral principles are strongly opposed to the practice of duelling and it would ever give
First

My

religious

pain to shed the blood of a-fellow creature in a private combat forbidden by the laws.
m

me

Secondly

My wife
I

and children are extremely dear to me,

and

my

life is

of the utmost importance to

feel

them

in various

views.

Thirdly

a sense of obligation toward

my

creditors,

34-6

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in case of accident to

who,

me, by the forced sale of

my

I did not think property, may be in some degree sufferers. as a man of at probity, lightly to expose them liberty, myself to hazard. I am conscious of no ill-will to Colonel Burr from political opposition, which, as I trust, has proceeded from pure and upright motives. Lastly I shall hazard much, and can possibly gain

Fourthly

distinct

nothing, by the issue of the interview. But it was, as I conceive, impossible for me to avoid it. There were intrinsic difficulties in the thing, and artificial embarrassments from the manner of proceeding on the part of Colonel Burr. Intrinsic, because it is not to be denied

ter,

my animadversions on the political principles, characand views of Colonel Burr have been extremely severe and on different occasions I, in common with many others, have made very unfavorable criticisms on particular inthat
;

stances of the private conduct of this gentleman. In proportion as these impressions were entertained with sincerity and uttered with motives and for purposes which might ap-

pear to me commendable, would be the difficulty (until they could be removed by evidence of their being erroneous) of explanation or apology. The disavowal required of me by Colonel Burr, in a general and indefinite form, was out of
power, if it had really been proper for me to submit to be so questioned but I was sincerely of opinion that this could not be, and in this opinion I was confirmed by that of a very moderate and judicious friend whom I consulted.

my

the

Besides that, Colonel Burr appeared to me to assume, in first instance, a tone unnecessarily peremptory and menacing, and, in the second, positively offensive. Yet I wished, as far as might be practicable, to leave a door open

to accommodation. This, I think, will be inferred from the written communications made by me and by my direction, and would be confirmed by the conversations between Mr.

Van Ness and myself which

arose out of the subject. I am not sure whether, under all the circumstances, I did not go further in the attempt to accommodate than a punctilious

ATOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

delicacy will justify.
If so, I

347

hope the motives I have stated not my design, by what I have said, to affix any odium on the conduct of Colonel Burr in this He doubtless has heard of animadversions of mine case. which bore very hard upon him and it is probable that, as He usual, they were accompanied with some falsehoods. may have supposed himself under a necessity of acting as he
will

excuse me.

It is

has done. I hope the grounds of his proceeding have been such as ought to satisfy his own conscience. I trust, at the same time, that the world will do me the justice to believe that I have not censured him on light grounds, nor from unworthy inducements. I certainly have had strong reasons for what I may have said, though it is possible that in some particulars I may have been influenced by misconstruction and misinformation. It is also my ardent wish that I may have been more mistaken than I think I have
been, and that he, by his future conduct, may show himself worthy of all confidence and esteem, and prove an ornament and blessing to the country. As well because it is possible
that
injured Colonel Burr, however convinced that myself my opinions and declarations have been well founded, as from my general principles and temper in relaI

may have

tion to similar affairs,

have resolved,

if

our interview

is

conducted

me
fire,

the usual manner, and it pleases God to give the opportunity, to reserve and throw away my first and I have thoughts even of reserving my second fire, and
in

thus giving a double opportunity to Colonel Burr to pause and It is not, however, my intention to enter into any reflect. explanations on the ground. Apology, from principle, I hope, rather than pride, is out of the question. To those who, with me, abhorring the practice of duelling, may think that I ought on no account to have added to the number of bad examples, I answer that my relative situation, as well in public as private, enforcing all the considerations which constitute what men of the world denominate honor, imposed on me (as I thought) a peculiar necessity not to decline the call. The ability to be in future useful, whether in resisting mischief or effecting good, in those crises of our

34-8

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

public affairs which seem likely to happen, would probably be inseparable from a conformity with public prejudice in
this particular.

As has been stated, the duel took place on the nth of July, 1804, the particulars of which have gone into
history on the strength of the statements made by the seconds of the parties Mr. William P. Van Ness on the part of Burr, and Colonel Nathaniel Pendleton

on that of Hamilton.
scene of the duel was a

The
little

place selected for the

secluded ledge beneath the heights of Weehawken, and not far above the level It was the very spot where Philip of the Hudson. Hamilton (the eldest son of Alexander Hamilton) had fallen about three years before. The parties went up the stream by boat from New York, Burr

and

his friends arriving

first,

The

parties being placed, the

by special arrangement. word was given, when

Hamilton, raising himself convulsively, fell forward on his face, his pistol being discharged as he sank to
the ground, sending the ball whizzing through the Van Ness and Burr foliage of the surrounding trees.

immediately hurried to their boat.

Colonel Pendle-

ton and Dr. Hosack, who were in attendance, raised Hamilton into a sitting posture, when it was dis-

covered that he had been struck

in

He was just able to wound, "when he fell

articulate,

"

This

the right side. is a mortal

he.

into a swoon.

As

was

car-

ried gently to the river-bank, he opened his eyes for a moment and said, " vision is indistinct."

My

Later General Hamilton declared that he had met Colonel Burr with a fixed resolution to do him no harm, and that he forgave all that had happened. He lingered during the remainder of that day, and

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

349

the night following, but died at two o'clock on the afternoon of the next day. The details of the duel, as furnished by the

seconds, Messrs. follows

:

Van Ness and

first

Pendleton, are as

on the ground, as had been preGeneral Hamilton arrived the parties exchanged salutations and the seconds proceeded to make their arrangements. They measured the distance, ten full paces, and cast lots for the choice of position, as also to determine by whom the word should be given, both of which fell to the seconds of General Hamilton. They then proceeded to load the pistols in each other's presence, The gentleman after which the parties took their stations. who was to give the word then explained to the parties the
Colonel Burr arrived
agreed.
viously

When

rules

which were to govern them

:

in firing,

which were as

parties being placed at their stations, the second who gives the word shall ask them whether they are ready; being answered in the affirmative, he shall say

follows

The

Present;" after this the parties shall present and fire when they please. If one fires before the other, the opposite second shall say, " One, two, three, fire," and he shall then He then asked if they were prepared fire or lose his fire. in answered the affirmative, he gave the word, being
;

"

Present, as

and

parties presented the intervening time is not expressed, as the seconds do not precisely agree on that point. The fire of Colonel Burr took effect, and General Hamilton
fired

had been agreed on, and both

in succession

almost instantly fell. Colonel Burr then advanced toward General Hamilton, with a manner and gesture that appeared
to General's Hamilton's friend to be expressive of regret,

but without speaking turned about and withdrew, being urged from the field by his friend with a view to prevent his being recognized by the surgeon and bargemen, who were then approaching. No further communication took place between the principals, and the barge that carried Colonel Burr immediately returned to the city. We conceive it

35

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

inter-

proper to add that the conduct of the parties in this view was perfectly proper as suited the occasion.

Dr.
their

carried the

Hosack then tells how Pendleton and himself wounded man to their boat; and, upon arrival at the wharf, how they conveyed him as
distresses
"

tenderly as possible

"The

of

his

were such Doctor, abated, they were scarcely able to summon fortitude enough to yield sufficient assistance to their dying
friend. Upon our reaching the house he became more languid, occasioned, probably, by the agitation of his removal from the boat. I gave him a little weak wine and water. When he recovered his feel-

to Hamilton's residence. amiable family," says the that, till the first shock was

up

he complained of pain in his back. We immediately undressed him and laid him in bed, and darkened the room. I then gave him a large anodyne, which I frequently repeated. During the first day he took upward of an ounce of laudanum; and tepid anodyne fomentations were also applied to
ings,

his sufferings, intolerable. I

those parts nearest the seat of his pain. Yet were during the whole of the day, almost

had not the shadow

of a

hope of

his

recovery, and Dr. Post, whom I requested might be sent for immediately on our reaching Mr. Bayard's General Rey, house, united with me in this opinion.
the French consul, also had the goodness to invite the surgeons of the French frigates in our harbor, as

they had had much experience in gun-shot wounds, to render their assistance. They immediately came;
but, to prevent his being disturbed, I stated to them his situation, described the nature of his wound and

the direction of the ball, with all the symptoms that could enable them to form an opinion as to the event.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

One
bedside.
of the gentlemen then The result was

35

accompanied me
a
confirmation

to the

of

the

had already been expressed by Dr. Post and myself. During the night he had some imbut the succeeding morning his sympperfect sleep; toms were aggravated, attended, however, with a
opinion that

diminution of pain. His mind retained all its usual The great source of his strength and composure. anxiety seemed to be in his sympathy with his half-

He spoke to me frequently of them. My beloved wife and children,' But his fortitude were always his expressions. dreadful as it was; over his situation, triumphed
distracted wife and children.
*

once, indeed, at the sight of his children, brought to the bedside together, seven in number, his utterance

forsook him; he

opened his eyes, gave them one and them closed look, again till they were taken of his As a extraordinary composure of proof away. mind, let me add that he alone could calm the
'

frantic grief of their mother. Remember, my Eliza, you are a Christian,' were the expressions with which he frequently, with a firm voice, but in a pathetic

and impressive manner, addressed her. His words, and the tone in which they were uttered, will never be effaced from my memory. At about two o'clock, as the public well know, he expired." With the exception of the assassination of Lincoln and the deaths of Washington and Garfield, no public or private event has ever created the deep and general sorrow which was manifested over the melancholy termination of this most unfortunate affair. Burr was disfranchised by the laws of New York for having fought a duel, and was indicted for murder in New Jersey. The affair had the effect of arousing

3 $2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

mind
of the people in the

the public

Northern States

The Society of the to a positive horror of duelling. Cincinnati took the question under consideration, and General C. C. Pinckney, Vice-President of that
body, proposed that
against the
Burr.
it

Hamilton," says:

practice. "

should resolutely set its face Mr. Morse, in his " Life of
city

The

He

fled for his life,

was not a safe place for and his terrified myrmi-

dons hastened to avail themselves of the protection

of obscurity.

Never again could that blood-stained

his
fatal

man redeem
finitely

more

was that duel

reputation before mankind, so into the survivor than

the victim."
hell that

Undoubtedly the survivor .was made to feel the seems to have been reserved for him upon

The living victim of that fatal meeting upon earth. the banks of the noble Hudson was the greater
victim of the two.

He killed his opponent, to be him he a god, with fifty millions of but made sure, as worshippers, and ingloriously shot people to-day himself into a loathsome living grave. Sabine, in his
description of this duel, says:

The reader cannot have failed to notice that, in the correspondence between Burr and Hamilton which preceded the duel, the cause of offence is stated to consist in certain expressions uttered by the latter in the presence of But we are not to limit General Hamilton's Dr. Cooper. animadversions to a single case or occasion, since he himself
admits, in the paper which contains his Remarks explanatory of his motives and views, that his unfavorable criti-

cisms had been frequent and severe.

right to

condemn Hamilton

for accepting the call.

But we have a He was

;

not a duellist. True, in his youth, 1778, he acted as second in the combat between Colonel Laurens and General Lee but we have his express declaration that " his religious and

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

353

moral principles were strongly opposed to the practice of duelling." He met his antagonist, who, in his judgment, was a corrupt man for what? Because, to use his own
words,
"

his relative situation, as well in public as private,"

imposed upon him, as he thought, "a peculiar necessity not " what men of the to decline ;" and because, regarding world denominate honor," he considered that " his ability to be in future useful, whether in resisting mischief or effecting good, in those crises of our public affairs which seem likely to happen, would probably be inseparable from a conformity
with public prejudice in this particular." He violated, then, his religious and moral principles, rather than not conform to "public prejudice." Hamilton in the deepest sorrow be it uttered though one of the illustrious of the world, and to live forever in our annals, was hardly less than a suicide.

When

" dying, he declared that he had found, for some time " to Burr and yet he past, that his life must be exposed resolved to go out and be shot down, without remonstrance
;

undeniably true. Without remonon the ground was," he said, "out of the question." Without resistance for he affirmed, in " his last hours, to Dr. Hosack, that Pendleton knew that he did not intend to fire at" Burr to Bishop Moore, that "he met him with a fixed resolution to do him no harm ;" and
or resistance.
strance

This

is

for "explanation

to Dr. Mason, that " he

take his

went to the field determined not to examination of the course of his opponent allows us, after the lapse of half a century, to repeat an emphatic remark of the time, that he was a victim to "a long meditated and predetermined system of hostility on the Burr part of Mr. Burr and his confidential advisers." arrived first at the lonely spot designated, and, calmly dilife."

An

vesting himself of his coat, cleared away the bushes, limbs of trees, and other obstructions and in the combat raised
;

and took deliberate and fatal aim. Nothing but Hamilton's death would satisfy him. When abroad, in 1808, he gave Jeremy Bentham an account of the duel, and said " he was sure of bemg able to kill him ;" and so, replied Bentham, "/ thought it little better than a murder"
his

arm

slowly,

354

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Posterity will not be likely to disturb the judgment of the British philosopher.

The weapons used by Hamilton and Burr are at present in the possession of a citizen of Rochester (New York). For more than fifty years they were in
them
possession of the descendants of Hamilton, who gave to the mother of the present possessor, also a

In appearance they are descendant of Hamilton. very formidable. They are "horse-pistols" of English manufacture, and are exactly alike, so far as an ordinary observer can discover. The one from which

Burr fired the fatal missile is marked by a cross filed under the lower part of the barrel. They do not in any respect resemble any modern arm. In handling them one is strongly impressed with the idea that they were evidently intended for use in duels where " the participants shot to kill" and not to obtain newspaper notoriety without the disagreeable shedding of blood. Although they be manipulated so rapidly as acting, self-cocking pistol, they execution, as they carry a bullet
evidently could not the modern doubleare capable of fatal
of 56 calibre.

They

are sixteen inches long, and are, in reality, small guns rather than pistols. The barrels appear to be of the

best

steel

then

manufactured,

and

the

weapons

throughout are heavily mounted with brass. They are very carefully finished in all their parts, and

were evidently very expensive. curious feature of these pistols, unknown to the present generation, but remembered by some of the older readers who have
handled their grandfathers' muskets, is the flintlocks. These, with their flints in position, are intact. It seems almost incredible, to-day, in view of the advance of everything pertaining to gunnery, that

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

men should
flint

355

risk their lives

It
is

on the spark from the

evident, however, from an examination of these weapons, that the flints were cut
steel.

and

with the precision of the face of a diamond, and it is probable that there was as little likelihood of their missing fire as there would be with the most finished The pistols cartridge-weapon of the present day. " with a view to the purpose for which are " sighted they were made, and in the hands of a man with a steady nerve and strong arm would prove a very Placed beside one of these dangerous weapon. heavy duelling weapons, an ordinary revolver appeared dwarfed into a toy-pistol, and one of its cartridges was almost lost when dropped into the Aside from the great historical spacious muzzle.
interest attaching to the weapons, this comparison of the almost perfect weapon of to-day with that of

eighty years ago, doubtless the most perfect of that The interval marks the transiday, is startling. tion and growth of weapons of defence, from the

clumsy mechanism of flint and steel, and powder and the weapon which is capable of being discharged six times in as many seconds, and reloaded in a few additional seconds. The increase in certainty of aim and power of execution is not, however, so obvious. The pistols are in a remarkable state of preservation, and are apparently in as good condition as when used for the last time that fatal morning on the banks of the Hudson, having been carefully preserved and cared for during these eighty years.
ball, to

Such, in
relics,

brief, is

a description

of these

interesting

mementoes of a great tragedy, which had much to do with moulding the political events of the century in the United States. Very few, and those
the

3 $6

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

only family friends, have been aware of the existence of these reminders of the dark tragedy in the family, and it is only with much reluctance that the possessor

which owner

permits any present reference to them a reluctance It is the intention of the is easily appreciated. to always keep them in the possession of his family and never allow them to be publicly exhibited.

One of the first objects that attracts the attention of a stranger on his first visit to Washington

New York, is the old Hamilton homestead, Tenth Avenue and One Hundred and Forty-fifth The house is a large frame structure, with a Street. series of wooden columns running around the front and one side, and has been kept in comparatively
Heights,
at

good repair
at the north

for so old a

wooden

building.

It

stands

end of a large tract of ground. In this house Alexander Hamilton lived, and it was from here that he went forth and crossed over to Weehawken on July n, 1804, to meet Burr in the unfortunate duel which ended in his death. At the southeast corner of the old house thirteen tall trees tower upward. They are surrounded by a wooden fence, and grow so closely together that in some places they seem to be welded into one huge trunk. They were planted by Hamilton himself, and were named

which

One of them, thirteen original States. the most northern of the thirteen, early developed a tendency to crookedness, and this the It is now a statesman christened South Carolina.
after

the
is

of a long

full-grown tree, but shorter than its fellows because bend in the trunk about ten feet from the

ground. The top of another has been broken off and only about twenty feet of the trunk remain. The
trees are really the

most interesting part of the

sur-

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

357

roundings of the old mansion, and they are visited almost daily by strangers and others. The remains of Hamilton lie in the family church
yard, although the monument erected by the corporation to his memory is (1883) sufferyig from decay.

The

inscription has
is

and the pediment

public attention

cracked.

become almost undecipherable Some years ago, when

to

was called

the matter, Trinity

Corporation made some

slight effort to restore the

dead

patriot's

other uses for

its

monument, but now it seems to have money. The corporation has actu-

ally voted to allow Alexander Hamilton, grandson of the statesman, to do the work it ought to attend to,

and have the inscription

restored.

The Hamilton

family have been connected with the parish for a century, and they, together with the public, are at a loss to account for the neglect. But Trinity does
things queerly. Nearly thirty years ago, when there was a determined movement to cut Pine Street

through Trinity graveyard, the corporation put up a brown-stone monument to the memory of the unknown soldiers of the Revolution buried there. It was done rather to preserve their own territory than In an open space at the to honor the dead patriots. top of the monument it was designed to place a bronze statue of a soldier in the uniform of the

"Old Continentals."

But

this

part of

the prore-

gramme

has never been carried out.

The space

mains empty and the monument looks incomplete. However, it answered its commercial purpose, and this was enough, though it is not known that any soldier was ever buried in the locality covered by the brown-stone pile. Alexander Hamilton (as well as Judah P. Benja-

35$

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

min, the father of George M. Dallas, and others quite as distinguished) came from one of the smaller islands of the Lesser Antilles. "Hamilton came

from Nevis," says a

Cincinnati

New York

correspondent of the

made

" which is a volcanic island Enquirer, of a single conical mountain which rises to the

height of 2500 feet, and has fertile land around its borders, an area of only twenty-one square miles, and a population of perhaps 10,000. It exports

about $250,000 a year of sugar, rum, and molasses. Hamilton was born on the nth of January, 1757. His mother was the daughter of a West India doctor named Faucette. She was of French Protestant origin, and had first been married to a Dane named Levine, who is said to have been a Jew. Levine was rich, and she hated him and got a divorce from him, and married a young Scotchman, who was a trader in the island of St. Christopher. This Scotchman made a bad in failure business and never (Hamilton) his on feet and lived afterward obscure. got again, That is not to be wondered at, considering the small
opportunities in
those
islands for a
career.

Alex-

ander Hamilton left in the island of Nevis might I have been of no consequence. saw people there who impressed me as strong and brilliant, but they had merely colonial opportunities, and in that hot climate the energies of men soon decay. Hamilton's mother died unhappy when he was a child; but she had some respectable kin in the island of Santa Cruz, who took charge of the orphan boy, who was the only child to survive her. Hamilton was, therefore,

are

brought up in St. Croix, and his earliest letters dated from that island. He wrote one to a friend named Edward Stevens in 1769, which says;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

*

359

Ned, my ambition is prevalent, so that I contemn the grovelling condition of a clerk or the like, to which my fortune condemns me, and would willingly risk my life, though not my character, to exalt my Hamilton was a I wish there was a war.' station. as scholar. as well His first French English good
a Presbyterian preacher at St. Croix. he despised a clerkship, in that position he Though abilities which made him a great finanthe developed He was a newspaper- writer; and a description cier. of a hurricane in the island of St. Christopher, which was published in one of* the West India newspapers, was talked about so much that his friends concluded He went to send him to New York to be educated. to school at Elizabeth (N. J.), and then at King's College, in New York, and thought he would be a He had only been in the country about a physician. he addressed a public meeting and or two when year
friend

was

wrote articles for the

newspapers against His precocity may be ascribed to his French and Scotch nature, and to an ambition which never ceased. The French element gave him his brilliancy, and the Scotch his exactness and judgment." In 1776, at the age of nineteen, Hamilton became a Captain of artillery, and distinguished himself in many battles. In March, 1777, he became an aid-decamp to Washington, with the rank of lieutenantIn 1780 he married Eliza, a daughter of colonel. General Philip Schuyler, and shortly afterward was appointed inspector-general. Subsequently he was appointed a major-general, and upon the death of Washington became Commander-in-Chief of the Army. It was as Secretary of the Treasury, howthe British Government.

New York

360
ever, that

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

he gained pre-eminence, and Webster once "He smote the rock of the national resources, and abundant streams of revenue gushed He touched the dead corpse of the public forth. The fabled birth credit, and it sprung to its feet. of Minerva from the brain of Jove was hardly more sudden or more perfect than the financial system of the United States as it burst forth from the conception of Alexander Hamilton." Mrs. Hamilton survived her husband fifty years, dying in New York in 1854, aged ninety-seven. Aaron Burr was the son* of an American clergyman, and was born at Newark (N. J.), on the 6th
said of him:

of February, 1756.

He

entered the

army

as a pri-

vate soldier, and received a commission of major for great gallantry and meritorious service during Ar-

He next became nold's expedition* against Quebec. an aid-de-camp, to Putnam, and afterward received a commission as lieutenant-colonel, and was placed In July, 1783, he marin command of his regiment.
ried

Mrs. Prevost, the

widow

of a

British

officer.

Burr subsequently became a senator, and afterward the third Vice-President of the United States his term closing March 4, 1805. He was arrested for treason on February 19, 1807, and was tried in Rich-

mond
Burr

** Aaron (Va.), the jury returning a verdict that is not proved to be guilty under the indictment

by any

evidence

submitted to us."

He

Madame Jumel

in his seventy-eighth year,

married but was

soon afterward dismissed from her bed and board. Burr's only child, Theodosia, married Governor
Allston, of

South Carolina. Burr died, in destitute circumstances, on Staten Island, on September 14,
1836.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

It is

361

an interesting fact that on the nth of May, the statue of Chief-Justice Marshall was un1884, veiled in Washington with appropriate ceremony
the Marshall whose duty it became to try for high treason the man who had killed his friend Hamilton, but who conducted that trial with such an absence of personal feeling that it was among the He could greatest marvels of our legal history. neither be influenced by his private grief for Hamilton, nor by Jefferson's attempts as President to injure Burr, nor by Burr himself whom he charged the jury to acquit but whom he held under a bond on another charge, to the indescribable rage of the slayer of the eminent Federalist.

Ben Perley Poore,

(1884), says:

in his

charming Reminiscences

Aaron Burr enjoyed the reputation of having delivered the most impressive speech ever uttered in the capitol when he took leave of the Senate as its presiding officer. I have heard a senator, who was present, state that nearly every one
was
in tears, and so unmanned that it was nearly half an hour before they could recover themselves sufficiently to choose a President pro tempore. The characteristics of Vice-President Burr's manner appear to have been elevation and dignity, a consciousness of superiority, etc., nothing of

the whining adulation, those canting, hypocritical complaints of want of talents, assurance of his endeavors to please them, hopes of their favors, etc. On the contrary, he told them ex-

he had determined to pursue a conduct which judgment should approve, and which should secure the suffrage of his own conscience, and he had never considered who else should be pleased or displeased, although it was but justice on this occasion to thank them for their deference and respect to his official conduct, the constant and uniform support he had received from every member, of their prompt acquiescence in his decisions, and he remarked
plicitly that

his

3^2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

to their honor, that they had never descended to a single motion of passion or embarrassment and, so far as he was
;

from apologizing for any decisions he had occasion to make, there was not one which, on reflection, he was disposed to vary or retract. Burr was unquestionably one of the most remarkable men that our country has ever produced. The things which clouded his name in his own day were the suspicion and charge of treason, and his duel with HamilBurr was a victon, in which the great financier fell. tim of the barbarous custom of those days, and he killed a popular favorite. Other vices cluster around his name, but they cannot present him, even to the eye of moral When a judgment, as less than an "archangel fallen." boy, residing with my parents at the corner of Madison Lane and Broadway, I used to see Burr pass every morning and afternoon, as he went to and from his lawoffice. Tall, soldier-like, and walking with a soldier-like air, he attracted attention as he passed along, and people would stop and point him out to others after he had gone by. One day I was in the law-office of Allen Day, where my uncle,
the late Allen Dodge, of Hamilton, was studying his profession, and Burr came in to inquire about a case in which he

was counsel.

I regarded him with dread, yet I was fascinated by the courtesy of his manner, the pleasant expression of his bright, keen eyes, and the gentle winning tones of his voice. He was at that time virtually an outcast from the circles in which he had once been a leading figure. Very poor, he often took cases which other lawyers refused to touch, and he often found it difficult to procure the necessiYet he never lost his dignity and self-respect, ties of life.

and appeared, amid the trials and vicissitudes of his old age, to enjoy the peace and serenity which only a quiet conscience can bestow. He was undoubtedly the first political

"boss"

his advice that

it was by following from office to office until passed he became the President of the United States.

of the State of

New

York, and

Van Buren

During the

latter portion of 1883 the St.

Louis Re-

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

363

publican published the following account of the recollections of a lady who once felt the irresistible power

and fascination of Burr's piercing eyes:

City, a few weeks since, died Miss Theodosia her seventy-seventh year, only sister of Colonel George T. M. Davis, well known to some of the former residents of St. Louis as formerly a prominent member of the

In

New York
in

Burr Davis,

aid-de-camp to General James Shields in the Mexican War, and in 1849-51 editor of a newspaper in this city. Miss Davis was a lady of brilliant and highly cultivated intellect, fine conversational powers, and remarkable energy. Though tried by disappointment and sorrow as few have been, she retained her vivacity and wit almost to the last, while by a life which was, in most respects, one long self-sacrifice, she won and kept the esteem and affection of a large circle of relatives and friends. Her virtues, however, were so entirely domestic and private that the only excuse for this brief notice is the fact that she was indirectly connected with an historical personage in whom the public is always interested. The father of Miss Davis died young, and she was left to
Illinois bar,

the guardianship of his brother, Matthew L. Davis, the

inti-

mate friend and biographer of Aaron Burr one of that little band of devoted adherents who never abandoned their unfor" Burr's tunate chief, and who were known in those days as Tenth Legion." Though she bore the name of his idolized daughter, and was the niece and ward of a man so closely associated with him, Miss Davis never saw Burr but twice.
meeting made a profound impression upon her, might. She was at her uncle's house, spending a portion of a school-vacation, when one morning when she was upstairs he called to her to come down, as there was a For some reason she never visitor who wished to see her.
Their
first
it

as well

could explain she had an undefinable dread of this unknown It was revisitor, and did not at once obey the summons. peated with emphasis, which put an end to further hesita-

and she came down. Mr. Davis took her by the hand and they entered the parlor. There she saw sitting on the
tion,

364
sofa a

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

little old man, dressed in the fashion of a past generawith hair as white as snow and eyes so lustrous and piercing that she could not resist their fascination. With the stately courtesy of the ancient regime, her uncle led her toward the stranger and said " Colonel Burr, this is the child of whom I spoke. I need not tell you whose name she bears." The old man rose and grasping both her hands in his held her at arm's length, gazing into her face with those marvellous eyes as if he would read her very soul. The ordeal lasted but a moment, though it seemed an age to the timid girl; then her hands were dropped, and Burr exclaimed, in faltering voice: "Take her away, Matthew, I cannot stand it !" Once afterward they met accidentally on Broadway. She hurried past without speaking, but Burr stopped, and as she looked round she saw his eyes following in a long, wistful gaze, as if they would draw back to him the bearer of that beloved name.

tion,

The late General James Watson Webb, talking of Aaron Burr three or four years ago, said: I knew him. He was a brave soldier in the Revolutionary War. He succeeded my father as aid on General Putnam's
Burr was a selfish met him often during his last years. He used to urge Matthew L. Davis to write his (Burr's) life, but he Daadded, only on one condition you know what that is. vis turned to me and explained that Burr wouldn't permit his life to be written unless the biographer would agree to " tell the truth about Washington," by which Burr meant abuse him and deny him any great qualities, either as a man, a soldier, or a statesman. Davis would never consent to this. "I won't do it," he said to Burr in my presence. "Then
staff after

the battle of Bunker Hill.

I

scoundrel.

you

sha'n't write my life," responded Burr. The fact is Burr never forgave Washington for refusing to appoint him Minister to France in 1795, when his party in the Senate unanimously recommended him for the distinguished place. Washington always disliked the brilliant New Yorker, whose various qualities were just the opposite of his own, and the

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

feeling
life,

365
year of his

was naturally

reciprocal.

During the

last

eighty-one, Burr withdrew the condition, but then he could not talk much, and Davis's materials were

when he was
"

too meagre.

Send

for

Webb and
"

We
so,

went to

his bedside.

You two

tions

you can think

of about

my

Verplanck," said Burr. write out all the queslife," said Burr, "and then

I will answer them." We did and the answers formed the basis of Davis's biography which was very partial, like Parton's, and not half true. One day the doctor told Burr he would not live till morning. Burr turned his eyes toward us and said " He's an infernal old fool. Open that bureau drawer." It was opened. " Do you see a letter on that box ?" Verplanck took up the dainty " It is from a lady," said the dying gallant, "and missive. she says she will call on me to-morrow. Anybody who thinks I will die with such an appointment as that on hand doesn't know Colonel Burr !" He was supported by friends for years. He pretended to practise law, but he never practised much. He had no sense of honor in money matters. He would borrow fifty dollars on one corner and distribute it to anybody who wanted it on the next corner.

come here and read them and

366

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XVIII.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS-CONTINUED.

Fall of

James Barren

the Illustrious Decatur at Bladensburg in a Duel with The Second Most Noted Fatal Affair in the

United States The Distinguished Naval Hero Falls Mortally and his Antagonist Dangerously Wounded at the First Fire They Exchange Forgiveness of Each Other on the Bloody Ground Decatur's Last Words: " I have never been your
in St. Peter's Churchyard in Decatur Mansion in Washington His Great Fame and Reputation His Encounter at Tripoli and Revenge of the Treacherous Murder of his Brother, Lieutenant James Decatur Other Affairs of

Enemy,

Sir"

Decatur's

Remains

Philadelphia The Old Decatur's Other Affairs

Honor between United States Army and Navy Officers Duels among Confederates The Fatal Meeting of Generals Marmaduke and Walker.

THE fall of the noble and chivalrous Decatur at Bladensburg, on March 22, 1820, produced a profound sensation throughout the country; and this unfortunate affair, in which the distinguished naval hero lost his life, has been generally viewed as the second most noted duel in the United States. Stephen Decatur and James Barron were and had been for several years post-captains in the American navy. Barron had been found guilty of the charge of neglecting his duty while in command of the frigate Chesapeake by a court of inquiry and courtmartial (upon both of which Decatur had served), and had been suspended from the service. He had

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

367

subsequently applied for restoration of rank, and had been opposed by Decatur from an honorable This was the prime cause of an enmity standpoint.

which sprung up and grew between the two officers, and which was followed by a long and acrimonious correspondence between them and culminated in a hostile meeting in which Decatur was mortally and
dangerously wounded at the first fire. Captain William Bainbridge, U. -S. N., accompanied Decatur to the field, and Captain Jesse D. Elliott, U. S. N., acted as second for Barren. They fought with pistols, at eight paces, and both fired and fell together, and then carried on a short conversation while they lay on the ground. What they said is not
his antagonist

positively known, except that they exchanged forgiveness of each other. Before the mischief had been
'

Barren remarked to Decatur meeting him in another world friends than in this; to which have never been your enemy, The dying officer was taken to his residence in sir." Washington, near Lafayette Square, where he excommitted, however, that he hoped that on they would be better Decatur replied, " I
pired at a quarter to eleven o'clock the same night.

Barren was also conveyed to Washington, where he was confined by his wound until the loth of April
following, when he departed for his home at Hampton (Virginia). Decatur's remains were taken to

Philadelphia in 1844, and deposited in St. Peter's Churchyard, over which was erected a pretentious

tomb and an

Ionic pillar of marble (the latter capped

by an American eagle), which may be seen by all visi" tors to the Quaker City" who care for a stroll down to the southwest corner of Third and Pine streets. The house in which Decatur died was afterward

368

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

occupied by Mr. Livingston while Secretary of State under President Jackson, and subsequently by Martin Van Buren while Vice-President. It is now the residence of General E. F. Beale, who is as hospitable and generous as his mansion is noble and historic. The pistols used by Decatur and Barren were taken
possession of by Captain Elliott (Barren's second), who retained them until his death (in 1845), when

they came into the possession of their present owner, General W. L. Elliott (Retired List U. S. A., and Vice-President of the California Safe Deposit and Trust Company), of San Francisco a son of Barren's

second above named. Mr. Wirt (then Attorney-General of the

States),

United

who knew

in

confidence of

the difficulty

between Decatur and Barron, and who used every effort to prevent the duel, in a letter to Judge Carr, dated eleven days after the fatal combat, states that " Decatur was apparently shot dead; he revived, howafter ever, a'while, and he and Barron had a parley as they lay on the ground." And Wirt continues:
Doctor Washington, who got up just then, says that it reminded him of the closing scene of a tragedy Hamlet and Barron proposed that they should make friends Laertes. before they met in heaven (for he supposed they would both die immediately). Decatur said he had never been his enemy, that he freely forgave him his death, though he could not forgive those who had stimulated him to seek his life. One report says that Barron exclaimed, "Would to God you had said this much yesterday !" It is certain that the parley was a friendly one, and that they parted in peace. Decatur knew he was to die, and his only sorrow was that he had not died in the service of his country.

Mr. Sabin, in his description of this duel, declares,

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

feelingly, and, we think, correctly, that there cause for it whatever. Says Sabine:
Decatu-r,

369

was no

the correspondence, " disclaimed all personal animosity toward" Barren. In his own words " Between you and myself there never has been a
as will be seen
in

but I have entertained, and do still personal difference entertain, the opinion that your conduct as an officer, since
;

the affair of the Chesapeake, has been such as ought to forever bar your readmission into the service." In this view

he declares that he is sustained, he believes, by every officer of "our grade," with a single exception. True,
Barren, in his letter of November 30, 1819, regards Decatur's course to be inconsistent with these declarations, and retorts with

tained them.

But Decatur constantly mainWirt that he did not wish to meet Barron, and that " the duel was forced upon him ;" and it is said that he assured Commodore Rodgers, on receiving
severity.

much

He

told Mr.

the challenge, that nothing could induce him to take the of Barron. On the day of his death, while at breakfast, remarks Mr. Hambleton, " he was quite cheerful, and did not appear to have any desire to take the life of his antagonist indeed, he declared that he should be very sorry to do
life
;

so."

To

the ground

this evidence "

:

we may add the reply to Barron on have never been your enemy, sir."
u

affair of honor" was in 1799, while he was a lieutenant attached to the frigate United He was at Philadelphia on recruiting serStates. was deceived by a party of men he had and vice, enlisted, who deserted him and went on board an India ship. Decatur was greatly incensed, and for-

Decatur's

first

mally demanded the deserters of the first officer of the merchantman, who, in the course of the interview, insulted him. He stated the case to his father, who considered that a duel was necessary. The He officer of the India ship was asked to apologize. but a Both, however, refused, accepted challenge.

370

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

pursued their ordinary duties for several days. As soon as circumstances would permit, they met on the banks of the Delaware, at or near New Castle. Decatur disclaimed to his friends any intention to inflict a mortal injury, but wounded his antagonist in the hip, as he said, previous to the combat, he would The next do, and escaped himself without harm. difficulty which he proposed to settle by an appeal to arms occurred in 1801, while he served on board the The officers of frigate Essex, in the Mediterranean. a Spanish ship of war, under pretence of exercising

duty at the port of Barcelona, fired over, and brought to, the boats of the Essex in passing to and from the shore at night. Decatur, on being molested in this way, remonstrated with the proper
police
officer,

who

treated

him uncourteously.

Avowing

his intention to press the matter day, he returned to his own ship.

on the following

On repairing to the Spanish ship, as intimated, the aggressor was not to be found. Decatur, leaving a hostile message,
his

went immediately on shore, but was unsuccessful in search there. The Spanish Captain-General interfering, and requesting the aid of the captain of the Essex, a personal conflict was prevented. His third affair was also in the Mediterranean, but as the

friend of

Midshipman Joseph Bainbridge, in the year a 1803, description of which occurs in Chapter XIV. "Affairs of honor" between officers of the United

army and navy were quite frequent up to 1850, which time they ceased almost altogether. A great many valuable lives were sacrificed, however, among whom was Captain Ferdinand Louis Amelung, U. S. A., who was killed in Louisiana in 1820;
States
after

Midshipman John

Banister, U. S. N., in Virginia in

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

1835; Lieutenant Samuel H. Bryant, U. S. A., in North Carolina in 1814; Midshipman Samuel B. Cocke, U. S. N., near Washington in 1822; Captain Joshua W. Collett, U. S. A., in Mexico in 1848; Surgeon Willis H. In Bassett, U. S. N., in South America in 1830. 1849^ in Virginia, Midshipman J. P. Jones, U. S. N., fought with James Hope, and was dangerously wounded at the first fire. It has been stated that the pistols use d these by gentlemen were the same as those used by Decatur and Barren: which is not so, as General Elliott has had the weapons used by the latter in his possession since 1845. 1 J 839, at Port Mahon (Island
t

Midshipman Charles Crillon Barton was wounded by a brother-officer. Midshipman William Caney was a participant in the first duel fought in California (early in 1849), an<^ was wounded in the
of Minorca),
leg.

Lieutenant Richard Somers, U.

officer,

S. N.,

lutionary

fought three duels

in

a Revoone day, and

was wounded

in the first two. Somers perished in the Intrepid fire-ketch, before Tripoli in 1804. In in of the Andrew Mexico, Captain 1847, Porter, city of the U. S. Rifles, and Captain Archer, of the Vol-

tigeurs, met with pistols, and the latter was woundexi in the leg. About the same time, or afterward, Lieu-

tenant David Bell (2d Dragoons U. S. A.) and Lieutenant Robert Williams (who married the widow of Stephen A. Douglas) met near Washington with pistols,

and the former received a

1863,

slight

wound.

In

after

the defeat of the Confederates at

Helena (Arkansas), a bitter feeling grew up between Generals Walker and Marmaduke, of Price's army, which was intensified into a quarrel after the appearance of their respective reports upon the retreat from Helena to Little Rock, and culminated in a duel in

372

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

which Walker was mortally wounded and died in Walker, who was the superior twenty-four hours. officer, sent the challenge; which Marmaduke accepted, and named revolvers as weapons; distance,
Walker's first bullet took off a twig paces. from a branch directly over Marmaduke's head, and the second missile from the latter went through Walker's body and lungs, from which he reeled and fell, and from the effect of which he died at Little Rock upon the following day; Marmaduke was put under arrest, but, his services being valuable, he was
fifteen

shortly afterward released. During the fall of 1864, Major Rapley and Captain Belden, who were members of the Confederate General J. F. Fagin's staff, whose command was operating in Missouri at the time, became involved in a quarrel which resulted in a duel with revolvers, at
fifteen

paces;

terms, to
fire at will.

fire

at the

word and then

place near
fired

advance and

The duel took

morning.

Independence,

early in the

Rapley

in quick succession, but

made no

advance.

Belden,

however, took seemingly deadlier aims at his antagThe latter was onist, and advanced at every shot. hit, though, early in the combat, and reeled like a

drunken man and

last
fell

at

fired unsteadily, of course; and at the feet of Rapley, after throwing his

weapon away and

"

crying,

My

God!

killed for not hitting a

man

as close as this."

ought to be Belden

was shot through and through, but recovered. A singular affair was that between Lieutenant Lanier, of Bishop and General Folk's staff, and a wagonmaster of the same (Confederate) corps. Lanier was a very dressy but a gallant fellow, and while executing some order, or attempting to, he incurred the dis-

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

who

373

pleasure of an irascible wagon-master, one morning, said menacingly to Lanier, "If you didn't have

on so much gold braid, I'd challenge you to fight." " You would, eh ?" replied Lanier, who at once tore off his jacket and added, "Come on, then; we're equal !" In ten minutes the parties had taken their positions, with revolvers, at twelve paces, and at the first shot Lanier fell severely wounded.

374

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XIX.
CONTINUED.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

The Cilley-Graves
the Duello
Affair near
in

Washington

Noted Fatal Duel

Sacrifices his

the
of

United States

Moloch of Punctilio A Duel between Congressmen who had Nothing against Each Other A Cruel Performance An Investigation of the Event by a Congressional Committee The Committee Present a Resolution of Expulsion of Mr. Graves and One of Censure of Messrs. Jones and Wise The Real Instigator of One of the Most Cruel and Inexcusable Duels on Record left to the Chastisement of the Law and of Public Opinion.
to the

upon a Point Noble Life

Honor

The Third Most Combat under Grand Old Gentleman

THE

third most noted fatal duel which has taken

place in the United States was that unfortunate and cruel affair between Hon. Jonathan Cilley (M.C.

from Maine) and Hon. William J. Graves (M.C. from Kentucky), which took place near the National Capital, in Maryland (on the road to Marlborough), on the
24th of February, 1838. Mr. Cilley was attended by Hon. George

W. Jones

(M.C. from Tennessee), and Mr. Graves by Hon. Henry A. Wise (M.C. from Virginia). There were also present Congressmen Crittenden and Menefee of Kentucky, Congressman Duncan of Ohio, and Congressman Bynum of North Carolina.

Mr. Cilley, the noble old gentleman, sacrificed his valuable life to the hideous Demon of ceremonial

"honor."

"No

one can peruse the report of

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

375

the committee which investigated the affair without condemning, in particular, the action of one of the

gentlemen connected with this devilish performance," declared a writer of the Baltimore press at that time. The affair originated in certain words spoken by Mr. Cilley in the House of Representatives and which reflected upon General James Watson Webb, editor of the New York Courier and Enquirer. Mr. Graves was at first the bearer of a note from General Webb to Mr. Cilley, which Mr. Cilley declined to receive, whereupon a correspondence took place between Messrs. Graves and Cilley, resulting in a challenge from Mr. Graves. The duel was fought with rifles, at eighty yards. The gentlemen were placed at about a quarter past three in the afternoon, when they exchanged Mr. Cilley fired first, and Mr. Graves one or shots.

two seconds afterward, and both missed. After the first fire some argument occurred between the seconds of the parties and their respective principals, with a view to closing the meeting at this point if possible. No satisfactory arrangement could be reached, however, and the second exchange of shots took place, with the same result. Mr. Graves persisting and demanding another shot, the rifles were again loaded, the parties resumed their stations, and the third fire took place, which was the last, as Mr. Cilley was shot through the body. He dropped his rifle, beckoned to one near him, and exclaimed, " I am shot !" then, putting both his hands to his wound, fell, and expired in
three minutes.

"Major Ben Perley Poore, in his Reminiscences, says

of this duel:

Mr.

Cilley, in a

speech delivered

in

the House of Repre-

sentatives, criticised a charge of corruption

brought against

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

some unmarried Congressmen in a letter published in the New York Courier and Enquirer over the signature of " A Spy
in Washington," and endorsed in the editorial columns of that paper. Mr. James Watson Webb, the editor of the Courier and Enquirer, immediately visited Washington, and sent a challenge to Mr. Cilley by Mr. Graves, with whom he

had but a slight acquaintance. Mr. Cilley declined to receive the hostile communication from Mr. Graves, without making any reflections on the personal character of Mr.

Webb.

Mr. Graves then

felt

himself bound, by the unwrit-

ten code of honor, to espouse the cause of Mr. Webb, and challenged Mr. Cilley himself. The challenge was accepted,

and the preliminaries were arranged between Mr. Henry A. Wise, as the second of Mr. Graves, and Mr. George W. Jones, Rifles were selected as the as the second of Mr. Cilley. weapons, and Mr. Graves found difficulty in obtaining one, but was finally supplied by his friend Mr. Rives of the Globe. The parties met, the ground was measured, and the combatants were placed. On the third fire Mr. Cilley fell, shot through the body, and died almost instantly. Mr. Graves, on seeing his antagonist fall, expressed a desire to render him some assistance, but was told by Mr. Jones, My friend is dead, sir!" Mr. Cilley, who left a wife and three young children, was a popular favorite, and his tragic end caused a great excitement all over the country. Mr. Webb was generally blamed for having instigated the fatal encounter cerMr. Graves was tainly, he did not endeavor to prevent it. never afterward re-elected indeed no man who has killed another in a duel has ever been elected to office in Kentucky.
'
:

This was a combat, says Mr. Sabin, under the upon a mere point of honor. There was no difficulty and there had been no difficulty between Messrs. Graves and Cilley at any time. Even upon the ground, after an exchange of shots, the latter declared that he entertained for Mr. Graves " the Mr. Sabin, in highest respect and most kind feelings.
duello
1 '

his description of the duel, says further

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

Mr. Cilley
fell

377

mortally wounded, with these sentiments has been suggested that, as there was no personal animosity between these gentlemen, a single fire should have satisfied Mr. Graves, and that by twice renewing

upon

his lips.

It

the challenge the duel was pushed to an unusual, perhaps to an unjustifiable, extremity. Possibly the intimation is not destitute of force. But since no condemnation of the
course pursued has been pronounced by persons versed in the duello, and since the affair was actually conducted

throughout by persons of this description, we are required to believe that Mr. Cilley was slain in accordance with the code. In this view of the case, how very deplorable the law which demanded, or seemed to demand, two members of the national councils, of unquestioned character, to meet in a combat which, under the circumstances, was almost sure to The terminate only with the fall of one or both of them challenge was given because Mr. Cilley declined to accept a note from Colonel Webb, borne by Mr. Graves, " on grounds which would exonerate Mr. Graves from all responsibility growing out of the affair." This Mr. Cilley could not do without an admission that, in his remarks in the House relative to Colonel Webb, he had slandered that gentleman and thus, as said Mr. Williams of Maine, in announcing his death in the Senate, " he accepted the call, because the act
!
;

was indispensable to avoid disgrace to himself, to his family, and to his constituents." The decease of Mr. Cilley was announced in both Houses of Congress on the 26th of February, and his remains were interred from the Hall of Representatives on the next day. On the ist of March a committee of seven members of the House was appointed "to investigate the causes which led to his death, and the circumstances connected therewith."

The report of this committee was made on the 25th of April, and was very elaborate and comprehensive, concluding as follows:
in

This concurrent testimony of all, without exception, taken connection with the written correspondence, the various

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

propositions and answers on the field, and the further fact that Mr. Cilley had not been informed that Mr. Graves had

undertaken to repeat to others any verbal communication between them, or that any misapprehension or misunderstanding existed between them on that subject, utterly repels the suggestion that any question of veracity had arisen, or had been made, or was the cause of the challenge or the death of Mr. Cilley. Indeed any misapprehension on that subject would have given no more just ground of animosity, and least of all of the highly vindictive feelings necessarily aroused by a question of veracity, than the very evident misapprehension which Mr. Graves labored under

some parts of the note of James Watson Webb which he was the bearer. The committee will not, in justice to Mr. Graves, harbor the belief that there were rankling secretly in his bosom any vindictive or hostile feelings toward Mr. Cilley growing out of any question of personal veracity, and prompting him to carry on a deadly warfare under another pretext, not only without a direct and explicit disclosure of the real cause of difficulty, such as would have left no misapprehension on the mind of any one, but under circumstances which misled the other party and his friends, and left him, under that false impression, to the forfeit of his life. The committee have therefore come to the conclusion that the words spoken by Mr. Cilley in debate in the House of Representatives, the refusal of Mr. CiTley to receive a demand for explanation of those words, and his refusal to assign any other reason for it than that he chose to be drawn into no difficulty upon the subject, were the causes which led to the death of Mr. Cilley, under the circumstances which have been substantially detailed. It remains to inquire whether there has been a breach of the privileges of the House.
in regard to

of

It is a breach of the highest constitutional privileges of the House, and of the most sacred rights of the people in the person of their representative, to demand in a hostile manner an explanation of words spoken in debate; to be

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

379

the bearer of such a demand; to demand a reason for refusing to receive it, beyond the mere voluntary election of
the
in

member

interrogated

or to demand, under any circum-

stances,

can be questioned it, without subjecting himself to great disadvantage in the estimation of many, and impairing his influence and his usefulness as a member. It is a still more aggravated breach of the privileges of the House, and of the rights of the people in

any reason at all. a hostile way, and put to

No member

his plea,

and yield to

the person of their representative, to challenge a member,

and to slay him such demand.

in

It is

combat, for refusing to comply with any the highest offence which can be com-

dom

mitted against either House of Congress, against the freeof speech and of debate therein, against the spirit and

the substance of that constitutional provision that for any speech or debate in either House the members shall not

be questioned in any other place, and violates essentially the

right of perfect immunity elsewhere for words spoken in debate here which is essential to the independence of Congress and to the existence of constitutional liberty.

