A Brief History
On September 21, 1809, the British government was rocked by a duel fought between Secretary of War Lord Castlereagh and Foreign Secretary George Canning. Neither aggrieved party was killed, although Canning was shot in the thigh.
Digging Deeper
Epic cases of one-on-one combat are found throughout history, sometimes formal affairs and sometimes matters of chance. Some of those epic battles include:
A London duel between women, in 1782, pitted Lady Almeria Braddock against Mrs. Elphinstone who claimed the former was 30 years older than Braddock stated. When pistol shots proved errant, a sword fight ensued, with Elphinstone being wounded.
In 1804 the serving Vice President of the US, Aaron Burr, killed the former Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton with a pistol shot, even though dueling had been outlawed.
Duels between expert snipers intrigue us, such as the Zaitsev vs. Konig duel at Stalingrad in 1942 and between Carlos Hathcock, USMC, and NVA snipers “Apache Woman” and “Cobra” during the Vietnam War.
Note: US President Andrew Jackson had a history of dueling, perhaps as many as 100 of the affairs of honor! Major Dan met Carlos Hathcock in 1978, a year before the famous sniper’s retirement.
Question for students (and subscribers) to ponder: What is the most famous duel?
If you liked this article and would like to receive notifications of new articles, please feel welcome to follow History and Headlines on Facebook and X!
Your readership is much appreciated!
Historical Evidence
For more information, please see…
Melville, L. and R. Hargreaves. Famous Duels And Assassinations. Kessinger Publishing, 2007.
Seitz, Don. Famous American Duels: With Some Account of the Causes That Led to Them. Papamoa Press, 2017.
