According to Ben Truman's history of dueling in America, "A singular affair was that between Lieutenant Lanier, of Bishop and General Polk'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 displeasure of an irascible wagonmaster, one morning, who 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." (Portrait of Lt. John S. Lanier of Co. K, 14th Mississippi Infantry Regiment, Liljenquist collection, Library of Congress)

Due to the tradition of dueling in the Southern United States there were a number of duels during the American Civil War between Confederate States military officers and/or politicians.

Following the Marmaduke–Walker duel, the Southern Unionist Nashville Daily Union commented approvingly on the trend: "To which we say, Amen! Can't the rebels get up a few nice little duel parties between Jeff Davis and Stephens, Bragg and Joe Johnston, Harris and Polk? It would afford an agreeable variety to the tremendous wholesale fights which ever and anon shake the land."[1] According to historian William Oliver Stevens, there were no duels between officers of the U.S. Army or U.S. Navy during the American Civil War.[2][lower-alpha 1][lower-alpha 2]

Confederate duels
Duellist Duellist Date Place Outcome Notes
St. Clair Morgan George S. Storrs March 20, 1861 Florida – near Fort McRee, Pensacola Morgan wounded[5] Main article: Morgan–Storrs duel
Lieutenant John S. LanierUnidentified "wagonmaster of his corps"Between May 20, 1861 and July 9, 1863[6][7]Place unknownLanier wounded[8]
William A. Lake Henry Cousins Chambers October 16, 1861 Arkansas Lake killed[9] Rival candidates for Confederate Congress[10]
Doctor Forward, a sutler[11] Lieutenant Alfred H. Jones[12] December 24, 1861 Virginia – near Young's Mill, on the Peninsula Both killed[13] Rifles at 40 paces;[11] the duel resulted from a "quarrel about the price of a box of candles."[13]
Major Alfred M. RhettColonel William Ransom Calhoun[lower-alpha 3]September 5, 1862South Carolina – CharlestonCalhoun killed[16]Calhoun, a relation of John C. Calhoun, was Rhett's superior officer at Fort Sumter.[16]
Captain John Cussons Jr.Major Alfred Horatio BeloApril 1863Virginia – near SuffolkBelo wounded[17]
Captain George Moody Captain Pichegru Woolfolk July 2, 1863 Pennsylvania No duel[18] Planned but forestalled by the Battle of Gettysburg[18][19]
Major General John S. MarmadukeBrigadier General Lucius M. WalkerSeptember 6, 1863ArkansasWalker killedMain article: Marmaduke–Walker duel
Lieutenant William H. Dorsey Mr. Adler of Baltimore[lower-alpha 4] December 13, 1863 Maryland – near Bowling Green, Caroline County Adler killed[21]
Captain SmithLieutenant ScottDecember 16, 1863VirginiaScott killed[22]
Major William F. RapleyMajor Albert BeldingOctober 18, 1864MissouriBelding wounded[23]
Edward C. ElmoreJohn Moncure DanielAugust 16, 1864VirginiaDaniel wounded[24]Daniel participated in a number of duels during his lifetime.[25]
Private Marx Cohen Jr.Private Thomas R. ChewMarch 19, 1865North CarolinaNo injuries[26]Said to be the final duel of the Confederacy; their seconds put blanks in their pistols, both walked away unharmed, and both were killed later that day at Battle of Bentonville.[26]

Notes

  1. ↑ Union General Jefferson C. Davis did murder General Bull Nelson at the Galt House hotel in Louisville in 1862, but not in duel format.[3]
  2. ↑ Confederate general Earl Van Dorn was murdered during the war; three other Confederate generals died by interpersonal violence, bushwhacking, or assassination after the war: William F. Brantley, James Holt Clanton, and Thomas C. Hindman.[4]
  3. ↑ His branch of the family sometime used the older spelling Colhoun.[14][15]
  4. ↑ Philip Adler?[20]