And when

this offence

is

committed by a member,

it

calls

for the exercise

its rights purge and privileges, and to preserve inviolable this immunity which is guaranteed by the Constitution, not for the sake of the individual, but for his constituents and for the

of the highest powers of the itself of the evil, to maintain effectually

House

to

country.

The
tion.

present case

is

without any circumstance of extenua-

member

of the House, in a

manner most

strictly

parliamentary, on an occasion most appropriate, in language most decorous and moderate, in defence of the honor of the House against an anonymous and unfounded charge of
corruption, had alluded to the published records of former proceedings with perfect truth and accuracy had, in obe;

dience to his duty, declined a hostile demand for explanation in a manner in which the committee can discover no

cause of offence; had, respectfully, with expressions of regret, declined to admit the right to interrogate him

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

further; had disclaimed all disrespect, directly or indirectly, toward his antagonist, and avowed for him the highest reand after all this, avowed spect and the kindest feelings without hostility, and against the strongest protestations of others, he was required fatally to expose himself to the third discharge of a rifle. On the other hand, Mr. Graves, a member of the House, voluntarily and unnecessarily became the
;

bearer of a

demand upon another member

;

in

attendance for

explanation of words spoken in debate he presented it in the House, while the House was in session he demanded a
;

reason for the refusal, beyond the voluntary election of that member to be drawn into no difficulty upon the subject which being withheld, he then challenged him in this city, and slew him in this vicinity, while Congress was in session.
;

Every step of Mr. Graves in this progress involved him deeper and deeper in a breach of the privileges of the House, until their destruction was consummated in the person of Mr. Cilley. The eye of reason can discover in the whole course of Mr. Cilley no offence toward those who pursued him except that given by alluding to the records of Congress, in the faithful and upright discharge of his duty as a member, which justly could have given no offence at Nor can his death be vindicated or excused by any all. circumstance whatsoever, not even by that custom, the relic of unenlightened and barbarous ages, which was formerly supposed to be a proof of some degree of physical courage, but is in fact a signal monument of the want of the higher attribute of moral courage; which has, in these modern times, degenerated into a game of chance and a scramble for undue advantages; which can furnish no criterion for truth, justice, or honor, and deals out its inflictions of misery most severely upon the unoffending and the helpless; which is deeply deplored by all men, even those who submit to it, and is forbidden, in every stage of it, by all law, human and divine. It is not necessary, on the present occasion, to go into any consideration of the general power of the House to punish for breach of privilege, or to inquire into the origin and

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

381

foundation of that power over contempts which has been

asserted by the Parliament of Great Britain from time im-

memorial, by every legislative body, by every judicial tribunal from the highest to the lowest, and repeatedly by one or the other House of Congress, and has been recognized as existing in the House of Representatives by the Supreme Court of the United States. Whether it be a power necessary to the continued existence of the legislative body or a power necessary to the free exercise of its legislative functions,
it is

in either case a necessary power, strictly

granted

by the Constitution, and as fully granted as if it were literBut in the case of members the Constitually expressed.
expressly granted the power to punish for disorderly conduct, and has also expressly granted the power, with the concurrence of two thirds, to expel a member for any cause which two thirds of the House may deem sufficient.

tion has

The committee,
rights

therefore,

viewing the

breach of

the

and privileges of the House on the part of Mr. Graves to have been an offence of this high character, against the vital principle of a deliberative assembly and of
representative government, is constrained by a sense of duty to present to the House a resolution that he be expelled therefrom.
It has been decided by the House of Representatives, on a former occasion, that it was a breach of privilege to send a challenge to a member in attendance, or to be the bearer of such challenge. And it is equally so to act as second to the challenger. In the present instance it appears that Mr. Wise had no knowledge of the demand of explanation which was borne by Mr. Graves, and had never seen the paper until after the fatal catastrophe. But having been early consulted by Mr. Graves upon the first letter of Mr. Cilley, and concurring with him in his views of it, he bore the challenge to Mr. Cilley, and he acted throughout as the second of the challenger, advising and insisting that the fight should go on until Mr. Cilley fell. The committee, therefore, deeming him deeply involved, under the circum-

382

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

stances which this case presents, in a breach of the privileges of the House, report a resolution that he deserves the

decided censure of the House, and that he be censured accordingly.

Mr. Jones had no knowledge of the affair until the determination of Mr. Cilley had been formed as to the acceptance of the challenge, and the time, mode, weapon, and other preliminaries of the meeting. But he was the bearer of the acceptance, and acted throughout as the second of the
challenged party; and it is the opinion of the committee that he was thereby involved in a breach of privilege, and
that he be censured therefor.

In regard to the persons not principals nor seconds

who

were present on the

and expressed their opinions at the request of the parties, without having advised, instigated, or procured the meeting, however they might be implicated in the courts of law, the committee entertain doubts how far they would be involved in a breach of privilege and, under
field
;

a strong conviction that the power of the House should be exercised, never in a doubtful case, always with moderation, they content themselves with presenting the facts and cir-

cumstances, so far as those persons are concerned, without

proposing any action thereon.

The committee

entertain

no doubt that James Watson

has been guilty of a breach of the privileges of the House; but they also concur unanimously in the opinion that if there be any real ground to believe that a conspiracy
to assassinate actually existed, as set forth in that atrocious

Webb

paper drawn up by him, signed by Daniel Jackson and William H. Morell, sworn to by the latter, and published in the New York Courier and Enquirer, he be left to the chastisement of the course of law and of public opinion,

and that the House

will consult

its

own

dignity and the

notice.

public interest by bestowing

upon him no further

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

383

CHAPTER

XX.
CONTINUED.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

North Carolina in 1802 Henry S. Foote's Child and General Joor Davis and Leigh Smith and Brank Benjamin Gratz Brown and Thomas Rhett and Cooley Chambers and Lake The C. Reynolds " would not Fate of an Irish Gentleman who Disgrace him"Affairs of self by Marrying the Lady he had Betrayed" Honor" all over the Southern States An "Amphibial"
Fatal Duel in

many Duels Judge

Affair, etc.

FATAL duel which is still spoken of and written North Carolina with mournful interest was that in which ex-Governor Richard Dobbs Spaight The lost his life at the hands of Mr. Stanley. latter had taken offence at a handbill issued by
of in

Spaight repelling certain aspersions made by Stanley (the two gentlemen were running for Congress Stanley on the Republican ticket and Spaight on the Federal), and challenged Spaight, who accepted and was killed. The duel took place on the 5th of September, 1802, behind the Masonic Hall, at Newbern. The parties fought with pistols, at eight paces. At At the second, Spaight's the first fire both missed.
bullet passed through

the collar of Stanley's coat.

They then

again and missed; but at the fourth discharge the ex-Governor received a mortal wound, from the effects of which he died the next day.
fired

Hon. Henry

S.

Foote, an eminent American states

3 $4

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

(deceased), born under the
in

man
lived

shadow

of the Blue

Fauquier County (Virginia), and who honor many important positions, among which were Governor of Mississippi and Senator in
Ridge,
to

Congress, fought four duels, the first with Edmund Winston, at Tuscaloosa (Alabama), in 1827, with pistols, both combatants being wounded at the first fire, Governor Foote in the shoulder and Mr. Winston in the hip. This affair grew out of a personal encounter between Mr. Foote and Stark and Pratt Washington on one side, and Edmund Winston and others of that celebrated family on the other, during which all the participants were more or less injured, the two Washingtons severely. Some few years later Governor Foote and the celebrated S. S. Prentiss had an encounter in the. court-house at Vicksburg (Miss.), arising out of a dispute over a law-case, when Foote threw an inkstand at Prentiss. A challenge to fight a duel followed, of course, and the parties met in Louisiana, on the opposite side of the Mississippi River, and Foote was wounded in the shoulder at the first fire. Shortly afterward indiscreet friends of Mr. Prentiss said things which angered

Governor Foote, and the

to another

latter challenged

Prentiss

encounter.

The challenge was

accepted,

and the parties met, as before, with pistols, at ten paces, and Foote fell with a severe wound in the right leg, just above the knee, from which he narrowly escaped death. From this time on, until the death of Mr. Prentiss, these former foes became inti-

mate

and

affectionate

friends,

neither ceasing

to

regret that, as

young and impulsive men, they had

twice met in deadly conflict over a trivial quarrel, in obedience to the then pretty general public senti-

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

ment
an
of

385

that country

insulted

man must

(now happily obsolete) that vindicate his honor by

endeavoring to take the life of the offender. The Governor's fourth affair, a few years later, was with Osman Claiborne (a retired naval officer), near Columbus (Miss.). The parties fired at each other five times with pistols, Governor Foote wounding his antagonist slightly three times. This affair, like all the other of his combats of this character, occurred when Governor Foote was a man much below midIt is a curious fact, too, that he knew dle age. almost nothing of the use of duelling-weapons and was really a miserable shot, and would have regretted in bitter agony to the day of his death had it ever been his misfortune to have slain a fellow-man. He was often heard by his intimates to say that the bravest and most lovable as well as the most solidly and brilliantly intellectual man he had ever known was the gallant and eloquent Prentiss, who went .to Two sons and Mississippi from the State of Maine. a daughter (Mrs. Senator William M. Stewart) of the late Governor Foote reside at present in California. Mr. Foote in his " Bench and Bar of the South and " Southwest makes note of a number of hostile meetings which have taken place among those men of whom he writes but does not present dates thus: In Mississippi, between Judge Child and General Child was accompaJoor, without regular seconds. nied to the rendezvous by a " mulatto body-servant, who drove a vehicle of some kind to the field of combat loaded down with muskets and pistols, which he was to hand out to his master as the exigencies of the battle might render necessary." Joor was a native of South Carolina, and was an ardent admirer of Cal-

386

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

houn. Child was a brilliant New-Englander. Both were severely wounded. Subsequently, near Woodville (Miss.), Mr. Leigh (son of Benjamin Watkins Leigh, of Virginia) and Colonel Fielding Davis met in a duel, and Leigh was killed on the spot. About the same time Calvin M. Smith and Robert M. Brank fought in Kentucky, and the latter was slain; while Smith, who was the challenged party, was indicted for murder and stricken from the roll of
attorneys.

Early in the century a meeting took place near Augusta (Georgia) between Captain Robert Flournoy, an ex-officer of the Revolutionary army, and Thaddeus Holt, a prominent Georgian. Both gentlemen were distinguished shots; so the news of the

impending combat spread far and near, and the duel was fought in the presence of many spectators. The combatants met with holster-pistols, at ten paces, and at the first fire both fell, Holt mortally and Flournoy severely wounded: Holt's tongue was cut off by Flournoy's bullet, while the missile from Holt's weapon ploughed a furrow in Flournoy's forehead and
took off part of his Lieutenant- Colonel
left ear.

short time after this

(a brother

Thomas ^Flournoy

of

Robert), of Jackson's army, fought at Bladensburg and wounded his antagonist. Colonel Flournoy, of San Francisco, who distinguished himself in the Confederate service, is a grandson of Captain Flournoy above named. In 1861, on Bloody Island, opposite St. Louis, Hon. Benjamin Gratz Brown and Hon. Thomas C. Reynolds met with pistols, and Brown was wounded in

the leg at the

first fire.

In

New

Orleans, in 1877, R.

Barnwell Rhett and Judge William Cooley met with

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

387

shotguns, loaded with bullets to fit the guns, at thirty In paces, and the latter was killed at the first fire.

on the banks of the river opposite Vicksburg Henry Chambers and William A. Lake both very popular citizens of Vicksburg, and the latter a leading member and vestryman of the Episcopal Church and a man of large family met with rifles at forty paces, and Mr. Lake was shot dead at the first fire. In 1824, or thereabouts, Emil Johns, an Austrian musician, married into a good family of New OrIn the same family lived an Irish gentleman leans. named McAdam. McAdam had betrayed a young lady of the family, and Johns called the Irish gentleman to account, and said to him, " Mr. McAdam, you
1860,

must make the only reparation that lies power to make you must marry your
"

in

your

victim."

Impossible

should be disgraced."
"

must

fight, sir !"

With whom

?"

"

Then you With the gentle-

"

" I shall be standing before you, sir." only too happy to accommodate you." The parties met near Lake Pontchartrain upon the following morning, with pistols, and the bullet from the musician's weapon sped directly through the heart of the Irish gentleman who would not disgrace himself by marrying the

man

lady he had betrayed. In 1842 A. Ledoux and M. Chevremont fought near New Orleans with smallswords, and Chevremont was killed. In 1838, near New Orleans, after a long correspondence, Mandeville
pistols, at thirty paces, the

Marigny and A. Graihle met with terms of which were as

follows: Each man to have a loaded pistol in each hand, and each to advance ten paces and fire between the words " Fire one, two, three, four, five,
!

six, seven,

eight, nine, ten, eleven, twelve, thirteen,

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

fourteen, fifteen, sixteen, seventeen, eighteen, nineneither party to cry enough until teen, twenty"

twenty had been counted.

his antagonist
fell,

Marigny severely wounded.

five paces,

fired first

and

Then Marigas to say,

' '

ny advanced another
ing weapon " Don't you dare to
is

pointing his remainuntil

at the fallen

man, as much

make a movement

twenty

reached." Marigny became a high officer in the Confederate army during the War of the Rebellion.
In Alabama, in 1854, political difficulties sent Dr. Fant and F. W. Irby into the field with pistols, and the latter was killed at the first fire. In Charleston in Hall and Mr. Mr. Leckie, with 1852, (S. C.), In South Carolina, in revolvers Mr. Leckie killed. the former wounded. 1849, Mr. Levy and Dr. McCain In Kentucky, in 1852, F. S. McKee and Joseph Murphy, with pistols both severely wounded at the

fourth shot.

In Georgia, in 1829,

Henry G. Nixon
of Savannah,

was

killed at the first fire

fled the

by an attorney

who
Gray

country. In Indiana, in 1849, J onn T. and Henry C. Pope (of Louisville, Ky.), with

shotguns loaded with single balls, at twenty paces In Pennsylvania, in the latter mortally wounded. and A. L. Snowden W. G. 1854, Ready, with rifles the
latter severely

wounded.

In

New

Orleans, in 1851,

William Cummings and Henry Bouligny, with pistols

the latter killed. At Shreveport, in 1849, Dr. Green In and Hon. D. Hester, with rifles both killed. Florida, in 1833, Attorney-General Campbell became involved in a political difficulty and was killed in a In North Carolina, in 1852, W. J. Keith and duel. met with pistols, and the former was Dantzler M. O. At Bladensburg, in 1821, a clerk wounded. badly in the Treasury Department named Randall met

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

another Washingtonian named Fox with
eight paces, and the
latter
pistols, at
fire.

was

killed at the first

In Mississippi, in 1851, General Smith and General Freeman, candidates for Congress, fired five times
at each other,

when Freeman's

bullet took effect

and

the duel was terminated.

S.

In Kentucky, in 1851,

W.

Stinet

wounded.
vant and
killed
J.

and Robert Mars, with pistols both In South Carolina, in 1853, John DunoDavidson Legare, with pistols the latter
first

at

the

shot.

In Georgia, in 1832,

J.

J.

Camp and Lowell Woolfolk, with rifles the latter instantly killed and the former mortally wounded at the first fire. In Florida, in 1853, Mr. Collins and Mr.
Winters
Joseph
B.

the

latter

killed.

In

Georgia,
C.

in

1854,

Coker and Claudius

Stewart,

with

double-barrelled shotguns, at sixty paces Stewart In Kenseverely wounded at the first discharge. tucky, in 1852, B. Johnson and T. White, with doublethe
barrelled shotguns, at forty paces the latter killed at first fire. In North Carolina, in 1827, Members of

Congress Carson and Vance, with

killed.

rifles

the

latter

1852, Mr. Stowe and Jersey, Mr. Townly, with pistols both wounded at the first In Kentucky, in 1849, Mr. Smith and Mr. fire. In Alabama, in Singer, with pistols both wounded. 1854, W. H. Bowlingly and Charles Roman, with pis-

In

New

in

tols

Bowlingly wounded.

In

New

Orleans, in 1852,

a desperate duel was fought with knives between Pedro Tastra and another dealer in fish named Pages. The combat lasted nearly an hour, at the expiration of which time Tastra fell dead, having been literally cut to pieces. Pages was afterward tried for murder and convicted of manslaughter, but was quickly

pardoned.

In 1853, in the

same

city,

young man

39

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

named Lessess was killed in a duel with pistols by a former friend aged nineteen. In 1855 two NewYorkers named
J.

B. Breckinridge

and

F.

Leavenworth

quarrelled at the Shakespeare Club, and in a few days afterward met at or near Niagara Falls with pistols,

and wounded each other at the first In the winter of 1859, at Denver (Colorado), befire. tween Lewis Bliss, of New York, and Dr. Stone, of Ohio,
at eight paces,

with shotguns, at thirty paces (ounce balls), the latter mortally wounded at the first fire. In the summer of 1859, at Denver, between Richard Whitsett and Park McClure, with navy revolvers, the latter slightly wounded in the thigh. Whitsett had never fired a
life, and declined to practise even after had been arranged while McClure had the reputation of being an expert with a pistol, and made some good shots at a mark the evening preceding the

pistol in his

the duel

hostile meeting.

The
of

following, from a
26, 1884,

February

maybe
latest

Chattanooga (Tenn.) paper properly termed an "am-

tragedy of consequence in took place yesterday on a river country steamboat between J. W. Watts and Henry Wilson. It seems that the belligerents, while on deck, engaged in a quarrel and grasped each other. Then both drew
this section of

phibial" duel:

"The

knives and slashed

in the scuffle

four to six terrible stabs.

away until each had received from They finally clinched and got near the guards, when Wilson made

a desperate effort to throw his antagonist overboard. Watts hung on to him with a deathly grip, however, and both went into the waves embraced in a deadly

They sank and rose to the surface apart each but, trying to stay above the water by holding
struggle.

.VOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

39 1

checkeo^ boat sent to their rescue. We doubt if there is another duel like it on record." The last fatal duel fought in the United States was that between Colonel William M. Shannon and Colonel
E. B. C. Cash, at

the other down, both were at the mercy of the billows which followed the boat, and soon sank to rise no more before the steamer could be and a life-

Du

Bose's

Bridge, in

Darlington

County (South Carolina), on the 6th of July, 1880, in which Shannon was shot through the heart at the first
fire.

number
on the

[Since the above was written there have been a of meetings, as follows: At Dallas (Texas),

1 3th of July, 1884, M. U. Beale and Mr. Bowie, with revolvers; both instantly killed, each receiving The same day Lieubullets in the head and heart. tenant Cunningham and a railroad man named Daly fought at Lozier (Texas) with revolvers at thirty

paces, and third fire.

Cunningham was wounded

On

Captain J. colichemardes
latter

in the leg at the the i6th of July, 1884, at New Orleans, E. Brou and Evariste Poche met with

was wounded

(triangular-shaped swords), and the in the thigh in a scuffle during the

At Emery Gap progress of the second passage. on the of i4th (Tennessee), August, 1884, between M. Staples and W. H. Rogerson, with revolvers at ten
paces; both killed. In Avoyelles Parish (Louisiana),

between J. Ducote and E. Lemoine, with revolvers; Ducote dangerously wounded. At Terrell (Texas), on the loth of August, 1884, William Dougherty and Zachariah Gray, with revolvers; both badly wounded.]

TH-E

FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XXI.
CONTINUED.
David

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

The Fourth Most Noted

Fatal Duel in the United States

C. Broderick and David S. Terry Meet in Deadly Encounter near San Francisco, and the Former Receives a Mortal Wound

Graphic and Detailed Description of the Tragic Affair Colonel The Magnetic Power of E. D. Baker's Great Funeral Oration Broderick His Remains Followed to their Last Resting-Place

by nearly the whole Adult Population of San Francisco "Good Friend! True Heart! Hail and Farewell !" The
Correspondence
in Full

Terms

of the Duel.

THE fourth most noted fatal duel fought in the United States was that which took place near San Francisco on the i3th of September, 1859, and in which Hon. David C. Broderick (United States Senator from California) was mortally wounded by ex-Chief-Justice (of the Supreme Court of CaliforThis was indeed a meeting of nia) David S. Terry.
It was giants physical and intellectual giants. the meeting of two noble men, yet each standing before the other in deadly demeanor, with no hope or

intent but to

kill.

years ago (in 1882) a San Francisco correspondent of the New York Sun wrote to that

Some two

paper what seems to the author to be as impartial and accurate an account of this exciting event as
is possible to obtain for, however much we may sympathize with the living victim of that dreadful
it

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

393

encounter, or to whatever extent we may be willing to extend a Christian pardon, we cannot forget that he killed David C. Broderick the " noblest Roman
of

them

even after he

who

fully forgiven dead, at least by those Californians idolized their noble leader while living, and who
is

all

"

and that he cannot be

mourn his untimely taking off. As we memorial-day" in San Francisco), a sky of spotless blue overhangs Lone Mountain, and away in the distance we can see the handsome shaft which perpetuates the memory of the chivalric being whose remains repose beneath while grouped around the sacred enclosure are the annual pilgrims with their floral offerings, the perfume of which intermingles with the aroma of odorous shrubs and plants and an
continue to
(it is

write

"

atmosphere seemingly freighted with the incomparable spices of far-off Cathay. The following is the account from the Sun
:

the many duels in the early days of California none excited so much interest, and none had such an influence on politics and society, as the fatal meeting between

Among

David C. Broderick and David S. Terry. They were repreOne was a United States Senator, and the other Chief-Justice of the Supreme Court of California. They were filling important niches in the history of the young State. No such political antagonism had existed since the days of Burr and Hamilton. The Republican Party was a healthy infant, and growing rapidly. The State was controlled by a two-winged Democracy. Gwin, Terry, Ashe, Brooks, Ben ham, and others worked the Lecompton wing, and Broderick, the friend of Stephen A. Douglas and an ardent opponent of the extension of slavery, was the soul of the anti-Lecompton wing. He and his followers occupied middle ground between nascent Republicanism and the Southern slave-Democracy. The friends of the
sentative men.

Administration

cherished a

deep

hatred for

Broderick.

394

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

With him out of the way, they might reunite the party on the old basis and control it. Broderick and his friends had thwarted the ambition of the " chivalry." After a desperate
struggle he had secured a seat in the United States Senate, and had brought the haughty Gwin to terms. To retain his own seat in that body, Gwin had given the stonecutter a document pledging himself not to meddle with the official patronage of the Pacific coast. This document was known Broderick had said in a speech that as the "scarlet letter." its writer ought to be as clearly marked for political ostracism as Hester Prynne was socially marked by the initial on her breast. It was a fatal letter. Politicians said that the man who had it in his possession was doomed. The immediate cause of the quarrel grew out of a speech made by Judge Terry before the Lecompton Democratic State Convention in Sacramento in 1859. He called Broderick an arch-traitor.
"

He

said

They

man,
are

[the anti-Lecomptonites] are the followers of one the personal chattels of a single individual whom they

ashamed of. They belong, heart, soul, body, and breeches, to David C. Broderick. They are yet ashamed to acknowledge their master, and are calling themselves, aye,
forsooth,

known
Illinois,

to

Democrats, when it is known, well them as to us, that the gallant Senator from whose voice has always been heard in the advocacy

Douglas

of Democratic principles,

who now

is

not disunited from

the Democratic Party, has no affiliation with them, no feeling in common with them. Mr. President and gentlemen, I

am
but

mistaken
it
is

leader.

in denying their right to claim Douglas as a Perhaps they do sail under the flag of Douglas the banner of the Black Douglass, whose name is in

Frederick, not Stephen."

Broderick read this speech while at breakfast

the In-

ternational Hotel, and grimly smiled. " I see," he remarked to D. W. Perley, a lawyer (born in Woodstock, N. B., and

a friend of the Gwin faction) "that Terry has been abusing me. I now take back the remark that I once made that he I was his is the only honest judge on the Supreme bench.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

friend
sorry.

395
I

when he was

in

need of friends, for which

am

the Vigilance Committee disposed of him as of did others, they would have done a righteous act." they He alluded to Terry's arrest by the Vigilantes in August, 1856, charged with cutting a man named Sterling A. Hop-

Had

attempt to free from arrest Reuben Maloney. died, Terry would probably have hanged. As it was, it took the strongest influence, Masonic, press, and other, to save him from banishment. Perley resented Broderick's remark. He professed to be a warm friend of Judge Terry, and even went so far as to challenge the Senator on his own account. His challenge was curtly declined with the contemptuous remark, " Sir, I fight only with gentlemen of my own position." Perley
kins, in the

Had Hopkins

hurried off

to

Terry and repeated Broderick's slighting

It

remarks.
alight.

The spark did not need fanning. The Judge wrote a letter of inquiry,
:

to

was already which Brod-

erick returned the following reply

"FRIDAY EVENINQ, September 9, 1859. TERRY Yours of this date has been received. The remarks made by me were occasioned by certain offensive allusions of yours concerning me, made in the Convention at Sacramento, and reported in the Union of the 2th of June. Upon the topic alluded to in your note of this
"

Hon. D.

S.

date,

my

language, so far as
' :

my

recollection serves me,

was

as follows

During Judge Terry's incarceration by the Vigilance Committee I paid two hundred dollars a week to support a newspaper in his [your] defence. I have also
stated heretofore that

only honest
back.'

man on

You
"
I

I considered him (Judge Terry] the the Supreme bench. But I take it all are the proper judge as to whether this lan-

guage

affords

good ground
etc.,

for offence.

remain,

D. C. BRODERICK."

" Judge Terry considered the Senator's remarks fighting and there was a resort to talk," the code. Calhoun Benham (now practising law in San Francisco), S. H.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Brooks (State Comptroller at the time), and Thomas Hayes attended to his interests, and Joseph C. McKibben, David
erick.

D. Colton, and Leonidas Haskell acted for Senator BrodAs to the niceties of affairs of honor, the gentlemen
assisted

who

friends.

Terry were much superior to Broderick's McKibben was a Congressman, and probably had

never before participated in a formal duel. D. D. Colton (now dead) had been sheriff of Siskiyou and the hero of many rough-and-tumble fights incident to his office in those Haskell was an every-day man, who dabbled lawless days. in politics without Benham, neglecting his business. Brooks, and Hayes, on the contrary, had figured repeatedly on the field, the latter as principal on one or two occasions. Mr. Broderick was somewhat surprised at the action of Mr.

They had been warm political friends in New Hayes. York, and measurably so in California. Both were of Irish
extraction.

A meeting had been

Francisco counties.

arranged for the I2th of September,

at sunrise, near the boundary-lines of

San Mateo and San

The principals and their friends were all on the ground, when the chief of police, Martin J. Burke, placed them under arrest. They were brought
before Police Justice H. P. Coon, and discharged on the ground that there had been no actual misdemeanor. John A. McGlynn, a brother of a well-known Roman Andrew J. Butler, a Catholic clergyman in New York brother of General B. F. Butler and other friends of He Broderick, had tried to dissuade him from fighting. had listened to all their arguments, and had replied that his mind was made up the duel could not be avoided with honor. He was quiet and composed, but inflexible. It was thought that the arrest would stop further proceedings, but the principals were determined to have it out. The fact that a second meeting was to take place on the following morning was whispered to a few reporters under a promise of secrecy, and at midnight several vehicles left the city and drove toward the Laguna de la Merced, about ten or twelve miles from the city. Here the fight was to
; ;

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

take place.
their

and the drivers frequently lost The breeze from the ocean cut like a knife. As day broke a buggy was descried a short distance ahead, occupied, as we learned on overtaking it, by Henry Fritz, a confidential friend of Broderick. Notwithstanding his excessive corpulence, Fritz was blue with cold, and his teeth rattled like castanets. Another buggy, containing Dr. Hammond, Judge Terry's surgeon, was driven out of a small canon. "All right," was the general exclamation " we are on the track now." The doctor and Fritz laughed in concert. "We thought to throw you
It

was

cold,

way

in

the darkness.

Other carriages were seen coming from different directions and skirting the lake. They all drew up at a rail fence which marked the boundaries of a milkranch owned by one Davis, who rubbed his eyes in sleepy astonishment at such an irruption of visitors. There was not much conversation. One or two remarks were made, and a partisan of Terry's audibly whispered that Broderick might be carried dead from the field. Everybody seemed to feel that to one man, at least, that beautiful day was to be a day of death. Vaulting over the fence, the party went up a valley the centre of which had been selected as the scene of the encounter. Mr. Broderick had slept at the Lake House, near by, and with his friends waS early on the ground. Judge Terry and his friends were also prompt. About eighty spectators were present. The seconds held a conference, and the pistols were examined and loaded. Judge Terry won the choice of weapons by the toss of a half-dollar. Mr. Hayes marked off the prescribed distance, ten paces, and warned spectators
to get out of the line of fire. Meantime the seconds were busied about their principals.
respective

newspaper people find it is no use."

off

the scent," said the doctor, " but

we

The Terry

party were cool and collected, as became old hands at the business. Mr. Broderick's friends were apparently nervous

and

Senator

One incident was not calculated to put the hesitating. in good heart. Mr. Haskell partly untied the

Senator's cravat, and then walked off a few paces, wringing

398
his

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

hands as though overcome by his
feelings.

He

then

returned and removed the neckerchief, Broderick was dressed in a long black surtout, and wore a soft wool hat drawn down over his brow. Terry was similarly When the principals were placed, the punctilios o attired.

Calhoun Benham, Terry's chief the code were observed. second, approached Mr. Broderick, and passed his hands closely over his sides and chest, searching for concealed Mr. McKibben made a similar examination of Terry, mail.
but he only touched his fingers to his waistcoat, bowed and withdrew. It has been thought that Mr. Benham 's action Before this irritated the Senator and impaired his poise. Mr. Broderick had taken some coins from his vest-pocket and passed them to Mr. McKibben. Terry gave his loose

change to Benham, who scattered

sward.

it

contemptuously on the

All things being in readiness, the pistols were cocked and the hair-triggers set by the seconds. They

were then delivered to the combatants. It was observed at this time that Mr. Broderick appeared nervous and ill at
ease.

He

repeatedly twitched the skirts of his surtout, as

though they were in his way. He was also somewhat out Broderick of position, and Mr. McKibben corrected him. closely measured with his eye the ground between himself Benham read the conditions of the meeting, and Terry. and Mr. Colttm followed with instructions as to the firing. He had won the word. Broderick was still nervous, but Terry stood firm and erect, a silhouette against the early morning light. The men held their weapons muzzle downward.
"

moment

of painful silence ensued.

" Gentlemen," said Mr. Colton, in a clear voice, are you but a Both Broderick few seconds. replied, ready?" delayed He then said, " I am ready." " One " There was a report from the Senator's Fire It was answered in a second by Terry's weapon. pistol. Broderick's pistol was discharged before he brought it to a This was probably caused by the fineness of the hairlevel. trigger and his want of familiarity with that particular
!

weapon.

The

bullet buried itself in the ground,

two thirds

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

399

of the distance between himself and his antagonist. It was a splendid line-shot, fallen short of its mark. Broderick had the reputation of being an expert with the pistol, and
this result

With the surprised those who knew his skill. crack of Terry's weapon Broderick winced, turned half " Hard round, and then made an effort to recover himself.
hit," his friends

murmured.

These words were proved by

his unavailing efforts to maintain an upright position. He drooped until finally he fell prone on the ground, with his

pale face toward the sky.

He was

hard

hit.

Juggling in the choice of weapons was openly charged in the newspapers. Bernard Lagoards, the armorer, a Frenchman, loaded Mr. Broderick's pistol, and Mr. Brooks charged the one intended for Judge Terry. The Judge had won the choice, and had chosen a weapon owned by R. Beard, a friend of Dr. Aylette, physician of the Insane Asylum at Stockton. They had been in the Doctor's possession two years. The armorer said that there was a difference in the pistols that used by Senator Broderick carried the lightest bullet. He suggested that the usual mode in choosing weapons was to select those with which both parties were unfamiliar. He asked McKibben why he did not force his principal to use
;

his (the armorer's) pistols.

McKibben

replied that Terry

had won the choice, and the pistols were brought by his seconds. The armorer had never seen the pistols before,
but maintained, in the presence of the seconds, that they He said that they could be discharged by a light. or and even went so far as to say that their hairjar jerk,

were too
triggers

lunged

finely set that the breath of a strongdischarge them. The wounded Senator lay on the sward, with his head supported by his seconds, Colton and Haskell. His surgeon,

might be so

man would

act,

Loehr, was nervous, and seemed uncertain how to and incapable of taking prompt measures. Mr. Broderick's life was ebbing away, and his face was pallid. Mr. Brooks, one of Terry's seconds, advanced, and, on behalf of
Dr.
his principal, tendered the services of his surgeon, Dr.

Von

Ham-

mond.

400
"

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

McKibben, who was

Yes, for God's sake," exclaimed

greatly excited, "send die where he lies !"

some one

here, or Mr. Broderick will

Dr. Hammond then came to Dr. Loehr's assistance, and cut away the wounded man's clothing, exposing his chest and the wound. It was a sorry sight. With every breath arterial blood spurted from the wound in bright jets and

The group surrounding the fallen shuddered. Strength of constitution, fortified by abstemious habits, might enable him to hold death off for a short time, but the brightness of the blood told that he was doomed. The ball entered the right breast between the second and third ribs, passing under the sternum, fracturing the edge, and then took a course over the heart, through the upper lobe of the left lung, striking the fifth rib on the
stained the fair skin.

man

armpit.

and proceeding upward, passed through the left tortuous course was remarkable, and the rending of the vitals must have been terrible. No wonder the Senator was unable to maintain an erect position for a second shot, and no wonder that he sank nerveless to the
left side,

Its

earth. "

Baker," said he, on his dying bed, to his fast friend, the and statesman, and they were the last words he spoke to him, " Baker, I tried to stand firm when I was struck but I could not. The blow blinded me." As soon as Broderick fell, Davis, the owner of the ranch,
orator, soldier,
;

who had been

his
feet

silently regarding the proceedings, started to

and shouted, " That is murder, by God !" He moved toward Terry, as though intending to assault him. He was intercepted by bystanders, who said that it was folly
;

to provoke additional bloodshed. Davis brushed them aside, " I am Broderick's friend I am not going to exclaiming,
see
killed in that way. in avenging his death." "

him

If

you are men, you

will join

me

you are Mr. Broderick's friend, but we know you attack Terry there will be a general fight, and but few will get off this ground alive. Think a moment before you do this thing."
as well that
if

We know

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

40 1

Luckily, this scene was not witnessed, nor the remarks overheard, by any of the Terry partisans, else there would have been a bloody conflict, whether their leader had been

attacked or not.

The milkman was

quieted and sat himself

down, breathing threatenings of slaughter. Terry remained in his place. His arms were folded, and the muzzle of a pistol projected behind him. He stood erect, with face raised and an inquiring look, as though His coolness and awaiting a demand for a second shot. nerve were shown in the remark just after he delivered the " fire The shot is not mortal I have struck two inches to the right." Others say his words were, " Ah I struck him a little too high."
: ;

Being assured of the helpless condition of his antagonist, he moved toward the carriages with his friends and then drove hastily to the city. He went to Stockton, where he owned a ranch, and quietly awaited events. Here he was arrested on the 23d of September by two San Francisco police officers, brought to the city, and put under ten thousand dollars bonds. Mr. Broderick was removed from the ground three quarters of an hour after he was shot, placed on a mattress in a spring wagon, and taken to the residence of his friend Leonidas Haskell, at Black Point. He lingered in great pain until Friday, September 16, and expired at 9.20 in the
morning.

He

did not speak

much during

his

suffering.

and torn breast no breath came without exertion. Words were agony. He felt, to use his own expression, as though a thousand-pound weight was pressing on his chest. But he did utter a sentiment which had great " significance a few years after his death. They have killed " me," he said, because I was opposed to slavery and a corhis rent

From

rupt administration." The death-bed scene was deeply affecting. The viaticum had been given by the priest, Father Maraschi. Around the couch, which had been drawn into the centre of the room,

weeping friends were grouped those who had honored and loved him in life, and were now assembled to witness,

402

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

through their tears, the exit of that great soul that had won men and controlled councils. There were present Mr. and Mrs. Haskell, the Misses McDougall, Miss Cook, Colonel Edward D. Baker, ex-Governor McDougall, Hon. J. C. McKibben, General Colton, Hon. John Conness, Colonel A. J. Butler, John A. McGlynn, Elliott J. Moore, Herman Wohler, Moses Flannagan, and many others, prominent in social and political life, ^whom he had "grappled to his heart with hooks of steel." Governor McDougall stepped forward and closed the eyes that had looked their last. Editors wrangled over the dead in a way that led to the belief that a feeling of self-interest had mingled with their sorrow. The Times, edited by C. A. Washburne, brother of " E. B. Washburne, seemed to say, See how much greater is my grief for the dead Senator than yours." Many expressions never uttered were credited to Broderick. Washburne was working in the interests of the Republican Party. The Alia and Call mourned without stint, while the Bulletin
lost sight of individuals in

considering the superior question

The Herald (Lecompton) had no of the morale of duelling. It criticised only the mode of the killtears for the fallen.
ing,

and patted Terry on the back. brought out this reply

:

One

of

its

articles

Herald this morning we are reported as saying, there was any advantage on either side it was surely with Mr. Broderick.' have not made this statement, nor, at the same time, have we imputed any unfairness to
'

" In the
if

And

We

Judge Terry or his seconds. Further, we have passed no judgment on the press and its peculiar views as to the unfortunate affair, our duty being simply to correct statements emanating either from the friends of Mr. Broderick or Mr. Terry not warranted by the facts. This we have done in all cases. The Herald of this morning contains the most serious misstatement we have yet seen. Mr. Broderick had not the choice of weapons, nor were his friends aware, until the publication of the Herald, that one weapon was easier on

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

403

the trigger than the other. Had we believed there was any unfairness there could have been no meeting.

"Jos. C.
"

McKiBBEN, DAVID D. COLTON.

"SAN FRANCISCO, September

From
was

16,

1859."

wounded the whole Every consideration was subordinate to anxiety as to his condition. His death was a public calamity. The remains were brought to the Union Hotel, corner of Kearny and Merchant streets, where they lay in i8th. state amid pyramids of flowers until Sunday, the Crowds of citizens awaited the body. Among others an old man walked up to the coffin, with hands crossed over his He touched the forehead of the chest, whispering a prayer. Your soul's in dead, and murmured, "God bless you! God bless you heaven California has this day lost her
the time that Broderick was
city
in

mourning.

noblest son."

Then, reverently crossing himself, he walked slowly away. incident is cited as an example of Broderick's peculiar power in creating a following aside from those who looked to him for patronage. This magnetic power was the bedrock of his political strength. He inspired affection other

The

than that of mere gratitude. The funeral took place at half-past one o'clock on Sunday afternoon. Before the procession moved, Colonel Edward D. Baker took a conspicuous place on the plaza, known as Portsmouth Square, opposite the hotel, and in the presence of a concourse that embraced nearly the entire adult popuulation of the city pronounced a funeral oration. The beauty and magnificence of this tribute to a dead friend are historical. The orator's voice was heard far and wide, and those who crowded the streets leading to the plaza, for blocks away, caught his words distinctly. The peroration

was as follows " But the last words must be spoken, and the imperious mandate of death must be fulfilled. O brave heart, we
:

4O4

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

;

bear thee to thy rest thus surrounded by tens of thousands we leave thee to the equal grave. As in life no other voice among us so rang its trumpet-blast upon the ear of freedom, so in death its echoes will reverberate amid our mountains

and our valleys

heart.

until truth

and valor cease to appeal to

the

human

" The earth may ring from shore to shore With echoes of a glorious name, But he whose loss our tears deplore Has left behind him more than fame. For when the death-frost came to lie Upon his warm and mighty heart, And quenched his bold and friendly eye, His spirit did not all depart. His love of truth, too warm, too strong For hope or fear to chain or chill; His hate of tyranny and wrong, Burn in the hearts he kindled, still.
"

Good

friend

True heart

Hail and farewell

"
!

The San Francisco Evening

following in
difficulty that
self,

Bulletin contained the

17,

its

issue of

September

1859:

The following statement

is from Mr. Perley, detailing the occurred between Senator Broderick and him-

at the International Hotel,

:

which

directly

was the cause

of the fatal duel " I was

sitting at the breakfast-table of the International

Hotel, directly by the side of Mrs. Colonel James. Her husband sat on the other side of her. Directly opposite sat Selover and Broderick. I spoke to both politely and took

and then commenced a conversation with Mrs. then addressed himself to me as follows Broderick James. Your friend Terry has been abusing me at Sacramento.' " I said, 'What is it, Mr. Broderick?' " The miserable wretch, after being kicked He replied out of the convention, went down there and made a speech abusing me. I have defended him at all times when all

my

seat,

'

'

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

others deserted him.
I

405

paid and supported three newsdays, get from the d d miserable have conferred on him. I have
I

papers to defend

him during the Vigilance Committee

I

and

this

is

all

the gratitude

wretch for the favors

hitherto spoken of him as an honest man as the only honest man of a miserable, corrupt Supreme Court but

now
"
I

find
'

was mistaken.

I
:

take
'

it all

back.'
it

then spoke as follows wretch ?

"
"

Who

is

you speak of as a

He
I

'

said,
'

Terry.'
I

will inform the Judge of the language you have used concerning him.' " He said, Do so I wish you to do so. I am responsisaid,
'
;

ble for
"
I

it.'

then

said,

'You would not dare to use

'

this

language
' !

to him.'
"

He

sneered at
'

this,
sir,

I replied, shall not use

"

No,
it

and echoed me Would not dare you would not dare to do it, and you
concerning him.
I

shall hold you " have used.' you having been present on the occasion, and we submitted the above statement to him, with the request that he would correct anything in it according to his memory of the occurrence. Mr, Selover stated that the whole language used by Mr. Broderick was in an undertone of voice, he Broderick with his body across a narrow table in the direction of Perley. " Mrs. Selover, who sat on my right, did not hear what Mr. Broderick Mr. Broderick had but a few said on the occasion. moments before read in the Sacramento Union Judge Terry's offensive remarks in the convention. When Mr.

to

me

personally responsible for the language Mr. Perley mentions Mr. Selover as

Perley retired from the table I expressed my regret at what had occurred, to which Mr. Broderick replied that he was provoked into it by the remarks of Judge Terry upon him." Selover says " I have been induced to make this statement only by the fact that Judge Terry's friends have gone beyond the record, which is shown by the correspondence previous to the duel to have contained all the language
:

406

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

at. Statements having been subsequently made that Mr. Broderick had used violent language in the presence of ladies, and I being a more intimate personal friend of his than Colonel James, who sat directly opposite to me at the table, the latter gentleman was requested to make a statement of what occurred, which was done." Major Selover also said in his statement that he " had no recollection of the word "damned being used on that occasion, as he sat directly opposite, and, had it been used, he must have heard it.

Judge Terry had to take offence

In the Democratic Standard (Sacramento, September 16, 1859) appeared the following correspondence,

which preceded the duel between Mr. Broderick and

'Judge Terry:

To the

Public.

recent hostile meeting between Messrs. Broderick and Terry has attracted much public attention, and has been the subject already of many misstatements in the newspapers,
it is

As the

between those gentlemen.

logical order.

deemed necessary to publish the correspondence The papers are in their chrono-

CALHOUN BENHAM, THOMAS HAYES.

Terry
to Broderick.

OAKLAND,
:

Sept.

8,

1859.

Hon. David C. Broderick. SIR Some two months ago, at the public table of the International Hotel, in San Francisco, you saw fit to indulge in certain remarks concerning me which were offensive in their nature. Before I heard of the circumstances, your
note of the 29th of June, addressed to D. W. Perley, in which you declared that you would not respond to any call
of a personal character during the political canvass just concluded, had been published. I have, therefore, not been permitted to take any notice of those remarks until the exI now take the earlipiration of the limit fixed by yourself.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

my

407

est opportunity to require of you a retraction of those remarks. The note will be handed to you by friend

Calhoun Benham, Esq., who and will receive your reply.

[Signed]

is

acquainted with

its

contents,

D. S. TERRY.

Benham

to Broderick.

SAN FRANCISCO, Sept. 8, 1859. Hon. David C. Broderick. SIR Should you have occasion to communicate sooner than the time agreed upon between us, I will be found at
:

the Metropolitan Hotel.

omitted to leave

my

address this

morning.

Very respectfully your obedient servant,

[Signed]

CALHOUN BENHAM.
Broderick
to Terry.

SAN FRANCISCO,
:

Sept.

9,

1859,

Hon. D. S. Terry. SIR Your note of September 8 reached me through the hands of Calhoun Benham, Esq. The remarks made by me
in the conversation referred to may be the subject of future misrepresentation, and, for obvious reasons, I have to desire you to state what the remarks were that you designate in your note as offensive and of which you require from me a

retraction.

remain,

etc.,

[Signed]

D. C. BRODERICK.

Terry

to

Broderick.
Sept.
9,

SAN FRANCISCO,
Hon. D. C. Broderick. SIR In reply to your note the offensive remarks which
:

1859.

of this date
I

alluded to in
:

have to say that my communica-

" I have heretofore contion of yesterday are as follows sidered and spoken of him [myself] as the only honest man

on the Supreme Court bench, but

thus, by implication, reflecting on
integrity.

now

take

it

all

back"

This

is

personal and official the substance of your remarks, as re-

my

408

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

ported to me. The precise terms, however, in which such an implication was conveyed are not important to the quesYou yourself can best remember the terms in which tion. you spoke of me on the occasion referred to. What I require is the retraction of any words which were used calculated to reflect on my character as an officer or a

gentleman.
I

remain your obedient servant,

D. S. TERRY.

[Signed]

Broderick

to Terry.

FRIDAY EVENING,
:

Sept.

9,

1859.

Hon. D. S. Terry. SIR Yours of this date has been received. The remarks made by me were occasioned by certain offensive allusions
of yours concerning

me made
in the

in

the convention at Sacra25.

mento and reported

Union of June

Upon

the

topic alluded to in your note of this date, my language, so far as my recollection serves me, was as follows
:

"During Judge Terry's incarceration by the Vigilance Committee I paid two hundred dollars a week to support
tofore, that

a newspaper in his [your] defence. I have also stated, hereI considered him [Judge Terry] the only honest man on the Supreme bench; but I take it all back." You are the proper judge as to whether this language

affords

good ground

for offence.

[Signed]

remain, etc., D. C. BRODERICK.

Terry to Broderick.

SAN FRANCISCO,
Hon. D.
SIR:
C. Broderick.

Sept. 10, 1859.

Some months ago you used language concerning

its

waited the lapse of a period I asked reparation therefor You replied, asking a specification of the at your hands. language used which I regarded as offensive. In another letter I gave you the specification, and reiterated my deoffensive in

me

nature.

of time fixed

by yourself before

mands

for

retraction.

To

this

last

letter

you

reply,

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

to you, and not

409

acknowledging the use of the offensive language imputed

making the retraction required. This course on your part leaves me no alternative but to demand the satisfaction usual among gentlemen, which I
will

accordingly do. Mr. Benham

make

the

necessary

arrangements.
D. S. TERRY.

Your obedient
[Signed]

servant,

Broderick

to Terry.

SAN FRANCISCO,
:

Sept. 10, 1859.

Hon. D. S. Terry. SIR Your note of the above date has been received at one o'clock A.M., September 10. In response to the same, I will refer you to my friend Hon. J. C. McKibben, who will make the satisfactory arrangements demanded in your
letter.
I

[Signed]

remain, etc., D. C. BRODERICK.

Terms'of the Duel.

Saturday morning, about one o'clock.) Principals to be attended by two seconds and a surgeon each also by a person to load the weapons. This article not to exclude the drivers of the vehicles. If other parties obtrude, the time and place may be changed at the

(Time

1.

instance of either party. 2. Place of meeting

On

the farm adjoining the

Lake

House
Higgins.
3.

ranch

(Laguna

Merced)

occupied

by

William

Weapons

Duelling-pistols.
; ;

Distance Ten paces parties facing each other pistols to be held with the muzzle vertically downward. " Gentlemen, are 5. Word to be given as follows, to wit
4.
:

you ready

" Ready," the word party replying "fire" shall be given, to be followed by the words "One two;" neither party to raise his pistol before the word
?"

Upon each

"fire,"

nor

to

Intervals between

it discharge the words "

after
fire,"

the
"

word
"

"two."

one,"

two," to be

4IO

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

may

exemplified by the party winning the word, as near as

be.
6.

Weapons

to be loaded

on the ground

in the

presence

of a second of each party. 7. Choice of position and the giving of the word to be determined by chance throwing a coin, as usual.
8.

Choice of the two weapons to be determined by chance,

7.

as in article
9.

Choice of the respective weapons of parties to be determined on the ground, by throwing up a coin, as usual that is to say, each party bringing their pistols, and the pair to be used to be determined by chance as in article 7.

