List of duels
The following are some famous duels.
Historical duels
British and Irish duels
- 1609: Sir George Wharton and Sir James Stuart; fought a duel over a game of cards in Islington; both were killed
- 1609: Sir Hatton Cheek and Sir Thomas Dutton; fought in Calais; both killed.
- 1613: Edward Bruce, 2nd Lord of Kinloss and Sir Edward Sackville (later 4th Earl of Dorset); fought a duel over a woman named Venetia Stanley. They fought in Bergen-op-Zoom, Netherlands to avoid the wrath of the King; Lord Bruce was killed, but Venetia Stanley ended up marrying another man named Sir Kenelm Digby.
- 1613: The Grey Brydges, 5th Baron Chandos and James Hay (later 1st Earl of Carlisle)
- 1652: The George Brydges, 6th Baron Chandos and Colonel Henry Compton (grandson of Henry Compton, 1st Baron Compton); Compton was killed, Chandos was found guilty of manslaughter and died whilst imprisoned.
- 1667: George Villiers (later 2nd Duke of Buckingham) and Francis Talbot, 11th Earl of Shrewsbury; Shrewsbury was killed, and George Villiers' second Sir J. Jenkins was killed by the Earl's second.
- 1694: John Law and Edward Wilson; Wilson challenged Law over the affections of Elizabeth Villiers (later Countess of Orkney); Wilson was killed. Law was tried and found guilty of murder and sentenced to death. His sentenced was commuted to a fine, upon the ground that the offence only amounted to manslaughter. Wilson's brother appealed and had Law imprisoned but he managed to escape to the continent.
- 1711: Richard Thornhill, Esq and Sir Cholmondeley Deering; Sir Cholmondeley was killed and Richard Thornhill convicted of manslaughter [1].
- 1712: Charles Mohun, 4th Baron Mohun and the James Douglas, 4th Duke of Hamilton; both were killed. Their seconds George Macartney, Esq and Colonel John Hamilton were found guilty of manslaughter.
- 1731: The William Pulteney, 1st Earl of Bath and John Hervey, 2nd Baron Hervey of Ickworth
- 1749: Captain Clarke R.N. and Captain Innis R.N; Innis was killed. Clarke was sentenced to death but received a Royal Pardon [2].
- 1765: The William Byron, 5th Baron Byron and William Chaworth; Chaworth was killed. Bryon was tried in the House of Lords and acquitted of murder, but found guilty of manslaughter, for which he was fined.
- 1775: George Macartney and Major-General James Stuart; Earl Macartney was wounded.
- 1779: Charles James Fox and Mr Adams
- 1789: Frederick, Duke of York and Lieutenant-Colonel Lennox
- 1792: Lady Almeria Braddock and Mrs Elphinstone; so called "petticoat duel"; Lady Almeria Braddock felt insulted by Mrs Elphinstone and challenged her to a duel in London's Hyde Park after their genteel converstation turned to the subject of Lady Almeria's true age. The ladies first exchanged pistol shots in which Lady Almeria's hat was damaged. They then continued with swords until Mrs. Elphinstone received a wound to her arm and agreed to write Lady Almeria an apology.
- 1796: William Pitt the Younger and George Tierney
- 1799: Colonel Ashton and Major Allen; Duel took place in India; Ashton was killed.
- 1807: Sir Francis Burdett and James Pauli; both men were wounded.
- 1808: Major Campbell and Captain Boyd; Major Campbell was tried and executed for killing Captain Boyd.
- 1809: George Canning and Lord Castlereagh; Canning was slightly wounded.
- 1815: Daniel O'Connell and Norcot d'Esterre; d'Esterre was killed.
- 1821: John Scott and J.H. Christie; John Scott, founder and editor of the London Magazine, was killed.
- 1824: The 3rd Marquess of Londonderry and Ensign Battier; Battier was a cornet in the Marquess's regiment. When Battier's pistol misfired, he declined the offer of another shot and left. He was later horsewhipped by the marquesses second Sir Henry Hardinge.
- 1829: Duke of Wellington and the 10th Earl of Winchilsea; both aimed wide.