References

  1. ↑ "Duel between Confederate generals". The Nashville Daily Union. October 2, 1863. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  2. ↑ Stevens, William Oliver (1940). Pistols at Ten Paces: The Story of the Code of Honor in America. Boston: Houghton Mifflin. pp. 247 (Cussons–Belo), 250 (no Union duels) – via Internet Archive.
  3. ↑ Lyons, Chuck (Spring 2019). "FATAL ENCOUNTER: Generals JEFFERSON C. DAVIS and WILLIAM 'BULL' NELSON". Traces of Indiana and Midwestern History. Indiana Historical Society. 31 (2): 35+. ISSN 1040-788X – via Gale Academic OneFile.
  4. ↑ Saclarides, Theodore J. (August 2007). "Morbidity and Mortality of the Confederate Generals during the American Civil War". The American Surgeon. 73 (8): 760–764. doi:10.1177/000313480707300805. ISSN 0003-1348. PMID 17879680. S2CID 39457989. Closed access icon
  5. ↑ Ramage, James A. (1986). Rebel Raider: The Life of General John Hunt Morgan. Lexington, Ky.: University Press of Kentucky. p. 9. ISBN 9780813146348.
  6. ↑ Coddington, Ronald S. (2020). "John Summerfield Lanier: A Fraternity Pioneer is Surrendered at Port Hudson". Civil War Men and Women: Glimpses of Their Lives Through Photography. Library of Congress Research Guides. Archived from the original on 2023-05-30. Retrieved 2023-09-07.
  7. ↑ "John S Lanier, 1861-1865", United States Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865 – via FamilySearch
  8. ↑ Truman, Benjamin C. (1884). The field of honor: being a complete and comprehensive history of duelling in all countries. New York: Fords, Howard & Hulbert. pp. 371–373. hdl:2027/yale.39002001565879. OL 20475037M – via HathiTrust.
  9. ↑ "From Arkansas". The Des Arc Weekly Citizen. Des Arc, Ark. October 23, 1861. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-09-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. ↑ "Fatal Duel Between Mississippians". The Charleston Mercury. October 17, 1861. p. 1. Retrieved 2023-09-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. 1 2 "From Norfolk". The Macon Telegraph. December 31, 1861. p. 3. Retrieved 2023-09-07 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. ↑ "Alfred H Jones, 1861-1865", United States Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865 – via FamilySearch
  13. 1 2 "Fatal duel". Memphis Daily Appeal. January 5, 1862. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-09-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. ↑ McPherson, Lewin Dwinell; McPherson, Elizabeth Weir (1957). Calhoun, Hamilton, Baskin, and related families. Allen County Public Library Genealogy Center. Typescript – via Internet Archive.
  15. ↑ "Entry for William Ransom or W R Calhoun". United States Confederate Officers Card Index, 1861-1865 – via FamilySearch.
  16. 1 2 Horres, C. Russell (2001). "An Affair of Honor at Fort Sumter". South Carolina Historical Magazine. Charleston: South Carolina Historical Society. 102 (1): 6–26. ISSN 0038-3082. JSTOR 27570478.
  17. ↑ Hoyle, Joseph J. (2010). Girvan, Jeffrey M. (ed.). Deliver Us from This Cruel War: The Civil War Letters of Lieutenant Joseph J. Hoyle, 55th North Carolina Infantry. McFarland & Company. p. 36. ISBN 978-0786456048.
  18. 1 2 Kelly, C. Brian (March 1, 2010). Best Little Stories from the Civil War: More than 100 true stories. Sourcebooks, Inc. ISBN 978-1-4022-4710-1.
  19. ↑ Alexander, Edward Porter (1998). Fighting for the Confederacy: The Personal Recollections of General Edward Porter Alexander. Chapel Hill, N.C.: University of North Carolina Press. p. 161. ISBN 978-0-8078-4722-0.
  20. ↑ "Archives of Maryland, Volume 0564, Page 0014 - Matchett's Baltimore Director For 1853-54". msa.maryland.gov. Retrieved 2023-12-30.
  21. ↑ "MISCELLANEOUS MATTERS; GEN. MORGAN". From the Richmond Examiner, Dec. 14. The New York Times. December 20, 1863. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2023-09-10.
  22. ↑ "The Daily Dispatch: December 28, 1863., [Electronic resource], Fatal duel". perseus.tufts.edu. Retrieved 2023-09-06.
  23. ↑ Sinisi, Kyle S. (2015). The Last Hurrah: Sterling Price's Missouri Expedition of 1864. Rowman & Littlefield. p. 144. ISBN 978-0742545366.
  24. ↑ "A duel this morning". The Montgomery Advertiser. Montgomery, Ala. August 17, 1864. p. 2. Retrieved 2023-09-06 – via Newspapers.com.
  25. ↑ Bridges, Peter (Winter 2002). "Pen of Fire". Virginia Quarterly Review. Vol. 78, no. 1. University of Virginia. ISSN 0042-675X.
  26. 1 2 Broadwater, Robert P. (2004). Battle of Despair: Bentonville and the North Carolina Campaign. Mercer University Press. pp. 112–113. ISBN 978-0-86554-821-3. LCCN 2004003009.

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