On the part of Judge Terry it was protested against the word being stopped short of the word " three," as unusual and unwarrantable. Mr. Broderick's seconds answered the protest in regard to the parties being restrained by the word "two," that it is neither unusual nor unwarrantable, and has
the feature of humanity.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

411

CHAPTER

XXII.
CONCLUDED.

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS

The

Fatal Meeting between Johnston and Furgeson The KewenWoodleif Affair The Fate of the Survivor Hubert and Hunt The Latter Mortally Wounded at the Second Fire Nugent and Jones Thomas and Dixon Shaffer and Wethered Revolvers, Rifles, and Double-Barrelled Shotguns the Favorite Weapons with the Californians Truett and Smith Woodcock and Blackburn Tobey and Crane Lundy and Dibble Hawkins and Dowdigan Dubert and Ellesler Wright and Evans Hacker and Hopkins and Taylor Leggett and Morrison Londen May and Rowe Peachy and Blair Brazer and Park Pinckney and Smith Kelley and Spear Wright and Baird;

and Others.

DUELS were frequent

1859,

in California

from 1850

until

and very frequent from 1851

fatal

until 1854.

The

most notable

next to the BroderickTerry affair was the meeting between George Pendleton Johnston and William I. Furgeson, which took place with pistols, on Angel Island (San Francisco Bay), August 21, 1858, and in which Mr. Furgeson received a mortal wound. Mr. Johnston having died lately, a number of accounts of the unfortunate affair have been published, the following being from the San Francisco Morning Call :
event
laid

the body of George Pendleton Johnston was sorrowing friends for its final rest. With him disappeared one link connecting the old school of

On

Friday

last,

away by

his

412

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

journalism with the new. Allusion has been made during the past week, in all the newspapers of this city, to his duel This was the with State Senator William I. Furgeson.
great controlling event of his career, and is therefore deserving of more than the passing mention it has received. Its influence on his life and character never ceased or abated
until his eyes

were closed

in death.

He was

a changed

man

ever after, and the shadow of that tragic event was to his " " soul like that typified by Poe's mystic Raven ;" the mid-

night dark and dreary" of its coming was to him the fatal anniversary of the duel, when the shadow invariably deepened on his brooding heart. He was a Kentuckian, born and reared among a people whose traditions and sentiments
of

not only accepted the duello, but exalted it as the tribunal honor; and, while he would probably always have -justified to his fellow-men the slaying of any one under its rules, his humane, generous heart could never let him rest in entire peace with himself under the knowledge that a human being

had died through act of

as his antecedents, led

his.

All his surroundings, as well

He was not only born and reared in a State where " the code" was maintained and justified, but he emigrated to one where it was even more resorted to for the settlement of differences. The duello was never more popular anywhere, probably, in the decade from 184910 1859 than in California. ... So many people had fallen or been injured that about 1856 the prachim
to the duel.
tice of duelling fell into disfavor and disuse. Furgeson affair gave it a new impetus, which

The Johnstonculminated in

the killing in 1859 of David C. Broderick by David S. Terry, who resigned the Chief -Justiceship of the State Supreme Court to engage in this famous duel. The parties to the
first

of these

two

affairs

were both prominent men, and the

part each -had taken in the exciting political events of the three preceding years had made them widely known. John-

member of the Assembly, where he had taken a prominent part, among other things of introducing and pushing to passage an anti-duelling act, to give force and effect to the constitutional provision on that subject.
ston had been a

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

He was an
States Senatorship,

4*3

ardent supporter of Dr. Gwin for the United and opposed to the pretensions of Broderick, engaging in that contest with all his ardor and oratorical ability, which was considerable. rendered his decision as United States

In addition, he had Court Commissioner

in the celebrated case of the

negro Archie, which created

much
more

feeling for its bearing on the question of slavery the by reason of its being a ruling by a Southern man in

favor of the negro under one application of the fugitiveslave law and finally he was Clerk of the United States Cir;

Court in San Francisco. Furgeson was a remarkable man, then in the prime of life and the full flush of his splendid talents. The son of a carpenter, born in Pennsylvania, he removed to Springfield, Illinois, where he studied law under Colonel E. D. Baker, and rose to a level at the bar with such associates as Abraham Lincoln, David S. Logan, Baker, and others of that calibre; thence removing to Texas, and finally to Sacramento, in this State, where he took and maintained his position among the brightest men at the bar, excelling especially in the department of criminal law. Possessed of great ambition, a brilliant genius, one of the most eloquent and fascinating orators California has ever held in citizenship, he entered politics, and soon became one of the most conspicuous characters in public life here. Elected to the State Senate on the Know-Nothing ticket, he was in a sense a candidate for the United States Senate in the exciting session of 1855-6, but finally supported General Henry S. Foote, father of our present Railroad Commissioner of that name, upon the General's receiving the caucus nomination of the party. When the defection of Wilson Flint, one of the hold-over Senators from San Francisco, who disregarded his party obligations and refused to vote for General Foote, prevented the latter 's election and enabled Broderick to carry off at the next session the prize for which he strugcuit

gled so long, only to find

it

a disappointing bauble

when

gained, Furgeson distinguished himself by the force of the " recwithering invective with which he denounced the
reant."

Then

Furgeson

became

more

prominent

by

414
renouncing the

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Know -Nothing Party, his constituents his resignation, and his successful canvass for a re-election at the next polling, and lastly, by a remarkademanding
bly able speech on squatter sovereignty shortly before his death, when he followed the Douglas wing of the Democratic Party in the disastrous spirit of that time. Furgeson

had one unfortunate

Like

frailty to

which genius
all

is

often linked.

many

brilliant

men

of that as of

was addicted to strong drink. days he was hilarious to a point quite inconsistent with the dignity of the senatorial character, even drunken senatorial dignity, as understood here a quarter of a century ago, and some of his roystering performances had gained for him the nickname of " Yip-see-Doodle." During the senatorial contest above mentioned, General Foote was thrown into such a transport of rage by a taunting mention of " Yip-see-Doodle," on the part of Colonel A. J. Butler, that he seized his
tormentor, a man twice as large as he, by the collar in a ludicrous effort to shake him. One evening about the middle of August, 1858, Johnston

other times, he In his convivial hours or

and Furgeson met

Street.

in

the old joke by

Bank Exchange saloon on Montgomery

Furgeson, in which the names of ladies, friends of Johnston, were ludicrously introduced, was resented by the latter. Friends High words ensued and weapons were drawn. present interfered and they were parted. Johnston, who believed himself
insulted, sent his friend

W.

P.

Dameron

to

Furgeson the next day to demand an apology or satisfaction in the regular way of the duello. Furgeson refused the apology, was challenged, and accepted. It was first arranged that they should meet near Saucelito, but this was modified, and at five o'clock on Saturday afternoon, August 21, they stood facing each other in hostile attitude in a secluded glen on the east side of Angel Island, near where the quarry now is. Every traveller on the ferry between this city and San Quentin Point has seen the spot. Washington and Damerom were the seconds of Johnston; Eugene L. SulDrs. Hitchcock, Angel, livan and J. M. Estill of Furgeson. and White were in professional attendance, and besides

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

cipals stood

415

these there were quite a number of spectators. The printen paces apart, resolutely waiting the word,
:
!

which was in the usual form "Are you ready? Fire One two three. Stop!" After the interrogatory, both men answered firmly and exchanged shots at the word. Neither was harmed, and by mutual consent the distance was lessened. Again they fired without injury to either. The distance was again shortened, and a third time they fired At the beginning it was agreed that this ineffectually.

should be the limit of the encounter, but Johnston insisted on an apology or a continuation of the fight. Furgeson was firm in refusing any sort of apology, and again the men faced each other, this time but twenty feet apart. The word
grazed,

was given they fired simultaneously. Johnston's wrist was and Furgeson sank into the arms of his seconds, his right thigh shattered by the bullet of his adversary. While he was lying on the ground, undergoing surgical examination, Johnston expressed a wish to give him his hand before quitting the ground. Furgeson faintly replied that he was in the hands of his seconds. Upon their assenting, Johnston advanced and, grasping the hand of his prostrate " Uncle Furg, I'm sorry for you." opponent, said warmly,
;

That's all right," whispered Furgeson whereupon Johnson remarked, " That's enough said between gentlemen," and left the ground with his friends. Furgeson was removed to this city, where he was attended by half a dozen or more
;

"

of the best surgeons here, including Drs. Sawyer, Grey, Coit, Angel, and Bowie. They advised him from the first that his

wound was

a serious one; that with prompt amputation of the limb there were fair chances of his recovery, but without
it a very slim chance. He replied that he would not part with his leg for the whole of California, and that he would

take the solitary slim chance they intimated. slowly the wound began to mortify and when
;

He

sank

finally, on September 14, the amputation of the leg was attempted, he died under the operation. His death created a profound feeling on this coast, for he was recognized as a man of remarkable talents and promise. The body was taken to
;

41 6

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Sacramento for burial. A large delegation of prominent that from it at Benicia and conducted it to met people city the capital. It was laid in state in the Senate chamber,

young

where, carrying out the dying request of his unfortunate friend and pupil, Colonel E. D. Baker pronounced, in the presence of a great assemblage, the funeral oration,

followed by an impressive sermon by Rev. J. A. Benton, of the Congregational Church. A great concourse followed the remains to the grave, and the people of Sacramento erected a handsome monument which yet marks the restingplace of their gifted but unfortunate Senator.

sentiment was

now

largely in

against his slayer, and it unfair because Furgeson

pistol.

Of course the sympathy with Furgeson and was asserted that the duel was
of the use of the

knew nothing

Without expressing an opinion in regard to this, Colonel Baker mentioned it in his funeral oration, stating that Furgeson had never fired a pistol till the day before the
duel. The reply to all this is simply that he, as the challenged party, named the weapons. Before the latter's death Johnston left the city on the U. S. revenue cutter W. L. Marcy, and it was said that he had run away to avoid responsibility for the duel but upon being indicted by the San Francisco Grand Jury, under the anti-duelling act, of which he was the author, he came back to stand his trial.
;

The Grand Jury him for the same

of Marin
offence,

County having also presented he chose to meet his trial there,

The and surrendered to the authorities of that county. trial took place before the Court of Sessions at San Rafael. The district-attorney prosecuted, and A. P. Crittenden, W. H. Patterson, E. L. Gould, and T. W. Hanson all since deceased defended. The defence was that the wound was not necessarily fatal, and that if Furgeson had consented to an operation when advised to he would have recovered. The medical testimony supported this theory, and the defence succeeded in securing an acquittal. The proceeding on the indictment in this county was dropped on the showing that the duel occurred in Marin County. So far as the law was concerned, Mr. Johnston was free from responsibility

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

for the affair. He acted on the principles of a mistaken if chivalrous "code," which was inbred and inculcated in him, and justified him to his fellow-men who believe in or bow

Men of coarser or less noble mould would have rested easy and content with such justification, but his gentle, humane heart never threw off the shadow of the
to that code.

tragedy.

In 1854 occurred the fatal duel between Kewen and Woodleif, which has been described by a correspondent of the San Francisco Evening Post, as fol-

lows

Kewen, brother of E. J. C. Kewen, of Los Anand Colonel Woodleif, who had been County Judge of San Joaquin County, had a political dispute in the old Blue Wing saloon near Sather's Bank, in November, 1854. Both were Southern men, Kewen being of Irish parentage.
Achilles
geles,

Kewen
them.

struck Woodleif, but other parties quickly separated Kewen acknowledged that he had been too hasty,
apologized.

and

he

Woodleif

refused

to

accept

the

apology.
of his

He had fought eight duels and had killed some men. He was educated and polished and well-to-do.
offered to place in Woodleif's hand an apology He chalWoodleif refused to accept this.

Kewen then
in writing.

lenged Kewen, and they met ten miles back of Oakland, November 8, 1854. At the first fire, which was with "Mississippi yagers," at forty paces, Woodleif was shot in the was buried at San Francisco, head and instantly killed.

He

in

the clothes which he wore

quest.

He

left

a widow.

when shot, at his own reKewen went to Nicaragua with

Walker, was taken prisoner in battle and put to death, in defiance of the laws of civilized warfare. E. J. C. Kewen

was

also with Walker, but escaped his brother's fate.

Another unfortunate

affair

was the duel between

George T. Hunt, an Englishman, and Numa Hubert, a native of New Orleans, of French parentage.

41 8

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Both were lawyers, without family, and arrived in San Francisco at an early day. They met, and in due time or, rather, undue time they quarrelled at the Metropolitan Theatre and clinched, but were quickly separated before the audience was disturbed. Next day Hunt received a challenge from Hubert, which he accepted, and the parties met at the old Pioneer Race Course, at seven o'clock on the morning of May 2i, 1854. The weapons were duellingTwo shots were expistols, distance ten paces. Hubert when fell, mortally wounded in the changed, died at four and o'clock the next morning. abdomen, In June, 1852, near San Francisco, William H. Jones and John S. Nugent met with pistols, and the In March, 1854, three miles former was wounded. from Sacramento, Philip F. Thomas, district-attorney of Placer County, and Dr. James P. Dixon, of the San Francisco Marine Hospital, met with duellingand the latter was morpistols, at thirteen paces In wounded. 1857, near San Francisco, Captally tain Frank Shaffer and James P. Withered, with double - barrelled shotguns, eighteen buckshot in each barrel, wheel and fire no casualty Governor Stoneman (then a lieutenant in the U. S. A.) was one In October, 1855, Austin E. Smith of the seconds. and H. B. Truett met near San Francisco, with Colt's revolvers, at ten paces, and Smith was hit in the leg he was afterward killed in the Confederate army at Richmond. In 1852, at Marysville, William H. Woodcock and Charles J. Blackburn met with
;

double-barrelled shotguns, at fifty paces, each barrel carrying eighteen buckshot, terms to fire between one and six Blackburn was severely wounded at the
;

first

fire

in

the left

arm, which was shattered and

NOTED AMERICAN DUELS.

419

broken near the shoulder, and also in the groin. In 1853, near San Francisco, Alfred Crane and Edward Tobey, with navy pistols, at ten paces Crane, who
;

was the challenged party, was shot through the body and died upon the following morning. In 1851, near San Francisco, E. B. Lundy (a Canadian) and George M. Dibble (formerly a midshipman in the
In 1854, S. A.), with pistols the latter killed. near Sacramento, Mr. Hawkins and Mr. Dowdigan^ with rifles, at forty paces the latter wounded in the

U.

arm.

During the same year Dubert and

their

Ellesler

extraordinary duel with broadswords, fought which lasted nearly an hour, at the end of which Ellesler was severely and Dubert mortally wounded the latter dying in great agony the next morning.
In 1851, near the Sans Souci, F. R. Wright and H. D. Evans met and exchanged harmless shots, when the seconds effected a settlement. During the same year Messrs. Hopkins and Taylor (customhouse officers) met near Benicia with pistols, but were arrested and put under bonds to keep the In 1852 William Leggett and John Morripeace. son met near San Francisco with pistols, and Leggett

was killed at the third fire. In 1854, David E. Hacker and J. S. Londen, the latter killed. In 1853, Edward Rowe and Colonel May, the former wounded in the neck. In 1852, A. C. Peachy and James In 1854, Blain, with pistols; the latter wounded. M. C. Brazer and J. W. Park neither hit. In 1853, near San Francisco, William H. Scott and Peter Smith (a son of Judge Pinckney Smith of Missis;

sippi),

with

pistols, at
fire.

eighty paces

the latter killed

at the second

In 1852 John Kelley and W. S. Spear fired at each other three times without effect.

42O

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

T.

In 1853, near San Francisco, C. J. Wright and Oliver the latter wounded in the Baird, with pistols
;

neck at the second fire. In 1854, near Los Angeles, H. P. Dorsey and R. Beveno, with pistols both
.

(if not, indeed, the very last) fought in California was that between James R. Smedberg and F. W. Gardener, in August, 1869. It was fought in the morning, at Sansalito a pretty place on the bay opposite San Francisco with duel-

severely wounded. One of the last duels

ling-pistols

and

right hand

at the second

Smedberg was wounded in fire. Mr. Smedberg

the
is

and respectable family of New York, and Gardner is a son of a former Governor of Massachusetts. Both displayed great coolness on the field. Smedberg was attended by Stuart M. Taylor, and Gardner by Howard Crittenden.
of a very old

member

BLOODLESS DUELS.

421

CHAPTER

XXIII.

BLOODLESS DUELS.
General James Hamilton's John Randolph and Henry Clay Graphic Account of this Duel Randolph's Death in Philadelphia The Bloodless Duel between Congressmen Edward Stanly and Henry A. Wise How Reverdy Johnson Lost his

The Last Meeting at Bladensburg The Stanly-Inge Duel The Last Occasion on which Powder was Burnt on Account of Debates in Congress Ch. Lee Jones's Account of the Affair The Gwin-McCorkle Duel Dumont and "Jim" Lane Clingman and Yancey Morgan and Henderson Daniels and Ganahl Davidson and Lindsay and Others.
Eyesight
;

THE most
taken place

distinguished

in the

meeting that has ever United States in which there was

no bloody mischief committed was that famous "affair of honor" between the illustrious Clay of Kentucky and Randolph of Virginia, which took place near Washington, on the Virginia shore of the Potomac, just above the Little Falls bridge, at four o'clock Saturday afternoon, April 8, 1826. Randolph was one of the best shots in Virginia but, from being unaccustomed to fire with a hair-trigger, his pistol exploded before the word was given, the muzzle being down. On the word being given for the second time, Mr. Clay fired without effect, Mr. Randolph discharging his pistol in the air. As soon as Mr. Clay saw that Randolph had thrown away his fire, he approached the latter and said, with emotion:
;

422
"
I

THE PIELD OF HONOR.

trust in

God, my dear sir, you are untouched. what has occurred, I would not have harmed you for a thousand worlds." The following is an account of the duel frolfo the pen of General James Hamilton, of South Carolina, who was an eye-witness
After"
:

The night before Mr. Randolph sent for me, I found him calm, but in a singularly kind and confiding mood. He told me that he had something on his mind to tell me. He then
" Hamilton, I have determined to receive, without returning, Clay's fire nothing shall induce me to harm a hair of his head I will not make his wife a widow, nor

remarked

his children orphans.

grave there

Their tears would be shed over his but when the sod of Virginia rests on my bosom is not one in this wide world, not one individual, to pay this tribute upon mine." His eyes filled and, resting his head upon his hand, we remained some minutes silent. I replied: "My dear friend [for ours was a sort of posthumous friendship, bequeathed by our mothers], I deeply regret that you have mentioned the subject to me for you call upon me to go to the field and see you shot down, or to
;
;

assume the

responsibility, in regard to your own life, in sustaining your determination to throw it away. But on this subject a man's own conscience and his own bosom are his

best monitors.

will

not advise
insult

and unprovoked personal

I

cannot dissuade.

I feel

but, under the enormous you have offered Mr. Clay, bound, however, to communicate
;

was very much would take the studs and refuse to go out with him. I, however, sought Colonel Tatnall, and we repaired about midnight to Mr. Randolph's lodgings, whom we found reading Milton's great poem. For some moments he did not permit us to say one word in relation to the approaching duel and he at once commenced one of those delightful criticisms on a passage of this poet, in which he
afraid that Tatnall
;

to Colonel Tatnall your decision." He begged me not to do so, and said he

BLOODLESS DUELS.

423

was wont so enthusiastically to indulge. After a pause, Colonel Tatnall remarked " Mr. Randolph, I am told you have determined not to return Mr. Clay's fire I must say
:

only to go out to see you shot down, you must find some other friend." Mr. Randolph remarked that such was his determination. After much conversation on the subject, I induced Colonel Tatnall to allow Mr. Randolph to take his own course, as his withdrawal as one of his friends might lead to very injurious
to you,

my

dear

sir, if I

am

At length, Mr. Randolph, smiling, said promise you one thing if I see the devil in Clay's eye, and that, with malice prepense, he means to take my life, I may change my mind" a remark I knew he made merely to propitiate the anxieties of his friend. Mr. Clay and himself met at four o'clock the succeeding But he saw no evening, on the banks of the Potomac. " devil in Clay's eye," but a man fearless and expressing the
misconstructions.
"
:

Well, Tatnall,

mingled sensibility and firmness which belonged to the occasion.

long as I live. It has misfortune to witness several duels, but I never saw The sun was one, at least in its sequel, so deeply affecting. just setting behind the blue hills of Randolph's own Virginia.
I

shall never forget this scene as

been

my

Here were two of the most extraordinary men our country in prodigality had produced, about to meet in mortal combat. Whilst Tatnall was loading Randolph's pistol, I apits
I took his touch the quivering of one pulsation. He turned to me and said " Clay is calm, but not vindictive I hold my purpose, Hamilton, in any event re-

proached

my

friend,

believed, for the last time.

its

hand

there was not in

member

this."

On

hair-trigger.

handing him his pistol, Colonel Tatnall sprung the Mr. Randolph said, "Tatnall, although I am
;

in Virginia with either pistol or gun, never fire with a yet hair-trigger besides, I have a thick buckskin glove on, which will destroy the delicacy of my touch, and the trigger may fly before I know where I am." But, from his great solicitude for his friend, Tatnall insisted
I

one of the best shots

424

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

upon hairing the trigger. On taking their positions, the fact turned out as Mr. Randolph anticipated his pistol went off before the word, with the muzzle down. The moment this event took place, General Jesup, Mr.
:

Clay's friend, called out that he

would instantly leave the

ground with his friend if that occurred again. Mr. Clay at once exclaimed that it was an accident, and begged that the gentleman might be allowed to go on. On the word being
given, Mr. Clay fired without effect, Mr. ing his pistol in the air.

Randolph discharg-

The moment Mr. Clay saw

away
his
fire,

that Mr. Randolph had thrown

sensibility he instantly approached Mr. Randolph, and said, with an emotion I never can forget "I trust in God, my dear sir, you are untouched. After what has occurred, I would not have harmed you for a thousand worlds."

with a gush of

In 1879 a
the

member of the old regime contributed to Washington Sunday Herald the following interest:

tal

ing account of the excitement at the National Capion the day of the duel

John Randolph seems to have had an innate

dislike of the

He always regarded Kentuckians, Henry Clay included. Kentucky as a sort of dependency on Virginia, and the people of the former State as an inferior race to those of the Old
Dominion.
school,

when

Randolph was bred in the ways of the old the overseer and the country storekeeper ap-

proached the great landholder hat in hand. The freedom and equality that prevailed in Kentucky were extremely distasteful to him. Although nominally a member of the same party with Mr. Clay when the latter entered Congress, he generally voted with the Federalists. His most intimate friends in Congress, James Lloyd, Timothy Pickering, and Josiah Quincy of Massachusetts, Gouverneur Morris and Rufus King of New York, were of the same party, as were
his two most intimate friends in Virginia, John Wickham and Dr. Brockenbrough. His speeches against the War of

BLOODLESS DUELS.
1812 were of

Demosthenean eloquence and power, and were

circulated by the Northern Federalists by thousands in their respective districts. Mr. Clay, as the champion of the war-

demnation

party in the House, came in, of course, for his share of conin these philippics.

In the year 1826 Mr. Clay was Secretary of State and Mr. Randolph a member of the Senate. In a speech in that body Randolph alluded to Clay's alliance with Adams as a union " Blifil and Black of the "black-leg and the Puritan" What would be thought Mr. him. George." Clay challenged now if Mr. Evarts should challenge Mr. Bayard " for words spoken in debate" ? Tatnall, of Georgia, and Hamilton, of South Carolina, were Mr. Randolph's seconds. When they called upon him the evening before the encounter to make the last arrangements they found him reading Milton and he entered upon an essay on his genius, from which he could not be diverted until the hour was so late that very few words were said about the duel or anything else. Mr. Clay was accompanied to the field by General Jesup, U. S. A., a Kentuckian like himself, and by Dr. Huntt, the celebrated physician and surgeon. The duel was a bloodless one but
; ;

so long a time elapsed before the parties returned that Mr. Clay's friends were apprehensive that he had fallen. General

Harrison (of Ohio) was a Senator at that time, and lived at Mrs. Clark's, on F Street, where Cammack's building now stands. Mr. Clay lived directly opposite, in the large house removed for the erection of the Corcoran building. Mr. Nicholas Callan, then eighteen years old, lived next door to Mr. Clay, and was accustomed, with his friend Hoban, to
visit

General Harrison every afternoon to direct speeches Mr. Callan states that the General was very agreeable in his intercourse with these young gentlemen, and that they became attached to him from his evidenkindness of heart. [He had no idea then of -being a cant

and documents.

didate for the Presidency.]

One

day, however,

when they

were engaged as usual, the General appeared dejected. He sat with head depressed and said nothing. At last he saw Mr. Clement Dorsey (M.C. from Maryland) passing by, when

426

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

he opened the window and called out, in his stentorian voice, " Dorsey Dorsey !" Dorsey came up to the General's apart" Mr. Clay is dead !" said ments, and was warmly welcomed.
!

the General.

hope not," said Dorsey, in his peculiar "But," said the General, "he was to have returned by four o'clock, and it is now past five." Just then young Callan espied Mr. Clay on horseback, coming around the corner of Fifteenth Street, and announced his return to General Harrison. The General, who was in his dressinggown, rushed downstairs bareheaded, and ran over to Mr. Clay, with skirts streaming in the wind, and affectionately embraced him as he dismounted from his horse. General Jesup passed soon afterward on his way to his house on F near Thirteenth Street, now the residence of his son-in-law, The duel was fought above GeorgeColonel Sitgreaves. town, and Randolph came on the field in a flannel dressinggown, which was perforated by Clay's ball. Randolph fired
I

"

falsetto voice.

in the air.

Not long before Randolph's death, in 1833, he passed through Washington on his way from Roanoke to New Castle to catch the Philadelphia packet for Liverpool. He drove an English chariot with four blooded horses of different colors and, as he remarked to his friend, Governor Lloyd, " in Baltimore, the next day Nothing but the blood of my me through." Juba was on the box, and Rannags brought dolph reclined at full length inside. He was driven to the Senate Chamber, where he reposed on a sofa. Hearing Mr. " Raise me up I want to hear that Clay speak, he said voice once more." Then he mounted his chariot and went his way northward, but when he reached New Castle the Algonquin had passed down on her way to Liverpool, her
;

royals

still

visible in the southeastern horizon as she bore

gallantly

down

to the Capes.

So Randolph went on to

Philadelphia, where he died not long afterward at the Columbian Hotel, on Chestnut Street, and where most eloquent eulogies were pronounced over his bier by Horace

Binney and John Sargent, the latter describing him "as Cicero eloquent, as Cato incorruptible."

BLOODLESS DUELS.

427

After Mr. Randolph's death Mr. Clay told his friend Mr. Ogle Tayloe that "he had been warned many years ago to beware of Mr. Randolph that he was bent on a duel, saying 'he preferred to be killed by Mr. Clay to any other " For years, says Mr. Tayloe, Mr. Randolph sought death.' a duel which Mr. Clay had averted until at last he thought
;

it

unavoidable.

In 1842 an " affair" in which there was no bloodshed took place (or nearly took place) between Hon.

Edward Stanly, Congressman from North Carolina, and Hon. Henry A. Wise, Congressman from VirThese gentlemen had long belonged to the ginia. same political party, and had been warm personal and political friends. When President Tyler, by
vetoing the United States Bank bill, left the Whigs and went over to the Democrats, he carried with him a very small party about half a dozen from the Whig ranks who acquired the cognomen of the

Mr. Wise was one of the most and the former personal "Guard," prominent and political friendship that had existed between him and Mr. Stanly was changed into the most bitter personal and political enmity. Many were the personal altercations that took place on the floor of the House of Representatives, which ought (says Ch. Lee Jones in a letter to the New York Sun) under the code to have called for explanation from one or the other of those gentlemen; "but neither took the initiative, each alleging that the message ought to come from the other a very erroneous conception on both sides of the requirements of the code of honor, which preCorporal's Guard."
of this
it as the duty of gentlemen, when language has mutually passed requiring notice, that there should be no haggling about who should send the

"

scribes

428
first

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

These differences finally culminated message. on the race-course, near Washington. Both gentlemen were present on horseback. Mr. Stanly riding a hard-mouthed horse, in galloping by, accidentally brushed against Mr. Wise, which Mr. Wise mistook for an intentional affront, and riding up to Mr. Stanly struck him with his horsewhip. This, of course, brought matters to a final issue, and a challenge was sent by Mr. Stanly by the hands of Hon. Reverdy Johnson, and was accepted by Mr. Wise. But, while
at a country-seat

Mr. Johnson was preparing his principal for the field some three miles from Baltimore, in

trying the pistols, he fired one at a tree, and the ball struck a dead and seasoned spot, rebounded, and
struck

The

ball

him directly in the eye, knocking him down. was afterward found, upon a surgical examunder the
eyelid,

ination,

perfectly

flattened

and

while the eyeball was apparently uninjured, the sight was forever destroyed, although a casual observer would not have noticed the defect." Thirty years afterward, in the old age of Mr. Johnson, the sight of the other eye, through sympathy, became impaired,

and that excellent and distinguished gentleman met his much regretted death from a misstep in consequence of his defective
vision.

This sad accident

;

necessitated Mr. Stanly to procure another second and in making this selection, he procured the services
of

John M. McCarty, familiarly known as Colonel

Jack McCarty, who had the reputation of being a regular "fire-eater," from the desperate duel, fought in 1819 with muskets at a few feet distance, in which he killed his kinsman, Armistead T. Mason. But Colonel McCarty, notwithstanding his reputation as a
"
fire-eater,"

was one

of the

most genial and best-

BLOODLESS DUELS.

429

hearted of men ; and he, to his credit (says Mr. Jones), "succeeded in bringing about an honorable and amicable adjustment, notwithstanding the blow
that had passed. A vulgar error had prevailed that a blow was a mortal insult, requiring blood. It is true that, under the old French code, such was the

had long since been exploded in and this country, and not the least cenEngland sure ought to have rested on Mr. Stanly on account of
rule; but this notion
in
affair, although many gentletime considered that Mr. Stanly had compromised his honor by not having insisted upon at least a meeting and an apology on the field or a shot." A bloodless duel, and the last fought at Bladensburg, was that one in June, 1836, between the Hon. Jesse A. Bynum (of North Carolina) and Hon. Daniel Jenifer (of Maryland), in consequence of a misunder-

the settlement of that

men

at the

standing in the House of Representatives, when, after six shots were exchanged without damage to either

was amicably adjusted. The Hon. Peyton (of Tennessee) and Hon. Francis W. Pickens (of South Carolina) were seconds of Mr. Jenifer, and the Hon. Edward A. Hannegan (of Indianna) and the Hon. H. A. Savier (of Arkansas) were It is extraordinary and the seconds of Mr. Bynum. Lee Jones of North Mr. Ch. incomprehensible (says
party, the affair
Baillie

Carolina) that gentlemen of the character of each of these seconds should have permitted so many shots
to

have been exchanged in a case growing out of " British Code," publanguage used in debate. A
lished in 1824, lays

down

the rule that ''three fires"

should be the ultimatum in any case, as any further firing would reduce the duel to a conflict for blood,
or subject the parties to ridicule for incapacity in

430
arms.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

And great was the ridicule attempted to be heaped on Messrs. Bynum and Jenifer by the journalists of the day on account of their bad shooting. The last duel fought by Congressmen was the (bloodless) meeting between Hon. Samuel W. Inge (of Alabama) and Hon. Edward Stanly (of North Carolina), which took place near Washington on the 24th of February, 1851. This was the last occasion on which powder was burnt in the United States on account of debates in Congress. Hon. Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi (later President of the Southern Confederacy), was the second of Mr. Inge, and Colonel Ch. Lee Jones, a distinguished North Carolinian, attended Mr. Stanly. In a debate upon the River and Harbor bill, Mr. Bayly (of Virginia) had expressed
the opinion that, in the appropriations proposed, the
bill was "sectional," which statement Mr. Stanly had Mr. Inge submitted an. amendment controverted.

providing for the improvement of certain rivers in

Alabama and

Mississippi,

and

in

some remarks which

followed referred to the course of Mr. Stanly, and said: "If the South were to wait for that gentleman's warning she would sleep in eternal unconsciousness; she would sleep until every assault was perpetrated, and until her spoliation was complete. ... It is not

from him that

to the South."

should expect admonition of danger This produced a personal discussion,

which, as

officially reported,

was

in these terms:

Mr. Stanly I have a single word to say. I do not believe the gentleman from Alabama wants the appropriation which he asks but has offered the amendment, under the rule, that
;

he might make an unkind and unprovoked fling at me. I do not know what I have done to incur the gentleman's displeasure.

BLOODLESS DUELS.

431

Mr. Inge I merely stated facts and drew inferences. Mr. Stanly The gentleman said that the spoliation of the South could take place before she would hear a warning from me. The gentleman shows that he has little sense and less charity when he charges me with being unfriendly to the South. I repeat, I am unconscious of what unkindness I have done to provoke the gentleman. Mr. Inge I did not hear the gentleman. Will he be good enough to repeat what he said ? Mr. Stanly I say you have little sense and less charity in charging me with unfriendliness to the South. Mr. Inge I say that that remark is ungentlemanly and unparliamentary, and comes from a blackguard. Mr. Stanly Mr. Chairman, he charges me with being a blackguard. He has just shown to the House and to the country that he is one. The Chairman Personalities are not in order. Mr. Stanly No personalities are not in order. I am the to our conduct be of and let let willing public; judged by
;

and mine. As to my friendship and my conduct speak whether I have not more friendship for the South than those noisy traitors who impeach others and seek the applause of the

them estimate

his character

for the South, let the record

grog-shops at cross-roads at home by their own professions " There is danger, of devotion, and by crying eternally, !" the South Even those who to voted with a danger majority of Southern members upon certain measures are uncharitably assailed. I regret I have been called on to say anything. I was unconscious of giving any provocation. The gentleman cast the first stone, and he will make the most of what I have said. I shall hereafter treat remarks from that quarter with the contempt they deserve.

Hon. William M. Gwin, United States Senator from and Hon. J. W. McCorkle, M.C. from the same State, met in California on the ist of June, 1853, with rifles, at thirty paces, the combatants to wheel at
California,

43 2
the

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

word and
fire,

which the

two gentlemen did

three times without

affair

harming each other, when the

was brought to a termination, the friends of the two gentlemen making the following statement:
After an exchange of three ineffectual shots between the Hon. William M. Gwin and Hon. J. W. McCorkle, the friends

cipals

of the respective parties, having discovered that their prinwere fighting under a misapprehension of facts,

mutually explained to their respective principals in what the misapprehension consisted, whereupon Dr. Gwin promptly denied the cause of provocation referred to in Mr. McCorkle's letter of the 29Lh of May, and Mr. McCorkle withdrew his offensive language uttered on the race-course, and expressed regret at having used it.
[Signed]
S.

W.

INGE,

F.

STUART,

E. C. E. C.

MARSHALL,

June

i,

1853.

FITZHUGH, GEO. P. JOHNSON, A. P. CRITTENDEN.

In 1851, in Indiana, Lieutenant-Governor J. H. Lane and Colonel Ebenezer Dumont met with pistols, but the former withdrew his challenge on the field. Senator Clingman (of North Carolina) and Congressman Yancey (of Alabama) once met near Washington and fired one shot at each other with pistols, when the seconds Ch. Lee Jones for Clingman, and Congressman Huger (of South Carolina) for Yancey adjusted the matter satisfactorily. In 1851, in Georgia, H. Morgan and W. Henderson fired at each other twice, when In the same their seconds terminated the affair. State, in 1852, a similar meeting and like result took place between Thomas Daniels and Charles Ganahl. In 1854, in Arkansas, Hon. A. H. Davidson and Colonel

BLOODLESS DUELS.
W. M. Lindsay met with
retired

433

pistols, exchanged shots, and from the field friends. In 1868, in Maryland, General Lawrence (United States Minister to Costa Rica) and Baron Kusserow (of the Prussian Embassy)

fiied at

each other with

pistols,

without

effect.

434

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XXIV.

THE RAREST KIND OF BRAVERY.

Conspicuous Examples of Men who have been and are Too Brave to Accept Challenges to Fight Duels A Courageous Frenchman Alexander Skinner Why Sam Houston Declined* An Anecdote of Raleigh Sumner and to Meet Judge Burnett Harney A Noble Interpretation of the Laws of Honor Sir John Dalrymple and Lord Barrington Lee's Challenge to Judge Drayton Reply of the Eminent South Carolinian Gunn's Challenges to Greene Stanley and Johnston of the Navy The
Effect of

Eloquence

who

will not Fight in Duels,

Never Fought a

A Modern Virginian of First- Family Blood and Why An Irish Veteran who Duel An Instructive and Interesting Story

General Francis Marion's Courage Morton McMichael's Treatment of a Challenge from James Cooper A Challenge Poetically Declined.

can readily understand the position of the challenged person during the days of what was termed " code of honor ;" and can comprethe established
hend, in
to
all its

WE

truthfulness

and

force, the declaration

of Senator

(while against duelling in the Dis" the man with a high sense of trict of Columbia) that honor and nice sensibility, when the question is whether he shall fight or have the finger of scorn

Henry Clay American statesmanship

bill

that incomparable

ornament

when he admitted

favoring a Senate

pointed at him, is irtiable to resist and few, very few, But are found willing to adopt such an alternative."
;

THE RAREST KIND OF BRAVERY.

there have lived

435

many brave, chivalrous, and honoramong Americans, Englishmen, Irishmen, and Frenchmen in particular who have presented
able

men

exhibitions of that greatest of all kinds of courage the courage to decline a challenge.

Some 550 years before Christ, the King of Assyria declined to settle a difficulty by single combat with
the

King

of Persia.

from Marc Antony. took no notice of a

of England. sent a challenge to Philip de Valois, King of France, which the latter declined. Sir Thomas Prendergast,

Caesar once declined a challenge In 1195 Philip, King of France, cartel of defiance from John, King In 1342 Edward the Third, of England,

an

officer in the

army

of

lenged by a brother-officer
clined the invitation.

Queen Anne, was once chalnamed Pennant, and de-

In 1589 the chivalric Earl of Essex challenged the Governor of Lisbon to meet him in a personal enBut that official treated counter, on horse or on foot.
Essex's cartel of defiance with silent contempt. In 1591 Essex challenged the Governor of Rouen to meet

him, and decide by single combat which was the better man or which served the fairest mistress but
;

that functionary declined. ings, a British admiral,

In 1850 Sir

Thomas Hast-

challenged Hon. Richard Mr. Cobden declined, however, and published the letter of challenge. In 1778 General Lafayette challenged the Earl of Carlisle, an English Commissioner to the United States the Earl de-

Cobden, M.P.

clined to give personal satisfaction for acts performed In 1853 the Earl of in the discharge of public duties. Earl the of challenged Mornington Shaftesbury for re-

marks made

in the

House

ever, declared that,

of Lords. The latter, hownotwithstanding the impertinence

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

of the challenger, he spurned his letter of defiance, and would make no retraction whereupon the belliIn 1410 Henry the cose Mornington subsided. of declined to meet the Scotch Duke Fourth, England,
;

In 1402 Henry of Rothsay in a personal encounter. declined a challenge from Louis, the Duke of Orleans, on the ground, so his majesty declared, that he knew " of no precedent which offered the example of a

crowned king entering the lists to fight a duel with a subject, however high the rank of that subject might be." In 1196 Richard the First, of England, refused a like cartel of defiance from Philip the Second, of General Lemery, of New York, was chalFrance. lenged by Monsieur Angero, in 1852, and declined partly on the ground that his official acts were not amenable on individual appeals for satisfaction, and partly because it would be a violation of his military rank, and also a violation of the law of the State of
;

New

York.

On May

3,

1852,

ex-Congressman John

Barney, of Maryland, challenged Monsieur Sartiges, Minister of France to the United States, which the
latter declined.

During 1867, in a debate in the French Legislature upon books for a public library, M. St. Beuve took
occasion to vindicate the character of the creations of George Sand, Ernest Renan, and Pelletan, when he

was violently interrupted by M. Lacaze, but pursued the even tenor of his course just as though no rude" ness had been displayed. For this offence" the celebrated French scholar and critic was challenged to mortal combat not that he had actually insulted
Monsieur Lacaze, but because he had, according to " the latter's mercurial interpretation, betrayed an intention to insult
;

and such design should be unmis-

THE RAREST KIND OF BRAVERY.

437

takably considered as equivalent to the act" which reminds one of the anecdote of the Teuton who had thrashed his child Hans, not because the youngster had been profane, but that he had thought " Gott

Beuve, however, declined to accept the but addressed to M. Lacaze an unimpaschallenge, sioned letter, setting forth his reasons for such action, " not to accept in which he said that he preferred
tarn."
St.

summary jurisprudence which consists in strangling a question and suppressing an individual at one and the same time. Our differences, sir, it seems to me, should be settled by free discussion for my own
that
;

propose to at least reflect before proceeding further for, if I mistake not, I shall break some laws which I have sworn to uphold and protect if I accede to your proposition. Besides, there is no gentleman friends who understands properly the all my among etiquette of duelling, which does not mean, sir, that they are the less men of honor, but that they have taken no degree of Doctor in Arms." Instead of acting the gentleman, upon receiving St. Beuve's excelpart,
I
;

Lacaze raved and played the bully, and a second sent challenge, couched in furious terms, to which St. Beuve responded in less gentle but in no
lent note,

language. To use an Americanism, he " "sat down" so ponderously upon Sir Lucius O'Trigger" Lacaze, in expressing his absolute refusal to meet him in mortal combat, that the bellicose Gaul
less dignified

went

off

and

"

granulated."

the 25th of March, 1854, after an unusually warm debate in Congress between Hon. John C. Breckin-

On

ridge, of Kentucky,

and Hon. Francis B. Cutting, of a New York, "correspondence" passed between the two gentlemen, but a hostile meeting was prevented

43 8

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

by the interposition of four courageous men Colonel Hawkins and Hon. William Preston, of Kentucky, on the part of Breckinridge, and Senator Shields, of Illinois, and Colonel Monroe, of New York, for Mr. Cutting. On October 25, 1803, after an exciting debate in the United States Senate (the day before), Senator Dayton, -of New Jersey, challenged Senator
Clinton, of New York, who made a satisfacIn 1853 Hon. Richard H. Weighttory explanation.

De Witt

man, Delegate to Congress from

New

Mexico,

re-

ceived a challenge from Francis J. Thomas, and In 1681 Mr. Williams, treated it with contempt. Speaker of the House of Commons, declined to re-

Robert Peyton. Alexander Skinner, a surgeon in the Revolutionary army, from Maryland, who had killed one man in a duel, declined all challenges thereafter, on the ground, he said, that "killing a fellow-man does not become me, set apart as I am to take care of the sick and the wounded, and to do all in my power to prolong and
not to destroy

ceive a challenge from Sir

human

life."

General Houston, after his meeting with General White, declined at least two, if not three or four, He treated with indifference a challenge from duels.
E. W. Moore, of the Texan navy, in 1845; remarks explaining why he declined a " I objected to meeting with Judge Burnett he said it, first, on the ground that we were to have but one second, and that was the man who brought the chalAnother objection was that we were to meet lenge. on Sunday morning, and I did not think that anything was to be made by fighting on that day. The third objection was that he was a good Christian, and had had his child baptized the Sunday before.

Commodore
in

and

his

THE RAREST KIND OF BRA VER Y.

439

The fourth was that I never fought down hill, and I never would. I must, at least, make character, if I did not lose my life and, therefore, I notified him in that way. He seemed to be satisfied with this good;

humored answer, and

it

is

the only challenge

I

have

ever received in Texas.

myself of this occasion now to declare that I never made a quarrel with a mortal man on earth nor will I ever do anything to originate a quarrel with any man, woman, or child living. If they quarrel with me, it is
;

And

will avail

their privilege

but

I shall

try to take care that they do

me no harm"

The

men

in duels, at last

great Raleigh, after having killed a number of made a solemn vow never again to
;

send or accept a challenge and he kept his word. One day, however, a young man, while disputing with him, challenged Raleigh, and then spat in his face at which Sir Walter took out his handker;

wiping his face, said Young man, if I could as easily wipe from my conscience the stain of killing you as I can this spittle from my face, you should not live another minute." General Sumner, who fell in battle during the War of the Rebellion, once sent a challenge to General Harney, who not only declined to accept it, but saw to it that his distinguished antagonist was court-martialled, the proceedings of which took place at Carlisle Barracks (Pa.). Harney was also once challenged by Lieutenant Ihrie, U. S. A. Two French noblemen (the Marquis de Valaze and the Count de Merci), who had been educated and brought up together, and who had never stained their attachment by word or act, one evening quarrelled in a gaming-house, during which the Count, in
chief, and,
:

"

440
a
fit

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

of rage superinduced
in

frequent indulgence over his

the

and threw a dice-box in burgundy,

by

ill-success at play

the face of his friend, who had exulted a good deal own good luck. In an instant the entire comin in

pany were

moment

amazement, and awaited breathlessly which the Marquis would plunge his

sword into the bosom of the offender, or invite the Count to meet him in mortal combat. But the MarHow, then, did he interpret the quis did neither. of laws honor? Nobly? Yes. "Gentleprevailing he exclaimed, coolly and grandly, "I am a men," Frenchman, a soldier, and a friend. I have received a blow from a Frenchman, a soldier, and a friend. I know and I acknowledge the laws of honor, and will obey them. Every man who sees me wonders why I am tardy in putting to death the author of my disgrace.

But, gentlemen, the heart of that

man

is

en-

own. Our days, our education, our and our friendships are coeval. But, temperaments, I will Frenchmen, obey the laws of honor and of and stab France, my assailant to the heart.'* So saythe Marquis threw his arms around his unhappy ing, " and said friend, My dear De Merci, I forgive you if you deign to forgive me for the irritations I have given to a sensitive mind by the levity of my own." This noble conduct was applauded by all present; the pardon of the Count was sealed by the embraces of the Marquis, and the king so far approved of the conduct of the two friends that he gave them the
twined with

my

cordon bleu.

In the year 1778 Sir John Dalrymple one of the Barons of the Court of Exchequer in Scotland wrote
three letters to

Lord Barrington, then Secretary

his lordship's official

at

War, arraigning

conduct with

THE RAREST KIND OF

BRA' VERY.

44!

respect to a younger brother of the former, who had unquestionably been badly used by the Secretary.

In reply, Harrington sent Sir John a message demanding the satisfaction due from one gentleman to

another under such circumstances.

clined

This was de:

who, among other things, said "In the first place, your lordship knows perfectly well that, by my oath of office, I cannot accept a challenge or fight a duel. If, therefore, you send me a challenge

by

Sir John,

in Scotland,

and

am

apprised of
etc.

its

contents,

will

return

it

to

you unopened,"

eral Charles

Shortly after his duel with Colonel Laurens, GenLee became embroiled in a quarrel with

William Henry Drayton, Chief-Justice of South CaroThe honlina, and challenged him to mortal combat. orable Judge declined the meeting, however, and re" to sacrifice his plied by saying that he was not bound
public reputation and outrage public character merely to gratify General Lee in the line of his profession."
In 1785 Captain

Gunn,

eral Nathaniel Greene,

who

of Georgia, challenged Gendeclined. Upon the re-

ceipt of Greene's letter of refusal, Gunn sent a second hostile invitation, which was treated as before. Gunn

then threatened a personal assault, to which Greene

Under some that he always carried pistols. apprehension, however, that his conduct might be misinterpreted, General Greene acquainted General Washington with a detailed description of the whole
replied
affair,

and besought
:

I give it as my opinion that Washington replied your honor and reputation will stand not only perfectly acquitted with the non-acceptance of Gunn's challenge, but that your prudence and judgment would have been condemned by accepting it be-

his written "

opinion, to which

44 2
cause,
ties

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

if an officer is amenable to the private difficulwhich the discharge of his duty may occasion, he can never move to the right or left, as there are few military decisions which are not offensive to one party

or another."

In 1850 a misunderstanding arose between Fabius Stanley and Zechariah F. Johnston, officers of the United States Navy, after which the former sent the

a challenge, which was declined. Subsequently " " Johnston at the National Hotel, posted Washington (D. C.), as a coward, and was afterward tried by court-martial and dismissed from the navy. Among other eminent Americans who have declined to fight duels may be mentioned George WashGeneral Adair John Randolph, who reington ceived many challenges, and who fought with Clay Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, who once acted as second (for General Howe) Senator Robert Barnlatter

Stanley

well Rhett, although the provocations and insinuations by Senator Clemens were very exasperating

and a number

of others.

ter of the seventeenth century, once

Michael Le Fancheur, a French Protestant minispreached against

eloquently and
la Force,

duelling so

Marquis de

who was

energetically that the present (as were also

other military men), declared, in the presence of all assembled, that he would never thereafter challenge a man to mortal combat or accept a challenge. And the brave soldier kept his word thanks to the

many

charms of Fancheur's animated delivery, reasoning, and pathos. Early in 1884 John S. Wise (member of Congress from the Richmond district of Virginia) published in
the

Richmond

(Va.)

Whig a card repeating

his reso-

THE RAREST KIND OF BRAVERY.

443

lution never again to recognize the practice of duelHe makes this declaration public, he says, beling.

cause there

are

those

who

expect him to

resent

of late appearing in newspapers, In referespecially in the paper called the Campaign. ence to W. Page McCarty, Mr. Wise says " He may
:

several assaults

play Sir Lucius

OTrigger

to

his

heart's

content,

boasting of his ancestry (every one of whom has killed his man), his family portraits and honor, but he must find somebody else than me to kill him. With a sweet home, filled with merry children, with enough to live comfortably, with a paying profession, I am

happy and want to live. In God's name, what would a man like Page McCarty put in stake against this

when we stood at ten paces with pistols ? His abuse of me has no more effect than a dog barking at the moon. His invitation comes too late. Time has been when I might have been fool enough to indulge
in

such
its

and

but with age, and a broader view of life responsibilities and duties, I have bidden farefolly,

well forever to the

McCarty type
of the

of

manhood."