- 1835: Mr Roebuck and Mr Black, editor of the Morning Chronicle
- 1835: William Arden, 2nd Baron Alvanley and Morgan O'Connell; Morgan O'Connell; was the son of Daniel O'Connell. Alvanley asserted that Morgan's father had been "purchased" by William Lamb, 2nd Viscount Melbourne on his accession to the office of Prime Minister, O'Connell retorted by calling Alvanley "a bloated buffoon".
- 1839: Marquess of Londonderry and Henry Gratton
- 1840: The James Thomas Brudenell, 7th Earl of Cardigan and Captain Harvey Garnett Phipps Tuckett; Captain Tuckett was wounded. Cardigan was arrested, tried in the House of Lords and was acquitted [3].
- 1840: Prince Louis Napoleon and Charles, Count Léon; Police arrived to prevent the duel; both men were arrested and taken to Bow Street Prison.
- 1840: Joseph Howe is called out by a member of Nova Scotian high society for his populist writing, although his opponent fires first and misses, Howe fires his shot in the air and wins the right to refuse future challenges.
- 1843: Colonel Fawcett and Lieutenant Monro; Colonel Fawcett was killed.
French duels
- 1832: Evariste Galois and Perscheux d'Herbinville; Evariste Galois, the French mathematician, died of his wounds at the age of twenty.
- 1888: General George Boulanger and Charles Floquet (Prime Minister of the French Replublic); The General was wounded in the throat but survived.
American duels
- 1804: U.S. Vice President Aaron Burr and former U.S. Treasury Secretary Alexander Hamilton; Hamilton was killed.
- 1806: Andrew Jackson and Charles Dickinson; Dickinson was killed, Jackson wounded.
- 1820: Stephen Decatur and James Barron; Decatur was killed.
- 1848: Albert Pike and John Selden Roane; declared a draw, no injuries.
- 1853: U.S. Senator William McKendree Gwin and U.S. Congressman J.W. McCorkle, no injuries
- 1859: U.S. Senator David C. Broderick and David S. Terry, formerly Chief Justice of the Supreme Court of California; Broderick was killed
- 1960s: Although not technically a duel, Bruce Lee was challenged to a fight with a member of a rival martial arts school over his decision to teach non Chinese students. Lee accepted the challenge and won the duel, but his dissatisfaction with how long it took to defeat his opponent led to his development of Jeet Kun Do
Russian Duels
- 1837: Aleksandr Pushkin mortally wounded in a duel with his wife's lover
Mexican Duels
- 2004 Two brothers-in-law in kill each other in a pistol duel in Jalisco state.
Duels in fiction
- The Princess Bride features several sword duels.
- The Three Musketeers by Alexander Dumas; D'Artagnan commits himself to fight three consecutive duels with Athos, Porthos, and Aramis
- Les Liaisons dangereuses by Pierre Choderlos de Laclos; Valmont versus Darcency, Valmont allows himself to be killed
- The Duel (also known as The Point of Honor: A Military Tale) by Joseph Conrad; Two officers of Napoleon Bonaparte's army fight a number of duels over many years. The story was transferred to the screen by Ridley Scott as The Duellists.
- HMS Surprise by Patrick O'Brian; Stephen Maturin fights and kills Richard Canning over Diana Villers. Based on the Ashton–Allen duel?
- In Ridicule, a French film directed by Patrice Leconte, protagonist Gregoire Ponceludon kills one of King Louis XVI's officers in a pistol duel.
- In Star Wars, a series of movies and stories regarding a distant interplanetary struggle:
- Darth Maul versus Obi Wan Kenobi and Qui-Gon Jinn. After an earlier run in with Darth Maul the two Jedi, Kenobi and Jinn, are left to confront Darth Maul. Maul and Jinn die.
- Obi Wan Kenobi versus Darth Vader. Kenobi allows Vader to win as others watch the battle.
- Luke Skywalker versus Darth Vader. Skywalker suffers amputation in their first confrontation. A later confrontation convinces Vader to reject his subordination to Emperor Palpatine.
References
- The Duel: A history of duelling by Robert Baldrick
- Extraordinary Popular Delusions and the Madness of Crowds by Charles Mackay has a section on "Duels and Ordeals"; see the text of volume 1 at Project Gutenberg.