British army, who had general been forty odd years in the service and an Irishman at that and who used to boast that he had never
officer

sent or accepted of a single challenge, used to relate

the

manner in which he was wont to meet and satisfy demands of this sort " I once provoked the resentment of a brother-officer, who was much respected and beloved by all the corps. His behavior upon some occasions I esteemed in a slight degree repre:

hensible, in the expression of

which
I

used a term of

more opprobrious import than

at the

apprehended. Fired he retorted first the injurisupposed affront, ous words, then quitted the company, and sent me a

444
challenge.
I

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

returned him word that
I

hoped upon

explanation he would not compel me to fight, yet would meet him immediately, according to appointment. I went, attended by all the witnesses of my

unguarded expression and before these I readily took the shame to myself, and apologized for utterances that ought not to have been made. But as I began to assume an air of expostulation, in my turn, he reddened, hesitated a moment, then drew his sword, advanced, and obliged me to defend myself, which I did, against a desperate thrust, with mine in the scabbard. He no sooner perceived that circumstance than he surprised us all by throwing his sword away, bursting into a flood of tears, and throwing himself on his knees, in speechless agitation of mind. I at once raised him and embraced him, which affectionate act he returned cordially, and forever afterward we were perfect friends." The Danziger Zeitung (says the Hebrew Leader] reports an instructive story of a challenge to a duel the scene of which was laid in the little town of Ro;

senberg, in the province of West Prussia. A civil official, who is said to be a modern Draco in his small
sphere, gave great offence to a lieutenant who had appeared as a witness in some local quarrel. They

had some correspondence over the matter, in which the civilian had evidently the best of it, for he received a letter from the young lieutenant which con" tained the following words With the pen you are more than a match for me but I have various swords at home with which I can justify my views of you
: ;

better than with a pen. I offer you the choice of one of them, that we may continue our argument on more

equal terms."

The

official

replied that he

had not

THE RAREST KIND OF BRAVERY.

used a sword for

44$

many

years,

and that he supposed

the invitation to a duel was a boyish joke. Hereupon the lieutenant declared that he was never more
in earnest, that his

that he
tols.

honor must be vindicated, and was quite willing to try conclusions with pisThe civilian answered that if fighting were

absolutely necessary he could not refuse the challenge, but that he was bound to- make one prelimi-

nary condition.
wrote,

"

have, as you well know," he

five

"a wife and

to

bound
hands.

children, for whom I am care in the event of my death at your

My
sum

present yearly income

I

is

forty-five

hun-

dred marks.
capital

require you to pay over to a

bank a

the interest of which will correspond to

my present income, so that it may yield a livelihood For this purto my widow and fatherless children.
pose ninety thousand marks will
exactly suffice."

The young

fire-eater replied that

he had no property

beyond his pay, and that he could not possibly raise so immense a sum. " In that case," wrote his antag"
onist,
I

man who
beggar

fear that our duel can never take place. has nothing to lose except his own life will

to allow him to shoot me and to and children without any sort of equivalent." The correspondence closed with some fatherly and common-sense advice to the thoughtless young sabre-rattler, who was eventually brought to

scarcely expect

me

my widow

acknowledge the absurdity of the General Francis Marion while

officers

situation.
in

service at the
offences

South, during the Revolutionary War, expelled two

from

his

brigade

for

numerous

against humanity, and posted upon trees and houses, and in public places, proclamations that Major were robbers and thieves, and as outCaptain

44 6

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

laws might be killed wherever found. One of them challenged him to single combat but he treated the call with contempt. Subsequently Marion received a
;

from Major Mcllraith, of the royal army, to combat in the open field. Marion, in reply, expressed his readiness for a fight between twenty picked soldiers on each side, according to the custom Mcllraith assented, and of the days of chivalry. agreed upon a spot near an oak-tree (which was but after the parties had been standing in 1821) for combat, he reconsidered the and formed selected, his own men without firing a and withdrew matter,
cartel

meet

in

Morton McMichael (editor of the North American and United States GaPhiladelphia zette] was challenged by Hon. James Cooper, U. S. Senator from Pennsylvania, and declined. In 1826, at Andover (England), Messrs. Fleet and Mann (attorneys) fell out at a meeting under a commission of bankruptcy, and on the 24th of July the former (a bachelor) sent the latter (a married man) a challenge, which was poetically declined as follows
1854 Hon.
:

gun. In

am honored

this day,

sir,

with challenges two,

;

The first from friend Langdon, the second from you As the one is \.Q fight, and the other to dine, " I accept his engagement," and yours must decline. Now, in giving this preference, I trust you'll admit
I have acted with prudence, and done what was fit, Since encountering him, and my weapon a knife,

There

is some little chance of preserving my life Whilst a bullet from you, sir, might take it away, And the maxim, you know, is to live while you may. If, however, you still should suppose I ill-treat you
;

By

sternly rejecting this challenge to

meet you.

THE RAREST KIND OF BRAVERY.

Bear with me a moment, and I will adduce Three powerful reasons by way of excuse
:

447

In the
I

first

place, unless
in

am

grossly deceived,
;

myself

am

And

therefore,

good

conscience the party aggrieved sir, if a challenge must be,

Pray wait till that challenge be tendered by me. Again, sir, I think it by far the more sinful To stand and be shot than to sit for a skinful
;

conclude (as I'd have you indeed) That fighting composes not part of my creed And my courage (which, though it was never disputed, Is not, I imagine, too, too deeply rooted)
you'll

From whence

Would

prefer that

its fruit, sir,

whate'er

it

may

yield,

Should appear at "the table," and not in " the field" And lastly, my life, be it never forgot, Possesses a value which yours, sir, does not;

So

mean

to preserve
"

it

as long as

can,

a family Mann" With three or four children (I scarce know

Being justly entitled

sir,

how many), have not, or ought not to have, any. Besides, that the contest would be too unequal, I doubt not will plainly appear by the sequel For e'en_y0# must acknowledge it would not be meet That one small " Mann of war" should engage " a whole
Whilst you,
:

Fleet?

44 8

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER
DUELLISTS OF

XXV.
TYPES.

MANY

Conspicuous American, French, English, and Irish Duellists John Smith and Colonel McClung Duellists who were little less than Murderers Royal Cut-Throats Spectacular Combats
Duelling for the Very Love of it A Group of Dashing but Dangerous Fellows De Cassagnac and De Montebello An Anecdote of Ludovico de Piles D'Andrieux's Seventy-third Victim How Gideon Croquard was Killed The Diogenes of
the Palais
nalist

Royal

A Renowned Type
and
Insinuating

Genteel

of the Belligerent JourType of Scoundrel

Parisian Swordswomen Jean Louis, the Master of the Foil and Most Remarkable Swordsman of Any Time His First Duel His Career in the Army of Napoleon I. His Wonderful Performance at Madrid in the Presence of the French Army and

almost the

Entire Population of the Spanish Capital He Fights and Kills or Severely Wounds Thirteen Italian Masters of the Sword He Leaves the French Service at the Age of

and Dies at the Age of Eighty, almost totally Blind The Method of Jean Louis still Adhered to by Vigeant and the Other Parisian Fencing- Professors of the Present Day Noted
Sixty-five

English Chivalry One Sand-Mark Only Left Irish Duellists The "Happy Hunting-Ground of Satisfaction" Famous Duellists of All Countries.

English Duellists Urton's Challenge

Lord Herbert of Notable Incidents

Cherbury
of

Sir

Henry

THERE

are duellists and duellists.

Webster defines

One who fights in single combat;" and as "One who fights duels." According to Worcester, these high authorities or, at least, according to Wor-

" duellist as

DUELLISTS OF
cester
all

MANY

TYPES.

449

men who have fought duels have been or are

This
is

duellists.

able conclusion.
of

We

neither an agreeable nor an acceptassume that the great majority

men who have fought duels particularly during the past one hundred years are not duellists; just as there are gentlemen who sometimes engage in streetfights or get the worst of
it

with John Barleycorn

who

are

neither fighters nor drunkards. Hume defines " duellist as follows: One who always values himself

upon

friendship."

We

his courage, his sense of honor, his fidelity and Even this is not entirely satisfactory. should define duellist thus: professional

"A

an admirer and advocate of the code duello." Neither Hamilton, Burr, Cilley, Graves, Houston, Barron, Broderick, nor Terry was a professional duellist. A number of these gentlemen were
fighter of duels;

be mentioned

"dead shots," and some of them or others who might practised at marks immediately preceding their hostile encounters; yet none of these were duellists, in the proper acceptation of the term. Stephen Decatur, who was principal in two duels, and who was also second in two or three, and who believed in the adjustment of private quarrels according to the code duello, was really averse to duelling, and

maintained that he was no duellist. John Smith, the Father of Virginia, was a professional duellist, and killed a score of men while in the service of Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria. The following anecdote is related of Smith:
Early in the seventeenth or near the close of the sixteenth century, while Smith was in the service of Ferdinand, Archduke of Austria, the Turks gave a challenge to any single
officer of the Austrians, saying that the Lord Turbisha would " for the diversion of the ladies." The fight a Christian

45
choice in

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

the Austrian

camp was by

lot,

and

fell

upon

slew the Turk " within sight of the ladies" assembled on the ramparts, and carried his head to Thereupon a friend of Turbisha sent a particular camp.

Smith,

who fought and

defiance to Smith, who, to divert the Turkish ladies

still

further, accepted it, met his antagonist, and killed him also. The victor then sent a message to the fair spectators that, if

another combat for their amusement, they were his head provided they would find a champion In this conto take it. Bonamlegro accordingly appeared. test Smith was dismounted and nearly overcome, but, regaining his saddle, he inflicted a mortal wound, and was thus a third time victorious.
bent on
still

welcome to

One
officer

of

American

duellists
Jeff.

the most noted and most dangerous of was Colonel McClung, a fellow-

with

Davis

in the First Mississippi Rifles,

and who served with distinction in the Mexican War. McClung came of a good Virginia family, being a nephew of Chief-Justice Marshall; but when under the influence of liquor was morose and dictatorial. He moved to Mississippi in 1834, and had been in the State only a few months when he became involved in a quarrel with Colonel Allen, one of the most beloved and honored men in Mississippi. It was "a trivial

McClung refused to allow of any settlement, and brought the affair to a duel. The terms were such as would have seemed extraordinary to the Creole admirers of the code, says some writer, and it is doubtful whether they would have recognized it as a legitimate duel. The two antagonists were to stand forty paces apart, armed with bowie-knife and pistol, and were to advance on each other, firing at discretion. Allen kept his pistol covering McClung as he slowly advanced upon him. What was the surprise of the
audience to see

quarrel, but

McClung suddenly

raise his pistol,

DUELLISTS OF
aim and
Allen
fire at

MANY

TYPES.

451

a distance of over one hundred feet!

through the mouth and wounded. McClung's shot on this occasion is mortally the best on record in a Southern duel, one hundred
fell

to the ground, shot

feet

being a
is

much
to.

pistol

suited

longer range than the duellingThis was only one of McClung's

affairs, in all of which his opponents were killed, one of them being his own cousin. His last fight was with a young man by the name of Menefee, who was

many

killed.

a great

Andrew Jackson, Charles Lee, Henry S. Foote, and many other eminent Americans, had the repu-

and so they were, according tation of being duellists to Webster; so, also, according to the same authority,

were Cain and Abel, David and Goliath, Jonathan and Pudens and ^Eneas and Diomede. The reader may satisfy himself on this point, if he can. There have lived many French duellists who were De Vitaux himself having little less than murderers
.

killed

a score of men, at least a number of whom were of the gilded youth of the French capital. Goumelieu took great pleasure in killing young men, two of his victims (one of whom was Vitaux's brother) having been under sixteen years of age. Goumelieu was afterward killed by the elder Vitaux. The latter, however, who had been known as the paragon swordsman of France, was at last despatched by Baron de Du Vighan, one of the most charming Mittaud. men of his day, was a noted duellist, but was sent to his last account by Baron d'Ugeon, who wounded Du Vighan in three places, from which wounds the latter died. Bourcicaut, Crillon, Saint Phal, and De Clermont were among the royal cut-throats of the reign of Henry III., and were notable experts with the

45 2
sword.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Bussy d'Amboise never
lost

an opportunity
at
last

of provoking a meeting, but he

was

over-

matched.

French

Inequality of arms was not always regarded among duellists as murderous or unchivalrous after

the decline of judicial duelling. The challenged person, having a right to choose his weapons, often en-

deavored to devise such as would give him a decidedly unfair advantage. Brantome records with applause the ingenuity of a little man who, being
challenged by a tall Gascon, made choice of a gorget so constructed that his gigantic adversary could not stoop his neck so as to aim his blows right. Another had two swords forged of a temper so extremely brittle that, unless used with particular caution and in a manner to which he daily exercised himself, the blade

must necessarily
persons
trouble,
killed

fly in pieces.

Both these ingenious

little

their

man

with very
it

risk

or

than

if

and with no less applause, they had fought without any

would seem, guile; such was

that the cele-

the degenerate spirit of the times. It was during the reign of Henry

III.

brated duel between Quelus and D'Entragues was fought, near the Porte St. Antoine, in which the

former was mortally and the latter dangerously wounded. In a moment after the two principals had crossed swords, Riberac (one of the seconds of Quelus) and Maugerin (one of D'Entragues' seconds) drew their weapons and went at each other furiously and
continued fighting until both fell dead. Schomberg (another second of Quelus), a German, after surveying
the bloody
" proposed a finish" to Livaret (the remaining second), and nearly cut off the whole side
field,

of the face of the

Frenchman

at the first slash; but,

DUELLISTS OF
in return,
fell

MANY

TYPES.

453

was run through the body by Livaret, who afterward in a duel with the Marquis de Pienne, the latter being assassinated by a valet of Livaret while leaving the field. It will be seen that four out of the six combatants in this duel were stretched out cold, while the other two were wounded, one morand the other severely. Although Louis XIII. frowned upon the custom, duelling was carried on through his reign with no
tally

evidences of abatement. The nobility, in particular, even more than army officers, caught the infectious
complaint.
It was during this king's reign that duelmore and more spectacular, from the fact became ling that there were seldom encounters in which there were not two or more seconds who participated.

When Montmorency
Beuvron
seconds on each
killed outright

le

Comte de

Botteville fought

De

in the Palais Royal, in 1627, there

were two

side, one of whom (De Bussy) was and the other (La Bertha) mortally wounded. The principals fought more than an hour with swords and daggers, and at last fell from wounds and exhaustion; but both recovered. De Botteville

killed a

among whom

of noted duellists during his time, were the Comte de Pontgibaud, Le Comte de Thorigny, Marquis de Portes, La Frete, and He was at last tried for murder, and shortly others. afterward closed his career on the guillotine, at the
instigation of Cardinal Richelieu. In 1652, during the reign of Louis XIV.,

number

Due de Nemours and Due de Beaufort fought a duel with

pistols,

swords and

near Versailles, with four seconds

each; and besides Nemours, who was shot dead, one of his seconds (D'Henricourt) was killed by Marquis de Villars, and also one of Beaufort's seconds (De Riz)

454

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

by the Due d'Uzerches. Later a duel took place between Le Comte de Coligny and De Guise, in the Place Royale, and Coligny and his second (De Bridieu) were both mortally wounded. In 1660 Rochefort, Des Planches, D'Harcourt, De Rieux, La In Frete, and De Chalaix were all expert swordsmen. 1663 the two latter quarrelled at a soiree, and afterward met with three seconds each, all of whom fought with swords or daggers and wounded each other; and the two very men whom the king sent to prevent the duel took sides and participated in the contest. So incensed was the king at such gross misdemeanor
that the parties all skipped
to avoid

by the

light of the

moon

merited punishment. Later, in France, came the Marquis de Donza, who was executed for killing his brother-in-law; Brisseuil,
Chamilly, D'Aydie, Bonton, the Richelieu (that fascinating and wondrous character, over whom even women fought, and who became a Marshal of France, who, it is esti-

Richebourg, Du Comte de Gace,

De

career and was himself

mated, killed seventeen expert swordsmen during his wounded but once by Mar-

quis d'Aumount), De Soissons, De Guerchy, D'Eon, and the Marquis de Tenteniac most of these in

Louis the Fifteenth's reign. In 1785 the Comte de le Favre fought with pistols, but neither was hurt. In 1826 the Marquis de Livron and M. du Trone fought on horseback with sabres, and both were wounded. Since then there have come conspicuously to the front many noted French duelGersdoff and M.
lists

whose names are familiar to readers of to-day Emile de Girardin, Fayan, Garnarey, Barthelemy, Dumas, Trobriant, De Clemenceau, Henri Rochefort, and Paul de Cassagnac being among the best known.

DUELLISTS OF

MANY

TYPES.

455

M. Paul de Cassagnac is to-day the most distinguished and most dangerous duellist living, and is an expert with sword and pistol. His meeting with M. de Montebello, in 1883, was described briefly as follows
in a Paris

despatch to the London Daily Telegraph:

The duel fought yesterday between M. Paul de Cassagnac and M. Adrien de Montebello is, after the ministerial crisis, the event of the day. There has been for some time a bitter grudge between the two, which was aggravated by M. de
Montebello's attempt during the elections to wrest the constituency of Mariadne, originally represented by M. Granier de Cassagnac, from his son. The contest was keen, but the

For some weeks Bonapartist triumphed, nevertheless. there seems to have been a sort of truce, but M. Paul de
Cassagnac took offence at M. de Montebello congratulating M. Clemen ceau on his attack on the government, and on the following day the Pays appeared with a furious article against M. Leon Say's chief secretary, from its impetuous ediThe insult was too gross to be passed over, tor's own pen. and M. Adrien de Montebello accordingly at once despatched two of his friends the Vicomte de Saint Pierre, Senator, and M. Casimir Perier, Deputy to M. Paul de

Cassagnac for the purpose of arranging the preliminaries of a hostile encounter. These gentlemen were promptly joined by Georges Brame, Deputy, and Commander Blanc, acting for M. de Cassagnac, and it was settled that the duel should take place on Saturday afternoon at 1.30 at M. Buloz's Punctual to the minute, prinestate at Epinay-sur-Seine. at the trysting-place yesterday, and seconds appeared cipals but it was soon perceived that the ground selected would not suit, and an hour was spent in search of a better arena. Finally a spot was found that answered every requirement, and the adversaries were soon face to face with each other. M. de Cassagnac is a big, heavy It was a battle of giants. man, rather over than under six feet in height, but he is small in comparison to M. de Montebello, who actually towers above him, though of a very spare build. Both are

456

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

very strong and admirable fencers, but the Bonapartist proved himself the better man of the two. After a pass or two, a blue vest worn by M. de Montebello was pierced by his adversary's sword, and he exclaimed that he thought he was touched in the breast. The doctor examined the place, but found no wound, and the combat was continued. It was at the fifth pass that M. de Montebello was wounded in the right arm, M. de Cassagnac's weapon penetrating to the very bone. He dropped his sword, and M. de Cassagnac,
turning to his seconds, remarked that he thought it was all His prediction over, as he felt that he had struck home.

proved correct, the doctor refusing to allow the combat to be continued. It is affirmed that M. de Cassagnac has declared that, although he had already fought sixteen duels, he had never had such trouble with an adversary before.
It is said of the renowned French swordsmen, Ludovico de Piles and his brother, that, one day, while journeying toward Paris, they stopped over at an

inn at Valence, and, seeing a spit turning, ordered " I can only give you* crackers and cheese," supper. " said the landlord. Only crackers and cheese !"
cried Ludovico, in anger and surprise; "pray, sir, whose meat is that on the spit ?" " It belongs to four French officers." " Tell them that two French gen-

tlemen will join them." The landlord carried out his instructions, but soon returned with a reply that

"the officers decline." "They, do? Ah! bring us some crackers and cheese, and have an apartment
prepared for us for the night."
early the next

The brothers

arose

toward Paris. said to his brother: "

I

morning and were soon on their way All of a sudden Ludovico stopped and
it,

will return for

I'll

and
ried

I have left my purse at Valence. while you go your way slowly, overtake you before evening." He then hur-

to Valence,

challenged

the

four officers, and

DUELLISTS OF

MANY

TYPES.

457

killed them all, one after the other. He rejoined his brother just before dinner-time, but did not mention the episode we have described. Indeed, it was a year before the latter heard of it, and then it was from

Cardinal Mazarin. These brothers many duels, but were never hurt.

De

Piles fought

The Chevalier d'Andrieux, who flourished during the reign of Louis the Thirteenth, at the age of thirty
had
killed

seventy-two

men.

Upon meeting

his

" seventy-third adversary, the latter said, Chevalier, " will be tenth man." And my you you will be my

seventy-third," answered D'Andrieux; which proved to be true, for his antagonist was laid on the grass
after disarming his

named Gautier, then offering them their lives if they would renounce their hopes of salvation, often cut their throats, for the purpose, as he claimed,
dead
in

a minute.

notorious fellow

men and

of killing them,

body and

soul.

Baron d'Aspremont

once fought and killed three men in one day. Once, in a duel of three against three, Baron de Bipon killed his man, and then went to the assistance of the others on his side.

Gideon Croquard, who had killed two and who was rated as one of the most acmasters, of his day in France, lost his swordsmen complished
Captain

by coming in contact with the wall of a room in which he was fighting with St. Foix. These two famous duellists met at a cafe, where St. Foix had ordered a repast, and which, after some fine fencing,
life

he agreed to share with Croquard, " except the des" sert," said St. Foix; only one of us two must partake of that you understand ?" Again their blades came in collision, and in a short time, while being pressed
vigorously, Croquard's

arm came

in contact with the

458

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

wall and, quick as a flash, St. Foix's gleaming steel passed through his body. St. Foix declared that the

death - thrust was accidental, and had Croquard buried at his (the survivor's) expense. St. Foix was born at Rennes, and died at an advanced age. The
Chevalier Chanderclos-Laclos,
duellist,

who was an

unprin-

cipled plotter against Louis XVI.,

was a blood-thirsty

and died

at

Tarenta

in 1803.

During the early part of the reign of Louis Philippe there lived in France a singular character

named Duclos, who had fought successfully eightteen duels before reaching his thirtieth birthday. He
was a poor devil, but an expert with the sword. He was often seen in public places, hatless and shirtless, and in later years was known as the "Diogenes of the Palais Royal." He lived to an advanced age, but was found one morning dead (with his sword drawn), having perished during the preceding night from the effects of cold and starvation. In his day the most renowned type of the belligerent journalist was Cyrano de Bergerac, who never
appeared upon the boulevards or in other public places without a pen in his felt hat and with his hand upon his rapier. M. de Treville, an accomplished swordsman, fought twenty duels with actors

and authors

in half as many years. Martainsville, Dessessarts, and Dazincourt (all actors) were excellent fellows with the sword, and had each received

cuts in other than fictitious duels.

Monsieur Fayot flourished in Paris from 1820 to 1850 as an accomplished duellist, being a good swordsman and a dead shot with the pistol. He once wounded the well-known General Fournier, one of the best swordsmen of France and noted for having

DUELLISTS OF

MANY

TYPES.

459

killed eleven men in duels. Fayot fought seventynine duels in the space of ten years, and received This during that time only one serious wound. notorious duellist had a very polite way of hitting an

adversary in the knee (if fighting with pistols) and of then bowing himself off the field and into his tilbury.
generally preferred the morning say between the hours of ten and twelve as the time for fighting, while his favorite ground was at the well in the Bois de Boulogne, near Auteuil. During the revolution of

He

1830

Eugene

Buffault, Godefroi, Cavignac,

Armand

Cassel,
Veuillot,

Roux-Laborie, Marrart, Gardenier, Louis and many other noted Parisian duellists

made

There have

patriotic use of their swords. lived many famous

svvordswomen

in

among whom, at different times, were Madame de Chateau-Gay, who was perfect mistress of the rapier; there was also La Donze, who killed two professionals at Auvergne. La Baupre and La des Nilis were both experts with the sword; while La
France, conspicuous

Maupin, disguised

in

male

attire,

at

a bal masque
in

one night. with women is, pertraining may accomplish haps, best shown in Vigeant's account of Jean Louis'
killed three clever Parisian

swordsmen

What

daughter

who

is,

by

far,

the most excellent and ex-

traordinary swordswoman that ever lived. Jean Louis, although he never wrote anything about the art of fencing, which he so elevated by his
talent,

was the greatest master in this art of the present century. The school founded by Jean Louis will live forever, and the fundamental principles he has set forth will be transmitted from generation to
generation.

The

father

of

Vigeant, the

greatest

French fencing-master now

living,

was one of the most

460

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

devoted pupils of Jean Louis, and from the narratives Vigeant his son has recently published a book and biography of the great master under the title Un Maitre d'Armes sous la Restauration. Jean Louis is heard of, first, in 1796 the fifth year
of the elder

French Republic as a small, feeble-lookmulatto), born on the island of San Domingo, of unknown parents Jean Louis being only the Christian name. He arrived in France and was instructed at Montauban in the Protestant religion, to which he adhered with a fanatic zeal, reading
of the
first

ing child

(a

secretly the Bible in a cellar

when

the revolutionists

persecuted

all religionists.

He was

admitted
first

in 1796

" as a pupil of a regiment, though at on account of his brown complexion

sical

objected to

fragile phyappearance." But Jean Louis soon developed wonderful talents during the lessons he received in fencing, and Monsieur d'Erape, the noted fencing-

and

master of the regiment (a Belgian nobleman), was thereby attracted to the precocious child, and soon himself undertook the instruction of the boy, for whom he predicted a brilliant career. And he was not mistaken. Jean Louis developed into
a wonderful disciple of the art cTescrime. He was of rapid, simple execution in all his movements, and, using only parades simples, could always with advantage

combat

ern inventors.

mirers, the affected salutations, the contre-coups, the capricious pauses, all .shocked him, and appeared to him unwor-

and dangerous tricks of the mod"Jean Louis," said one of his ad"omitted everything that was superfluous;
fantastical

thy of such a serious

simple, natural,

art.

One admires both

his

and well-becoming defence, and the development and rapidity of his attack, his sure

DUELLISTS OF

MANY

TYPES.

judgment, his impassibility in the defensive, as also the regularity, even in the most unforeseen circumstances, of all his movements, which followed each other like the rings of a chain." "The general
suppleness of the body and the facility of the hand," " Jean Louis said, himself, and an accurate and ready conception, constituted the principal qualities of the

master who has made me what I am. I think I have succeeded in obtaining these qualities by the force of my will, by work, and also by reflection." In 1804, at the moment when the French Empire had been proclaimed, Jean Louis had reached his eighteenth year. Already he was an expert in fencing whom few could rival. Although Napoleon I. did not like the duel, the habit of continual war had introduced it in the army to such an extent that its

And a young man suppression was impossible. like Jean Louis, fortified by a strong physical education, and every day electrified by the new victories of the armies of Napoleon, could not remain indifferent
to this taste for the

combat

in

duel.

He

therefore

had frequently such meetings, but none to give him remorse, as his wonderful adroitness served him as well for his adversary's protection as for his own. In the city where his regiment was stationed he continually obtained great triumphs in the fencing-hall. habitual attendant at their public displays of regimental skill, who imagined himself a better

An

artist in the

use of the sword than Jean Louis, one day, from jealousy, insulted Jean Louis by loud derogatory remarks to his friends. At last Jean Louis thought it worth while to ask him if he intended those remarks for him, and whether he was seeking a chalThe boasting individual replied that he did, lenge.

42

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and added contemptuously: " The sword is not made for your mulatto hand, Monsieur of the foil." Jean Louis preserved his calmness and consented to a duel, under one condition; namely, that while his adversary should use the sword, he himself would choose the foil with a button on its point. Enraged at this proposition, which he considered an insult, the other accepted; and in vain the friends of Jean Louis tried to dissuade him from such an uneven " I am so little crazy," fight, and called him crazy. replied Jean Louis, "that I shall, under the stipulated conditions, to-morrow administer Monsieur the punishment to which he is entitled." On the following day the two adversaries met with sword and foil. Jean Louis did nothing but parry for a while the furious blows which the other tried
to deal him; then suddenly, improving the opportunity of a violent attack from his adversary, he dealt

him by a counter-movement such a blow

that the unfortunate

in

the face

on his back terribly cut and with the blood running down from the wound.
fell

man

The wounded man never again placed way of the mulatto.

himself in the

While the foregoing duel was fought during the youth of Jean Louis, he had later another or, rather, which reothers, as they occurred on the same day minds one of the combat of Roland of which Victor

Hugo

tells

Louis was
since 1796.
in

still

In 1814 Jean in his Legende des Siedes. in the army, which he had not left

in more than thirty battles and Russia. We now find Egypt, Italy, Prussia, him in Spain (in Madrid) as the first fencing-master of the Thirty-second Regiment, then invading Spain. This regiment formed part of the Third Division of

He had

been

DUELLISTS OF
the French

MANY

TYPES.

463

just entered Madrid. regiments of other nationalities the subjected allies of Napoleon were part of this division, and frequent quarrels occurred between these and

army which had

Several

the French troops. Thus, the First Regiment belonging to the same division consisted of Italians; and
soldiers of the Thirty-second and the First, during a carousal at a tavern in one of the suburbs of Madrid, fell into a dispute, both sides were soon All ran into the reinforced by their comrades. street, and a fierce battle commenced between the two nationalities. Blood was shed, the wounded covered the pavement, and it required the arrival of two companies with their bayonets to end the fight, which had threatened to become a general slaughter. The leaders of this affair were arrested, and a council of war was summoned. Discipline demanded an

when some

exemplary reparation. The council unanimously decided that the fencingmasters and the provosts (their assistants) of both the regiments compromised should assume the responsibility of the quarrel and fight a duel as long as it was Fifteen fencingpossible to continue such a combat. masters on each side were designated Jean Louis to be the first for the Thirty-second Regiment, and Giacomo Ferrari, a celebrated Florentine master and terrible adversary, to be the leader of the combatants of the First Regiment the two celebrities to meet
Since the picturesque fight of the Thirty of Roland's, military history has had no encounter that has been so sanguinary and spectacular as the one of which we write. All the participants were soldiers
first.

and accustomed

to face

solved to maintain the

death without fear; all honor of their regiments.

re-

464

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The physical surroundings and scenery of this combat were not inferior to the lands of the Bretagne, which listened to the sublime battle-cry of Roland,
Drink thy blood, Beaumanoir, and thy thirst will Let the reader imagine an entire army drawn up in line of battle on one of the plains which surround Madrid. In the centre of this gorgeous array of troops, whose arms glisten under the dark blue sky of Castilia, a large open space has been reserved on an elevation forming a natural platform. Soon the chosen combatants appear on the scene, sword in hand and breasts bare; and all the spectators of this tragical scene (the soldiers in line and the inhabitants of Madrid interested as at the beginning of a bullfight) turn not their eyes from a single detail of what In the presence of ten is going on before them. thousand witnesses the honor of an army is to be
pass!"
sanctified in the blood of those thirty brave soldiers. The drum is sounded, sonorous and short words of

"

command
ment the

are heard, and by a simultaneous movecrosses of the guns rest on the hard soil and

make it tremble like a clap of thunder. Two men, with a rapid and sure step, appear on the little hillock one of them tall and strong, full of confidence and
defiance Giacomo Ferrari; the other, tall also, with a dark complexion and with muscles which seem to be like steel, holds himself immovable and waiting.

This

is

Jean Louis.
given, and both masters cross their the very first moment Ferrari tries to

The word is swords. From

strike Jean Louis, but every time he meets the steel of his adversary. He displays all his art, but Jean Louis, calm and attentive, follows all the flourishes of

the other.

Suddenly the

Italian utters

one of those

DUELLISTS OF
hoarse cries
race and

MANY

TYPES.

46$

peculiar to the fencing-masters of his jumps a little aside, following it with a

violent attack from below.

This

is

a Florentine ruse
Italian.

which often proves successful with the

But

almost at the same moment a cry of anger, more than of pain, is heard from the Italian; for, with an unheard-of precision, Jean Louis has parried his thrust, and his sword, by a rapid riposte, has entered the " This amounts to nothing!" shoulder of Ferrari. cries Giacomo. They recommence; and, almost imFerrari is struck in his breast. This after, mediately time the sword of Jean Louis has penetrated pretty A ghastly pallor spreads over the face of deep. Giacomo, his sword drops from his hands, and he The witnesses hasten to falls heavily to the ground. his aid; he is dead. Jean Louis has already resumed his first position. He wipes his sword, and, turning its point towards The first fencing-master of the the ground, he waits. First Regiment is carried off dead, but the fight is There are not finished it. has only commenced! fourteen more adversaries masters and assistants
at the foot of the hillock, impatient to measure their skill with the conqueror and eager to avenge the

chief whom they had thought invincible. has taken a rest of hardly two minutes.

Jean Louis

He

is

ready.

Another adversary rushes toward him.

The swords

are crossed; a sinister sound, a cry, a sigh Jean Louis has leaned forward, but again stands erect, with his sword lowered: a second corpse is lying at his feet. The third adversary, an Italian of tall stature, begins his attacks; he multiplies his jumps, feigned attacks, and surprises; and finally coming down like a tiger ready to spring, he aims a terrible blow at the mulatto from

466
below.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

But the
steel

of Jean Louis, after a rapid

strike, disappears in the breast of the Italian, who is Ten more adversaries follow carried off insensible.

the

first

three
fall

and

all

ten

all experienced masters of fencing before Jean Louis.

With such a number of victories, without a precedent in the history of the duel, one might have thought the French master to be tired out. In this unheardwhich had lasted hardly forty minutes, Jean had dealt twenty-seven strokes, several of which were fatal. Two provosts remained of the fifteen. Pale, but resolved, they stood at the foot of the In vain the hillock, ready to be struck down also.
of fight,

Louis

old colonel of the Thirty-second Regiment tried to prevail upon Jean Louis to desist from further fight

and leave it to his assistants to the two remaining adversaries.

assigned

combat with No, no," cried Jean Louis; "I shall not leave the post which has been
finish the "

me by the confidence of the Thirty-second Regiment. Here I shall remain, and here I shall In finishing fight as long as I can hold a sword." these words Jean Louis made an energetic gesture with his sword, and accidentally wounded in the leg one of his colleagues. Scarcely had he perceived the accident, when suddenly his feverish ardor vanished, and with tears rolling down his cheeks he turned to his friend and exclaimed: "Oh, but one man of the Thirty-second has been wounded this day, and by me!" The colonel profited by this incident and declared that the honor of the Thirty-second Regiment was fully vindicated. Nothing remained but to An enthusiastic clamor offer the hand to the First. was heard. The colonel pointed out to Jean Louis the two silent provosts of the First and said: " They can-

DUELLISTS OF
not

MANY

TYPES.

467

Jean Louis at last was overcome. sword; and, advancing towards the two provosts, gave them both his hands. " Vive Jean Louis! Vive le Trente-deuxieme!" cried a thousand "Vive le Premier!" cried Jean Louis. "We voices. are but one family; vive 1'armee !" This was the signal
to you!"

come

He threw away his

of the final reconciliation.

It

was

sincere

and com-

In another second, adversaries and friends surplete. rounded Jean Louis, all of whom complimented him

and wanted to take his hand; but the master freed himself and reminded them of their care for the wounded. This sign of sympathy did the rest to win for him all hearts, and the same evening the wine of Xerez was copiously drunk to the treaty of peace. Thus ended this duel, or rather this chain of duels, which in the nineteenth century renewed the legendary adventures
of the ancient days of chivalry.

Jean Louis was twenty-eight years old when the famous combat just described took place. His fame was established and commenced to spread all over France. The rank of officer was repeatedly offered him, but he declined, in order to remain faithful to He was decorated with the cross of the his art. Legion of Honor, and in 1816 was transferred to the Third Regiment of Engineers, then in garrison at Montpellier, where he again distinguished himself in his art and gained triumph after triumph. Then the was sent to Metz. Here his fame reached regiment
its

zenith.

take lessons from him.

hall,

From everywhere people came to Metz to He opened a private fencing-

still remaining in the army, and his authoran arbiter was likewise highly respected. After a number of years, in 1830, he returned to Montpellier, where he had always felt completely at home, and

white

ity as

468

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

opened a regular fencing-hall, where the most brilliant representatives of his art have been educated. In 1849 Jean Louis, then at the age of sixty-five years, left the service, as his regiment was sent to another garrison. He preferred to remain in Montpellier. When, soon after, between two regiments at Montpellier jealousies and rivalries had arisen, and duel after duel had followed each other, the Minister of War sent,
at the advice of the

commanding general, the latter ask to to Montpellier Jean Louis to establish peace his means of great popularity. Jean Louis arby
ranged a
of
brilliant

reconciliation
duelling,

fencing-match and brought about a on this occasion, denouncing the practice which advice was followed.

He

instructed his daughter in the art of fencing,

and she became one of his most distinguished disMile. ciples, and conquered many a male adversary. Jean Louis married, however, early in life, and laid aside her foil. She died a year after her marriage. In
still

1865 Jean Louis, eighty years old, lost his eyesight, but continued to give instructions in his beloved art.

Although he did not see the pupil's sword, he felt by the touch of his own whether the pupil was right or wrong. He died November ipth of the same year; and the funeral of the old soldier of the grande armee and the founder and master of the contemporary French school of fencing was attended by almost the whole town. England had many noted duellists during the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries; among whom were Beau Fielding; Captain Cusack, who
killed

Fulford in Lincoln's Inn Fields; Captain Stoney, who married Lady Strathmore, after fighting two duels on her account one with the Rev. Mr.

DUELLISTS OF

MANY

TYPES.

469

Bate, and the other with Mr. Butt, editor of the Morning Post; the Earl of Essex, who was wounded by Sir Walter Blount; Sir Philip Sidney, who was a

superior swordsman; Major Oneby, who killed Mr. Gower and was convicted of murder (for being covered with a cloak) and sentenced to death, but who escaped execution by committing suicide; Sir Thomas

Armstrong, a notorious bully

and
the

duellist;

Lord

Hamilby ton; Captain Nourse, a gambler, who got into a great rage and cut his throat because Lord Windsor declined to meet him in mortal combat; John Law, who killed Edward Wilson in 1694; and others, more particularly officers of the army and navy. The most distinguished English duellist that ever lived was Lord Herbert of Cherbury who was, however unlike many of the French experts with duellingimplements a gentleman of true chivalry and honor. Long a resident of France, his lordship entered into all the customs of the French capital with zest and enjoyment, and none could be found to excel him in the use of the pistol or sword. As Herbert once stood
at last killed of
;

Mohun, who was

Duke

trenches before a besieged place along with Balagny, a celebrated duellist of the period, between whom and his lordship some altercation had formerly occurred, the Frenchman, in a spirit of bravado, jumped over the intrenchment and, daring Herbert to follow him, ran toward the besieged place, in the face of a fire of grape and musketry. Finding that Herbert outran him, and seemed to have no intention of turning back, Balagny was forced to set the examLord Herbert then invited him to ple of retreating. an encounter upon the old chivalrous point, which had the fairer and more virtuous mistress but this
in the
;

47

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

proposition Balagny declined, accompanying his refusal with a jest so coarse as made Lord Herbert retort that he spoke like a mean debauchee, not like a
cavalier
Sir

and man of honor.

also a noted English duellist
;

Henry Urton was

and during the year 1592, while employed as ambassador to the Court of France, considering the honor
of his royal mistress, the Queen of England, insulted by the Duke of Guise, sent that notorious duellist the

following spirited challenge

Forasmuch as lately, in the lodgings of the Lord Dumogre, and in public elsewhere, impudently, indiscreetly, and overboldly, you spoke badly of my sovereign, whose sacred person here in this country I represent, to maintain, both by word and weapon, her honor (which was never called in

among persons of honesty and virtue), I say you have wickedly lied in speaking so basely of my sovereign, and you shall do nothing else but lie whenever you dare to tax her honor. Moreover, that her sacred person (being one of the most complete and virtuous princesses that lives in this world) ought not to be evil spoken of by the tongue of such a perfidious traitor to her land and country as you are, and, therefore, I do defy you, and challenge your person to mine, with such manner of arms as you shall like or choose, be it either on horseback or on foot nor would I have you to think any inequality of person between us, I being issued of as great a race and noble a house as yourself, in assigning me an indifferent place. I will there maintain my words, and the lie which I gave you. If you consent not to meet me hereupon, I will hold you and cause you to be generally held for the arrantest coward and most slanderous slave in
question
;

all

France.

expect your answer.

The

result of this bold challenge

we have

not met
as

with on record.

There

is,

perhaps, nothing

so dangerous

the

DUELLISTS OF

MANY

TYPES.

reputation of being what duellists call a good shot that is, being experienced in the use of pistols unless it is united with the most amiable disposition. The

confidence of superior principle into a bravo

skill
;

converts the

man

without
cir-

and he who, under such

cumstances, wantonly challenges another is little betfor if the individual called out ter than an assassin is an honorable man he feels the utmost reluctance to make the slightest concession, knowing that he
;

would be suspected of doing so from

expertness. tagonist's of the history of duelling presents
this.

fear of his an-

known

The blood-stained page

many

instances of

between Captain Stackpole and Lieutenant Cecil was one of the many that might be The first word of dispute between them adduced. fixed the duel. There are, however, instances of gentlemen who, regardless of the trammels that the supposed laws of honor have fixed upon society, have been jealous of their honor, and courageous enough to defend it, yet never ambitious for a duel men who, with a giant's power, have not used it as a giant. One of those was Captain Foy, a gentleman who had been engaged in four or five duels, without ever having been the challenger, and who was so expert in the use of pistols that he would hit a bottle at the
duel
;

The

distance of twenty paces, or extinguish a candle with a bullet at half the distance. This gentleman, while
in quarters

with his regiment

in

the north of England,

had one day at the mess-table given offence to a young officer, who, conceiving his honor injured,
instantly challenged the captain. Foy asked the officer if he had ever fought a duel, or if he was a good
shot, and, being answered in the negative, he said " Suppose we practise a little before our meeting to:

THE FIELD Of HONOR.

morrow morning."
Then, calling for his pistols, the whole party adjourned into the yard of the inn where they were quartered. A wine-bottle was placed at
pistol

the distance of twenty paces. Captain Foy took his and shattered it to pieces then, turning to
;

Now, sir, I am ready to young officer, he said give you satisfaction. To have accepted your chalthe
:

"

lenge after the knowledge of my own skill and your inexperience would not have been consistent with that

honor of which
as yourself."

trust

entertain as delicate a sense

officer

The young

thanked Foy for

his

and, observing that he could not believe that a gentleman who could act thus nobly could be

frankness

guilty of an intentional affront, declared himself perfectly satisfied, while the conduct of Captain Foy endeared him to the whole circle of officers who wit-

nessed

it.

Another notable incident of chivalrous conduct was

that of Captain Kirby, of the British army, in his duel with a brother-officer at the Cape of Good Hope.
It

seems

that, after the

combatants had been placed,

shot, de-

Captain Kirby,
clined to

who was an accomplished

had been assigned to fire, a position of great but unintended disadvantage. Kirby's objection to having an antagonist so placed that he could hardly be missed was sustained by the New positions were therefore selected, and seconds. at the first fire both gentlemen fell severely wounded. During the sixteenth, seventeenth, and eighteenth centuries the French custom of seconds participating in duels pervaded England, and among the nobilIn the highly specity was sustained con amore. tacular combat between Buckingham and Shrewsbury, in which the latter was killed, the seconds on either
as his antagonist

DUELLISTS OF
side participated in the
fell

MANY

TYPES.

473

engagement one of whom dead on Buckingham's side, while Sir (Jenkins) Talbot the side of the Earl) was severely John (on and dangerously wounded.
Probably there has never lived a race of men who
not that actually loved duelling so well as the Irish the Irish really loved to shed human blood or de;

lighted in laying out their adversaries cold, like the French and Italian monsters of two, three, and four

hundred years ago. No; the Irish fought for the sport and reputation of the thing, although they
fought desperately sometimes, especially when they The most noted Irish duellists have been Curran, the Barringtons, Grattan, Dick Daly,

met with swords.

Amby Bodkin, Bourke, McNamara, and others who have been mentioned. Lord Norbury made good use of his pistols, or " barkers" as they were called, in Ireland. He was repeatedly " out," one of his duels being with "Fighting Fitzgerald," whose concealed armor Martin of Galway had tried by walking coolly
Harry Grady, Patterson, Fitzgerald,

Jemmy Keogh,

up and

firing

two
I

balls at him, saying,

"

If

either of

a murderer," and who was afterward hanged for a murder not according to the code. Another case of the use of armor like Gerald's was those enter you,

am

attach6 of the

mentioned by an immigrant in Castle Garden to an New York Sun during the summer of

Once upon a time, said the 1883. ball McNamara the name by which

immigrant, Fire-

Major McNamara, for many years M.P. for county Clare, and second to O'Connell in the famous duel in which he shot D'Esterre, was popularly known called out a Frenchman, one Viscount de Chatenet, who had the impertinence to claim something for the French at Fontenoy.

474

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

the battle-ground, and his the Major pinked adversary several times though the sword never penetrated. The Fireball was in a

They fought with swords, near

great quandary, when suddenly came to him the voice of a woman speaking in the rich native tongue from a hedge alongside, where some Irish emigrants

had hidden themselves to see the sport, "Major, aileen, do you think of how they killed the cattle in the old country ?" and, taking the hint, the Major made the next lunge at his throat, which was unprotected, and stretched the Frenchman on the
like ourselves

sod.

According to a late writer there time (1884) but one Irish duellist
landmark, now
is

is

at the

present
he, like

left.
;

The only
and

the

O'Gormon Mahon

physicians of great fame, does not, save on special He occasions, go out, but is called in consultation.
still, however, guards with jealous tenderness his honored reputation. At a recent dinner of the Irish party, when the number of duels in which he had been interested was spoken of, and a distinguished Irish priest who was present attempted to excuse

number by apologetically suggesting that the O'Gorman had been in most of them the challenged " No, party, the old duellist said, with wounded pride
their
:

sir; in all

of the twenty-two

was the challenger.

In

two

pricked my man, and in the other twenty, save In my duel with one, I received an ample apology. Smith O'Brien in 1829, out of compliment of his beI

ing a junior branch of

after

my

family,

raised

my

beaver

two shots."

The cold rigidity of Saxon and strict execution of English law has transformed " The Happy Hunting-ground of Satisfaction" a name frequently be-

DUELLISTS OF

MANY

TYPES.

475

stowed upon Ireland during the days when duelling was a part of its curriculum of education into precincts where no more may be seen the fantastic knights of honor with their law-books in one hand and a case of duelling-pistols in the other. Among other noted duellists may be mentioned

Count Don Rodrigo Bivar, celebrated in Spanish his" tory as the Cid," who, in the eleventh century, fought and killed the father of his affianced the Carmi;

chaels and Bruntfields, of Scotland, in the sixteenth the Marquis of Cavoie, a French noblecentury
;

man of the seventeenth century, who was 'noted for his many affairs of honor Sir John Mitchell, of Scot;

" James Crichton (the Admirable Crichton") the Count de Lobenstadt, an officer in the Prussian army, who, after killing a brother-officer in 1828, was dismissed from the service and sent to prison for life Constant Conver, who killed his adversary in Nova Scotia in 1785 General Galeazzo, a nobleman of Italy, who was successful in a full score of combats, Adam and Walkilling all his adversaries but four ter Littleton, Scotchmen, who killed their men, and who were both killed in turn Theodore Neuhoff, of

land

Westphalia,

who

killed a

number

of

men

George

Penruddock, a Scotchman and an officer in the army of the Queen in 1556, renowned for his successful combats Baron Frederick Trenck, an officer in the
;

who came out of six duels successfully, two and killing wounding four of his adversaries all between 1741 and 1749 William Vesey, of Scotland, who killed a man each in England, Ireland, and ScotPrussian army,
;

land in 1589-93 General Hans Joachim Zietkin, of the Prussian army the Baron de Heckeren, of the
;

Russian army; and, of course, a great

many

others.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XXVI.

REMORSE OF DUELLISTS.
The Shadow which Hung over George Pen. Johnston's Life How the Witty and Brilliant S. S. Prentiss Walked in the Valley and Shadow of Death What Mr. Graves Said after Killing Cilley O'Connell's Guilty Hand Benton's Distress of Mind McCarGrief of Gillespie Remorse of Neuhoff ty's Great Remorse
Insomnia, Insanity, Delirium Tremens, and Suicide

Deaths

from Excessive Grief

How

Miller,

Tom

Porter,

and Henry

Phillips each Killed a Particular Friend, and then Died of a Broken Heart Major Egerton's Sorrow Captain Stewart's Oath Numa Hubert's Hallucination "The Phantom Never Leaves Me !" McClung, the Most Determined and Successful

Duellist of the Southern States, Kills himself with a Pistol with which he had Sent Others to their Last Account.

EARLY

in

March, 1884, George "Pen. Johnston, a

resident of San Francisco, passed quietly over the river; and the Daily Call, of that city, in its article
descriptive of the great grief which shadowed the life of the otherwise pleasant and congenial Johnston for nearly twenty-six years, declared that "he was a

changed man ever after, and the shadow of that tragic event was to his soul like that typified by Poe's mystic Raven;' the 'midnight dark and dreary' of its coming was to him the fatal anniversary of the duel, when the shadow invariably deepened on his brooding heart." While few Americans or Englishmen
*

REMORSE OF DUELLISTS.
(this

4/7

cannot be said so truthfully of others, unless, perhaps, of Irishmen) who have survived fatal duels

during the past century and a half are strangers

either grief or remorse, there have lived many like the gentle, humane, chivalrous, tionate Johnston, whose perfect peace of

to

and died and 'affecmind has

been forever afterward shattered or destroyed.

The

San Francisco Bulletin also referred feelingly to the " shadow" thus: " One of the older class of journalists
in the State has just passed away. George Pen. Johnston just missed the distinction of a pioneer by comHe held in early ing to the State in the year 1850. days the office of deputy marshal, was a subordinate officer in the

custom-house, afterward clerk of the United States Circuit Court, and held a seat in the He was during these Legislature for one session. the Democratic press. to contributor a frequent years In the summer of 1858 he was involved in a duel by

which his opponent lost his life. That was ever afterward the shadow of Johnston's life. He came short He of the success which his talents had promised. had a conscience. It is probable that he never was quite free from the self-reproach of having compassed the life of a man. The duel which he fought was according to the duelling code, and he was drawn into it by considerations which in those days and
from his point of view
justified

such encounters.

man

with a less

sensitive

conscience would have

But it was passed over the circumstances lightly. not in Johnston's nature to do it. He was in many His career was abridged, respects a changed man. and he was turned from the path which his ambition had marked out." The San Francisco Evening Post, in its obituary notice, said: "Old Californians, what-

4/8

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

ever their political creed, will cherish his memory with feelings of deep respect. He took an active part in public life in the early history of the State, and he

continued prominent in politics and journalism until The Post regards it a duty to pay a just his demise.

whole life and career, although the he aimed to promulgate are so widely principles from those enunciated in these columns. divergent He was ever a consistent Democrat. As a journalist he advocated the cause of his party with ability. As a man he was as undaunted and brave as a lion, yet Honorwithal possessing the gentleness of a lamb. able to a fault, he was the type of a Southern gentleman. His word was his bond, and the chivalrous conduct of the old Examiner was in great part the reflex of his life and character. In early times, he was
tribute
to his

one of the gayest and most cheerful of men in CaliWith a fund of wit and happiness of repartee, he was the soul of good humor and good temper. The blight in his life was taking part in a so-called engagement of honor with a former friend, which culminated in the death of his antagonist. The memories of that hostile meeting hung like a dark cloud over his previous happy life. The lessons from it show the absurdity and misery arising from the falsely-named code of honor."
fornia.

The

brilliant S. S. Prentiss, of Mississippi (a

New

Englander by

birth

and education), who fought a

of duels in deference to public opinion, admitted great remorse. His moral and religious training and scruples were antagonistic to the custom, yet he once went upon the field after he had become possessed of wife and children. Probably no gentleman of as much natural wit and sunshine walked so

number

REMORSE OF DUELLISTS.

479

much in the "valley and shadow of death." He once wrote to a friend, concerning one of his hostile meet" read the Bible and ings, that he did nothing but
The possibility of leaving my own family unprotected," said Prentiss, "or of killing a fellow-being, haunted me so that I could not sleep, and I tottered round in the daytime like a worn-out old man." Undoubtedly Mr. Graves, who killed Mr.
weep and pray."
remorse. Just before he a required higher order of courage to decline than to accept a challenge and he declared that if ever he became involved in another difficulty, his moral obligations, and not fear of public opinion, should guide him in all his actions in the premises. As vigorously and as humanely as O'Connell deprecated duelling, and as reluctantly as he met D'Esterre, whom he killed, he never got rid of his remorse of
Cilley, suffered
it

"

much from

died he said

conscience from the day of that fatal meeting in the county of Kildare. That dying groan of D'Esterre made a wound in O'Connell's heart which no physiHe once declared in the House of cian could heal. Commons that, having blood upon his hands, he had And it has also been registered a vow in heaven. written of O'Connell that he never attended church after the killing of D'Esterre without first wrapping up in a handkerchief "the guilty hand;" declaring that he t^ould not approach his Redeemer with the hand exposed which had taken the life of a fellowman. Senator Thomas Hart Benton, of Missouri (although it has often been stated that the duel was forced upon him), deeply regretted his meeting with Lucas (in which the latter was killed), and some time previous to his death Colonel Benton destroyed all the papers

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

he had in his possession or that he could obtain concerning the affair. Colonel John M. McCarty, who killed General Armistead T. Mason, suffered great, remorse up to the time of his death over the remembrance of the unnatural encounter. McCarty and

Mason were Virginians (and cousins), and quarrelled over politics, which ran high at the time 1819. Captain Gillespie, who, as second of Lieutenant McKenzie in the duel of the latter with William Barrington, in Ireland in 1777, assassinated Harrington during an altercation, and who became afterward an eminent general officer in the British army, suffered a good deal from what the jury seemed to think was It has been said of Gillespie "justifiable homicide." that he always seemed to court death during his many engagements with England's enemies, and that he at last received a fatal bullet while leading his

command

into the thickest of the fight.

Theodore

Neuhoff, of Westphalia, the remarkable young Jesuit who, in 1736, gained the throne of Corsica, never

overcame the grief he experienced after killing a fellow-student in a duel in 1729, and died in England, in 1756, of remorse and disappointment.

James Paull, who killed Sir Francis Burdette in 1807, became frantic with insomnia afterward, and committed suicide in 1808. Captain Best, who killed Lord Camelford in 1804, although he did everything
in his power, almost, to effect a reconciliation, never recovered from the shock he felt at seeing his antagonist fall mortally wounded and left for dead on the
field.

"

No moment

of

my

life

has been an entirely

happy one," he once said, "since I killed that man. I often see poor Camelford standing up before me."
Best died from delirium tremens at the age of forty-

REMORSE OF DUELLISTS.
eight.

481

Mr.

Thornhill,

who

killed

Sir

Cholmeley
in con-

Bering

in 1711, suffered great distress of

mind

most painful events in the sequence. annals of duelling was the meeting (in Ireland in 1808) of Messrs. Alcock and Colclough. They had been the warmest of friends and soon after Alcock's trial for murder, and his acquittal, he became demented and died in an asylum for the insane. His sister, who was engaged to be married to Colclough, also became hopelessly insane. M. Mira, who killed the young French poet Dovalle,
of the
;

One

experienced great remorse he lost all his fortune in various ways disease killed his horses, his chateau
;

was destroyed by lightning, his dogs became mad, and he at last died from the effects of excessive grief. There is a story told of an Italian who had killed his
brother-in-law in a duel, who repaired to the scene of tragic action a day or two afterward and killed himself with the same sword he had used in the fatal en-

counter with his relative.

killed
St. St.

Captain Maillard,

who

Signol (the two having quarrelled

at the

Porte

Martin during the successful presentation

of one of Signol's plays), once told a friend that he never went to bed without thinking of the poor fellow

he had killed. " This excessive grief will soon kill me," he declared a short time before his death. Lieutenant Miller, who killed Lieutenant Rattray (both of the same regiment, the Fourth Native Infantry, British army) in India, died in six weeks afterward from remorse. The two officers had quarrelled and agreed to fight and Miller, who was a dead shot, intended only to slightly wound and not kill his antagonist, as Rattray was engaged to be married to Miller's Tom Porter, who foolishly fought with and sister.
;

482

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Henry
Bellasses, in

killed his friend Sir

1677, felt

London

in

great sorrow during the rest of his life. He never forgave himself, he many times declared, for hurrying after and stopping his friend's carriage and His self-exile in dragging Bellasses out to fight. France continued for many years, and at last he returned to England a broken-hearted man. Henry Phillips, who slew his former friend, Benjamin Woodbridge, one night in 1728, on Boston Common, and escaped, died from great grief in France in less than
a year afterward.

Major Egerton, an officer of the British army during the reign of George the Third, although he was
averse to a continuance of the duel with Colonel

Gray

after the firing of the first shot, never got rid of the sorrow he felt over the instantaneous death of his

gentleman who knew Egerton well " Never, through all the afteryears, did the Major cease to grieve over the unfortunate meeting, or to think mildly and compassionately of the hapless Colonel whom he had been forced to meet in the fatal encounter. It was an additional cause of sorrow to learn afterward that Gray left a wife and child to deplore his loss. The jury before whom he was tried acquitted Major Egerton, but the remembrance of the deed lasted to his dying day."
antagonist.

once wrote of him

Captain Stewart, of the British army, who once and soon afterward registered an oath before a justice so great was his grief and remorse never again to engage in mortal
killed a brother-officer in a duel,

combat, was challenged, subsequently, while in Kingone D'Egville. Stewart, true to ston, by a Creole his oath, declined a meeting, and experienced a great deal of brutal treatment at the hands of the Creole,

REMORSE OF DUELLISTS.
who
at last struck the Captain with a

483

whip on a public Stewart then had a grave dug, of the usual dimensions, behind the Iguana rocks, and named as terms that the two men should get into the grave, each taking hold of the end of a pocket-handkerchief with the left hand, and each holding a loaded pistol (cocked) in his right, which should be discharged at
street.

the

word

" Fire

!"

D'Egville

tempt

to wriggle out of

the terms, but was by his second. Just as he stepped into the
ever, he

made a desperate atthe duel after listening to finally brought to the scratch
fell
;

weakened and

pit, howwhereupon Stewart gave

him a mighty good him right."

thrashing, amidst cries of "Serves

Numa Hubert, who shot and mortally wounded George T. Hunt near the old Pioneer Race-course, San Francisco, on the 2ist of May, 1854, although forgiven by the dying man on the ground who cried out to the survivor, " Hubert Hubert !" (and, as the latter advanced by the side of his second, Charles " I forgive you, Hubert, and God forgives Fairfax,) you" never fully forgave himself. He often saw poor " The phantom Hunt, he said, by day and by night.
!

never leaves me," he once declared ten years after the unfortunate affair. How could it have been otherwise ? How could he ever have been joyous or whol-

having listened to those words of from a victim in the agonies of death ? forgiveness Ah those gentle tones shattered Hubert's heart, and
ly rational after
!

phantom only disappeared that night when the sorrowing Frenchman and was soon afterward found dead.
in 1872,
It is

the

in

Chicago,

retired well

said of

that his performances, on seeing

McClung, the noted Mississippi duellist, Menefee fall, were

4^4

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

if

those of a maniac,

natural.

Rising to his
to see
if

full

height, he peered through the

smoke

his an-

He then dropped upon his tagonist was surely dead. knees, and, pressing his rifle tenderly to his bosom, kissed it affectionately, as a lover would his mistress
or a mother her child.
It is

said that he even uttered

" a prayer of thankfulness to God for having directed the bullet so well." This was the last duel in which

as few were willing to risk their an encounter with him. After serving with distinction in the Mexican war he returned to Mississippi; but he had become more morose than ever and It has even been claimed by deeply melancholy. many that he was haunted by the spirits of those whom he had slain in duels a story which was commonly believed, and particularly when, in 1855, without any explanation whatever, he blew out his brains with a pistol with which he had frequently killed others. Thus, by his own hands, died one of the most determined and representative Southern duellists

McClung engaged,

lives in

of the time.

NOTABLE ESCAPES.

CHAPTER

XXVII.

NOTABLE ESCAPES.
How
Watches, Buttons, etc., have Saved Lives Broderick's Saved by a Watch Broderick and Judge Smith Lord George Germaine's Pistol Shattered by Governor George Johnstone's Bullet How Handel's Life was Saved by a CoatButton Buckles and Gingerbread Save the Lives of Two Fighting Irishmen Louis Napoleon's Luck A Brooch renders Good Service to Richard Daly in his Duel with Sir Jonah Barrington De Cassagnac's Bullet, which was Intended for Rochefort's Heart, Stopped by a Silver Medal Charles Blanc's Life Saved by a Five- Franc Piece General Bouvet's Life also Saved by a French Coin.
Life once

DURING the year 1811 a young Englishman was drawn into a difficulty with an ex-officer of the
French army (but at the time a professional gamupon a hostile meeting in the bler), and/ agreed woods near Paris with the bully; and a supposed
friend

(who placed the youth with his face to the and also in a position where the shadow of a sun, tree formed a line of shot in favor of the would-be
murderer) provided his principal with an indifferent weapon, which, however, had the unexpectedly good nature to go off and kill the man opposite it. A few months afterward one of the parties to the crime confessed to the Englishman how the "job had been put up on him" by professional criminals to get him to

gamble; and, failing

in this, to

drug him (which they

486

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

did), and accuse him of contracting gambling-debts while under the influence of wine; and then, upon " his refusal to settle," to challenge him to fight a duel in the Bois de Boulogne and kill him on account

of their ill-success in securing a portion of the large amount of spending-money it was known that he had
in

bank or otherwise

at

command.

England, Lord Lonsdale and Captain Cuthbert (of the Guards) fired twice at each other, the second shot from Lord Lonsdale's weapon striking and shattering a metal button on Cuthbert's The seconds then effected a reconciliation, as it coat. was admitted that the metal button had saved the
8,

On June

1792, in

officer's life.

Terry
the

In 1852 David C. Broderick (killed by David S. in 1859) fought a duel on the eastern shore of

Bay of San Francisco with Judge Smith, a son of Governor ("Extra Billy") Smith, of Virginia. The parties fought with navy-revolvers, at ten paces, and

emptied the contents of their weapons (six barrels) at each other, during which Broderick was hit in the stomach. Upon examination it was found that a
bullet

from

his

antagonist had gone through the

centre of a heavy-cased watch worn by Broderick, inflicting a slight wound; after which the seconds

consulted with each other and with their principals, and then terminated the combat. This affair has been graphically described by Charles F. Duane, a

well-known Californian, who was present, and who

says:

There are very few people who are aware of the fact that David C. Broderick ever fought a duel previous to the one In 1852 Broderick received a in 1859, when he lost his life. challenge to fight a duel from Judge Smith, the son of ex-

NOTABLE ESCAPES.
Governor Smith
"

487
better

of

Virginia,

who was

known

as

Extra Billy" Smith. Judge Smith was also a brother of Austin Smith, who was killed in the late war while fighting in the Confederate service. At that time a man who refused to accept a challenge was not permitted to move in what was considered good society. He was treated with contempt Of course Broderick acand looked upon as a coward. cepted the challenge, and the ground was selected for the duel across the bay, about where the centre of the city of Oakland now is. There were but a few shanties there then, and they were located on the shore, where the foot of Broadway Street is. As soon as the news was spread that the place for the fighting had been fixed upon, every Whitehall boat in the harbor was" engaged in taking people over the bay. They went back and forth all the night preceding the day of the duel. Ira Cole, two other gentlemen, and myself started from the San Francisco side in a Whitehall boat at one o'clock in the morning of the day of the duel. The fog on the bay was very heavy, and after we had gone some distance past Goat Island the tide was very low and we found We were obliged to remain ourselves on the mud-flats. there nearly an hour, and were surrounded by a great many boats in the same predicament. It was so foggy that we could not distinguish the forms of the occupants of the other boats, but we recognized our friends by their voices as they " " saluted our boat with Brig ahoy !" and Ship ahoy !" and A shot fired some the firing of pistols. person hit one of by the sailors in our boat in the arm and disabled him. Although we could not see each other, all sorts of bets were made on the result of the duel. After remaining on the flats for an hour, we drew lots in our boat to see who should undress and tow the boat to the shore. I believe Ira Cole cheated me, because they all laughed at me when I pulled the short straw by the light of a cigar. As soon as it was decided that I should do the work, I immediately took off my clothes and stepped into the cold mud. I took the direction, as I thought, toward shore, and kept hauling
until the

break of day, when

felt as

though

had towed

488

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

the boat twenty miles. About the time that day dawned I reached the shore, and found that I had towed the boat one
mile south in a zigzag fashion from where the foot of Broadway Street now is. After I had dug a hole for the

water to come in, with the oars of the boat, and had taken a bath, we hauled our boat on shore. We then went over the

we sighted two pretty large crowds of people, apparently about a quarter of a mile apart, when we steered our course in that direction, and were soon amidst them.
fields until

One crowd were the friends of Broderick, and the others were the friends of Judge Smith, who was on the ground, accompanied by his father, Governor Smith. The duel was to be fought with navy- revolvers, at a distance of ten
" paces, the signal for the shooting being
fire !"

)ne, two, three,

were to shoot, and, if they desired, were to advance toward each other, the firing to continue until all the six shots had been
fire

At the word

"

"

the

parties

John A. McGlynn presented me with a navyIt was a very fine one, and while I was with it at a target, on several occasions, the exshooting ploded cap caught and prevented the cylinder from revolvI took it to Brown & Natchez's gunshop, opposite the ing. Plaza, and had the cylinder filed so that the cap could not
used.

revolver in 1850.

catch.

Vi. Turner,

this pistol erick's use.

from

me on
the

one of Broderick's seconds, borrowed the day before the duel, for Brodfield,

On

when

the duellists tossed up for

the choice of pistols, Judge Smith's second won the choice, and he took the pistol which I had loaned to Vi. Turner for

Smith's pistol was the same make, but had not mine had. Previous to the placing of the pistols in the hands of the principals, Broderick pulled out his
Broderick.

been

filed as

heavy double-cased gold watch, which Howard Engine Company in New York, of which he had been foreman, had presented to him on his departure from New York for California. He handed the watch to Vi. Turner, and within my " Put your watch in your pocket if hearing Turner said,
;

you are shot, die like a gentleman." At this Broderick smiled and replaced the time-piece in his pocket. The pis-

NOTABLE ESCAPES.
tols

were then handed to Broderick and Smith, and the

"

question asked, Are you ready ?" On both answering in the affirmative, the word "fire" was given, and they both commenced firing. I could not tell which of them fired first.

After the

first

shot Broderick's exploded cap caught in the

cylinder of his pistol, and he did not have strength enough in one hand to cock it in the usual way. He then grabbed
it in both hands and, putting the pistol between his knees, proceeded to cock it. While in this position, facing his opponent, he was struck by a bullet from Smith's pistol. The ball hit him in the stomach and staggered him, and his hat fell to the ground. Having succeeded in cocking his pistol, he returned the fire, and they both kept shooting until they had fired their six shots. The seconds then rushed up to their respective principals, and Turner unbuttoned Broderick's coat. I stood close to him, and on examination we found that the bullet had hit the centre of his heavy-cased watch, and that fragments of the bullet went through both cases and cut his stomach. Judge Smith was not hit at all. After a few moments, Turner asked Broderick if he felt able to renew the duel. His reply was, " Certainly I am." The people on both sides were ordered back, and the seconds of both parties held a consultation with each other, and afterward with their principals. At the consultation of the seconds, Mr. Smith's representative, on behalf of Judge Smith, said that he acknowledged that Broderick was an honorable gentleman. When Broderick's seconds informed him of this fact, he said, " Well, that is sufficient," whereupon the seconds brought their principals half way and Broderick and Smith shook hands. The result was pleasing to all parties concerned. After the duel, it was impossible for all the people to get back to San Francisco on the same day, and many walked up to an old house known as the Estudillo Rancho, a private mansion occupied by Spanish people, which was situated where San Leandro now is. There they obtained horses and rode to San Fran-

cisco

by way of San Jose.

49

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

M. Berthowas
the

In the duel between M. Aguesseau and

low, in Paris in 1849, the pistol of the latter shattered by the bullet from the weapon of

former.

In the meeting between Mr. Beresford and Mr. Fitzwilliam, in England in 1795, the principals
just

had
land,

taken their places,

when

the law-officers
In 1770, in Eng-

appeared and terminated the

affair.

Lord George Germaine and Governor George Johnstone, members of the House of Commons, met in Hyde Park, and at the first fire Germaine's pistol was broken by Johnstone's bullet, and the difficulty was then adjusted by the seconds Sir James Lowther and Hon. Thomas Townshend. In 1704, at Hamburg, M. Matheuson and George Frederick Handel, the eminent composer, met with swords, and the weapon of the former was broken against a button on Handel's coat, which undoubtedly saved the life of the
latter.

McNally, when he fought with Sir Jonah Barrington, received his antagonist's bullet in the buckle of his left suspender, and it turned and sped away inIn the duel between stead of entering the body. Peter Burrowes and Somerset Butler, in Ireland, the
bullet of the latter lodged in a pocket of gingerbreadnuts in the waistcoat of Burrowes, who had purchased

a pennyworth of an old woman as he was on his way to the scene of action with his second, Dick Waddy.

On

the 4th of March, 1840, just as the

Comte Leon

(accompanied by Lieutenant-Colonel Ratcliffe) and Louis Napoleon (attended by Count d'Orsay) took their places on Wimbledon Common, with swords

and

pistols,

the police rushed

in

and arrested the

all

principals and their seconds, and under bonds to keep the peace.

were placed

NOTABLE ESCAPES.
Alexander
quarrelled
1851,
J.

49!

Dallas and
hotel at

R. A. Hoole,

who had

Washington (D. C.) in met the following day on the field at Bladens-

at their

burg, but were promptly arrested before taking their In 1802 David B. Mitchell and William Hunplaces.
ter

fought near Savannah (Ga.), and at the first fire Hunter's bullet lodged in the clothing of Mitchell. At the second fire another bullet was lodged in the same manner, but Hunter was shot dead. In 1783 two English officers and their seconds met in a field near Kensington Gravel-pits, but were happily prevented from carrying out their hostile plans by the
interposition of a clergyman

who

lived in that neigh-

borhood, and

who happened

the parties alighted from

to be passing along as their carriages; and who,

suspecting their intentions, interfered, and by his polite and affectionate address effected an honorable In his duel with Sir Jonah Barringreconciliation.
ton, Richard Daly's life was saved by his antagonist's bullet hitting his brooch, a portion of which pene-

trated the breast-bone, however. In his duel with Rochefort, De Cassagnac's bullet went direct for his antagonist's heart, but stopped at

a silver medal worn by the former during the en" I should counter and then glanced off harmlessly.

have killed him, certainly," said De Cassagnac, afterward, "had it not been for that blessed medal." In the duel between Armestee Archard and Charles Blanc, a ball from the former's pistol struck a fivefranc piece in the vest-pocket of the latter, and was " That's what I call diverted from fatal action. Monsieur Mery, the exclaimed well invested," money second of M. Archard. A five-franc piece also saved the life of General Bouvet in his duel with General

49 2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Ornano. In their duel in the woods near Paris, a century ago, Pierrot and Arlequin fired together and " What an each killed his adversary's second. a albeit the had cried seconds spectator escape!" both dropped dead. In the fatal duel between Con-

way and

Crittenden, the bullet from the weapon of the former took off a breast-button from his antagonist's coat.

PATHOS AND SENTIMENT.

493

CHAPTER

XXVIII.

PATHOS AND SENTIMENT.

The Youth and Accident "I
his

Mother
at

Not Equally Matched

A Happy
He

leave Traitors to the Public Executioner"

would not Shoot

an Officer whose Life belonged to his Country The Marquis de Donnisan Mrs. Bruce and the Lady Clementina Harvey Aston's Noble Words Randolph's Emotional Declaration Oliver H. Perry's Sense of Honor A Number of Anecdotes " Have you a Mother ?" inquired the Rascal A Sad Affair "Thank Heaven!" "I have never been your Enemy, Sir" " My God My Poor Wife!" " I commit my Soul to Almight)r God " Honor and Religion Two
!

Different Things.

IN 1810 violets were looked upon as emblems of Napoleon himself having imperialism in France

been called " Pere

It was during this la Violette." time that a youth from the country, on his return home to his mother from Paris, one day, while crossing the Pont des Arts, was rudely accosted by an

officer of the

Guard and slapped

exclaimed the youth, why you insult me; but, at all events, I insist upon immediate repara" tion." By all means, sir, and at once ;" replied his insolent assailant. They soon afterward crossed swords at St. Mande, and in a minute the young gentleman fell mortally wounded, exclaiming, with his dying breath: "Ah me! this evening was my mother's
not aware,
sir,"

in the face. "

"

am

494

THE FIELD OF HONOR

;

birthday, and I was carrying these violets to her I shall see her no more."

Two
man
fight

friends quarrelled

and one of them, being a

the other to
ac-

of hasty disposition, challenged

him the following day.

The challenge was

cepted, on condition that they should breakfast together previous to their going to the field at the

house of the person challenged. When the challenger arrived next morning, according to appointment, he found every preparation made for breakfast and
;

his friend, his wife

and

children, all ready to receive

Their repast being over, and the family withdrawn, without the slightest hint of their purpose having transpired, the challenger asked the other if he was ready to attend. " No, sir," replied he; "not That amiable woman and until we are on a par. those six innocent children who just now breakfasted with us depend solely upon my life for their subsistence and until you can stake something equal, in my estimation, to the welfare of those seven persons, who are dearer to me than my right hand or my' right eye, I cannot think we are equally matched."
him.
;

his

are not, indeed," replied the other, giving him and they became, ever afterward, firmer friends than before.

"We A

hand

shown
ber

pretty exhibition of courage and concession was at the meeting of Mr. Fitzgerald and Mr.

Scawen, near Tournay (the Netherlands), on SeptemMr. S. asked Mr. F. if he would fire i, 1773.
first.

The

latter accepted the offer,

and discharged
Mr.
S.

weapon antagonist, who, while to a his second level, accidentally dispistol bringing charged it before Mr. Scawen had fired his first. On
at his

his pistol at levelled his

Mr. Scawen without

effect.

then

PATHOS AND SENTIMENT.

this,

495

Mr. S. said, " Mr. Fitzgerald, you have fired your second pistol." To which Mr. F. replied, "It is true, sir but I assure you that it was entirely accidental, and I ask your pardon for it." Then, advancing a pace or two toward Mr. Scawen, Mr. Fitz" You have both your pistols, sir I gerald added, desire you will fire them, and then we will both load again." Mr. Scawen then advanced toward his ad;

Sir, I am glad it hapversary, and nobly replied, pened, for I am prepared to say that my disrespect-

"

ful

liquor,

language was used when I was disordered with and I am extremely sorry for it." The gentlemen then shook hands, and afterward spent the even-

ing together. In his duel with Benedict Arnold, Lord Balcarras and received his antagonist's fire without injury when Arnold exclaimed, "My lord, are you not
;

going to
replied,

fire ?"

"

No,

sir

Balcarras threw his weapon away and I leave traitors to the public exe;

cutioner

!"

When
last,

Louis the Thirteenth made an example, at

by beheading Francis de Botteville, Richelieu, who was very severe on the grandees, while he perto the king

mitted " smaller fry" to run each other through, said " We must cut off the heads of some of these distinguished duellists or the time will soon
:

arrive

when they

will

pay no attention whatever

to

the edicts of your Majesty." And so De Botteville notwithstanding the repeated entreaties of the Count(his wife), the Princess of Conde, and many nobles and their wives was executed, along with a

ess

relative (Des Chappelles).

banker met near Paris with

In October, 1883, a lieutenant of dragoons and a pistols, and the bullet

49 6

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

from the former struck the latter in the stomach just where the upper part of the trousers came together, and failed to perform further its hostile mission whereupon the banker discharged his weapon in the The two gentlemen then advanced toward each air. other, shook hands, and went off to breakfast together. When asked why he did not fire at his antagonist, the banker replied that he all of a sudden concluded that " it was a mistaken sense of honor for a man to stand and deliberately shoot at a French officer whose up
;

life

belonged to his country."

opofficers

The Marquis de Donnisan, who was an earnest

ponent of duelling, once overheard two of his

quarrelling and saw them in the act of drawing their swords, a challenge to mortal combat having been given and accepted. At this juncture the Marquis

hurried to the spot and cried out " Hold Which of you two, think you, will have the pleasure of robbing himself of a friend and a brother, and, at the same time, robbing me of one of my best and per:

haps two of
diate

my

best

good

effect resulted

and bravest soldiers ?" Immefrom such reproof, and the

once sheathed their swords, joined friendship for each other. It is stated that when Lord Edward Bruce took leave of his mother and the Lady Clementina on his departure from England to the Continent for the purpose of meeting Sir Edward Sackville in mortal combat, he besought them to be prepared for the worst, as it was altogether probable that he would never return and it has also been stated that, upon hearing of his lordship's death, the two ladies put on mourning, which they never took off during their lives. Subsequently the heart of Bruce was preofficers at

two

hands, and

vowed

PATHOS AND SENTIMENT.

497

served and sent from Holland, and interred in the burying-ground adjoining the old abbey church of

Culross at Perthshire.

Captain Harvey Aston, who had been severely wounded by Lieutenant Fitzgerald in 1790, was on
terms of intimacy with the royal family and upon departure for India, some years afterward, the king enjoined him most affectionately never again to It was not long, however, before his fight a duel. fatal meeting with Colonel Allen (also of the British army), in which he was shot through the body and back-bone and an account of this duel states that Aston, after receiving his death-wound, continued standing, his arm extended and pistol presented for more than a minute but, sensible that he had but a short time to live, he exclaimed, " It shall never be said of me that the last act of my life was an act of
;

his

revenge ;" and gradually lowering his arm to his side, he sank forever. M. de Walsh, a young officer of the French army, had but just married a most accomplished lady, who was a relative of the Due de la Rochefoucauld, and was in the act of embracing his young wife, when he

made him instantly change and show such confusion that the lady became alarmed and asked him the nature of its contents. To relieve her anxiety he burned the letter, after asreceived a letter that
color

suring his bride that

tance.

it contained nothing of imporSubsequently he stated that he had left some papers at Fontainebleau; and that, the weather being fine, he would go in his cabriolet, with only his footboy, and fetch them, and return in time for dinner. He set out immediately and, leaving his carriage and servant at Villejuif, where he wrote letters to
;

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and several relatives, he entered the forest and in an hour or two afterward was found dead where he had been killed in a duel. When Colonel Benton who had visited Mrs. Clay the night before the duel between Mr. Clay and Mr.
his wife

alone,

Randolph related to the Virginian the story of his visit, and of Mrs. Clay's unconscious tranquillity, and " I shall do of the sleeping child, Randolph said,
nothing to disturb the sleep of the child or the repose After the duel Mr. Randolph said, " him fall mortally or even I would not have seen doubtfully wounded for all the land that is watered by the King of Floods and all his tributary streams." In his duel with John Heath, a captain of marines, near Hoboken (N. J.), in 1818, which was the result of a disturbance in the Mediterranean some three or four years before, during which he raised his hand to strike or did strike Heath, Oliver H. Perry, then a post-captain in the United States Navy, said: "I canof the mother."

not consent to return his

fire,

as the meeting on

my

part is entirely as an atonement for the violated rules of the service; for I had no right to raise my hand

against a person honored with a commission, although the provocation was very strong." The duel was fought with pistols. Heath fired and missed, and

was then brought

second.

Perry discharged his weapon in the air. The affair to an end almost wholly through the instrumentality of Stephen Decatur, Perry's

On

February

21,

1816, at

Galway

(Ireland), near

Merlin Park, Mr. P. Dillon and Mr. B. Kane, attorneys, fought with pistols, and Dillon was killed at
the
first

friends;

had always been close had and Dillon, who fought many duels, had
fire.

The

parties

PATHOS AND SENTIMENT.

499

been seconded by Kane in each. It is a singular, as well as a mournful, circumstance that Dillon's father had been killed in a duel with Malachy Fallon on the

and was of the same age as his son when and the Dillons both used the same weapon. Just before Major I. Hillas was killed by T. Fenton, at Kilmacowen (Ireland), in 1816, he said: "I am sorry the mistaken laws of honor oblige me to come here to defend myself, and I declare to God that I have no animosity to any man or woman on the face of the earth." Fenton fired first and shot

same

spot,

the latter

fell

Hillas dead.

In his duel with Lieutenant Conroy, at

8,

Plympton-Mary Bridge, near Plymouth, on March

1817,
nist's

Lieutenant Hindas, after receiving his antagobullet in a vital part, walked to his hotel, where
dead, after speaking piteously of his wife and children, who, he said, would be left without a

he

fell

two

loving protector. In 1819 a demon gamester of Paris, who had enticed a young Englishman into his lair and robbed
of nearly ten thousand francs, challenged his victim for alleged slander, and killed the youth under the most distressing circumstances. The terms were

him

that they should fight with pistols

and

fire at will.

Unfortunately, however, the Englishman, who had never before stood upon the " field of honor," let go
his
fire,

and the gamester walked up

to the

youth

" and, taking deliberate aim, said,

have cheated you ?" "Yes." " "Yes." "Well, I am sorry for her," and the boy fell dead in the beautiful Bois de Boulogne; and even the cascades and fountains seemed to murmur
at the

You report that I Have you a mother ?"

atrocious
;

act.

But the murder

a
short

of

the boy

was avenged

for

in

time

afterward an

500

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

English duellist had sought out the murderer, flung a glass of chablis in his face, had been challenged, had fought with swords, and had killed the French rascal. In 1772, in England, a Mr. McLean was challenged and killed by a Mr. Cameron; and the mother of Mr.

McLean, when she was informed

of the sad occurrence,

instantly lost her reason; whilst a Miss McLeod, who was to have been married to the deceased, was seized

with spasms, and died in three days. In 1803, in London, Lieutenant W., of the navy, challenged Captain I., of the army, on account of the betrayal of Miss W. by Captain L; and the parties

At the first shot the in Hyde Park, at six paces. Lieutenant missed, but had two fingers torn off from He then deliberately wrapped the his right hand. wound with his handkerchief, and, looking solemnly " I have a left hand, thank upward, exclaimed, Heaven, which never failed me." The combatants again took their ground and fired, and both fell the

met

Captain dying instantly. The Lieutenant, who was shot through the breast, raised himself and inquired if his antagonist had been hurt; and, upon being informed that he had killed Captain I., he said, " Thank

Heaven!"
this to

And

a finger, he handed

then, taking his mourning-ring from " it to his second, and added, Give
tell

my

poor, dear sister, and

of

her this

is

the

happiest

moment

my

life;"

and

in a

few seconds

he expired.

The wife

of the

killed in a duel in 1651, rest of her life.

Marquis de Sevigne who was wore mourning during the

the former mortally and the

Decatur and Barren

latter

dangerously wounded
field.

exchanged foregiveness

on the

Before the firing which terminated the

PATHOS AND SENTIMENT.

career of one
of

$01

the

in another world, that we shall be better friends than we have been in this." To which Decatur replied, " I have never been your

Americans that ever "I hope, on meeting

lived,

most gallant and courteous Barron said to Decatur,

enemy,

sir."

In the duel between Captain Ross and Lieutenant Martin (of the Queen's Regiment), in India, it was

arranged that

it

should take place very early

in

the

morning of the day set, so as not to alarm Mrs. Ross, who was a bride. Mrs. R., however, suspected all was not right; and as soon as her husband had gone, she got up and dressed herself hurriedly, had her pony saddled, and rode out to the race-course arriving just in time to see her husband fall, dangerously (it was thought mortally) wounded, and to hear him exclaim, " My God I am killed. My poor wife my poor wife !" Mrs. Ross quickly dismounted, and,
!
!

his body,

rushing toward the fallen officer, fell fainting over and died in a short time afterward, a maniac. The officer recovered, however. Colonel Thomas, who was killed by Cosmo Gardiner, in England in 1783, executed his will upon the
it

evening previous, commencing

first

as follows:

"In the

place

commit

hopes of his mercy step I now in compliance with the unwarranted customs of this wicked world put myself under the
necessity of taking." In 1785, in Massachusetts, Captain Harris, of the Revolutionary army, made his will
just before he departed for the field of honor,

soul to Almighty God, in and pardon for the irreligious

my

where he was mortally wounded, dying in less than four hours after the unfortunate meeting. W. G. Graham, who was killed by Horace Barton at Hoboken (NJ.)

5O2
in

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

him the following frankly admit that
curiosity of
I

1827, left behind " duelling literature:

in the

am

greatly

wrong; and that by giving Mr. Barton a blow I have forced him into the condition of a challenger; and that by not doing what he has he would have
blasted his character as a gentleman forever. common justice, I am bound thus to absolve
In

him

from

all suspicion of unbecoming conduct respecting The provocation, though slight, was the challenge. It is still a provocation which I could not overlook.

out of the question for me to explain, retract, or apologize, as Mr. Barton dwells very complacently on his

own

duellist,

as a marksman, on his experience as a and on his accuracy as a person of ton. I pretend to none of these, and therefore must oppose the most inflexible obstinacy. After he is perfectly
skill

satisfied,

may,
fatally

perhaps, apologize

that

is,

in

wounded. It is needless for me to say I heartily protest and despise this absurd mode But what can a poor devil do, of settling disputes.
case
I

am

except bow to the supremacy of custom?"* In the most flourishing period of the reign of Louis XIV. two negro youths, the sons of a prince, being brought to the Court of France, the king appointed a Jesuit to instruct them in letters and in the Christian religion, and gave to each of them a commission
in his Guards. The elder, who was remarkable for his candor and ingenuousness, made great improvement,

more particularly in the doctrines of religion. A brutal officer, upon some dispute, insulted him with a
blow.
resent

The
it.

gallant youth never so

much

as offered to

person who was his friend took an opwith him that evening, alone, upon to talk portunity his behavior, which he told him was too tame, es-

PATHOS AND SENl'IMENT.

'

503

peciallyin a soldier. "Is there, then," said the young African, "one revelation for soldiers and another for

merchants and gownsmen ? The good father to whom I owe all my knowledge has earnestly inculcated forgiveness of injuries done me, assuring me that a Christian was by no means to retaliate abuses of any
kind."
"

The good father,"

monastery by

" replied his friend,

may fit

his lessons, but never for the In a word," continued he, " if you do rules of a court. not call the Colonel to an account, you will be branded

you

for a

with the infamy of cowardice and have your commission taken from you." "I would fain," answered the young man, "act consistently in everything; but since you press me with that regard to my honor which you have always shown, I will wipe off so foul a stain,

though

must own
this,

gloried in

it

before."

Imme-

he desired his friend to go from diately upon him and appoint the aggressor to meet him early in the morning. Accordingly they met and fought, and the brave youth disarmed his adversary and This done, forced him to ask his pardon publicly. the next day he threw up his commission and desired the king's leave to return to his father; where, he said, it was no dishonor to act up to the principles of
one's religion.

504

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XXIX.

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

Helena von Doenniges and her Rival Lovers A Nevada Courtship and the Consequence Origin of Salmi Morse's Drama of " On the Yellowstone" A Tale of True Love a German

Why

Laborer upon the Illinois Central Railroad The Last of a Hermit A Fatal Duel on the Rhine The Survivor Flees to New York and Commits Suicide A
Point of

Count became a

Common

Duel

"

Honor The European Custom called "The American The Russian Brothers The Lawyer and the Physician.

to the recital of one of the romantic duels ever fought at any time in any country the meeting in the year 1864 between Ferdinand Lassalle, the great social reformer and

AND now we come

most

father of

modern

socialism

in

Germany, and the

The cause young Wallachian Prince Rackowitza. was a woman Helena von Doenniges, the daughter of the Bavarian Ambassador in Switzerland, and belonging to one of the oldest aristocratic families All three were exceptionally eccenof Germany. Lassalle was a man of genius and high tric people. intellectual achievements, and an Israelite by birth; and, despite his democratic tendencies, an aristocrat in appearance and mode of living, who had been " many years dreaming of and preparing for a republic of Germany," with himself as its President, the elect But his fate was Helena von Doenniges, of the people. whom he first met in 1862, in the artistic and intel-

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

lectual circles of Berlin society.

$O$

Fraulein von Doen-

niges was then but eighteen years of age, a beautiful woman of an exquisite type, with gold-red hair; of unusual accomplishments, superior knowledge, poetical,
It was*a love at first enthusiastic, a favorite 'of society. de foudre (the lightning-stroke of love), sight ihecoup

French say between these two handsome peoLike Helena, Lassalle (though twenty years older ple. than the young girl) was of most striking appearance " the head of tall, slender, graceful, handsome, with a Roman Caesar and sparkling eyes," as described by
as the

Helena, the sole survivor of the unhappy trio, in a entitled " Relations to Lassalle." The very

My

book same

vowed

evening upon which their alliance for life had been to each other, the self-willed eccentric tribune
of the people carried " his child or " gold fox (on account of her hair), as he called his love, in his arms down the stairs of the house where they had met for the
first

"

"

time.

The

Berlin relatives with

whom

Fraulein

von Doenniges went home that evening were not even astonished at this sudden familiarity such favorites of society were both the hero and the heroine. But the latter had already a devoted, passionate admirer the youthful, handsome Wallachian Prince Yanko Rackowitza, a descendant of an old royal Tartarian family, who, then but nineteen years old, was called by Helena, on account of his very dark complexion and black eyes, her " Moorish page" or " young Othello." When she informed the Prince next day that she had found the only man she could marry, his eyes were " If it be your filled with tears and he sadly answered, happiness, I have nothing to say." Lassalle and Helena met several times again, and their complete congenialThen ity cemented still more firmly their hearts.

506

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The fair Helena there was a temporary separation. returned to her father's home, in the aristocratic atmosphere of which nobody would have dared to men-

name of the republican and socialist Lassalle. Herr von Do'enniges favored a 'marriage between his daughter and Prince Rackowitza. Moreover, Lassalle had entertained a sort of platonic liaison with the old Countess Hatzfeld, another eccentric character, and the rumors of these relations had injured his moral But the lovers thought to overcome all reputation. these obstacles. Again the lovers met in Switzerland, and now formed plans to overcome the objections of
tion the

Helena's parents to their marriage. Lassalle followed Helena to Geneva, where her parents were then living, but her too hasty confession to her haughty mother

Her parents " cursed her for loving this socialistic Jew," and she fled to Lassalle's hotel, imploring him to flee with her to France and marry her there without the consent of
brought about a sudden catastrophe.
her parents. But his political ambition got the better of his love, probably; for he objected to her proposition, and himself led Helena back to her parents, who in turn
treated Lassalle with indignation and contempt. He vowed he would soon return and take the young woman to his own home; but he was answered by her parents that he should never see her again. Her father then im-

prisoned her in the house, and treated her most cruelly. Lassalle had gone to Munich and brought the influence of powerful friends to bear upon the father. Seeing

more perfidiously than before; he letters to his daughter, and at Lassalle's intercepted last broke her resistance and compelled her to rethis,

the latter acted

nounce her

love, for influential friends to

when Lassalle returned with Geneva he coerced his daugh-

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

50?

ter who, not having received any word from Lassalle, thought she had been forsaken to declare solemnly that she voluntarily broke her engagement. Then Lassalle challenged her father, and the latter induced Prince Rackowitza to accept for him the duel. The Prince informed Fraulein von Doenniges; and Helena, who knew Lassalle to be an excellent shot, took new courage, thinking he would severely wound or kill

the

boyish Yanko, and that then she might seek Lassalle and explain everything. She prepared fully for the flight. But perhaps Lassalle was in despair

and wanted

At any rate, Prince Rackowitza reto die. turned unharmed; but Lassalle had received a deadly wound from the effects of which he died on the third morning after the duel. Helena fell into a torpor and was for months unconscious of everything around her.
Prince Rackowitza was inconsolable and in despaif over what he had done from a false feeling of honor.

remained awhile with the family, but was soon Helena now forgot her hatred ill. of him and his deed, and took pity on him. When he was in the last stages of consumption she married him,
taken dangerously
six

He

months
till

after Lassalle's death, to nurse

him

faith-

fully
later.

death, which occurred five months In her exalted way of thinking she did not conhis

own

sider this as a

wrong

to Lassalle's

memory.

From

her

family she was now estranged entirely, and Lassalle's friends all hated her as the cause of Lassalle's death.

What should

the poor girl do

Helena von Racko-

witza had always been passionately fond of the stage, and now sought a new sphere of life by turning her
attention to dramatic art.

Her

relations to Lassalle

had already made her famous; and her great beauty, grace, and elegance aided not a little the success of

508
her
dffiut,

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

and soon she was a popular and admired
ac-

tress.

Her second marriage,

unfortunate, and the two Eight years ago she came to America, where she starred on the German and English stage very successfully,

to a celebrated actor, was were soon after separated.

and ultimately became the wife of a Russian nobleman and nihilist a man of great literary talent who is, strange to say, the leader of the American branch of the party founded by Lassalle. The heroine of this strange romance at present resides in New York and is devoted to literary work. She is still a beautiful and charming woman, and very much admired in society. The Kansas City Star in May, 1884, published the
following highly romantic sketch of a Nevada courtship and the duel in consequence; it throws a beam

upon the origin

the Yellowstone

of
:"

poor Salmi Morse's drama of

"On

Six or seven years ago Judge Blackburn was one of the leading jurists of Nevada. His daughter Mary, then not quite seventeen years old, was a lovely girl tall, lithe, and with a glorious head of deep blonde hair, of that peculiar shade

which hesitates on the border-line of the lightest brown. They were at that time at Silver City, Nev., and she was besieged with admirers,

whom the Judge endeavored, with a popular sort of parental monopoly, to keep at arm's length. Probably the most obnoxious of all these to him was Harry

Norton, a bright young newspaper-man, who was publishing a typical mining-camp journal there. Norton was a romantic-looking fellow, dark-haired and handsome, and had a He had been a soldier, had fought history full Cjf adventure. his way into Mexico he had been a scout and in Government employ; had threaded the labyrinths of the Yellowstone into the most marvellous fairyland that the foot of
J.
;

man

ever trod he was the sole survivor of a wild raid of the Apaches on the Gila River, and escaped by sheer and desper;

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

;

5<X)

ate courage alone he had been a gold-miner, a hunter all alone in leagues of prairie-land, and, above all, he was a keen " observer, an easy and graceful talker, and these moving in-

cidents by flood and field

sation

"

wove themselves

into his conver-

He was a man of and lent it an ineffable charm. undoubted nerve; will-power was a dominant trait of his character and it is not at all strange that he soon captivated
;

the belle of the camp. Judge Blackburn, however, regarded him with dislike and He said freely that he considered him a dangersuspicion.

ous and dissolute man, and declined to entrust the future happiness of* his child in his hands. Norton loved her tenderly and purely, and was not the man to be balked. Next to himself the most prominent suitor was a rich Mexican who had drifted North, and whose name has escaped the pen. He was, however, rich, rather dashing, and a really dangerous rival anywhere. Norton fancied that he was standing in the way and prejudicing the Judge against him, and he lost no time in finding a pretext for a quarrel and challenging him to a duel. The challenge was instantly accepted, the Mexican, as the challenged party, choosing Colt's revolvers, at twenty paces, and an early hour next morning as the

time.

Prompt to the minute they met. During the night Norton had worked as usual at his office, coolly grinding out " " copy for the printers and correcting proof as nonchalantly as though he was anticipating nothing more serious than a " good sleep at the end of it. The last sheet of copy" he wrote was a brief obituary of himself, and, hanging it on his hook,
told the foreman, without

mentioning

its

nature, to run

it

in

the next issue in case he did not return.

The
rear of

place selected for the duel was a level spot in the some shattered adobe houses. They stood back to
"

back, and at One, two, three" were to wheel and fire. At " three" Norton turned deliberately and sent a bullet straight

through his opponent's heart.

over his head.
It

The Mexican's

ball

had passed

was yet

in the early

gray of dawn, and the journalist

510

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

hastened to Blackburn's house and told Mary plainly just what had happened, also that he must instantly fly. " I will go with you," she said. She never re-entered the house. Norton procured her wraps in the camp, and they left together before the sun was up. Of course she was soon missed, and, linking her absence with the news of the duel, which reached him shortly, and of Norton's departure, Judge Blackburn did not have much difHe was ficulty in arriving at an understanding of the case. a stern old man, and started in pursuit, fully determined, so

he often afterward

said, to kill

them

both.

His instant con-

struction was that the journalist had enticed the girl away, and, in the relentless old code (A morality, he prefered death to dishonor.

Norton, however, had no such notion.

They struck the

stage and took passage, as any lady and gentleman might, for Virginia City. En route the angered father pressed them

so hard that they were compelled to abandon the stage, and, securing horses, finished the trip in the saddle. They arrived
in Virginia City half an hour ahead, and when Judge Blackburn arrived he was confronted by a marriage-certificate. Although he concluded not to do any killing, he never en-

Norton, and returned to his home feeling that he had been deeply wronged. Nobody was particularly affected by the death of the Mexican, and the prosecution quietly died out for lack of interest. For two years the young couple led a roving life, drifting wherever the shifting fortune of nomadic Western journalism drew the husband. For a time they were in the Black Hills, but some " gold-brick" confidence-men whom Norton exposed combined their influence to freeze him out. His next objective point was Leadville, and, reluctant to take his girlwife to so turbulent a camp, Norton sent her home to her parents in Nevada, and went to fight the battle alone. He was soon a popular character there, and became editor of the Chronicle, which had recently been started. While at Leadville Norton published a book, half romance and half history, entitled, " On the Yellowstone." It was the
tirely forgave

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

511

idealized story of his adventures, and, while it never reaped the author a fortune, its sale was wide. In 1879 hard work and a reckless life broke Norton down, and he was seized

His wife was telegraphed for, and came in on the big lumbering stage on the evening that he died. They took her to the bare log-cabin in which he lay, and the scene at the bedside was pitiful beyond all words. In the delirium of grief she clung to the corpse, and had to be finally taken away by sheer force. Norton was buried under the pifion trees in the Carbonate hills, and the widow of less than twenty went back to Nevada, carrying with her the dead
with pneumonia.

Bohemian's few effects, including the manuscript of a revision

of his

and

On the Yellowstone," making more of a story a history of it. A purse was raised for her among her husband's old associates, and she drifted out of sight. It was afterward learned that she went with her father to the Pacific Coast, and a few years ago became suddenly enriched
book
less of

"

by a legacy left her by a relative. It was with this money that she made her theatrical venture in New York, again opposing the wishes of her parent, and again without warn" ing leaving his house. Salmi Morse's play On the Yellowof was in a dramatization stone" reality Henry Norton's book.

The following tale of true love is from a Chicago despatch (February 10, 1884) to the Associated Press, and tells the romantic story of how a German count became a common laborer upon the Illinois Central Railroad:
The
papers have built a very handsome romance out of a
variety of actual facts. One year ago, Alfred, Count SalmSalm, lived in the city of Bonn and was a student of the

famous

university.

He was

a handsome young man, nine-

teen years of age, with unlimited resources. His father, Prince Frederick Salm-Salm, is one of the highest and wealthiest nobles of the German Empire and titular chief of the aristocracy of Rhenish Prussia. Prince Salm-Salm, who

was colonel on the

staff of

General McClellan during the late

512

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

war, and at its close entered the service of Maximilian in Mexico as adjutant-general, and subsequently fell in the

Emperor William at the battle of Gravelotte, in France, during the German war, was a relative of Count Alfred. Alfred fell in love with a beautiful lady of the city of Bonn. She was also loved by another student, and the
service of
rivalry

between them became so warm and personal that a duel was the consequence. The Prince forbade all further intercourse between his son and the lady, and publicly an-

nounced that he would no longer be responsible for the Count's debts growing out of this state of affairs. The Count quit school and came to America. After the departure of his son the father became penitent, and a long time having elapsed without any tidings of his son, the Prince, through detectives and the press, offered a large sum of money for news concerning him, but none came, and so he was given up for dead. Last week Carl Schneider, who had been a private in the King's Hussars garrisoned at Bonn, met Count Alfred, both being common laborers on the
Illinois Central Railroad. He advised the Prince by letter, and a trusted messenger, Mr. Maltzahn, was despatched from Germany. He arrived here a few days ago. The young Count was found, the father's forgiveness tendered, his anxiety expressed, and the consent of the Count obtained to return

home

immediately.

With his old

clothes of a railroad-laborer

he threw off the name of Frederick Reinhart by which he was known, and with a new suit he again assumed his hereditary title Alfred, Count Salm-Salm. He left for New York yesterday, and will sail for home at once. To make the story perfect, he has remained true to the maiden and is to marry her, though he relinquishes a portion of his fortune in so
doing.

The following is from the St. Paul Pioneer Press of November 24, 1871:

(Minnesota)

Hermits are commonly held to be creatures of romance

rather than reality, yet there are such beings even in this

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

513

recluse died in Saline County, Kansas, a prosaic age. week or two ago who for twenty long years had lived absoHe dwelt in a large cave, some ten miles from lutely alone. the town of Petra, and nothing was known of his early career
until after his death.

That career then proved to have been

very touching and mournful. The hermit's name was Franklin Elliott. During the years of his solitary existence in the cave he was an object of constant speculation and curiosity. Once or twice only in the year he came into the town. He would then barter game or

seldom anything else, pelts for powder, shot, and salt, speaking as few words as might be, and then hastening away. Sometimes he would be seen in the woods carrying a long rifle and quantities of game. If he saw people approaching he would try to avoid them by turning aside into the forest. If that happened to be impracticable, he would stalk moodily straight on. When spoken to he would reply He had "a combriefly and coldly, and at once depart.

manding
attire,

air,

a proud, set face, and in spite of his squalid

and singular mode of life, inspired as The cave in which he lived was commodious, having been enlarged, evidently by himself, from a small hole to an apartment twenty-five feet square and ten or twelve feet high. When examined after his death it was quite void of furniture. Pieces of stone and niches in the rocky walls apparently served as chairs, tables, and shelves. A rifle and fowling-piece were found, a long, broad bowie-knife, fishing-tackle, cooking-utensils, and a number of books. Among the latter were copies of Shakespeare, In one Sterne, Addison, Schiller, Southey, and Spenser. corner was a heap of blankets and skins, and on these lay
long
elfin locks,

much

respect as curiosity."

the solitary occupant of the retreat

dead.

gentlemen had been hunting near by and were overtaken by a storm. Seeking refuge at the cave, they knocked at its heavy iron door. No response being made to their repeated summons, they pressed cautiously to the inside, and saw what we have described. They also found a small tin box, such as is used by lawyers, and in this were papers that

Two

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

made
clear the

unhappy man's

history.

He

had been well

born, educated, and affluent. It would appear that he must have been early in life elected to the Legislature of his native

Before this he had become passionately State, Kentucky. attached to a young girl. A likeness of her, showing that she must have possessed remarkable beauty, qualified by a rather sensuous and cruel expression, was also found in the
box.

Sets of letters, in different hands,

clear.

made the whole

Olive," for such was her name as written on the portrait and in the letters, had led Elliott at first to think his love for her returned. In other words, she amused her-

drama

"

with him after the fashion of many of her sex without having any real feeling. While the game was going on some one crossed her path for whom she conceived a veritable She corresponded with this fresh admirer, but passion. lacked moral courage to tell the other one the truth, Either for this reason or out of contemptible vanity she kept up her Elliott discovered all, as letters in the tin affairs with both. " box, written by Olive" to both himself and his rival, proved such letters, bearing the same date, were found side by side, and stained with blood, in the same package. In the same package was a yellow printed slip cut from an old newspaper. It gave an account of a frightful duel fought between the two men with rifles at twenty-five paces. Elliott shot his antagonist through the head. The cause of the It deduel, as described by the slip, was a dispute, at cards.
self
;

scribed the slain man, Bailey, as " handsome, brave, and lax " of principle." What happened afterward as regards Olive"

Neither law nor public opinion was severe on Kentucky a quarter of a century ago, so that there was no particular reason for Elliott to fly. He went abroad, however, and seems to have remained in Europe two or three years. Whether moved to return and to seek a solitary life by the stings of conscience or by the misery of a
is

unknown.

duelling in

broken heart can only be conjectured. It is only known that he did return, and that he abandoned friends and society forever, and lived like the melancholy Jaques in an "abandoned cave," until death mercifully closed his eyes. The

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

9

$1$

compassionate will be glad to be told that tender hands reverently disposed of the poor outcast's remains, gave them decent burial, and marked the spot with a memorial stone. " Upon it is inscribed, Franklin Elliott. A Stranger. No-

vember

7,

1871."

of the suicide of Baron von and partly what led to it, is taken Sternberger's son, from the New York Herald of a recent date:
In the early dawn of an August morning in 1882 two young crossed swords in mortal combat in a secluded spot not

The following account

men
far

Castle, on the Rhine. They had been the hand of Fraulein Maria Marx, the daughThe ter of a wealthy gentleman who lived in the castle. meeting was the outcome of a quarrel that had occurred be-

from Heiderhoff

rival suitors for

tween the young men when it became known that the young lady had accepted one and rejected the other. The duel progressed hotly until, after a feint, one of the young men fell to the ground a corpse, the sword of his antagonist having passed almost through his body. Richard von Sternberger, the son of the late Baron von Sternberger of Bonn, and the betrothed of Fraulein Marx, was the survivor of the fatal encounter. For some weeks after the duel his name was kept from the authorities, but it eventually became known. Von Sternberger's friends had counselled him to leave the country, and while search was being made for him the successful duellist evaded his pursuers and took passage for this city in disguise. Upon his arrival here the fugitive accepted a menial position in a Brooklyn restaurant. As time wore on the search was abandoned, but young Von Sternberger, although advised of every move that had been made, for safety's sake still concealed his identity. He had become weary of his occupation, and some months ago accepted what to him was more congenial employment in a drug-store at No. 1396 Second AveMr. Hesse soon found that nue, kept by Adolph Hesse. . his apprentice was an exemplary young man and had the
. .

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

utmost confidence
in his integrity.

Being of good education,

. . .

Von Sternberger quickly became proficient in business. Young Von Sternberger spoke hopefully of returning to Germany in six or seven years, when the duel had been forgotten
and
his debts

were

all settled,

and making Fraulein Marx

his

constantly corresponded with his betrothed, and in a letter which he received from her in September last she
wife.

He

stated that her family persisted in attempts to induce her to marry a wealthy landowner who lived near the castle. She
also said that she

was

still

faithful to her
fulfil

vow, and implored

his pledge. In his answer to the letter Von Sternberger said that circumstances were such that it was impossible to go back home for at least

him

to return to

Germany and

six years,

and he begged her to patiently await

his return.

A little over a month ago Von Sternberger received a letter

from his betrothed which, translated, reads as follows
"
:

MY EVER AND ONLY BELOVED

This

is

the last time

dare to call you such. I never thought it possible. The mere idea of it is enough to drive me mad. That now has become
all

a certainty. We are bound to part. How I have thought it over the last week and tried to get a last anchor of hope
!

But I am hopeless. I have stood alone weeping and praying, and on the other side everybody against me. I asked them
to desist from threatening me, but the threats of other peoI received your letter, and ple force me to write this letter.

with that

my

last

hope was gone.

Six years

An

endless

long time, which will change many things. I fully believe that you love me, but that long time may cool your love. When you come back you will be just in the prime of your years, but I, on the other side, will have lost the bloom of
youth. I am a woman. You, however, are bound by your word, and would not hesitate a moment to keep it, even if you would be made unhappy and rather than put you to that sorrow I will not hold you to your pledge any longer.
;

love you too

much
if

to

draw you

into unhappiness,

and

it is

quite enough unhappy. My parents and sisters refuse their consent and never will give it to me. I am

one

is

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

517

If you could come back in one or entirely in their power. two years, as you said at the time you promised me, I would have withstood all their threats, but the last hope is gone.

this

Now my hold. I see the end only too plainly. dream comes to an end. It was so joyful but, like all dreams, it must vanish, whether they have a joyful or sorrowAs to me, everything is ful waking, and as God pleases. immaterial. Whatever may come, life has lost its charms for me. If only I were dead
I

lose

Farewell, farewell, my Richard. Beloved of my heart, farewell.

"

May you be happy

MARIA."

For several days after the receipt of this letter berger appeared down-hearted.

Von

Stern-

of the

The account proceeds to detail young man's love and life.

by the use

the

unhappy ending
sui-

He committed

cide

The
is

of morphine. following sketch, entitled

from the

New

"A Point of Honor," Orleans Times-Democrat :

Public opinion within the last few years has opposed itself to duelling at the South. Either duels are met with ridicule when the combatants leave the field unharmed, or, if the
issue is tragic, there is a universal outcry against a barbarous practice. The duello has had a very long day at the South, and it is quite time its course should be run. But still it is not indigenous to this latitude, though it

must be acknowledged
certain

it

has thrived wonderfully under

life

conditions of
is

social

which no longer

exist.

The custom

Southern origin at all. It was the Germans, Danes, borrowed from Northern nations Their judicial combats and private duels and Franks. make up a large part of their history, and it was only when he was sixty years old that a man was exempt from an obligation to conform to their sanguinary laws. The duel was introduced into France by its Prankish conquerors, and throve there so well that in the time of Henry IV. six thousand persons fell in duels during a period of ten years.
not
of

518

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

early settlers of Louisiana

The

were descendants of these

duelling Frenchmen, and they transmitted the fantastic observances of the code of honor to their descendants. From the highest to the lowest, all fought those who were fear-

because they considered it a sacred duty to peril life for those who were timid, because they a point of honor shrank from the social ostracism which followed a refusal to
less,
;

demand satisfaction for an affront. What constituted an affront had a very wide margin so wide, that the merest trifles were sufficient to bring about a hostile meeting. A gentleman, and a stranger, in a cafe in New Orleans, was challenged and shot because he happened to call for the same dishes as a duellist who sat at the next table. Another met with the same fate because, in his ignorance of the French language, he used the familiar tu instead of the more
give or
;

formal vous.
I have heard many sad stories connected with this duelling epoch, but one related to me by a relative of one of the victims struck me as peculiarly significant of the fantastic exigencies of the code of honor. I do not give the real names

of the parties, but there are probably

in

New

Orleans

who have heard

some persons still living the particulars of the trage-

dy and will identify the actors in it. Gaston de Villeneuve and Rene Beauchamp were cousins, and more than cousins in their brotherly love for each other. They were wealthy, handsome, ambitious, and possessed exceptional talents. What was very rare among the Creoles of
that day, instead of giving themselves up to the dolce far niente, as was the custom of wealthy young men in Louisiana,

they threw themselves with ardor into the study of a profesThey were admitted to the bar the same day, and began their profession as partners. This pleasant companionsion.

ship remained unchanged until Beauchamp fell desperately in love with Lucille the belle of the season, who some

time before had shown a marked preference for his cousin, a preference which Gaston in his cool, quiet way seemed to
ignore.
lives.

Jealousy was the But when Mile. D

first

discord in these harmonious accepted Rene, the jealousy he

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

had
felt for his

5IQ

revived.

But a new order

cousin passed away, and the old affection of things sprung up under these

new conditions. A barrier grew up between them which Rene could not understand, but no longer were mutual confidences exchanged, and the lives which from infancy had been united seemed to drift far apart. Gaston chafed against this state of affairs, and once or twice made an effort to restore the old relations, but his usual reticence seemed to check any confidence which might be hovering on his lips. One day, however, he burst out impetuously,
"

with a bright smile; " well, yes, I suppose I am, for I never knew before what happiness really was. Oh, I dare say I'm very lazy, and you hold me in contempt because I'm not as much interested in making a name for myself as I
I

"

How changed

Am

you

are,

Rene !"

?"

used to
bition

be.

I'll

leave that to you,

mon

cher.

You have am-

enough for both of us." " But that is not the question," Gaston said gravely. " Pardon me, but it is the question. Can't I see what you think of my indifference to business ? But, after all, what did we propose should be the aim of our efforts ? Happiness, wasn't it? Well, now, if I have found a royal road to it and hold it within my grasp, surely I ought to be satisfied, and
you too."
"

fool's paradise !"

sneered Gaston.

"

It is said to

love a
!

good woman is an education in itself. But love her bah A woman who doesn't scruple to say she loves your plantation
better than yourself. Rene, I have been silent too long. Listen to me and you will hear what will open your eyes to

the truth.

Your blindness
dupe you

is

pitiable,

and

it

makes me angry
and
his

to see you the

are."

Rene drew himself

up, his face white as death

may spare his wrath and his solicitude," he answered in the measured tones of suppressed fury. " I understand the motives of his malicious insinuations. I
will strive

eyes blazing with rage. " Monsieur de Villeneuve

veins

but to do that, from to-day

not to forget that the same blood flows in our we must be strangers."

$2O
" It shall be as

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

you
say,"
;

Gaston said sadly " but it seems been strangers for a long time." already The cousins parted that day, Gaston sore at heart for the breach between them, and regretting that what he had considered honorable scruples had sealed his lips until it was too late to convince Rene of the unworthiness of the woman whom he was about to make his wife. Rene was so hot with wrath that he took a dozen turns around the square before he regained coolness. What did Gaston mean ? Lucille had probably rejected him, for he knew she was a flirt, and that speech of Gaston's was nothing but a little ebullition of jealous spite. They would soon make it up again. He turned his steps to the residence of his betrothed. She looked cross and troubled as she met him. " " I've been I'm in an awful humor, Rene," she cried to match I can't, a natural flower get crying my eyes out. I artificials. this and won't wear at the ball dress evening, my I will not go if I can't get flowers to suit me."
to

me we have

In Lucille's presence the young man forgot his anger, forgot everything but the lovely vexed face which looked up at him with real tears in the beautiful eyes.
"

What
It

kind of flower must

it

be,

m'amie?" he asked ten-

derly. "

must be
"

of ribbon.
this tint. "

scarlet of this peculiar shade," showing a piece All kinds of red flowers can be found but just
!

Oh, you can't help me Nobody can help me." But that is just exactly what I can and will do," he said, " In our conservatory this morning drawing her to him. bloomed a wonderful Mexican plant scarlet bells, just that shade, I am sure. No one has ever seen anything like it, and no one could get it if they offered a fabulous price for it. That's what you women like, isn't it, m'amie to wear something that no other woman could get, not if she gave her eyes for it ? Well, in an hour that flower shall be in your hand." Lucille clapped her little hands together and laughed with delight. She lavished caresses upon her lover, and they were not less precious to him because he had bought them with a
rare flower.

In fact he never reasoned upon any act of hers,

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

$21

quite content to adore her blindly. To her the slightest accessory of the toilet which might enhance her beauty was

the most important thing on the face of the earth. We all know some of these human butterflies, whose gauzy wings never lift them to a higher flight than a becoming coiffure
or the insolent flattery of some men's eyes. " But that disagreeable cousin of yours," Lucille cried was parting with her lover. " I do hope he as she pettishly,

could

not be at the ball this evening. He looks at me as if he kill me, and I hate him, too." " But you did not always hate him," Rene said, a sudden suspicion entering his mind.
will
"

Did he

tell

you that ?"

"

What

did he say about

me ?

She had become very pale. He would tell any lie to part

us,

he would forge anything, for he loved me, though I never told you so. Beware of him, for he will part us
"
It is

yet."

not likely," Rene said gravely

!"

"
;

we do not even

speak."
"

childish

Ah, you have quarrelled way and laughing.

"

clapping her hands in her am so glad, for now I will

not be obliged to speak to him." Lucille was radiant that night with the brilliant tropical flowers in her hair and on her bosom. About midnight she found herself near Gaston, and, glancing furtively
at him, noticed to her

dismay that he wore

at his button-

hole a spray of the rare exotic. She looked corsage. The flower was not there.
"

down

at her

Look, Rene," she cried excitedly to her lover, on whose leaned. " Do you see ? Gaston has my flower. It certainly dropped from my corsage, and he knows it, and it is under the circumstances an insult to both of us that he is

arm she

wearing it so conspicuously." " Perhaps he does not know it is yours." " But he I saw him staring at the flowdoes, I tell you. It is insolence, and he means it. If you do ers in my hair. not force him to give up that flower, never speak to me
again."

522

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

date.

Rene was only too willing to obey this imperious manWith two strides he was beside his cousin.

"Monsieur," he said haughtily in a low voice, "the lady whose flower you have appropriated without permission requests you to return it to her through me."

Gaston laughed insultingly. "Suppose, Monsieur Beauchamp, I decline robbing myself of a flower which has never been in the lady's possession simply to gratify her caprice ? I have not the honor to be one of her slaves as you are, and that flower is mine." With a sudden movement Rene tore the glove from his left hand, and with it struck his cousin on the cheek. "Liar!" he hissed. Pale as death, Gaston made a sudden movement forward, but in a second recovered himself. "You will hear from me to-morrow," he said, and left the room. This encounter between the cousins had occurred in a little anteroom which was nearly empty, so few of the guests witnessed it. There was but one answer possible in those times to such an insult. A challenge was sent by Gaston, and accepted by his cousin the place of meeting, a and the hour, sunset. little outside the city The day was spent by Gaston in painful reflection. He was the son of a pious Huguenot mother, who died in his childhood, but the memory of her teachings had always, to a certain extent, influenced his mind. Could he take the He knew well under life of a man he loved as a brother ? whose influence Rene had acted. A few words could have exonerated him from the charge of appropriating the flower, but, with his cheek still tingling from the blow, those words were never spoken. The merciless code of honor demanded that satisfaction should be given and taken before explanation was possible. " But I will not fire at him," he thought, as he made up a " If he small package of letters and addressed it to Rene. kills me well, when he opens this he will understand his
;
;

own

injustice."

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

523

The two young men stood opposite each other at the The love between them, so rudely rent appointed time. asunder, had left many strong roots in the hearts of each.
" If
I

am

forgive that
of his

not killed," thought Rene, " I will ask Gaston to mad blow. There must be some mistake."

Even then he longed to throw his arms around the neck more than brother and ask him to forgive and forget. But the code is merciless. Both fired simultaneously Gaston in the air, and Rene, as he thought, far to the right but a muscular contraction in his arm defeated his purpose, and to his horror he saw his cousin stagger and fall. He was beside him in a second.
:

"

Have

killed him, doctor ?"

he cried to the surgeon

*

who was examining

"

the wound.

Better get out of the way, Beauchamp," Dr. S. answered. " It's a bad business for you. He won't live an
hour," he whispered. " I won't stir," he cried vehemently, throwing himself on " his knees beside his cousin. Oh, Gaston, my brother, my I did not mean this friend, only Forgive me, for I have
!

through the madness." The dying man looked at him with a sad smile. " Then, why, why ?" he asked faintly. " It was that fatal flower," Rene groaned, answering the " Lucille told me it was hers." half-question. " Your mother gave it to me yesterday." Gaston's words came in short, quick gasps. " Lucille had a motive in part;

been

mad

but

loved you

all

ing us.

You
!

will find

it

in

my

desk.

forgive you,

Rene

but oh both."

you

will never forgive yourself.

God pardon

us

with that prayer on his lips, the trembling soul took The remorseful agony of Rene could not be painted in words. His friends hurried him out of the city, but he took with him the little package of letters directed to him by his cousin, with a little note from Gaston himself full of forgiveness and affection. He read in those letters, written by Lucille herself, the unwomanly advances she had made to his cousin, and how continually they had been reits

And

flight.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

pulsed by him. In fact his disgust had been made so plain that her last note was vindictive and threatening. Rene looked at the date. It was the very day that, covered with blushes, she had hid her face on his shoulder as his plighted
bride.

Rene Beauchamp seemed to

other

men have

outlive his anguish, as many done, and will do to the end of time. He

where people walk, and talk, and are apparently in nowise different from others, but where the affecIn time he became a tions and interests of life are dead.
lived that life

man, without sympathy for his kind, and reBut on the yearly recurrence of " All jecting it for himself. Souls' Day" the grave of Gaston de Villeneuve bore on its marble slab these words, in violets and immortelles " Does
stern, silent old
:

not repentance atone ?"

swered.

Rene went where his question was anWhether a repentance which isolates a man from his fellows and leads him to dwell with the bitterness of his own heart is a healthy repentance can be answered by every one according to his own creed. But when life has been a via dolorosa, where the feet are wounded at every

Many

years ago

step, it strikes me that the infinite mercy of God will accept the slow martyrdom as atonement. In New Orleans many years ago the habituh of Rue Royale were accustomed to see a berouged and powdered

old

taking her morning walk. It was the wealthy She once the beautiful Lucille D probably felt no remorse for the tragedy she had caused in But she never forgot fact she had doubtless forgotten it.

woman

Mme. de P

the lost beauty which all her money could not restore, and she shrank and shivered at the near approach of the inevitable hour of death, which her wealth could not postpone.

From an European
Two

journal

we

take the following

brothers, sons of a prominent Russian family, were

students at the best college in St. Petersburg, and on gradThe uation became officers in the same crack regiment.

THR ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

$2$

young men differed greatly in their mode of life from their comrades, and only seldom joined in the customary revelries of the jeunesse dorte. Three years after leaving the
excellent family.
pair

regiment the elder brother married a beautiful young girl of Gradually, however, the newly-wedded

became estranged in affection so much so that after three years of married life they occupied separate rooms. In the mean time the younger brother fell in love with
:

his

sister-in-law.

At

first

the young wife, surrounded by

a host of admirers, was not aware of the passion she had kindled in her brother-in-law's heart, but soon she in turn experienced toward her adorer a love so passionate that she

was unable to struggle against it. The young husband's Terrible scenes ensued, jealousy was rightfully aroused. followed by mutual recriminations, a challenge, and finally a duel between the two brothers. The elder, the outraged

wounded
bullets.

husband, was wounded in the side the younger, who had his brother, remained untouched by the latter's
;

The

last act of this life-drama,

begun so

tragically,

was that of a
first

farce.

After the duel the

wounded man was

where the him from

brought into the

combined care of

city and then taken abroad, his wife and brother snatched

the jaws of death. Out of gratitude for this he allowed his wife to secure a divorce from him, taking all the blame on
his shoulders.

This she did, and then married her lover.

received in New York in July romantic a story touching a late duel (1884) present with rapiers in their country between M. Chevanier and M. Salontine the former an advocate and the latter a physician. The advocate was attended by his

The Belgian papers

mistress as his second,

and when M. Chevanier was pierced

-dressed in male clothing, to the heart by

up

his adversary's blade, the advocate's mistress caught his sword and thrust it into the victorious duel-

list's

heart.

The woman was

placed

in prison

at once arrested and on a charge of murder; but she has

526

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

no lack of defenders, who, in their denunciation of the contend that she is no more guilty of murder than was her victim, and that, while she had the palliating motive of revenge and sudden passion, his crime was deliberate and cold-blooded. But the romances of love and hate that have to do with duelling are literally without end; and as our record of them must stop somewhere, it may as well
code duello,

be here.

Under this head, however, we will mention a peculiar The most romantic as well as the most absurd (and, always, deadly) manner of duel is a custom which prevails in a number of European countries, and is, curiously enough, called the "American duel,"
thing.

and, although absolutely unknown outside of Continental

Europe, has become more and more popular during the past twenty years on account of its recognition as

an " American institution." The fundamental idea of the "American duel" is simply that neither adroitness nor skill, but chance, determines the result. It is at one and the same time romantic and reckless, diabolical and sinister and as decidedly un-American The modus operandi of as anything possibly can be. " affairs of honor" is as follows conducting such Two persons fall out with each other and agree to
; :

settle their difference

by recourse

to the

"

American

They select their attendants, who supply two The weapons one of which is loaded to kill. pistols, are then covered with a handkerchief, after which
duel."

the challenging party

first

draws, and then the other.

The one drawing the loaded pistol must die by his own hand, either at once or later. He may have a
But he respite for a few months, or perhaps a year. cannot escape his fate for the code is inexorable, and
;

THE ROMANCE OF DUELLING.

the victim must

$2?

fulfil its pitiless obligation. Many an of (supposed) suicide in Germany case inexplicable has turned out afterward as an "American duel."

Only a short time ago Valentine Zavado, a talented young student at the Agricultural Academy of Vienna, whose death was at first attributed to suicide, left letters declaring that he had met his death by an "American duel." Lately, in Moravia, a landlady rushed to an apartment from whence the sound of a discharged weapon came, and found a young gentleman of affluent circumstances dying. She at once
a physician, to whom the victim of the " code of honor" confessed that he could not strange his wound was the result of an as accept relief,

summoned

absurd custom
gary)

Even women indulge in this a few days since, indeed, a very onry talented and beautiful young actress of Pesth (Hun-

"American duel."

fell a victim to the deadly obligations of the absurd and romantic code duello unfairly and ridicu-

lously called the

"American duel."

528

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

CHAPTER

XXX.
FIELD.

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

Randolph and Clay
dote of his Duel with White

Foote and Prentiss Sam Houston's AnecWhy Blount Challenged Thatcher The Chivalric Adams of Milledgeville Curran's NeverEnding Humor A Faithful Watch D'Israeli and O'Connell " I'll Take Anything but your Medicine" How Palmer and Coles Made up The Audacious Judge Dooly Meeting on an " Equal Footing" St. Foix and St. Evremont Serious Fun " with a Dwarf Fa-sol-la D'Urfey" and "Sol-la-mi Bell" Bad for the Comet A Happy Frenchman Park and Creed The Two Merchants of Jay and Littlepage Israel Putnam Boston The Duel h la Carotte Zachary Taylor The Facetious Weston The Two Gascons.

THERE

is,

undoubtedly, what

may

be termed the

side of the duelling-ground, notwithstandthe natural seriousness of its general surrounding and the has therefore, by way of conwriter ings
;

humorous

clusion,

incidents

grouped together some of the more mirthful and episodes which have come under his

observation while in the pursuit of information of the

graver and more dramatic sort. After the duel between Henry Clay and John Randolph, in 1826, and while the two distinguished Southerners were shaking hands, Randolph said " You owe me a coat, Mr. Clay," the second jocosely,
bullet of the latter having passed through the skirt of the Virginian's coat, or flannel dressing-gown,

very near the hip

to

which the Kentuckian promptly

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

and pleasantly
"
replied,
it

FIELD.

529

I am glad the debt is no has been stated by some one that Clay once remarked, while conversing with a gentleman about the duel, years afterward, that he might as well have tried to shoot at a pair of tongs as at

greater."

And

Randolph. Senator Foote, of Mississippi, who during his life became engaged in three affairs of honor one with Mr. Winston, of Tuscumbia, Ala., in which he was wounded in the left shoulder another with J. T. H. Claiborne, of Mississippi, in which neither was hurt and another with the brilliant S. S. Prentiss, also of Mississippi, in which Foote was severely wounded was one of the most courageous Americans of his day but it was proverbial of Foote that, while he would stand up to be fired at without the slightest " he hesitation, he was said to be so poor a shot that could not hit a barn-door at ten paces;" and it has " after Prentiss had been placed also been said that, to his stand," he heard the breaking of a twig in a tree near him, and looking up saw a youth belonging " Get down to one of his neighbors, and exclaimed, from there, my little man, for the Governor is a
; ;

mighty poor shot and may hit you." During the week preceding the duel between General Sam Houston and General White, Houston remained at the home of Sanford Duncan, practising meanwhile with pistols. At this temporary home, says a writer in the Bowling Green (Kentucky) Intelwere two belligerent young dogs, named ligencer "Andrew Jackson" and "Thomas Benton" on account of their pugnacious dispositions. These dogs were continually fighting Houston's political sentiments leading him to espouse the cause of the Jackr

530

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

much to his delight, was a conThe hour for rising and stant winner in the frays. for the on the arrival of the day, duel, preparing was 3.40 A.M. Just before that hour " General Jackson pup, which, very

son" barked beneath the window of his admirer's room, awakening him. Houston arose without disturbing his attending friends, and began the task of moulding bullets with which to fight White. As the first bullet fell from the mould, a game-cock which Houston admired scarcely less than he did the dog crowed a loud, clear note. Houston, with that element of superstition which finds a place in nearly
every mind, accepted the early greeting of his friends happy omens, and, marking the bullet on one side for the dog and on the other side for the chicken, made up his mind that his pistol should be loaded with it, and that he would fire first that particular ball at General White. Houston afterward said that 'he was not superstitious, but that these two circumstances made him feel assured of success thus disproving his own words. The bullet was used, and White fell at the first fire. After the duel Houston selected a chicken-cock and a dog as a coat-of-arms, and many were the comments made by those unfamiliar with the facts, in after-years, when, as President of Texas and Senator in Congress, he sported so strange a crest. These facts are authentic, having
as

been related by General Houston to Sanford Duncan, Jr., while the two were once en route to Washington during Houston's term as U. S. Senator from the
"

Lone Star

State."

Speaker Carlisle is said by the Hamilton (Ohio) News to have once challenged an exasperating litigant to fight a duel. The latter accepted promptly,

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

531

and, as was his right, selected the place and weapons, which he chose to be, respectively, Boston Common

and clapboards.
the matter drop.

After which Mr. Carlisle quietly let When the Hon. George Thatcher

in Congress from Massachusetts in 1797, he was challenged by the Hon. Thomas Blount, of North Now as it happened, Carolina, to fight a duel. Thatcher was a conspicuously brave man, but un-

was

alterably opposed to duelling

so he informed the

North Carolinian, mirthfully, that as his wife and children were greatly interested in all matters of such importance, he must consult them, and should
certainly not fight a duel unless with their permisIn a day or two afterward the two gentlemen sion.

met, and Blount said to Thatcher, a coward and would not fight." " and that did," replied the other,

"

knew you were "Of course you

is the reason you in Fisher me." Ames, alluding to the challenged affair afterward during a conversation with Dwight Foster, said, "There is the advantage of having a

wife,

you see." merchant of Milledgeville (Ga.), named Edmunds, was challenged in 1881 by a person named

Adams,

may

"I in order that, as the challenger declared, insult with out sir." The inblood, wipe your

sult offered

by Edmunds, by the way, consisted in privately marking a number of the coins in his moneydrawer, so that the chivalric Adams was neatly exposed when he stole them. Mons. F. Bouvet, who fought a duel with Mons. Roger du Ford, in France, in 1850, was at the time of the hostile meeting the President of the " Peace Society," and only a short time before had delivered a speech in the Chamber of Deputies against duelling.

53 2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

pistols,

These gentlemen fought with

hurt.
It
is

but neither was

said of

Irish wit, that he went over, as usual, with fun.

John Philpot Curran, the brilliant upon four fields brimming

In his duel with
St.

Leger,

who had

challenged Curran for alleged unprofessional language, he stood off at ten paces and received his antagonist's fire, and then discharged his

own weapon in the air. St. Leger died in three weeks afterward, and Curran said of him that he " had gone off at the report of his own pistol." In his duel with John Egan, who was of prodigious size, the latter declared that it was like putting up a turfsack before a razor to which Curran responded, " I as I wish to take no tell you what it is, Mr. Egan let size be chalked out upon of my you, advantage I and am content that every shot quite your side, which hits outside that mark shall go for nothing." They then fired aimlessly, left the field friends, and
;
:

Egan acted as Curran's second. In Curran's duel with Attorney-General John Fitzgibbon, the terms were that the parties might discharge
in his next duel

at will their weapons, and Curran, who was always quick and active, got in the first fire, while Fitzgib-

bon drew a most deliberate aim, but missed, at which Curran exclaimed, " It was not your fault, Mr. Attorney" (who was surprised to see his antagonist still unhurt), "for you were deliberate enough." Some time ago the New York Sun, in an article on Irish
duels, referred to Curran's affair with Major Hobart, which took place in 1790, and which terminated after an exchange of harmless shots " The climax of duelling absurdity was reached when Curran challenged
:

Major Hobart, Chief Secretary for Ireland,

in 1790.

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

Curran, being affronted by a
clared he

FIELD.

533

would submit
befall
life

man named Gifford, deto the greatest deprivation

any man and do without fighting sooner than fight such a fellow; but as the man was a revenue officer, Curran maintained that Major Hobart should dismiss him for impertiwhich could
the rest of his

or fight in his stead. The Secretary debut as Curran insisted, he referred the question to Lord Durhampton, the Commander-innence,

murred

Chief, who decided thus Secretary of State fighting for an exciseman would be rather a bad precedent,
*
:

but a major
profession,

in

the king's service

fight

is

pugnacious by
him.'
"

and must

anybody that asks

Some years ago Mr. Lewis, M.C. from Virginia, and General Thomas H. Gushing fought a duel with pistols, and the ball from Mr. Lewis's weapon hit Mr. Cushing's watch. The differences between the two gentlemen were then amicably adjusted, and Lewis,
stepping up to Cushing, said, "I congratulate you, General, on having a watch which will keep time

from eternity."

The great D'Israeli once made himself the laughing-stock of England by challenging Morgan O'Connell, son of Daniel O'Connell, for words uttered by
the latter in the

cannot divest

House of Commons, as follows my mind of the belief that, if this

" I
fel-

low's genealogy were traced, it would be found that he is the lineal descendant and the heir-at-law of the

impenitent thief
cross."
Still,

the

who atoned for his crimes upon the name of Benjamin D'Israeli is tobrilliant

day one

of the

most

and prominent

in Brit-

ish history.

and Woodward, met

In England, in 1790, two physicians, named Mead in combat with swords, and after

534

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

attempting to make a Mead at once had his

a while Woodward, while

deadly lunge, slipped and

;

fell.

" Take your antagonist in his power, and exclaimed, life I do not want it." To which the prostrate
replied, "I'll take anything but your medicine I can't take that." After John Byrne was wounded, in Ireland, by Lord Mountgarret, some friends asked him how he felt when the bullet struck him and he replied, " I felt just as if I had been punched by the mainmast of a man-of-war." Byrne was attorney for the Crown in Ireland at the time of his duel with Mountgarret. When Francis Hely Hutchinson, Collector of Customs at Dublin (Ireland), fought and badly wounded Lord Mountmorris, he stepped up to where his pros;

Woodward

trate foe was lying and congratulated him upon being no more seriously hurt than he seemed, and the two shook hands and then conversed with each other for

some
In

time.
1851,

during an election on Prince Edward's Hon. William Palmer called the Hon. Island, a coward for declining to receive a chalColes George " I'll from a show you I'm no coward, servant. lenge if I did decline to even sir, accept a cartel by the hand of a menial in his shirt-sleeves, and I now make
the

good
"

that
I

declaration

And

accept," replied Palmer.

duel took place, while Coles threw his pistol high into the air, ex" I am just coward enough and Christian claiming, enough, Palmer, to decline to shoot a man even after

by challenging you, sir." The next day the and Palmer fired without effect,

he has tried his best to dispatch me.

if

am
sir,

satisfied,

you

are."

"

am

perfectly satisfied,

are a

man

of courage

you and honor," responded Palmer

that

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

and the two gentlemen

FIELD. 535

left the field arm-in-arm, and dined afterward shortly together, and then retired to their respective homes filled with affection for each other, or with probably goodly portions of

Mumm

both.

In 1776 Captain Talbut and Lieutenant Dunworth, of the Revolutionary Army, quarrelled, and fixed a

time and place for a duel, which circumstance was communicated to General Washington by General " I did not wish to know Greene, who wrote curiously
:

anything about the affair, but many of my officers that / know all about it, which perplexes me a

know
little,

knowing duelling
law."

to be against all civil

and military

A good many stories are told at the expense of Judge Dooly, of Georgia. He laughed out of duels with an audacious wit, says an Atlanta paper, that
compelled even the admiration of his enemies. On one occasion, when a number of them threatened that if he didn't fight his name would fill the columns of a newspaper, he declared, laughingly, that he would rather fill ten newspapers than one coffin. Once he went on the field with a man who had St. Vitus' dance. His opponent was standing at his post, his whole frame jerking nervously from his malady. Dooly, in the soberest manner, left his post, and, cutting a forked
stick,

nent. "

in the ground in front of his oppodoes this mean ?" asked his opponent. " Why," says Dooly, I want you to rest your pistol in that fork, so that you can steady your aim. If you shoot at me with that hand shaking so, you'll
it

stuck

"What

pepper

me

full of
all

was a laugh

holes at the first fire." Then there around, and the duel was put off

without a day.

THE FIELD OP HONOR.

of VirJohn's Church, in Georgetown, near Washington (D. C.), and was believed to have come under the influence of religious impressions,

During the years 1815-16 John Randolph,

attended
St.

ginia,

occupying, generally, a pew with Francis Barton " Key, the author of the Star-Spangled Banner." It was during this time that Mr. Randolph, losing control of himself one day, and seeing a good opportunity of striking at Henry Clay (then Speaker of the House of Representatives), let loose a flight of invectives at Mr. Boiling Robinson (a member from

Louisiana),

but

remained

silent

thereafter

when

Clay dwelt upon the gravity of the occasion and " hoped that, if the honorable gentleman from Virginia intended no insult, he would recall the offensive and misapplied words." His silence brought out a challenge from Mr. Robinson, which Randolph declined to accept on the ground of religious scruples, such action being urged by Parson Addison (of St. John's Church), Mr. Key, and Charles Fenton Merthe Loudon district. cer, M.C. from (Virginia) This course led to so much imputation on Mr. Randolph's chivalry that he became deeply wounded, and soon after gave up his devotional exercises " never altogether, and declared that he would again take refuge under the communion-table." When Randolph entered Congress, in 1799, he arrived in

Washington with a case of duelling-pistols, which, it was said, he had carried with him to keep Robert Goodloe Harper a Congressman from South Carolina (although a native of Virginia), and leader of the Federal Party in the House in order. The trouble, however, in those days, was to keep Randolph in order, who was noted for his exasperating

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

537

wit and eccentricity, as well as for his

eloquence,

He was at independence, and incorruptibility. peace, really, with but few men, and was the recipiduring his eventful life, of many challenges all which he treated with contempt, except that from Robinson, just alluded to, and the one which he accepted from Clay. In December, 1773, in England, Mr. Temple and Mr. Whately fought a duel in which Mr. Whately was severely wounded. It was brought about by the transmission from England to Boston, through
ent,
;

of

Benjamin Franklin, the celebrated " at that time as the Hutchinson and Oliver Letters." The humorous side of this affair consists of a letter written by Lord
agency of
correspondence known

the

Walpole to a friend, upon the eve of the disturbance, " in which he said We are now picking a duel between a Mr. Temple and a Mr. Whately, the latter of whom has been drilled with as many holes as
:

Julius Caesar or a colander."

Walpole also writes of

the duel between Captain Winnington and Augustus Townsend, which took place in Hyde Park, London

(England), in 1741, and of which he says that, after " meeting in the Park, they scratched one another's

tumbled into two ditches, that is, Augustus did, kissed, and then walked home together." In 1816 Admiral de la Susse was challenged by a German for " waltzing against him" at a residence in the Faubourg St. Honore, Paris and the parties met in the Bois de Boulogne, where the German fired first without effect, after which La Susse hit the German at the place about where the heart ought to have been located, and the latter dropped as if dead but upon examination it was found that the fellow
fingers,
;

5 3^

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

was not only alive, but unhurt thanks to the wellBut the vigorous padded cuirass which he wore.
kicking

subsequently

administered

to

the

obese

Teuton by the indignant Admiral compelled him to give up waltzing for many a day and a certain salon in the Faubourg St. Honore was never graced by his Teutonic presence thereafter. An officer under Ney one day informed that great Marshal that he had challenged a brother-officer. " What for ?" inter" For slapping me in the face." "Go rogated Ney. and him to say you have washed your face, as it was
;

water than by fighting

easier to get rid of the effects of blackguardism by and say also that I have com;

withdraw your challenge." Upon an another occasion a gentleman informed Talleyrand that he had sent a challenge to an officer of the army who had thrown him out of a two-story window. "Thrown you out of a two-story window! What for ?" exclaimed Talleyrand, with much amazement. " Because, sir, he says he caught me cheating " Let me advise at cards." you," said the other, on account of so small an "Don't fight pleasantly. with that particucards don't and affair; play again A the lar on ground-floor." person, excepting Frenchman named Madailan once sent a challenge to Marquis de Rivard, who had lost a leg in the
to

manded you

old soldier replied, " I accept your challenge on one condition that you cut off one of your legs, so that we may meet on an equal
service of his country.

The

As might have been expected, it was all and no fight after that. St. Foix, one of the laugh most noted duellists of France, once laughed at St. Evremont, his rival, while the latter was eating a bavoraise at the Cafe Procope, in Paris, and refooting."

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

marked that
tleman.

FIELD.

539

it was a mighty small dinner for a genduel was the consequence, and St. Foix received quite a wound, while bandaging which he " Even if said, you had killed me I should have stuck

to

it

that a bavoraise

is

a mighty small dinner for a

gentleman." Two gentlemen (one a Spaniard and the other a German) who had been recommended, by their
birth

and
fell

both

services, to the Emperor Maximilian II., in love with, and paid court to, the fair

whom

Helene, the Emperor's daughter, Scharfequinn, each sought in marriage. After a long delay Maximilian one day informed the two lovers that, esteeming them equally and not being able to bestow a preference, he should leave it to the force and address of the claimants to decide the question. He did not mean, however, to risk the loss of the one or the other, or perhaps of both, and ^could not, therefore, permit them to encounter with offensive weapons; but had ordered a large bag to be produced, and had decreed that whichever succeeded in putting his rival into this bag should obtain the hand

The two gentlemen expressed their of his daughter. to engage in even so ridiculous a contest willingness
for so superior a prize,

and fought

in the presence of

the whole court, the contest lasting more than an hour, the Spaniard finally yielding, having been put
fairly into the

who took

bag by the German, Baron Eberhard, and its Castilian contents upon his back, and very gallantly laid them at the feet of the young lady, to whom he was married the following day. This is the only duel or tournament of the kind on
it

record.

There was once a dwarf named Jeffery Hudson, who

540

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

in the service of the

was retained

Duke

of Bucking-

and who was once sewed up (when he was eighteen inches high) in a cold pie, upon a visit of Charles I. and his Queen to Buckingham, at He was greatly tormented at Burleigh-on-the-hill. the King's porter, a man of and of course, court, drew once Jeffery from his pocket gigantic stature, This dwarf was afterward comat a masquerade. missioned a captain in the royal army, and attended the Queen to France in 1664, where he received a provocation from a Mr. Crofts, which he took so deeply to heart that he issued a challenge to the offender, who appeared on the ground armed with a syringe, to the great merriment of the spectators. Jeffery, however, felt the additional sting, and demanded immediate satisfaction, which Crofts felt compelled to give; and the two were speedily provided with pistols, and then mounted on horseback, and given the signal to gallop toward each other and fire which they both did, Crofts falling from his

ham

in 1628,

saddle dead, with a bullet-hole in his heart. In 1682 Jeffery was arrested as an accessory in the Popish
Plot,

and committed

to

the gate-house

in

West-

minster, where he died, in the sixty-fourth year of

his age.
liant poet

During the reign of Charles II. there was a briland playwright named Tom D'Urfey, who
entertained

Queen Anne by singing his own and who was an accepted wit at court, and songs, was greatly admired by Addison. His character was much like that of Sheridan. It is said of him that "he was bred to the bar; but, with too much wit and too little diligence for the law, and too meagre means
often
to
live

upon

as

a gentleman, he

experienced the

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

varied fortunes of
trust to their pens

FIELD.

541

men with
for

sparkling talents
"

who
has

and I hope the world merry," says Addison, they will make him easy as long as he stays among us." D'Urfey once had a quarrel with a musician named Bell, and the two met at Epsom with swords,
but exhibited great caution, their meeting having been humorously compared to the rencontre of Clinias

made

their support." "

He

and Dametas of Sir Philip Sidney's "Arcadia,"

as follows:

"I sing

of a duel in

Epsom

befell,
;

'Twixt Fa-sol-la D'Urfey and Sol-la-mi Bell But why do I mention the scribbling brother
For,

naming the one, you may guess at the other. Betwixt them there happened a terrible clutter
;

Bell set up the loud pipes,

'

and D'Urfey did sputter

;'
'

Draw, Bell, wert thou dragon, I'll spoil thy sweet note For thy squalling,' said t'other, I'll cut thy throat.' With a scratch on the finger the duel's despatched Thy Clinias, O Sidney, was never so matched."
'
:

In 1819 two young gentlemen of Lisbon (sons of shop-keepers of that city) quarrelled over a girl, and soon afterward met on the quay, each armed with a musket, which they fired at a signal of a boy beating a drum, at thirty yards' distance. One of them

was shot
other
father's

absconded.

head and fell as if dead, and the The former returned to his bound house, up his wounds, recovered, and
in the

married the

fair object of the eccentric strife. In 1793 the Prussian officers of the garrison of Colberg established an economical mess, of which
;

emigrants were glad to partake and one day they observed present an old major of
certain poor

hussars,

who was covered

with the scars of wounds

54 2
received in

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

the Seven Years' War.

quickly

commenced, and

soon

"And

you, Major,

how many

A conversation turned on duels. duels have you fought ?"

asked a young, stout-built cornet of the war-worn " hero, viciously. None, thank Heaven !" replied the " I have fourteen in a subdued voice. veteran, wounds, and, Heaven be praised, none are in my back. So I may be permitted to say that I feel myself happy " in never having fought a duel." But you shall fight one with me !" exclaimed the cornet, reaching
give the
across the table at which the party were sitting, to scar-honored guest a blow. The latter,

greatly agitated, grasped the table to assist him in " Stehen rising, when an unanimous cry was raised of
Sie ruhig, Herr Major !" (Don't stir, Major !) And as quick as it was possible for such an act to be executed, all of the officers present sprung to their feet

and, seizing the insulting scamp by the collar of his coat and by the seat of his trousers, they threw the offender out of the window, and then sat down at
the table as
if

nothing unusual had occurred.

the i3th of August, 1778, General Howe, who had saved Georgia from the invasion of Provost's

On

who was subsequently driven out of the Colonel Campbell, of the British army, was by criticised severely by Christopher Gadsden, of South Carolina and a duel was the consequence, in which Howe's bullet grazed Gadsden's ear. The seconds (Charles Cotesworth Pinckney for Howe, and Bernard Elliott for Gadsden) then interfered, further
troops, but

State

were prevented, and the combatants befriends. Major Andre, who was then in a humorous poetical description of Georgia, penned the affair, the following being the concluding verses
hostilities

came warm

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

"Such honor did they both display, They highly were commended
;

FIELD.

543

And

thus, in short, this gallant fray

Without mischance was ended.

" No fresh

dispute, we may suppose, Will e'er by them be started ; And now the chiefs, no longer foes, Shook hands, and so they parted."

When Edward
Britain,

Thurlow, Lord Chancellor of Great

was on

his

way

to the field to fight

Andrew

Stewart, in 1769, he stopped at a tavern near Hyde Park and ate an enormous breakfast. The parties

exchanged shots without

effect; and Stewart, while talking over the affair some time afterward, said that " Thurlow stood up before me like an elephant."

Walpole, in his description of the meeting between

his uncle, Horace Walpole, and William Chetwynd, in a letter to Horace Mann, in 1743, wrote that the former had fought a duel, and " had scratched a scratch three inches long on the side of his enemy."

The cause of the duel was on account of a heated debate in the House of Commons, at the conclusion
of

which Walpole stepped up to Chetwynd and tweaked his nose. The meeting took place in Hyde
Park.

A French officer at Cambrai, just after Waterloo, while smarting over the result, insulted an English officer who, in turn, challenged the Frenchman, and was killed. Upon the following evening the survivor entered a cafe, were there was a mixed crowd, and exclaimed: "I am in luck, gentlemen; a long time
;

ago

I had killed one Portuguese, one Spaniard, one Austrian, and one Prussian; and now, at last, I have

544
killed

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

one damned Englishman. I am happy. Vive 1'Empereur !" After Major Park and Captain Creed had been placed hors de combat by the two Tipperary duellists (Mathew and Macnamara), Park, while covered with

wounds, remarked, smilingly, to his companion

are, in

"
:

a certain sense, the conquerors say, Creed, we eh ?" after all, for we have kept the field of battle " You smell like a goat," said St. Foix to an officer " of the Guard one day. Sir !" exclaimed the latter, " Put his sword. up your sword, you fooldrawing
ish fellow," cried the

famous

duellist,

who was

ever-

lastingly getting into scrapes; "put up your sword; for if you kill me you will not smell any better, and
if I kill

you you

will smell

a great sight worse."

off

One

day, while two

Frenchmen were throwing

their jackets leisurely, preparatory to a fight, one of them saw a boat crossing the Seine, and cried out to
his antagonist, authorities are
"

Quick

quick

my

friend, for the

coming, and they will separate us." In an instant their swords were at work, and before the law-officers could reach the scene the combatants were dead. Upon another occasion a Parisian got into a row with two men, and agreed to meet them " both. What, one against two ?" cried the others,
chuckling.

two

my

"Yes; have you never seen one against I'll at least get on, then, both of you. name in the Chronicler (Brantome's.) And he
?

Come

did, too

in the

After his
place in

obituary column, though. duel with Samuel Martin, which took

Hyde Park on the i9th of November, 1763 which he was severely wounded), John Wilkes was asked by the Prince de Croy this was his fourth duel on account of his political writings in the North
(and in

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

Briton

FIELD.

545

to what extent the liberty of the press could be carried in England, and replied that he could not Nottell, but was trying mighty hard to find out. the disturbances Wilkes enmany withstanding countered during his career as publisher of the North Briton he was said to be "one of the most fascinating persons over the bottle that ever lived." Wilkes was once challenged by a Scotchman named Forbes, who had never met the object of his dislike, but who expressed his desire to fight the author of such an offensive publication as the North Briton. In his duel with Martin the combatants met with pistols at fourteen paces, and Wilkes was hit in the body at the second fire.
y

On

the

23d

of

December,

1883, A.

C.

Lowery,
Courier,

editor of

the Georgetown

(New Mexico)

received a challenge from Joseph N. Laffer, " a school commissioner" of Silver City (N. M.), in the follow" You can select a friend of youres who ing words can correspond with H. H. Whitehill, whome I Shall
:

You must do this at must have satisfaction, and that without delay." To which the facetious scribe replied: "We are not fighters from Bitter Creek, nor bad men from
Select to Settle our difficulty.
I

once, as

We have not lost any fights, are not hunting if we are obliged to fight, we don't probut any; to lose Our seconds will confer pose any, either. with Mr. Whitehill and choose the public streets of
Bodie.

Georgetown, distance three feet, weapons stockings loaded with mud." When Amby Bodkin and John Bourke fought, a child of the latter was held upon a neighbor's shoulder to see the combat. They fought with pistols, in Ireland, and both were slightly wounded at the first

546
fire.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

At the second

fire Bodkin was dangerously Their seconds also fought with pistols at injured. ten paces, and were both desperately wounded. The child grew up to be Sir John Bourke, and used to tell the story of his father's duel with exceeding gusto. In 1785 Mathew Carey, who had commenced an editorial career in Philadelphia by writing an essay against duelling, shortly afterward challenged Col-

at the meeting was severely Judge (Fletcher) once addressed a jury, in a case in which a surviving duellist (Fenton) was defendant, as follows: "Gentlemen of the jury: It is my business to lay down the law to you, and I The law says that killing a man in a duel is will.

onel

Oswald,

and

wounded.

An

Irish

Therefore, in the discharge of my duty, I But I tell you, at the same time, that I you have never heard of a fairer duel than this in the
tell

murder.

so.

whole course of my life." In 1785 Lewis Littlepage challenged John Jay in New York on account of a suit instituted against Littlepage by Jay for the payment of moneys loaned the former by Jay at a time

when

Littlepage was sadly in need of bed and board. Mr. Jay declined to fight with a man who had so
his

grossly abused

kindness,

challenging party as

and referred to the one "with my money in his

pocket and my meat still sticking in his teeth." There is a good story told of De Reuilly who lived during the reign of Henry IV., and who devoted much of his valuable time to resisting the encroach-

who was

ments of duelling customs upon French society, and socially cut on that account by many of his a number of whom branded the young friends, officer with cowardice. Two duellists once met De in the woods near Paris, and drew their swords Reuilly

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

547

and hilariously called upon the anti-duellist to defend himself; which he did by handsomely disarming and wounding both of his assailants; after which he had the sufferers conveyed to his own home, where they were nursed and otherwise cared for until their complete recovery.

Ney, who was remarkably fond of duelling, never an opportunity, while young, of meeting in combat with friend or foe. One day he met and crippled for life a celebrated fencing-master of a chasseur regiment; but in after-life, when he had become a marshal, he sought out his former antagolost

and had him comfortably provided for. Old Put," of our Revolutionary army, was the hero of two "affairs of honor." The first grew out of a difficulty between Putnam and a brother-officer, in which the latter assumed a hostile attitude and demanded immediate satisfaction. Putnam at first declined, on the ground that their services belonged to their country, and that it would be little less than unpatriotic for them to jeopardize their lives unnist,

"

necessarily in time of war; but ultimately concluded to meet his bellicose brother-officer "according to

usage."

So they agreed to meet at daylight the following morning, without seconds. Israel arrived In a first, armed with an old gun loaded with slugs.
short time afterward his antagonist put in an ap-

pearance, armed with a sword and two pistols. When the latter had arrived at within about thirty

yards of Putnam he was saluted by a shot from the General's musket, and instantly halted and cried out,
"

What

are you doing,

sir

Is

this the

proper conof

duct of

an American
"

officer

and a gentleman

honor ?"

What am

doing ?" replied the old war-

548
"
rior, coolly.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Why, I am defending my life against a man who wants to murder me. And if you don't beat a retreat in less time than it takes old Heath to " " But, sir, I hang a Tory, you are a gone dog."
Bang ! and away went Putnam's musket again; and away went his antagonist at an O'Leary rate
of

speed,

laughing in

astonishment.

English officer who, taking offence at the General, sent the latter a At the time apchallenge, which was accepted. pointed the Britisher appeared, and found Putnam The sitting on what seemed to be a keg of powder. latter at once saluted his antagonist, and told him to sit down with him on the keg; and Putnam then set fire to a slow match, which apparently communicated with the contents of the barrel, and coolly said to his companion that the chances for them to be blown The British officer first into atoms were equal. glanced at Putnam, then at the keg, and then at the slow match, the fire of which was approaching the powder, and then jumped up and made preparations for a hasty exit; during which Putnam shouted, " You're just precisely as brave as I took you to be.

spite of all his anger and Putnam's other " affair" was with an who was a prisoner on parole, and

But you needn't hurry, for there's nothing in this I thought I'd try you with onions the smell; ha ha ha you don't first don't like you But the punctilious advocate of like the smell !" the code duello had genteelly retired. In 1820 a merchant of Boston, named Zebedee Cook, was challenged by another merchant, named George Barrell, and replied by saying simply that he had made up his mind that it was the best way for
barrel but onions.
! ! !

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

549

merchants to adjust their business difficulties without resort to pistols. Barrell then wrote: " Let us settle our business difficulties, then, and fight afterward." To which Cook replied: " With all my heart.

But what,
was no

in the

about, after
duel.

name of goodness, shall we fight we have settled our difficulties ?" There

During the reign of Louis XVI. of France there named Lamoliere, who was an acwielder of both sword and pen. On a complished certain occasion, determined to emphatically demonlived a fellow

strate his

contempt for a brother-author, he attended

the

first

night's production of Ernestine (a

comedy

in

three acts), and feigned profound sleep. Unluckily, however, Lamoliere actually fell into the arms of

Morpheus; during which some

carrot into his mouth.

person dropped

The next day he challenged

was placed hors de comever afterward known as the
of

and fought the

bat.

offender, but

The event was

duel a la carotte.

A
(R.

Washington correspondent
I.)

the Providence

Press presents that paper with the following

account of the manner in which Zachary Taylor once brought about a termination of a misunderstanding between two eminent American soldiers:
General Zachary Taylor was President, his son-ina President himself, was in the Senate. At one particular time under this administration Colonel Bissell, afterward Governor of Illinois, who had headed an Illinois regiment in the Mexican War, was in the House of Representatives. One of Bissell's
law, Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, afterward

When

enemies took occasion to remark, in debate in the House one day, that in a certain battle on Mexican soil Bissell's

SO

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

" Nothcowardice nearly lost the day to the American arms. "but skill and the of Colonel he declared, bravery ing," Jefferson Davis, of Mississippi, and his brave regiment preBissell jumped up promptly, vented a disgraceful rout." and angrily denounced this statement as false. In fact, he said the case was just the other way Colonel Davis's cowardice nearly lost the day Colonel Davis's regiment lost its heart. Colonel Bissell's bravery and ability saved the day his regiment was only less brave and skilful than himself. It does not appear that the representative to whom Colonel But Senator JefferBissell gave the lie cared to take it up. son Davis immediately sent Colonel Bissell a polite note inviting him to retract or fight. The Colonel replied that he preferred to fight, and, after the blood-thirsty manner of those days, named muskets, slugs, and five paces as the
; ;

He expressly requested that the place and the hour be so arranged that the police could not possibly interfere. Senator Davis agreed with his antagonist as to the conditions, and the seconds were instructed accordingly. Colonel Bissell was on the ground at the early morning hour named
terms.
;

so were his second and his surgeon. But Senator Davis did After waiting several hours Colonel Bissell not appear.

returned to the city and went to his rooms. There he found the President's private secretary with an invitation to come Of course he went, and, as he at once to the White House. had expected, found his challenger in the library with Presi-

dent Taylor. The latter said to Colonel Bissell that, thinking it a pity that two such men should make war upon one another, he had himself arrested Senator Davis, and had Now sent his private secretary to arrest Colonel Bissell.
after lunch, and, as they So they shook friends.

that he had them, he proposed to keep them, at least until were his guests, they must also be

hands with more or

less cordiality,

and declared the duel

off.

note the

Weston, of facetious memory, having borrowed on sum of five pounds, and failing in payment,

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

551

the gentleman who had lent the money took occasion to talk of it in a public coffee-house, which caused Weston to send him a challenge. Being in the field, the gentleman, a little tender in point of courage,
to make it up, to which our hero and had the note delivered. " But consented, readily " now," said the gentleman, if we should return with-

offered

him the note

out fighting, our companions will laugh at us; therefore let us give one another a slight scratch and say we wounded each other." "With all my heart," says

Weston; "come, I'll wound you first." So drawing his sword, he whipped it through the fleshy part of his antagonist's arm, till he brought the very tears into his This done, and the wound tied up with a handeyes.
kerchief,
I

"Come," said the gentleman, "where shall wound you ?" Weston, putting himself in a pos" Where you can, sir; where ture of defence, replied,

you can." Two Gascons having quarrelled, a challenge passed between them. When they were come to the ground, one of them said to the other, who was in a posture

charm me

friend, how you shall regret exceedingly to kill so fine a Ask your life, and I will grant it to fellow as you. other said that he was not come to that The you."

to

commence
!

the combat, "Ah,

my

pass yet, but was prepared to defend himself.

first

The
you."

speaker repeated his kind offer "Ah, fellow, do ask your life; I will willingly give
:

my good
it

But the other, who saw through his fanfaronade, called upon him instantly to stand to his defence, that the "Ah!" said the first, "I fight might be commenced. do admire the fine appearance you make in your posture
:

you are a perfect

Caesar.

Why

should such a

55 2
fine fellow

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

be caused to bite the dust ? Will you real" No, no !" thundered out the your life ?" other; "defend yourself or I will kill you !" "You " But if you are ravish me !" cried the man of mercy. determined not to ask your life of me, why, I ask mine
ly not ask

of you

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

553

CHAPTER

XXXI.

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE FIELDCONCLUDED.

Rescuing a Man from Drowning, and Killing him Afterward in a Duel Romieu's Answer to a Challenge Fox's Reply to his Tom Moore's Duel Second Meurice and his Antagonists with Jeffrey Zephaniah Reeve, the Quaker Colonel Breaute's Affairs Tierney and Pitt "I'm a Gone Community" What Conway Said to Cadwallader Harrington's Duels Joshua R. Giddings Ben Wade and Bob Toombs Shooting at a Wooden Leg Humors of the Law The Louisiana Creole of Ante-

Bellum Days Pat Fighting Fitzgerald Ignatius Loyola Power's Ways Abraham Lincoln's Wit-r-His Friend a Good Second Hill Carter's Method A Philosophical Mathematical Tutor Bishops and Archbishops Adventures of Croquard Sainte-Beuve Only a Lawyer An Unfortunate Donkey All about a Goose The Liverpool Sea-Captain The Affair of Nineteen Years between Two French Officers Barrington's Story
of Skelton's Duel.

ONE

of the

most humorous

of all the

many humor:

ous incidents of duelling is the following Monsieur Mary-Lavour, while bathing, one day, in the Marne, saw a man named Gaillard disappear, as if drowning, and hastened to his relief and saved him. So grateful was the person afterward that he many times sent nosegays to his noble rescuer, and in various other ways betrayed promiscuous manifestations of never-ceasing gratitude to such an extent that Monsieur M. re-

quested his admirer to

desist.

Instead, however, Gail-

554

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

lard became, if anything, more zealous in his demonwhich so enraged his rescuer that strations of love
;

he threw a plate of strawberries at him, one day, in a restaurant, and was hit with a decanter of water by

A duel was the consequence of and Mons. M., hoping to get rid of his pertinacious adorer, took good aim, but missed. " Gaillard also missed, and cried, O mon pere mon
Gaillard in return.
this rupture,
!

Mary-Lavour pere only replied by saying, "Will you mind your own business, sir, hereafter, and molest me no more?"
!

am

so glad you are unhurt."

" Load again," repere I can never joined Monsieur, and Gaillard was buried upon the following day, at Mary-Lavour's expense. J^omieu, the French poet, once received a challenge "

O mon

"

from a

rival in these

words

"
:

Sir, I

enclose with this

note a ballad which I beg you will peruse with attention, and if you think you can add a few appropriate words, and they suit me, I will accept you as a col" laborateur." He replied as follows Sir, I have
:

perused your ballad with great attention. I leave you When Voiture, the French the choice of weapons."

was challenged by a rival, he replied " The game is not equal you are big and I am little you can fight and I cannot you are brave and I am not. However, if you want to kill me, / will consider myself
poet,
: :

dead"

Fox (who was a very stout as the ground had been and so soon Adam, man)
In the duel between

measured, Fitzgerald (second of the former) said, " You must stand sideways, Mr. Fox, as much as you " I am as " can." Why so ?" asked the statesman thick one way as the other." In his duel with M. Charles Meurice, M. Perpignan had the first fire and
;

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

555

missed. Meurice then advanced, placed his pistol within three feet of his antagonist's heart, and asked,
"

What were you

if

thinking that

Perpignan. short time afterward met a notoriously heartless perMeurice son, who likewise fired first and missed. again advanced and as he did so he heard his ad;
;

I was were you I would not fire," replied Meurice spared the fellow and in a

thinking about just

now ?"

"

You utversary muttering something, and said, tered a prayer just then, didn't you, thinking your
" Pardon me, Monsieur ?" I was making a vow are mistaken but Meurice, you to the Holy Virgin never again to aim at the head." He never again aimed at the head. For seizing and bearing away the false hair of one of the ladies of James's Court, in 1606, James Lowe, a gentleman of the bed-chamber, was challenged by Lord Herbert, who had recovered, with some diffiThe parculty, the ambrosial appendage aforesaid. ties were arrested, however, on their way to Hyde Park, and taken to the Tower, where they were cooled off during a stay of two months. In 1852, in Boston, James C. McKie sent a challenge to William O. Eaton, in which he wrote, "Were you a gentleman I would send a friend to wait upon you," etc.
last

"

moment had come

For
swer

this note

bail in the

McKie was arrested, and held sum of two thousand dollars.

to an-

In 1806

Tom

Moore, the charming poet, got into a

great rage with Francis Jeffrey (since Lord Advocate of Scotland), who had written an article for the

Edinburgh

Review attacking Moore's poems with some severity, and wrote the latter a letter, calling him a liar and demanding a meeting. Jeffrey acOn the day of the "encounter," cepted, of course.

556

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

it

had been arranged to have the Bow upon the combatants just as they were about to fire (which was carried out with precision), and while the seconds were loading their pistols with paper pellets instead of bullets, the two principals approached each other, and Jeffrey exon which
Street officers rush

claimed,
isn't it ?"

"

What a
Moore

very beautiful morning this

is,

" It is, replied calmly, with a smile, much too beautiful a beautiful indeed, morning very for such purposes as we have met for." They were

then permitted to chat together until the minions of the law put in their appearance. Moore and Jeffrey became great friends afterward, but the former alienated himself from his second for thirty years for
giving the thing away." The Earl of Pompet, who lived in London from 1740 to 1800, was a monomaniac on challenging that is, challenging parties who generally did not care to
"

On one occasion, however, he picked up the wrong man (General Woyston), whom he had chalfight.

eral

lenged for making faces at him in court. The Genmade a prompt denial, but insisted on a meeting which the fiery Earl, however, crawled out of,
;

crab-fashion.

One Zephaniah Reeve, a Quaker, once became so unmindful of the lessons of his religious training as to
issue a cartel of defiance, in 1735, to tne Lord High Chancellor of England, Robert Henley ; who not only

declined the challenge, but apologized to Reeve for unprofessional conduct, and invited his belligerent " Friend " to dinner and the latter demonstrated his
;

cordial acceptance of the apology by accepting HenOne of the most eminent ley's invitation to dine.
foes ever arrayed against the

custom of duelling

in

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

England was Richard
Steele,

FIELD. 557

who, after publishing

many
and
army.

anti-duelling articles in the Spectator, fought dangerously wounded an officer of the British

Thiers, the illustrious French statesman and author, early deprecated the custom but, in 1849,
;

challenged Monsieur Rixio, an eminent statesman and diplomat of France. After fighting nearly a score of duels to prove that Dante was a greater poet than Ariosto, a Neapolitan nobleman at last admitted that he had read the works of neither. There is a story told of Colonel Breaute, of the

French army how he had been repeatedly called out by a stripling lieutenant (who had become disturbed by some fancied offence), and had as often declined the call, until at last the youngster had denounced the old Colonel as a coward, and had ac:

and then, as the story goes, young officer and wounded and cut off a him, piece of court-plaster from his face and how the veteran kept on calling out and
tually slapped
in the face
;

him

how Breaute met

the

wounding the poor lieutenant until the fifth time, when he informed the doomed youth, gravely, that he was going to kill him which act of polite murder
victim.

Breaute performed, even to the evisceration of his Louis XV. once lectured two officers who had fought and wounded each other about an Angola cat, in the course of which his Majesty remarked to the offenders that they " should have fought with claws, not with swords." In the duel between Mr. Tierney and Mr. Pitt the parties met on Sunday, at Putney Heath, and fired once at each other without effect. At the second fire Mr. Pitt discharged his pistol in the air, when the No seconds interfered and terminated the affair.

558

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

known than

pasquinades, and caricatures appeared on

squibs, epigrams, all sides one of the best being a ballad, in imitation of " Chevy Chase," of which the following stanzas are a part :
;

sooner was the result

"Two

orators,
left

whose venomed tongues

of

Had

a point in doubt,

With weapons
Resolved to

more deadly mould

it

fight

out.

" The

one, a squire of manners blunt, patriot stanch within

;

The other

of a lordly breed courtier tall and thin.

artillery dire
;

" Fire-arms they chose

Pistols, flint,

powder, shot

Battle the

powder what the The poet knoweth not."

ball,

of the most devilish between Antragues and Quelus, just before their fight. "Thou hast both a sword and a dagger," said Quelus, "while I have "The more thy folly," said Anonly a sword." " to leave thy dagger at home. We came tragues,

There was humor

even

if

kind

in the short dialogue

here to fight, not to adjust weapons."

Harcourt was English ambassador at John Blaquiere, was applied to, one day, by Major Bushe, a noted Irish duellist, for an introduction to the king of France. Sir John responded by asking the Major if he had ever been presented to his own sovereign, and he replied that he never had been. Sir John then remarked that, such being the case, he could not reasonably comply with his request. The Milesian then got fiery, and denounced Blaquiere as wanting in manners, and
Paris, his secretary, Sir

When Lord

wound up by challenging him

to fight.

The duel

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

;

FIELD.

559

took place near Paris and Bushe, who was considmany as the most famous shot in Ireland at that time, missed his man and got winged himself.
ered by

Upon
for
it.

his return

wanted

to

pay

his respects to the

in

from France, Bushe said that he king and got shot

pure wit and humor was Wil-

Equal to Curran
liam
I.

who was mortally a duel on Angel Island (San Francisco Bay), in 1858, by George Pen. Johnston. The combatants had exchanged two shots, and Ferguson had
Ferguson, of California,
in

wounded

fired his third, when, looking right into the jaws of " I'm death, he exclaimed, laughingly, to his second,

a gone community." Mercutio was not gamer. In his duel with General John Cadwallader, near Philadelphia, on the 226. of February, 1778, General

Thomas Conway received his antagonist's bullet in the mouth, and fell forward on his face. He then raised himself and humorously addressed Cadwal" lader as follows You fire with much deliberation,
:

General, and certainly with a great deal of effect." It is a noteworthy fact that Cadwallader challenged a bristling young Irish-American for Conway
his persistent calumniations of General Washington, and that the hostile meeting between these two dis-

tinguished general officers of the Revolutionary army occurred upon the birthday of the illustrious
object of their dispute. Conway, as soon as he was able to sit up after his wound (from which he
recovered), wrote to his commander-in-chief a letter in which he expressed great grief for all he had said

or written, and asked Washington's forgiveness for any and all of his offensive acts.
Sir

Jonah Barrington,

in

his

sketches,

relates

560

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

of

number
single
I

good
"

stories.

Of

his

own

duel with Rich-

ard Daly

who had

the greatest predilection for a

combat of any person (not a society fire-eater) ever recollect," says Sir Jonah, " having fought sixhe admits that, while he teen duels in three years"
of never having spoken a word against the fighting barrister, he felt the necessity of accepting the challenge it being his first invitation, and

was conscious

public sentiment at that time in Ireland being such " It being," as that he could not reasonably decline.

Crosby (Harrington's second) said, my first blood, I lost no time, but let fly without a single second of delay, and without taking aim. Daly staggered back, put his hand to his heart and said he was hit, and Crosby gave me a slap on the back which staggered me, and a squeeze of the hand which nearly crushed my fingers, and cursed the underloading or damp powder while I was extremely glad to discover that Daly was not seriously hurt." A short time after this affair Harrington was challenged by Leonard McNally who had been refused by Henry Deane Grady, a superior shot and promptly accepted. In
;

"

" I McNally wrote won't me as that scoundrel hope you disappoint Grady did." In the duel Barrington's bullet hit the buckle of McNally's suspenders and Henry Hardhis second letter to Barrington,
: ;

ing,

second, in addressing McNally, shouted " Mac, you are the only rogue I ever saw that was saved by the gallows !" Curran, in his

Sir

Jonah's

account of this affair, says " His distress at not being able to induce anybody to fight him at one time
:

was truly pitiable. McNally being, it seems, under some cloud, Harry Grady, who wounded everybody
with

whom

he fought, refused that favor to him.

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

Everybody followed
poor man

FIELD.

561

The this inhuman example. could get nobody to shoot him, and was the picture of misery. In vain he fumed, and fretted,
seemed determined on being Never was an Irish gentleman so unfortunate. At length Sir Jonah Barrington, out of Christian charity, accepted his cartel, and shot him into fashion. McNally was a man again.
affronted.

and
1

All

guiltless of his blood.'

rington's shot

McNally himself used to say, afterward, that Barwas his salvation."

The Cleveland (Ohio) Leader of a late date tells the following story about Joshua R. Giddings, the famous Abolitionist Giddings had made some fiery
:

remarks on abolition and the South on the floor of the In this he drew a Southern Senator rather House. roughly over the coals. The Senator became very angry, and sent him a challenge. He would have an
apology or blood. Giddings accepted the challenge, but he wrote that he was unacquainted with the use
of the pistol or other fire-arms. As challenged party he had the choice of weapons. He would name

rawhides, tough, long, tants should have the

and wiry. The two combathumbs of their left hands

bound

tightly together, and, with rawhides in their right hands, thrash each other until one gave in. The Southerner refused to accept the challenge, and

the matter dropped. Had he accepted it, Giddings, who was a tall, muscular fellow, would have cut him
to pieces.

A
lion,

short time before the breaking out of the RebelBen Wade, of Ohio, while making a character-

istically bitter

speech in the U. S. Senate, turned times toward Bob Toombs, of Georgia; and, to many all intents, hurled his oratorical violence right into

562

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Immediately after the adjournhis presence, "

the Georgian's face.

ment many friends of Toombs sought and asked him what he proposed to do.
challenge the old wretch
Carolinian.
" for that
"
!"

You must

cried a fire-eating South

Oh no, I musn't," replied Toombs; same old wretch is the deadest shot in the Wade and I have been out practising many district. times together, and he can hit a ten-cent piece at thirty paces every time; and and to tell you the
truth, gentlemen, / can't /" One of the most singular (and in

humorous or
officers,

ridiculous)

some respects incidents connected with some years ago.

duelling transpired in India

Two

accompanied by a second each (all of the Queen's Regiment), engaged in mortal combat with The pistols, and one of the principals was killed. survivor was brought to trial; and the two seconds, who were subpoenaed as witnesses, declined to testify, on the ground that they would criminate themselves, and the prisoner was acquitted for want of evidence. The seconds were thereafter arraigned; the survivor was subpoenaed as witness, and assumed that he, too, would criminate himself. But the court ruled that the witness would not criminate himself, as he could not be held again for the same offence. He then proceeded, reluctantly, of course, with his sworn statement of the unfortunate affair, and the seconds were convicted of manslaughter. When Captain Foster (who had a wooden leg) and Mr. Molineaux fought, the former insisted that Mr. M. should have a piece of board stood up against his
equal in height to his wooden limb. Moliat first; and only consented, at last, because Foster declared that the duel should not
left

leg,

neaux objected

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

563

proceed unless his terms were acceded to. Just before firing, Molineaux said to his second, " I'll have

my revenge for this ;" and, sure enough, his bullet crashed into Foster's wooden leg, while he himself lost a little finger. Foster shot at the board, however.
The following illustrates the proverbial punctiliousness of the Louisiana Creole of ante-bellum days.
of

For the account the writer is indebted to a gentleman San Francisco, a former resident of the Crescent Messrs. A and B and Dr. C (we will call them) City. were one evening at the St. Charles Hotel (New
in

Orleans) conversing together, when Mr. A indulged vulgar and otherwise ungentlemanly language; at which Dr. C, an old French Creole, quietly re-

you will please excuse me if cannot listen to such language. Mr. A is not one gentleman, and I cannot associate with him;" and the doctor departed. Upon the A D sent Mr. Dr. following morning (the son of an old and intimate friend of Dr. C) to Dr. C with a

marked

to Mr. B, take my leave, as

"

Sir,

latter received the young gentleman exclaimed: " I am very glad to see and very warmly, you, Doctor; I knew your honored father very intimately, my young friend; but what affords me dees

challenge.

The

My dear Doctor," great pleasure of your visit ?" " I am the bearer of a challenge replied the other, from Mr. A." " A challenge from Mr. A Non, sir Mr. A is not one gentleman; and, pardon, sir, I can only fight with one gentleman. You are one gentle! !

"

I will fight you with pleasure with one rapier, sword, pistol, or cannon, if you like. But fight with Mr. A ? Why, Mr. A is one blackguard Must I fight with one

man,

my

dear

sir;

and

now or to-morrow

blackguard

Non

Never

Jamais

!"

564

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

Judge Tessier, of the County Court of New Orwas one of the most polite and courteous gentlemen of his time, both while on the bench and in his social and business relations with the world at large. Mr. Ogden, a French Creole, was a practising attorney at the New Orleans bar, and was par
leans,

a " gentleman of the old school." Mr. an Jones, attorney of Vermont, was in the Crescent
excellence

One day, in City, attending to legal business. in which on trial Tessier's a case was court, Judge Mr. Ogden appeared for the defendant and the
gentleman from Vermont for the
plaintiff.

During

the progress of the trial Mr. Jones not only intimated that one of the witnesses was not telling the truth,
but, after having been used language not at

brother-attorney; at and, approaching Mr. Jones, said: "Sir, you are a stranger in our country; and, as a member of the same profession, I advise you not to be so rude in

admonished by the judge, his all respectful toward which Mr. Ogden left his seat

your

We

action, and so objectionable in your language. are not used to such manners in the courts of

Louisiana." Mr. Jones took no heed of the advice given by Mr. Ogden, and continued in his own way until Mr. Ogden again advanced toward him and said: "The first time, sir, I advised you to alter your manner and your language; this time I warn you, if you continue in your course, I will chastise you." Mr. Jones continued to badger the witness and to contradict his statements, when Mr. Ogden approached him for the third time and slapped his face. Mr. Jones sprang to his feet, and appealed for the protection of the court; to which Judge Tessier replied: "You want de protection of dis court when

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

565
!

I you have de five fingers on your face ? Yes, sir give you de protection of de court. Mr. Sheriff, as an officer of dis court, you take Mr. Jones in safekeeping, and afford him de protection he asks."

Then, turning to Lawyer Ogden, Tessier added, "Mr. Ogden, we take de soup together to-day." There is a good story told of " Fighting Fitzgerald," who had determined to become a member of " Brookes's," and, although elected, had received one blackball. Entering the club one day, he set a number of nervous men to shrinking and prevaricating by inquiring, in loud tones, who had cast the obnoxious sphere; and concluded: "I am an Irish jontleman a jontleman by my father's and by my
mother's side
his

and a jontleman who has never missed

" But," he added, in a calmer voice, I am satisfied that some jontleman must have cast the blackball by mistake." When the Rev. Mr. Hill was

man !

killed in a duel

by Colonel Gardner, of the Carabian obituary in the Edinburgh Review concluded by touching the unfortunate chaplain off as follows: "Mr. Hill was an Irish gentleman of good address, great sprightliness, and an excellent talent for preaching; but rather of too volatile a turn for his
neers,

profession."

The character of the target makes all the difference in the world, sometimes, to even an expert shot,
thus:

years ago, at the Cape of Good Hope, who could shoot unerringly at a mark, or snuff a candle twelve times in succession,

Some

little

thin fellow

missed his

man

(a

tremendous fellow)

in

a mortal

" encounter, and was hit himself. How, in the name of wonder, could you have missed him ?" inquired a

friend;

"

you,

who can

snuff a candle so neatly

how

566

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

it ?"

do you account for

replied the

"

wounded man;
at me."

Only in one way, sir," " the candle, you know,

cannot
smile.

fire

of some men's lives makes us For instance, Ignatius Loyola, the founder of the Jesuits and a notably holy man in many ways, If the Bible is true, God was a famous duellist.

The inconsistency

Almighty forbids murder.

the
sixth

commandment.

"Thou And

shalt not kill

yet,

!" is

Loyola, the

founder of the Society of Jesus, called out a man for denying the divinity of our Saviour, and run him
through.

Many

clever stories are told of Pat Power, of Ire-

land, who was not only a famous shot, but a charmHe was fat and intemperate, ing, chivalric fellow.

an egg is of meat. honor was one with Among many Bill Brisco. When taking aim he said he had still a warm friendship and a natural tenderness for such a So he gentleman of honor, and would show it. off Brisco's and of his shot whisker ear. part only On one occasion he ordered supper in a coffee-room,
full

and as

of

mischief

as

of his affairs of

and, while waiting for it, he read the newspaper. After waiting some time the waiter laid two covered
dishes on the table, and when Power examined their contents he found they were two dishes of smoking

He asked the waiter to whom he was inpotatoes. The waiter pointed to two debted for such fare.
gentlemen
in the opposite box. Power desired his servant to attend him, and, directing him in Irish what to do, quietly supped off the potatoes, to the

great amusement of the Englishmen. Presently his servant appeared with two more covered dishes, one of which he laid down before his master, and the

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

$6?

other before the persons in the opposite box. When the covers were removed there was found in each a

loaded pistol. Power took up his and cocked it, telling one of the others to take up the second, assuring him they were at a very pleasant distance for a close shot, and if one fell he was ready to give satisfaction to the other. The parties rushed out without waiting for a second invitation, and with them several persons from an adjoining box.

Incomparably witty, as well as sarcastic, was AbraLincoln's remark when after accepting a and to he was shown the challenge agreeing fight, spot selected for the hostile meeting (which was on the Missouri side of the Illinois River) he said that the site was singularly appropriate, as it was within

ham

It is well, by by Mr. Lincoln for his attendant in his threatened duel was a man of infinite jest for he arranged that the combat should be fought with dragoon-swords, which put a ridicu-

convenient distance of the penitentiary.

the way, that the gentleman selected

lous termination to the affair, as Mr. Lincoln's adversary (General Shields) was a much shorter man than
himself.

We

ham going

for

can just see the immortal Father Abrathe eminent Missourian with a

The ebullitions of Lincoln's wit dragoon-sabre. continued to effervesce, however, even after the dragoon-sabres had been anointed with the oil of peace, for the illustrious Railsplitter then proposed " to Shields that they play a game of Old Sledge," to
see which should

pay the expenses of the

trip

and

Shields "pungled." In 1414 Henry V. of England sent the Dauphin of France a challenge and in reply the latter presented Henry with some tennis-balls, with a message
;

$68

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

had better confine himand

to the effect that the latter

self to the

use of something less mischievous more appropriate than the playthings of war.

The Washington (D. C.) Sunday Herald, not a long time since, related the following anecdote of a wellknown Virginian:
Hill Carter, of Virginia, a lineal descendant of King Carter, of Shirley, on the lower James River, was for many years an officer of the navy of the United States but re;

signing, he found his estate in a dilapidated condition. From his training in the navy he had become a rigid disciplinarian, thoroughly systematic and practical. directed his overseer to pull down the old fences

He
and

first

pile

together all the crooked and dried rails and fire them. All of the old rickety cabins and other out-houses were next

burned.

Then

all

of the old wagons, carts, ploughs, hoes,

axes, rakes, baskets, spinning-wheels,

and looms were piled

together and burned. The next order was to gather up every old horse and mule that could not work, and all nonproducing mares, cows, sheep, and hogs, and the old dogs
that could not hunt, and place

them

in

lot.

When

this

was done the animals were all killed, placed in one vast On his several plantations were some heap and burned. seventy-five or a hundred old negroes, male and female, that had not performed any labor for many years. Some were cripples and some almost past walking from old age. To support so large a number of non-producers did not comport with Mr. Carter's idea of discipline and economy. So he told the overseer to gather together in a certain lot all of but when the overseer went out to these old negroes
;

execute the order, the old darkies, knowing how the old fences, cabins, farming implements, and the old stock had been served, had gone by the break of day to the fields and

were all ready for work. The ex-naval officer proved himself a model and successful planter. Hill Carter was of an irritable nature, and by virtue of his education dictatorial. On one occasion, while riding over one of his plantations,

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

569

the overseer had displeased him, and he undertook to horseThe overseer, being the stouter of the two, whip him. took the whip from him and lashed him severely. He then
challenged the overseer to mortal combat, but the overseer declined to fight, for the reason, he said, that if he was maimed or killed it would leave his wife and children with-

Mr. Carter said he would settle on his wife if he would The fight him. overseer accepted the proposition, and the property-settlement made the parties met, the terms of the duel agreed on, the pistols loaded, and they were just taking position when the sheriff of the c*ounty arrived on the field and Mr. Carter never changed his proparrested the parties. erty-gift to the overseer's family, nor did he dismiss him from his employ. He said he would let him keep the property because he might again want to fight him.
out support.

and children a competency

certain mathematical tutor at

Cambridge who

confidentially made the recipient of information to the effect that a graduate and a pupil had

had been

about completed preparations for a hostile meeting, " sought out the latter and inquired, What is all this about? why do you fight?" "Because he gave me
the
lie,"

frankly and promptly replied the

young
;

man.
it.

"

He

said

you

If he proves it, he does not prove it, why, then it is he who has lied. Why should you shoot one another ?" In the gallery of Dusenne, one time, a crack shot was affording a good deal of entertainment to himself and others by shattering one after another the puppets set up to be fired at. There was one man That man present, however, who could not laugh.

Well, let him prove then you did lie, of course but if
lied,

eh

was the proprietor

were
all

of

down but one The marksman took quick

the puppets. At last they that one was Napoleon.

aim, and

down went

the

570
First Consul.

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

The
proprietor gave a wild scream, fire as well upon the

and exclaimed, "You cannot "Come out and -ground!"

see!"

" the proprietor. He could fire as well," the one. groaned prostrate M. Olivier, Bishop of Evreux, and Monseigneur Affre, Archbishop of Paris, met one day, and the

Bang! and

down

fell

latter

dwelt at length upon the imperfections and

;

inconsistencies of the laws against duelling when " Suppose, Monseigneur Affre, Bishop Olivier asked, some one of standing should slap you in the face,

what would you do ?" The Archbishop was slightly thrown from his equilibrium, but replied, " I know what I ought to do, but I do not know, really, what I
should do."

Croquard was not unlike

St.

Foix in many

re-

spects, although not so gallant and proficient in the use of the sword, and was always without a sou. One day, at the instance of the Comte de Chambord,

he called upon a contractor and challenged him, at which the latter picked Croquard up and held him under a pump and pumped water on him until he was completely drenched. He once challenged a linen-draper, whose wife informed Croquard that her

husband was
months.
first visit

ill

and would not recover before

six

In precisely six months from the day of his

Croquard again called, and was again met by the wife of the linen-draper, who He deinvited the nomadic duellist to breakfast. clined, although hungry, saying that he wanted to " Won't monsieur fight more than he wanted to eat. try a glass of Madeira?" inquired the diplomatic "Madeira!" woman, with well-affected affability. his a of smack with lips like the ejaculated Croquard,
at the door

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

crack of a whip.
"

FIELD.
;

571

and Oui, oui, my dear madame your good husband shall remain ill for another six months." Croquard once got enraged with an actor named Mouton, and was about to challenge the Thespian, when he remembered that he owed him " How five francs. unlucky, mon Dieu !" he cried, after having unsuccessfully attempted to borrow that amount from others present, "that I should owe a

man money whom

want

to fight."

Sainte-Beuve once fought a duel holding an umbrella during the preliminaries of which he said that he had no objection to being killed, but that he was determined not to get wet. When the Duke of Wellington wanted the Tenth Regiment kept at Dublin he admitted that many duels would grow out of such action; "but that's of no consequence," he added. Some years ago two inexperienced shooters met in the woods near Paris, and at the first discharge of their pistols a cry went up at a point only a few yards away, and it was quickly discovered that a well-known attorney had been hit. " If it is only a lawyer," cried one of the combatants, "let us fire
again."

During the progress of the duel between Senator William M. Gwin and Representative J. W. McCorkle, in 1853, a poor donkey nearly half a mile away was shot dead and the donkey was not even a Sterne once fought a duel about a goose, spectator. and Raleigh one concerning a tavern-bill. An Irishman once challenged an Englishman because the latter declared that anchovies did not grow on trees. A member of Louis the Eighteenth's body-guard challenged three men in one day one because he had stared at him, another because he had looked at

57 2

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

him askew, and the third on account of his passing him by without looking at him at all. A Liverpool sea-captain was once challenged, and named harpoons as weapons. A Frenchman who had been called out

named twenty-four

" loaves of " siege-bread "

"

We

shall eat against each other," he said, until one of us shall die; for one of us is sure to die." Many who

have received challenges have accepted and named Two Tennessee editors, horsewhips or cowhides. who had long quarrelled, repaired to the field to fight, but settled their difficulty, after firing one shot, by agreeing to merge their papers into one concern and enter into partnership with each other; which
they carried into effect after their return. Parson Brownlow was once challenged to fight a duel for something he had published in the Knoxville
Yes, (Tennessee) Whig, and replied as follows sir, I accept the challenge and, since I am the challenged party, it is my right to choose the weapons, As the place, I select the nastiest time, and place. in the time, just after hog-pen vicinity of Knoxville
: ;

"

July shower weapons, dung-forks the man who stays in the pit longest to win the fight." It is " hardly necessary to add that the challenger backed out" and became at once the laughing-stock of East
the
first
;

Tennessee.

most remarkable duels (or series of any age was the affair between two French officers named Fournier and Dupont. This duel was commenced in 1794, and lasted nineteen years. Fournier had challenged and killed a young man named Blum, at Strasburg, under distressing circumstances and General Moreau, the commandant, who had issued cards for a soiree which was to take place
of the
duels) of
;

One

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

FIELD.

573

upon the evening of the day of Blum's funeral, had hinted to his chief of staff (Dupont), just before the commencement of the arrival of guests, that the presence of Fournier might mar the character of the festivities. So, when Fournier appeared, he was
denied admission by Dupont, who was at once challenged, and fought (with swords) and wounded Fournier. In a month or two they fought again, and

Dupont was wounded. Immediately upon the recovery of the latter the combatants again met, and both received severe and dangerous wounds. Before
retiring

from the field, however, they had an agreement drawn up and sworn to that, whenever afterward they came within one hundred miles of each
each should travel fifty 'miles toward the renew and continue the fight until at least and other, one of them was placed hors de combat. In the mean time they corresponded with each other, met and

other,

fought many times during ten or twelve years, always shaking hands, and sometimes dining together after their fights. At length both became general officers, and, during the year 1813, were ordered to
Switzerland.

put up
ment.

at the best inn,

Dupont arrived at the post at night, and learned shortly after his
an adjoining apart-

arrival that Fournier occupied

moments they were at it again, sword in hand, and the fight was temporarily ended by Dupont running his steel through his antagonist's
In a few

neck and pinning Fournier against the wall. While in this situation Fournier challenged Dupont for a
" Early in the meeting upon the following day. in the woods near Neuilly !" morning, with pistols, cried Dupont, greatly to the astonishment of Fournier,

who was

a distinguished shot.

"

Good

!"

re-

5/4

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

;

" Hear me," added Dupont "I am plied the latter. about to engage in matrimony, and have concluded that this matter of ours must first be permanently

so I propose that we each arm ourselves settled with a pair of loaded pistols, go into the woods together, then separate and walk off in opposite directions one hundred paces, then turn and fire at will."
;

The

proposition was accepted by Fournier, and the combatants met upon the following morning, went to the woods together, separated, paced off a hundred steps, turned, and commenced to advance hostilely. Dupont, while on his hands and knees, got sight of Fournier behind a tree, and at once took up a like

He then stuck out a flap of his coat, as if' position. in a kneeling position, and in an instant a bullet went
through it from Fournier. Then Dupont hung his cap on the muzzle-end of one of his pistols, and by degrees stuck it out to one side until at length Fournier blazed away. Dupont then stepped out from behind the tree and advanced upon his astonished antago" nist with drawn weapons and said, General, your life is in my hands, but I do not care to take it. I want this matter to end, however, right here and in
;

case of a fresh disturbance, I want you to never lose sight of the fact that the weapons must be pistols

your favorite weapons and that I am entitled to the first two shots distance, three feet." This incident took place nineteen years after the first meeting between the two officers, during which period they had No fresh disfought each other seventeen times. in be added it conclusion, ever broke turbance, may out between them, which was very natural when it is remembered that Dupont was entitled to the first two shots.
;

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

In

FIELD.

575

1858 M. de Pene, a Parisian journalist, was Dumas fought challenged by a whole regiment. with Gaillardet, near Paris, over a controversy con" cerning the authorship of La Tour de Nesle." Maronce shal Ney challenged every man in a theatre. In his fatal duel with Lieutenant Cecil, Stackpole,

after firing, said, shaking his

I

head and smiling, " By him have missed !" George, Barrington's story about Frank Skelton's duel with the exciseman ought not to be omitted and is,
;

therefore, presented

At an election for Queen's County (Ireland) between General Walsh and Mr. Warburton, of Garrybinch, about the year 1783, took place the most curious duel of any which have occurred within my recollection. A Mr. Frank Skelton, one of the half-mounted gentlemen described in the early part of this work a boisterous, joking, fat young
was prevailed on, much against his grain, to challenge the exciseman of the town for running the butt-end of a horsewhip down his throat the night before, while he lay
fellow

drunk and sleeping with

his

mouth open.

The exciseman

insisted that snoring at a dinner-table was a personal offence to every gentleman in company, and would therefore make

no apology. Frank, though he had been nearly choked, was very re" luctant to fight he said he was sure to die if he did, as the exciseman could snuff a candle with his pistol-ball and as he himself was as big as a hundred dozen of candles, what chance could he have ?" We told him jocosely to give the exciseman no time to take aim at him, by which means he might perhaps hit his adversary first, and thus survive the contest. He seemed somewhat encouraged and consoled by the hint, and most strictly did he adhere to it. Hundreds of the townspeople went to see the fight on The ground was regularly the green of Maryborough.
;

THE FIELD OF HONOR.

tent

measured and the friends of each party pitched a ragged on the green, where whiskey and salt beef were con;

abundance. Skelton, having taken his ground, same time two heavy drams from a bottle his foster-brother had brought, appeared quite stout till he saw the balls entering the mouths of the exciseman's pistols, which shone as bright as silver, and were nearly as long as fusils. This vision made a palpable alteration in Skelton's sentiments he changed color, and looked about him as if
in

sumed

and

at the

he wanted some assistance. However, their seconds, who were of the same rank and description, handed to each party his case of pistols, and half-bellowed to them, " Blaze away,
boys !" Skelton now recollected his instructions, and lost no time he cocked both his pistols at once and as the excise: ;

man was
"

deliberately and " dead level," as he called

most
it,

scientifically
let fly.

coming to
"

his

Skelton

Holloa

!"

said the exciseman, dropping his level,

!"

I'm

battered,
"

by Jasus

The devil's cure to you !" said Skelton, instantly firing his second pistol. One of the exciseman's legs then gave way, and down he came on his knees, exclaiming, " Holloa holloa you blood! !

ha have I Wisely judging, however, that if he stayed till the exciseman recovered his legs he might have a couple of shots to stand, he wheeled about, took to his The crowd shouted heels, and got away as fast as possible. but Skelton, like a hare when started, ran the faster for the
!

do you want to take life ?" thirsty villain " Ha " to I be sure do !" said Skelton. Why,
!

my

stiffened you,

my lad ?"

shouting.

Jemmy
up

Mofnt, his

own

his heels, and, cursing

second, followed, overtook, tripped him for a disgraceful rascal, asked

why he
"
"

ran away from the exciseman. Ough, thundher !" said Skelton, with his chastest brogue, how many holes did the villain want to have dhrilled into

HUMORS AND PLEASANTRIES OF THE

his carcass
?

FIELD.

S77

Would you have me sthop

insisted that
at.

to

make

a riddle of

him,
field, all

Jemmy ?"
Skelton should return to the
to be shot

The second

He

resisted, affirming that

he had done

that honor required. The second called him a coward. " Be me sowl," returned he, " me dear Jemmy Moffit, may
!

be so
all

You may

call

me

a coward,

if

you plaze

but

did

it

for the best."

The best, you blackguard ?" "Yes," said Frank "sure it's better to be a coward than a corpse : and I must have been either one or t'other of them."
;

"

INDEX.

INDEX.
NAMES UNITED BY A HYPHEN INDICATE THE PRINCIPALS
IN DUELS.

A
Ackland-Lloyd Adair, General

PAGE
211 442
194, 554

PAGE
Amboise, Bussy Amelung, Captain F. L., U. Anderson-Jones Anderson-Stephens Andre Major Andrieux, Chevalier de
1

452
S.

A. 370
268

Adam-Fox Adams-Edmunds
Affre,

531

210
542

Archbishop Agar-Flood Aguesseau-Bertholow

Aiguillon-Guignes (Miles.)

570
211

457

490
153

Angero-Lemery
Angier-Moncelet Archard-Blanc Archer-Porter

436
213
491 371

Aikin-Kemble
Alba-Soul^

247 199
230, 481

Alcock-Colclough Alcock-Sewell Aldama, Alfonso de

210
27 168

Armstrong, Charles Armstrong- Long Armstrong, Sir Thomas

Arnold-Balcarras Asselin- Saint Victor

240 230
469
495
191

Aldworth-Buckingham Aid worth-Chudworth

209

252 Alfieri-Ligonier Alfonzo of Portugal-Ferdinand of

Aspremont, Baron Aston-AUen

Aston-Fitzgerald Aubarrie,

d'

457
497
226, 497

Spain Alister-McCallum Allen-Aston

70

229 497
148

240 454

Aumount, Marquis de

Allen-Dulany Allen-McClung Allston-Reed

Alphonse-Isidore Alta Villa de la Puente, Marquis de

450 269 228

B
B.

(Duke of)-Lord B

237
250, 256

Bagnall-Stuart
27

Bagnezi-Strozzi
Bailey-Elliott

231

213 Alvaney-O'Connell (Morgan) 80 America, first duel in in first fatal duel 258 America, American Code of Honor 83 American student at Gottingen... 58

512

Bailey-Forbes

254
227 262

Bailey-O'Callaghan Bainbridge-Cochran Baird-Wright

420

5 82

INDEX.
PAGE
PAGE
Bennett-Stewart Bennett -Williams
Benton, Thomas
78

Balagny
Balcarras-Arnold

469 495 212

J.,

Ball-Kilkenny
Banister,

236
479

Midshipman

U.

S.

N. 370
307

Benton-Lucas
Berard-Brives Beresford-Fitzwilliam Bergerac, Cyrano de

479
213

Barbagon-Carroll Barbier Dufai-DeVere

Barney-Sartiges Barnave-Cazales Barnave-Noailles

236

490
458
249 74

436
209
209

Berkeley-Boldero
Bernstaff

Barne-Matthews
Barnwell-Clavering Barrell-Cook
Barrington, Sir Jonah Barrington on Irish duellists

255
251

Bertholow-Aguesseau Best-Camelford
Best-St. John

490
186, 480

548
39, 473

Beveno-Dorsey
Bezarier-Valois
Biddle-Pettis

209 420 232

41

Barrington-Dalrymple Barrington-Daly
Barrington-Gilbert

440
491, 559

287

132
240, 480

457 Bipon, Baron de Biron (Duke of)-Clarence (Prince) 241

Barrington-McKenzie Barrington-McNally Barron-Decatur

Barthelemy Barthelmy-Courtney
Barton, Midshipman U. S.

Bissell-Davis

549 475

490, 560
81, 366, 500

Bivar, Count Don Rodrigo Black- Roebuck

256
148

454 239

Blackburn, Rev.

Dr

Blackburn-Woodcock
Blanc-Archard

418
491

371 501

Barton-Graham
Bassett, Surgeon, U. Bassompierre-Guise Bate, Rev. Henry
S.

371
143

Blanc-Lacombe Blaney-Fitz james

Blaquiere-Bushe Blain-Peachy
Bliss-Stone

355
253

558

147

419

Bate-Stoney

469

70 Batthyany-Rosenberg Battleheim-Thomas 174 Batre-Maximilian (of Germany). 228

Bloomfield, Samuel

390 260
469
531

Baupre",

La
in

459
31

Blount-Essex Blount-Thatcher Blue, William K

260
572

Baynard-Eu, first judicial duel England Bayard-Sotomayor Beauchamp-Villeneu ve Beauf ort-Nemours Beaumont-Manuel Beane- Wilson

229 517

Blum-Fournier Blundell-McGuire Boardman-De Betten

Bodkin,

227
251

Amby

473 545 249

252

453
195 331

Bodkin-Bourke
Boldero-Berkeley Bolton-Brookes Bolton-Stewart

Bedford-Buckingham Beguin -Chelais Beirne-Elam

Belden-Rapley Bell-D'Urfey Bell- Williams

213

209
229 212
212

240
86, 302

372
541

371

Bonaparte (Charles)-Rossi Bonaparte (Pierre)-Nienkerke ... Bonaparte (Pierre)-Rovigo Bonaparte (Pierre)-Valette Bonnetain-Mirabeau

212

256 454
27

Bellamont-Townshend
Bellasses-Porter

254
224, 482

Bonton
Borda, G. de Boswell-Stuart

Bennett-May

333

255

INDEX.
PAGE
Bothwell, James H Botteville-De Beuvron
48

583
PAGE

Buck-Moore
Buckingham, Duke of Buckingham-Aldworth Buckingham- Btedford Buckingham-Shrewsbury Buckinghamshire-Curran Buckinghamsbire-LeNeve
Buffault

262

453

Bouligny-Cummings Bourke
Bourbon-D'Artois Bourcicaut Bourke-Bodkin
Bouteville, Francis de

388 473
196
451

241 168
213
36, 472

545 495
153 208 531

43 208

459
241

Bouvallon-Dujarler Bouverie-Tankerville Bou vet-Ford Bou vet-Ornano

Bugueaud-Dulong.., Bull, Ole

BuTdette-PauIl

229
230, 480

491
260, 295 112

Burnett-Houston
Burr, Aaron

438

Bowie, James

264
81, 334

Bowie knife, origin Bowie- Wright-Currey-Crane Bowlingly-Roman

Boxing, origin Boyd -Campbell

Burr-Hamilton
Burrett-Egan Burrowes, Peter Burrowes-Butler
Bushe-Blaquiere Butler-Brown Butler-Burrowes
Butt-Stoney

112

42

389
137 162

40 490
558 230

Braddock-Gumley Bradshaw-Huston
Brank-Smith Brazer-Park
Breaute, Colonel

208
262

490
469
138

386

419
557 437

Breckinridge-Cutting

Breckinridge-Leavenworth Brcckinridge-Robert

390

270
252

Bremen-Rae
Brent,

"Butting" Bynum-Jenifer Bynum-Perry Byrne-Mountgarret Byrne-O'Connor Byron-Chaworth

429
332 534 227
169

Hugh

289 248

Brie-Hayes
Bridieu

454
566

Brisco-Power
Brisseuil

454
213

Cadogan-Paget Caesar-Marc Antony

Cain Caire-Goulard

249 435 26
248
260, 559

Brives-Berard, Broderick-Smith

486
81, 392

Broderick-Terry Brookes- Bolton

Cadwallader-Conway
Cahill-Rutherford

252
in

171

Broughton, father of boxing

England
Brown-Butler

137

Caldwell-O'Sullivan California, fatal duels in

251
78

230 386
131

Camp-Woolfolk
Campbell, Attorney-General Campbell-Coffin

389 388
263 162

Brown-Reynolds Brown-Townshend
Brownlow, Parson
Brace, James Bruce-Sackville
Bruntfields,

572

Campbell-Boyd
Catnpbell-Gardenier

229
182, 496

260
43

The
S.

475
254

Brusch-Knoring
Bryant, Lieut.
H., U.
S.

Campbell-Grady Campbell-Lorn Cambrai, French

officers at

229

and

English
543

371

Bryas-Dion

217

Cambridge, tutor at

569

584

INDEX.
PAGE

PAGE
Chateauneuf-Lachesnnye
240
473

Camelford-Best

186, 480

Cameron-Hughes Cameron-McLean
Caney, Midshipman, U. Cannon-Pierson
Canning-Castlereagh Canrobert, Marshal Canto-Porto
S.

301

Chatenet-McNamara
Chattan-Kay, duel of clans Chauriance-Laguerre

500

46
256
247 228
169

371

260
208
27

Chauvigny-Lameth Chavoix-Dupont Chaworth-Byron

Chelais-Beguin

332
231

240
543 525

Carascosa-Pepe

Chetwynd-Walpole
Chevanier-Salontine

Cardineaux-De Fleur
Cardington-Stanfield

jp
249 546 530
435

Chevremont-Ledoux
Chickley-Stanley Child-Joor Chivalry, court of Chri stophe, of Hayti
Christie- Scott

Carey-Oswald Carlisle, Speaker

Carlisle-Lafayette

387 162
385
23
125 161

Carmichaels,

The

475
119

Carpenter-Price

Carpenter-Pride Carrel-Girardin

227
241

Chud worth-Aid worth

"Cid,"the
Cilley-Graves Claiborne-Foote Clare-Curran Clarence-Biron Clarke-Innes

209
475
81, 374

Carroll-Barbagon Carrouges-Leguis Carson- Vance

Carter,

307
248 389 100
313
,

385, 529

42
241 212

Ben

Carter-De Courcey
Carter, Hill

568
332

Carter-Walker
Casey-Scully

Clark-Payne Clary- Valentine

250 212
249
251

257
391
27, 29, 455

Cash-Shannon
Cassagnac, Paul de Cassagnac-Montebello

Clayton-Lambrecht Clavering-Barnwell
Clay,

Henry

455
491

Clay-Marshall

77 260
421, 498, 528

Cassagnac-Rochef ort
Cassel,

Armand

459 229
39 208

Clay-Randolph Clayton, Hon. Thomas

Clemenceau, Dr Clemens-Rhett

77

Castine-Moore
Castlereagh Castlereagh-Canning Castries-Lameth

28,29, 454 442 432

Clingman-Yancey
Clinton-Dayton Clinton-Swartwout Clonmel-Llandoff

246 459
475

438
263

Cavignac Cavoie, Marquis of Cazales-Barnave

Cecil-Stackpole
Cellini, Benvenuto Chambers Lake
. .

42
42

209
188, 471, 575

Clonmel-Tyrawly Close-Ruthven
Cobden-Hastings Cochran-Bainbridge Cocke, Midshipman, U. S. Code duello, Irish "Code Henri" Code of Honor, American
Coffin-Campbell

256
435 262

28

387

Chanderclos Laclos, Chevalier. 458 Chapron, Leon 27 Charles 1 31 Charles V.-Francis I n, 22 Charleston (S.C.) duelling society. 79
Chastaignerie-Jarnac
22, 179

371

48
125

83 263

Chateau Gay, Mme. de

459

Cohen-Wintzel Coker-Stewart

307

389

INDEX.
PAGE
Colberg, Prussian officers at 541 Colclough-Alcock 230, 481

585
PAGE
"
90, 92

"

Curly

Bill

Curran
Curran-Burrowes, incident Curran-Buckinghamshire Curran-Clare

39, 40, 473

Coleman-Thompson Coles- Palmer

Coligny-Guise Colles-Maher
Collett, Captain,

169 534

40 43
42
532

454
256

Curran-Egan
Curran-Fitzgibbon Curran-Hobart
Curran-St. Leger

U.

S.

371

532 532 532

Collins-Winters

389
499
475 254
253 252
260, 559

Conroy-Hindas Conver-Constant
Constable-Percy Constant-Des Issarts

Currey-Crane-Bowie- Wright Cusack-Fulford

in
207, 468

Cushing-Lewis
Cuthbert-Lonsdale
Cutting-Breckinridge
,
.

533

Conversano-Martina

486
437

Conway-Cadwallader Conway-Crittenden
Cook-Barrell

285, 492

548 301

Cook-Gardner
Cooley-Rhett Cooper, Dr. Charles

D
Dade-Stuart Dallas-Hoole
268
491

386

336

Cooper-McMichael

446
156 175

Cooper-Wood Coote-Warwick
Cornwall, Cortez

Dalrymple-Barrington Daly, Dick Daly-Barrington

440
473
491, 560

W. A

310 120

Daly-Cunningham
Daniel-Johnson Daniels-Ganahl Dantzler-Keith D' Artois-Bourbon David-Williams

391

302 432

Corry-Grattan Cotter-Nugent Cottineau- Landais

42,170
313

388
196

260
239 88, 100, 102 210
43 228

Courtney-Barthelmy "

256
432

Cowboys" Cowper-Dyer

Davidson-Lindsay
Davis-Bissell

549

Coyle-Ogle Crabbe-Jenkins Crane-Bowie

Davis-Garcia

90 386
302 87

306
112

Davis-Leigh

Crane-Tobey Creed-Macnamara
Creoles, Louisiana Crichton (" the Admirable")
Crillon

419
43

Davis-Ridgeway Dawson, F.

Dawson-Gary
D'Aydie
Dayton-Clinton Dazincourt

87
454
438

563

475
451
285, 492

458
307
251

Crittenden-Conway Crofton-French Crofts-Hudson Crowther-Helsham

252
,

..

540

De Armas- Jackson De Betten-Boardman De Beuvron-De Botteville

DeChalaix

453
454
451

249 570 457

255
285

Croquard Croquard, Captain Gideon

Cumac-Gough Cumming-McDuffie

De Clermont De Courcey-Carter De Guerchy De Massas-Dichard

De Reuilly De Rieux

313

454
190

Cumm ings-Bouligny
Cunningham-Daly

388
391

546 454

586
De De De De De
Riz-D'Uzerches
Soissons

INDEX.
PAGE
453 454

PAGE
Drayton-Lee
441

Dromgoole-Dugger

268
197

Vere-Barbier Dufai Vitaux

236
451

Du

Barry -Rice

Dubert-Ellesler

419

Walsh

497
262, 369
81, 366, 500

Du

Decatur-Stephen Decatur-Barron
D'Egville-Stewart Delancey-Haley D'Entraquet-Quelus Denver-Gilbert

Chamilly Duclos

454
458 268
248 43
153

Dugger-Dromgoole

482
109
222, 452, 558

Du

Gueschin-Troussel

Duigenan, Dr
Dujarier-Bouvallon Dulany- Allen

308

148
241

D'Eon
D'Erape
Dering-Thornhill

454 460
228, 481

Dulong-Bugneaud

Dumas
Dumas-Gaillardet

454
575

Des Guerres-Fondelles Des Nilis, La Des Planches

Destaing-Regnier
Dessessarts

225 459 454

251

Dumont-Lane
Dunovant-Legare Dunworth-Talbut
Dupont-Chatoix Dupont-Fournier
Duprez-Lebre* Duprez-Leverrier (Mile.). Duran, Carolus

432

389
535 228 572
167

458
223, 473

D'Esterre-O'Connell
Deve*ze-Soailles

196

154

D'Harcourt
D'Henricourt-Villars

454
453

27
2-36

Duras-Rosan-Turenne
Dusenne, pistol-practice at Du TrSne-Livron
D'Urfey-Bell

Dibble-Lundy Dichard-De Massas

Dickinson-Jackson (Andrew)

419 190 280

255 228

569

454
541

Dickson-Evans Dillon-Grammont Caderousse

Dillon Fallon

Du Vighan-D'Ugeon
Duelling among Indians, Mexicans, Cubans, Japanese, 118; in America, 76, 258 in England, 30 in French army, 24 in Ger;
; ;

451

499
498

Dillon-Kane
Dillon-Rawlings Dion-Bryas Dion-Scholl
D'Israeli-O'Connell

36
217 216
533

man
and
dies,

countries, 54; in Ireland Scotland, 39; in West In124;

laws
179

and
origin
;

edicts

Dixon-Thomas
Dollfus,

418
27

against, 13, 35, 37, 54i 56,

74, 77, 84, 125,
;

7,

73,

Edmond

Donnisan, Marquis de

Donovan-Hanson
Donza, Marquis de Dooly, Judge Dorsey-Beveno
Doty-Leicester

496 228
454
535

Duel, in a grave, 482 in a tub, 240 in the water, 390 ; seated in chairs, 253; with billiard-balls, 193; with one gun, 250; with
;

420 80 459
481

scissors, 230

the

American

526

Duels, artillery, 135; across a table,

107
;

Douze, La Dovalle-Mira

between men and women,

bloodless, 421;
in a car-

158;

Dowdigan-Hawkins Downing-Smith Downs-Robins

Doyle-Hutchinson

419 263 306

43

riage, 236; in balloons, 134, 235; in fiction, 145; in the dark, 161;

naval, 135; of clergymen, 147; of women, 147 ; on the stage,

INDEX.
PAGE
144 ; on horseback, 130 ; rarity of fatal, 29; university, 55, 62;

587
PAGE

Fenshaw-Hartinger
Fenton-Hillas

230 499
70 70

with combatants chained, 90; without arms

140

Ferdinand and Isabella Ferdinand of Spain-Alfonzo of

Portugal

Dyer-Cowper

210

Ferguson -Roach
Ferrari-Louis

354
463 565 261 252

Eaker-Hamilton (Philip)

265
555

Eaton-McKie
Eberhard, Baron

"Fighting Fitzgerald" Finch-White Fisher-Tunens

Fitzgerald

539
531

473
226, 497

Edmunds-Adams Edward Ill.-Philip de

Egan-Barrett

Valois.

. . .

435
42
532

Egan-Curran Egerton-Grey Egerton-Morgan Elam-Beirne

Elbert-Pratt

Fitzgerald-Aston Fitzgerald-Kingston Fitzgerald -Norbury Fitzgerald-Sea wen

253

42

494
39
532 253

189, 482

236
86, 302

Fitzgibbon Fitzgibbon-Curran

279 419
512 253

Fitzjames-Blaney Fitzwilliam-Beresford

490
156

Ellesler-Dubert
Elliott-Bailey Elliott-Mirfin

Flanagan, William, challenged by

colored

man
Judge

Fleet-Mann
Fletcher,

446 546 210

39 210

England-Rowlls Englishman at Heidelberg Esclands, De Ferry d'

Essex, Earl of

249 60
27

Fleur-Cardineaux Flood

435

Essex-Blount Essex-De Montford

469
207
31

Flood-Agar Flournoy-Holt
Flournoy, Lt.-Col. Thos., U. Folsom-Russell Fondelles-Des Guerres Foote-Claiborne Foote-Prentiss
S.

386

A. 386
331 226

Eu-Baynard Evans-Dickson Evans-Wright Expert swordsmen and

of Paris
:

255

419
duellists

385, 529 384, 529

professional, 26;

ama,

Foote-Winston
28

383, 529

teur, 27; editors, 27; painters

Ezpeleta, Baron de

27

Forbes-Bailey Forbes-Wilkes
Force, Marquis de la

254
545

442
531

Ford-Bouvet
Foster-Molineux
Fair-Gist
269
252

562

Fottrell-Ross

256
27
572

Falkland-Powell Fall-Robins.
Fallon-Dillon

Fouquier, Henry

306 499

Fournier-Blum

Fournier-Dupont

572
194, 554

Faut-Irby

388
37
198

Fox-Adam
Fox-Randall
Foy, Captain

Fawcett-Munroe

389
471

Fawcett-Thompson Fayan
Fayot-Fournier
Felton, John

454
458
241

France (Dauphin)-Henfy
Francis I.-Charles V Francis I.-Montgomeri

567

n,

22

143

588

INDEX.
PAGE

PAGE
Girardin-Carrel
Gist- Fair

Francis-Hastings Frazer-Rose Frederick the Great

251 255
55

241

269
242 208

Glencairn-Monro
Glover-Jackson

French-Crofton

252

Freeman-Smith
French-Italian regimental duel
..

389
462 226
251

Godef roi
Gontran-Ingelgerius

459
248
198

Freychappel-Swiegel Fright, death from Frost-Hunt Fulford-Cusack Fullerton-Shelburne

Gordon-Thomas Gough-Cumac
Goulard-Caire

255

306
207, 468

248
451

Goumelieu-Vitaux

193
411, 559

Gourgaud-Segur
Gourlay-Westall

253

Furgeson- Johnston

248
241, 469
473, 560

Gower-Oneby
Grady, Harry
Gace, Comte de Gadsden-Howe
Gaillardet454
259, 542

Dumas

575

Grady-Hodson (Rev.) Grady-Campbell Grady-O'Mahon Graham-Barton

Graham-Julius

256
43 43
501

Gaillard-Mary Lavour
Galeazzo, General Gal way

553 475
42
173

247
315
fight.

Graham-Lemon
Graham-Maguire bar-room Graham-Walker.
Graihle-Marigny

103
315 387 28

Gamble-Schuyler Ganahl-Daniels Garcia- Davis

432

90

Grammont-Caderousse (Due

de).

Gardener-Smedberg
Gardenier Garden! er-Campbell
Gardiner-Hill

420
459 260
148, 565

Grammont

Caderousse-Dillon

228
134, 235

Grandpre-Pigne Grant-Seymour Grattan

Grattan-Corry Grattan-Londonderry Graves-Cilley

256
39, 473

Gardiner-Thomas

501

42, 170

Garnarey Gardner-Cook Gary-Dawson

Garza-Torres
Gascons, two Gatechair Gautier Gawler-Valentia

454
301

249
81, 374

87

257
551

Graves-Lacy Gray-Pope Gray-Southesk

Grayson-Sparling Green-Hester

268

388
229
253

26

457 226
228

388
199
275 441
189, 482

Green-Munro
Green-Price

George IV
Gerald-Norbury Germaine-Johnstone Gersdoff-Le Favre
Ghest-Ollivier

473

Green-Gunn
Grey-Egerton Grey-Lempster Gronard- Jones
Grumbleton-Pfcwer Grymes-Terrell
Guignes-Aiguillon (Miles.)

490
404 120
332

228
269
198 261 153

Gibson-Irving Giddings, Joshua

Gilbert-Denver

561 132

Gilbert-Harrington duel
Gillespie, Captain

308
240, 480

Guinnett-Mclntosh
Guise-Bassompierre

259
143
131

Girardin, Emile de

454

Guise-De Luz

INDEX.
PAGE
Guise-Coligny Guise-Urton
454

589
PAGE

Henley-Reeve
Hennis-Jeffcott

556 213

470
441
72

Gunn-Greene Gustavus Adolphus

Gustavus Adolphus-Seaton Guthrie-Meyers

Henriquez-Phillips Henry II. of France

250
22
143 22

73
131
431, 571

Gwin-McCorkle

H
Hacker-Londen Hagan, Dr. James Haley-Delancey
Hall, S.
419 306
109 112

Henry II.-Montgomeri Henry IV. of France Henry IV.-Orleans Henry IV.-Rothsay Henry V.-Dauphin of France
Herbert, Lord Herbert- Lowe
Herries,

436 436
567

469
555
48

Lord

Hall-Hurley (women) Hall-Leckie

154

Hervey-Pulteney Hesse-Leon Hester-Green

Hickey-Macklin Hickey-Moses Hill-Gardner
Hillas-Fenton

213 212
3 88

388

306

Hamilton, Alexander, opposed to

duelling
14
185

306
148, 565

Hamilton, Colonel Hamilton, General James

499

422
81, 334

Hindas-Conroy
Hirsch-Hirsch (brother and

499
sister) 158

Hamilton-Burr Hamilton (Philip)-Eaker

265
35, 184,

Hamilton-Mohun Hamilton-Morgan

469
227

Hobart Hobart-Curran

40
532

Hammet-Ryan
Handel-Matheuson

306

Hodson (Rev.)-Grady Holt-Flournoy

Hook-Wright
Hoole-Dallas

256 386
278 491 371

Hanson-Donovan Harden Hickey (Baron)

Harley-Lof tus Harney-Ihrie

490 228
27

Hope-Jones
Hopkins, Edward Hopkins, Captain S. G Hopkins-Taylor Hornpesch-Richardson Hotot (Agnes)-Ringsdale Houston's crest, General Houston-Burnett

249

260
289 419

439
439

Harney-Sumner.
Harris, Capt., U. S.

501

230
155

Harrison-Thurston

Hartinger-Fenshaw Hastings-Cobden
Hastings-Francis

670 230, 256

,

529

435
251

438 438
284, 529

Hatchell-Morley

250, 252

Hawkey-Seton Hawkins-Dowdigan Hawkins-Maiden

Hayes-Brie

37
419 228
248

Houston-Moore Houston-White Howard-Sidney Howard-Welcher

36 261
259, 542 417, 483

Howe-Gadsden
Hubert-Hunt
Hudson-Crofts

Hayes-Nugent Hayes-Peppard
Heath-Perry Heckeren, Baron de Heckeren-Pouchkin Helsham-Crowther

313 227
498

539

475
75 249

Hueston-Lambranche Huger-Rutledge Hughes-Cameron Hughes-Tucker

Hunt-Frost

307

269
301 261

306
417, 483

Henderson-Morgan

432

Hunt-Hubert

590
Hunter-Mitchell
Hurley-Hall (women) Huston-Bradshaw

INDEX.
PAGE
491 154 262

PAGE
Johnston, George Pen
476
411, 559

Hutchinson, Provost Hutchinson-Doyle

39
43
43, 534

Hutchinson-Mountmorris

I.

(Capt.)-W. (Lieut.)

500
439

Johnston-Furgeson Johnston-Maxwell Johnston-Stanley Johnstone-Germaine Jones-Anderson Jones-Gronard Jones-Hope Jones-Musgrave Jones-Nugent

Joor-Child

230
442

490 268
269
371

252

418
385
54

Ihrie-Harney Impey-Willis Inge-Stanly Ingelgerius-Gontram Innes-Clarke

254

430
248 212
388

Germany Joynt-McKim
Joseph
Judicial duel: in France, 18; in

II. of

230

England,
Italy

30; in Scotland, 45; in

Irby-Fant
Irish code duello

70
247

48
332 260
27 228
253

Julius-Graham
Jullien

Irving-Gibson Isaacs-Ladd
Isabella,

229

Queen

Isidore-Alphonse
Issarts-Constant

Isturitz-Mendizabal
Italian-French regimental duel
. .

214

K. (Count)-Captain Kane-Dillon

54

498
46
172

462

Kay-Chattan, duel of clans Keiser-Whitson Keith-Dantsler

Kelley-Spear

388 419 314 247

331

Jackson, General

367
307 280 208
166
167 261

Jackson-De Armas Jackson (Andrew)-Dickinson Jackson-Glover Jackson-Watkins Jackson-Wells James, Paymaster, U. S. A

Japanese
officers

Kemble, Edward Kemble-Aikin

Kemble-McDougal Kennedy-Walker
Kentucky, first duel Keogh, Jemmy Kerr, Lord Mark
in

307

270
473
231

128

Kewen-Woodleif
Kilkenny -Ball
Kingston-Fitzgerald Kirby, Captain
. .

Jarman-Wright
Jarnac-Chastaignerie

278
22, 179

417 212
253 572 254 433

Jay-Litttepage Jeffcott-Hennis
Jeffries-Smith

546 213 268

555

Knoring-Brusch

Kusserow-Lawrence

Jeffrey-Moore

Jenifer-Bynum Jenkins-Crabbe

429
306

473 Jenkins-Talbot John of England-Philip of France. 435 302 Johnson-Daniel

Labenne, Corate de
Lacaze-St.

27

Beuve Lacombe-Blanc

436
;

255

Johns-McAdam
Johnson- White

387

389

Lachesnaye-Chateauneuf Lacy-Graves

240 268

INDEX.
PAGE
Ladd-Isaacs
Lafayette-Carlisle
260
435 545 196

591
PAGE

Lemon-Graham
Lempster-Grey Leon-Hesse

315 228

Laffer-Lowery

212

La Fontaine La Frete
Lagnene-Chauriance

454 256

Leon-Napoleon Leon-Velasco

490
131

Lake-Chambers
Lamartine-Pepe Lambranche-Hueston
Lambrecht-Clayton Lameth-Castries

387 212
307 249 246
247

Lepaugh-Runyan feud Lesseps, Count Ferdinand de

Lesses
Leverrier (Mlle.)-Duprez Levito-Nicotera

158 27 389
154

214

Levy-McCain
Lewis-Cushing
Lincoln (A.>Shields

388
533 567 27

Lameth-Chauvigny
Lamoliere Landais-Cottineau

549 260
432

Lane-Dumont
Lanier, Lieut., C. S.

Lindemann, Comte Lindsay-Davidson

Lindsay- Livingston Lindsay, Lord Linn, Senator
Lippincott-Tevis Lisbon, two gentlemen of
Littlepage-Jay
Littleton,

433
245
48
77

372

Lanusse-Marigny
Lassalle-Rackowitza Lauerdale-Arnold

269
504

247 247 259 224 26 469 433 262

318
541

Lauerdale-Richmond Laurens-Lee
Laury-Vieyra
Lautieri

546 475

Adam

Law-Wilson Lawrence-Kusserow. Lawson-McKnight

Leavenworth-Breckinridge, Lebre-Duprez Leckie-Hall

Littleton, Walter Livaret-De Pienne

475
453 452
245

390
167

Livaret-Schomberg Livingston-Lindsay Livron-Du Trone

Lixen-Richlieu

454
164
42 211

388

Llandoff-Clonmel

Ledoux-Choremont Lee-Drayton
Lee-Laurens LeFavre-Gersdoff LeFancheur, Rev. Michael
Leftwich, of Virginia

387
441

259 454
442

Lloyd-Ackland Lloyd-Wright Lobenstadt, Count de

Lochiel-Pellew

278

475
47

86
389 419
27 248

Legare-Dunovant
Leggett-Morrison Legouv^, Sieur Legnis-Carronges Leicester-Doty Leigh-Davis

Lockyer-Sutton Loftus-Harley Londen-Hackett

227 249 419 249 230

Londonderry-Grattan Long- Armstrong Lonsdale-Cuthbert

486
229
22, 495
...

80
.

LeNeve-Buckinghamshire
Lenfant-Melfant
balls)

386 208

Lorn-Campbell Louis XIII

Louis Louis

XIV

23

(with

billiard-

XV
,..

557
459, 468

i93

Lennig
Lenox-Swift

58

Louis, Mile. Jean Louis-Ferrari

463
555
545

Lenox-York

229 228
43 6

Lowe-Herbert
Lowery-Laffer

Lemery-Angero

Lowquay-McCoard

230

592

INDEX.
PAGE

PAGE

Loyola, Ignatius

566 479
70

Lucas-Benton Luna-Valencia

Macnamara-Montgomery Macomb, Captain, U. S. A Macrae-Ramsay

Madailan-Rivard

204 262
45
538

Lundy-Dibble Luz-De Guise

Lyle (Mrs.)-Stewart (Mr.)

419
131

Maddox-Wells
Magruder, Col.
a table
J. B.,

no
duel across
107

159

M
Me Adam-Johns.
McCain-Levy
McCallum-Alister
.

Maguire-Graham bar-room
Maher-Colles
387
388

fight. 103

256
481 28

Maillard-St. Signol

229
266, 428, 480

Rend Maiden-Hawkins
Maizeroi,

228 249

McCarty-Mason McCarty- Wise McCorkle-Gwin McClung-Allen McClung-Menefee

McClure-Whitsett

443
431

450
289, 451, 483

Maiden-Norfolk Mann-Fleet Manteuffel-Twesten Manuel-Beaumont...

446 228
195

Marc Antony-Caesar
Marigny-Graihle Marigny-Lanusse Marion, General Francis Marion-Mcllraith Marivant-Marolles

435

390 230
571 331
331

387
269
445

McCoard-Lowquay
McCorkle-Gwin McDougal-Kemble
McDougal-Russell

446
248
81, 371

McDuffie-Cumming McGowan, Judge Edward,

McGuire-Blundell Mcllraith-Marion Mclntosh-Guinnett

285

Marmaduke- Walker
Marolles-Marivant Marrart Mars-Stinet
Marshall-Clay

308,311
227

248

459
389 260
332

446
259

McLean-Cameron McKeon-Reynolds McLeod-MacDonnell McMichael-Cooper

500 228
231

Marshall-Webb
Martablo, Major Lopez
Martainsville

256
458

446
388
240, 480

McKce-Murphy
McKenzie-Barrington

McKie-Eaton McKim-Joynt Me Knight- La wson

McNally-Barrington

555

230 262
490, 560

Martin of Galway Martin-Ross Martin-Wilkes Martira-Conversano Mary Lavour-Gaillard

473
501

544
252

553
266, 428, 480

Mason-McCarty
Mason-Stewart
Matas-St. Andre

McNamara
McNamara-Chatenet
Maccartoey, General Macartney-Sadlier Macartney- Stuart MacDonald, Calvin B

. .

202

39 473
185

240
490

Matheuson-Handel
Mathias-Storey

256
43

207

207

319
231 210
149

Matthew-Park Matthews-Barne Matthews-Sheridan

Maugue'rin-Ribe'rac

255
176 452

MacDonnell-McLeod
Maoduff- Prince Macedo-Cardinal Norris

Maupin, La Maximilian
Batre

459
(of

Germany)-De
228

Macklin-Hickey

306

Macnamara-Creed

43

Maxwell-Johnston

330

INDEX.
PAGE
May-Bennett
333

593
PAGE

Moses-Hickey
Moss-Points

306

May-Ro we Mayo Mead-Woodward

Medge, Baron
Melfant-Lenfant
balls)

419
42 533
42

140
153

(with

billiard-

Moussin (Mlle.)-Serane Mountgarret-Byrne Mountmorris-Hutchinson Mulato-Pons

534
43, 534

25

193

Mendizabal-Isturitz

213
289, 451, 483

Menefee-McClung
" Mensur'
'

Munro-Green Munroe-Fawcett Murat

199
37
149

62
439

Murphy-McKee
Musgrave- Jones

388
252

Merci, Count de

Merci-Valaze

Merignac Meurice-Perpignan Meyers-Guthrie

Michael,
cers
St.,

439 26 554
131

N
Nadar, balloon fight
134
490

patron saint of fen26

481
S.

Napoleon-Leon Nemours- Beaufort

Neuhoff-Theodore Ney, Marshal
Nicholson-Wright
Nicotera-Levito

Miller-Rattray

453 Nesle (Lady)-Polignac (Countess). 152

475, 480
538, 547,575

Milton, Cornet Huxton, U.

A. 262
26
481

Mimiague
Mira-Dovalle Mirabeau-Bonnetain
Mirfin-Elliott

278 2*4 212

388

256
253 475
491 451
35, 184, 469

Mitchell, Sir

John

Mitchell-Hunter Mittaud-Vitaux

Nieukerke-Bonaparte (Pierre) Nixon, Henry G Noailles-Barnave

Norbury-Fitzgerald

209 42

Mohun-Hamilton
Molineux-Foster

Norbury-Gerald

473
42

562
455

Norbury-Tandy
Norfolk-Maiden
Norris (Cardinal)-Macedo

Montebello-Cassagnac Moncelet-Angier Monro-Glencairn Montez, Lola Montford-Essex

249
149

213
242
153

Norton, Harry J

508 469 313

Nourse-Windsor
Nugent-Cotter

207
143 143

Montgomeri-Francis

Montgomeri-Henry

II

Montgomery-Macnamara Moore-Buck
Moore-Castine

204 262
229

Nugent-Hayes Nugent-Jones Nunez, first Mexican

313
duellist

418 120

Moore-Houston

438
555 255

Moore -Jeff rey

Moore-Stapylton

O'Brien

39
474 227
39, 479

O'Brien-O'Gorman Mahon
O'Callaghan-Bailey O'Connell, Daniel O'Connell (Morgan)-Alvaney O'Connell-D'Esterre
O'Connell-D'Israeli

Morgan-Egerton Morgan-Hamilton Morgan-Henderson

Morley-Hatchell Mornington-Shaf tesbury
Morris, Gouverneur

256
227
432
250, 256

213
223, 473

435

533

335

Morrison-Leggett

419

O'Connor-Byrne O'Connor-O'Connor

227

40

594

INDEX.
PAGE PAGE
43, 228

Ogle-Coyle

Perry-Bynum
Perry-Heath
Pettis-Biddle
Petit-Roussell

332

O'Gorman
O'Gorman-Wallace

40
43

498

287
231 43 8

O'Gorman Mahon O'Gorman Mahon-O'Brien

O'Grady-Smith

474
474
213 43 120

Peyton-Williams
Philip le Bel Philip of France-John of
Philip
II.

9 19
,

O'Mahon-Grady
Ollivier-De Ghest

England
I.

435
43 6

(France)-Richard

Oneby-Gower
Opie, of Virginia

241, 469

86

Orleans-Henry IV
Orliff-Potemkin

436
74

(Eng.) Phillips-Henriquez Phillips-Sheppard

Phillips- Woodbury
Phillips- Woodbridge

250
171

166
258, 482

Ornano-Bouvet

Osborn-Vandyke
O'Sullivan-Caldwell

492 261
251

Pienne-Livaret

Oswald-Carey

546

Pierson-Cannon Piles, Ludovico de

Pinac,

453 260

M
C

456
253
78, 442

Pinckney, C.

Pinto-Roberdo
Pages-Tastra
389

256
134, 235

Pigne-Grandpre

Paget-Cadogan
Palacios-Soler

249
126

Pi"
Pitt-Tierney Pleasants-Ritchie

74
557
301

Palmer-Coles

534

Palmer-Quentin Park-Brazer

256 419
43

Plowden, Captain
Points-Moss

250
140

Park-Matthew
Patterson
Patterson, Chief- Justice Paul, of Russia

"Poker

Bill,"

97

473
43
74

Paull-Burdette

480 250

Poland, youthful affair in 156 Polignac (Countess)-Nesle (Lady). 152 86 Pollard, of Virginia Pomf ret-Woyston 559

Payne-Clark Peachy-Blain Pecquigny-Virette Peel, Sir Robert

Pellerin

Pons-Mulato

25

419
229 224 26
47

Pope-Gray Porter- Archer

Porter-Bellasses

388
371
224, 481

Pellew-Lochiel Pellew- Walsh Pendleton, Nathaniel Pe-ne, M. de

Porter-Smyth Porto-De Canto "

Potocki, Count

297
332 83 74
27 75
. .

250
341

Posting," origin Potemkin-Orliff

..

575 435 263 475

231

Pennant-Prendergast Pennington-Tollemache Penruddock, George Pepe-Carascosa Pepe-Lamartine Peppard-Hayes Percy-Constable Perley, D. Perpignan-Meurice

Pouchkin-Heckeren Powell, duel with Englishman.

Powell, Virginia duellist

79 79
252

214

Powell- Falkland Power-Brisco

566
198

227 254
394, 404

Power-Grumbleton
Pratt-Elbert

279
435 77

554

Prendergast-Pennant Preston of South Carolina

,

INDEX.
PAGE
Premiss, S. S Prentiss-Foote
Price-Carpenter Price-Green Price-Wilson
478
384, 529

595
PAGE

Ribera
Riberac-Maugne"rin

28

452
197
II.

119

Rice-Du Barry
Richard
I.

275

(Eng.) - Philip

276
227 210

Pride-Carpenter Prince-Macduff Prae'-Throuet

(France) Richards-Trias

436 120
230

267
213 212 137

Richardson-Hornpesch Richebourg
Richelieu

454
454, 495

Pulteney-Hervey Purefoy-Roper " Purring" matches Putnam, General

Richelieu-Lixen

164
248

Richelieu-Themines
Richepin, Jean

547

Richmond, Duke

of

27 228

Richmond- Lauerdale
Quelus-D'Entraquet Quentin-Palmer
222, 452, 558

947
245

256

Riddell-Cunningham Ridge way-Davis Ringsdale-Hotot (Agnes)

Ritchie-Pleasants

302
155

301

Rivard-Madailan Rivero-San Miguel

Rackowitza-Lassalle
Radcliffe,

538 126 557 254

504

Rixio-Thiers

Robert
Walter

250
252
439, 571
31

Rae-Bremen
Raleigh, Sir

Roach-Ferguson Roberdo-Pinto Robert

256 26 306
306

Ramsay-Reay Ramsay-Macrae Ranc

Randall-Fox
Randolph, John " " Randolph, John, posted 421, Randolph-Clay Randolph-Robinson Raphael Sanzio
Rapley-Belden
Rattray-Miller

Robins-Downs
Robins-Fall

45 27 388 442
83
498, 528

Robinson-Randolph Rochefort, Henri

Rochefort-Cassagnac

536
28, 29, 452,

454
491

Roebuck-Black

256

Roman-Bowlingly
Romanza-Triffonier

536 28

389 210
554 212
212

Romieu
Roper-Purefoy Rovigo-Bonaparte (Pierre) Rosan-Duras-Turenne

372
481

Rawlings-Dillon Razors as weapons

36
139

236
42

Roscommon

Ready-Snowden Reay-Ramsay
Reed-Allston

388
31

Rose, Lieut. Stephen, U. S. A... 262 Rose-Frazer 255

269 556
251 149

Rosenberg-Batthyany
Ross-Fottrell

70
256
501

Reeve-Henley
Regnier-Destaing Retz, Cardinal de

Ross-Martin
Rossi-Signor

219

Reynolds-Brown Reynolds-McKeon
Rhett, R.

386 228
78

Rossi-Bonaparte (Charles)

229
436 26
231

Rothsay-Henry IV Rouleau
Roussell-Petit

Rhctt-Clemens
Rhctt-Cooley

442
386

Roux-Laborie

459

59<5

INDEX.
PAGE PAGE
Scully-Casey Seaton-Gustavus Adolphus
257
73

Rowe-May
Rowells-England

419

249
158
331

Runyan-Lepaugh feud
Russell-Folsom
Rust-Stidger

Segur-Gourgaud Serane-Mlle. Moussin

253
153

324
269
331

Seton-Hawkey
Sevier, of Arkansas
SeVigne",

37
77

Rutledge-Huger Russell-McDougal "Russian Bill "

Rutherford-Cahill

Marquis de

94,96
171
...

Sewell-Alcock

500 aio 256 418 435

391 193
,

Seymour-Grant
Shaffer- Withered

Ruthven-Close Ruthven-Scott

256
256

Shaf tesbury-Mornington

Ryan-Hammet

306

Shannon-Cash
Shelburne-Fullerton
Sheppard-Phillips Sheridan

171

39
176

St.-Albin, Albert de
St.
St.

27

Sheridan-Matthews
Shields-Lincoln (A.)

Andre-Matas
Belmont, Countess de

240
154
571

567
36, 472

Shrewsbury-Buckingham
Sidney, Sir Philip

St.
St. St.
St. St.
St.

Beuve
Beuve-Lacaze Evremont-St. Foix Foix
John-Best

469
.

436
538
457, 544

Sidney-Howard
Silvestre,

36

Armand

287
261

209
532
451

Simons-Snipes Singer-Smith
Skelton,

389 575
f

St.

Leger-Curran Phal
Victor- Asselin

Frank

Skewer-duels
Skinner, Alexander
Sligo

24

St. Signol-Maillard
St.

481
191
182, 496

438
42

Sack ville- Bruce

Sadlier-Macartney

207
511

Salm-Salm
Salontine-Chevanier Salvator Rosa

525 28
126

Smedberg-Gardener Smith, John Smith, N. S Smith-Brank

Smith-Broderick

420
449

264
386 486 263

San Miguel-Rivero
Sargent- Wyer

262

Smith-Downing Smith-Freeman
Smith-Jeffries

Sartiges-Barney Sartorius-Gomusio

436 126

389 268
213

Smith-O'Grady
Smith-Scott

Saunders, of Virginia Saviolo, Vincentio

86
35

419 389
263
418

Sawyer
Scawen-Fitzgerald Scholl, Aurelien Scholl-Dion

252

494
27 216

Smith-Singer Smith-Stuart Smith-Truett

Smyth-Porter

297
332 261

Smythe-ThomasSnipes-Simons

Schomberg-Livaret Schuyler-Gamble
Scott-Christie

452
173
161

Snowden- Ready
Soailles-Deveze
Soler-Palacios

388
196 126
S.

Scott-Ruthven Scott-Smith
Scott-Travis

256
419

Somers, Lieut. Richard, U.

N.

371

269

Sotomay or- Bayard

229

INDEX.
PAGE
Sould-D'Alba Soute-De Turgot
199

597
PAGE

Swartwout-Clinton
Swiegel-Freychappel Swift-Lenox
"

200
229
383 253

263 226

Southesk-Gray
Spaight-Stanley

Sword, The

Men

of the"

229 26

Sparling-Grayson Spear-Kelley
Stackpole-Cecil Stahl-Tordenskiold Stair, Earl of

419
188, 471, 575

251 231

Talbot-Jenkins Talbot-Wilkes

473
175

Staniield-Cardington

Stanley-Chickley Stanley-Johnston
Stanley-Spaight Stanly-Inge

249 162
442

Talbut-Denworth
Talleyrand

535
74, 538

Tandy-Norbury
Tankerville-Bouverie
Taylor, Gen. Zachary Tastra-Pages Taylor-Hopkins

383

42 208

430
427 255 557 210 515
571

549
389

Stanly-Wise Stapylton-Moore Steele, Richard

Stephens- Anderson Sternberger, Richard von
Sterne, Laurence

419
537 261
81, 392

Temple-Whately
Terrell-Grymes Terry-Broderick

Stevens, Alfred

27
78

Judge Tenteniac, Marquis de

Tessier,

564
454

Stewart-Bennett Ste wart-Bolton Ste wart-Coker

Stewart-D'Egville Stewart (Mr.)-Lyle (Mrs.)

209

389
482
159 262

Tevis-Lippincott Thatcher-Blount Themines-Richelieu Thiers-Rixio

318
531

248 557
174

Thomas-Battleheim

Stewart-Mason Stewart-Thurlow
Stidger-Rust Stinet-Mars Stone-Bliss

543 324 389

390
468 468

Stoney-Bate Stoney-Butt Stoney-Mathias

Thomas-Dixon Thomas-Gordon Thomas-Gardiner Thomas-Smythe Thomas- Weightman Thompson-Coleman Thompson- Fawcett

Thornhill-Dering Thronet-Prue"

418
198 501

332 438
169
198
228, 481

256
389

Stowe-Townley
Street-Wetmore

267
543

250
250, 256

Stuart-Bagnall Stuart- Bos well

Thurlow-Stewart Thurston-Harrison
Tierney-Pitt

270
557
42

Stuart-Dade
Stuart-Macartney Stuart-Smith

255 268

Tipperary

207
263

Stuart-Wright Sullivan, Jacobus

Sully,

278

Tobey-Crane Tollemache-Pennington Toombs, Robert

Tordenskiold-Stahl

419
263
561 251

270
19

Ducde

Torres-Garza

257
142

Sumner-Harney
Suprin-Zigang Susse, Admiral de la
Button- Lockyer

439 221
537 227

Tournaments Townley-Stowe Towns, Edward Townsend-Winnington

389

289
537

598

INDEX.
PAGE

PAGE
Villeneuve-Beauchamp
Virette-Pecquigny Vitaux Goumelieu Vitaux-De Mittaud
Voiture
517 229
451 451

Townshend-Bellamont

254
131

Townshend-Brown
Travis-Scott " Treatise of Honor,

269

A"

35

Trenck, Baron Frederick Treville, M. de

Trias-Richards Triffonier-Romanza

475
458 120

554

axo
454 248
418 261

Trobriant Troussel-Du Guescbin Truett-Smith

W. (Captain)-Count K W. (Lieut.)-I. (Capt.)

Wade, Ben " Wager of
Battle," act of

54 500
5 6x

Tucker-Hughes
Tuckett-Cardigan Turenne-Duras-Rosan
Turgot-Soule*

30
332
f

208

Walker-Carter

236 200
252 228 42

Turrens-Fisher Twesten-Manteuffel

Tyrawly-Clonmel

Walker-Graham Walker-Kennedy Walker-Marmaduke Wallace-O'Gorman Walpole-Chetwynd

Walsh-Pellew.

315 307

81, 371

43

543

250
175

U
Ugeon-Du Vighan Unirersity duels, German
Urton-Guise Uzerches-De Riz
451 55, 62

Warwick-Coote Wasckiewicz
Washington, George

27

442
315 166

Washburn, Washington
Watkins-Jackson

470
453

Watson-Wright
Watts-Wilson

278

390
117

Weapons
Valaze-De Merci
Valencay-Cavois
Valencia- Luna
439
248

of Alabamians, Missis-

sippians,

and Creoles

Webb, James Watson

Webb-Marshall

375 332 438 261

190
167

Valentia-Gawler
Valentine-Clary Valette-Bonaparte (Pierre) Valois-Bezarier

70 226
212 212

Weigh tman-Thomas Welcher- Howard

Wellington-Winchelsea Wells-Jackson

232

Wells-Maddox
Westall-Gourlay Wetmore-Street

no
248

Vance-Carson

Vandyke-Osborn

389 261
337 26
131 28

230 550
537 261

Van

Ness,

W. P

Vaux, Baron de Velasco-De Leon

Velasquez Verge, General Vesey, William Veuillot, Louis

Weston Whately-Temple
:

27

White-Finch White-Houston White-Houston

White-Johnson Whitsell-McClure Whitson-Keiser
Wild, saddler

284
529

475 459 224 26 459

453

389 390
172

Vieyra-Laury Vigeant
Vigdant, pere Villars-D'Henricourt

47
545

Wilkes-Forbes Wilkes-Martin

544

INDEX.
PAGE
Wilkes-Talbot 175 83 Wilkinson, Gen. James Wilkinson "posts" John Randolph 83 211 of Will in favor opponent
Willis-Impey Williams-Bell Williams Bennett
254
371

599
PAGE

Woodcock-Blackburn Woodleif-Kewen

418 417
533

Woodward-Mead
Woolfolk-Camp Woyston-Pompet Wright family, duels
Wright-Baird Wright-Evans

389
556 of 279

336 256 438

331

420
419
.

Williams-David
Williams-Peyton Wilson-Beane

Wright-Hook Wright-Jarman
Wright-Lloyd Wright-Nicholson
Wright-Stuart

278 278

Wilson-Law
Wilson-Price

469
276

278
278
278

Wilson-Watts
Winchelsea-Wellington

390
190

Windsor-Nourse

469 537
384, 529

Wright-Watson Wyer-Sargent

278 262

Winnington-Townsend Winston-Foote
Winters-Collins

389

Wintzel-Cohen
Wise-Johns

37
44 2

Yancey-Clingman York-Lenox

43* 228

Wise-McCarty Wise-Hanly
Withered-Shaffer

443
..

427

418
156
166, 258, 482

Wood-Cooper
Woodbridge-Phillips

Zavado, Valentine Zietkin, Gen. Hans Joachim

Zigang-Suprin

5*7
475 221

53*

PLEASE DO NOT REMOVE

CARDS OR SLIPS FROM THIS POCKET

UNIVERSITY OF

TORONTO LIBRARY