Politicians In Mortal Combat

Abraham Lincoln and his soon-to-be-wife Mary Todd had written some inflammatory letters to the editor defaming Illinois state auditor James Shields, mocking him and calling him “overly pompous.”

It was 1824, and Shields responded by challenging Lincoln to a duel, which was to take place in Missouri.

The Code Duello says that the person challenged gets to choose the weapon for the duel.  Lincoln did not choose the traditional pistol; he wisely chose broadswords.  Abe crossed the Mississippi River into West Alton, Missouri, ready for mortal combat.  James Shields took one look at the length of Abe’s arms, and called the duel off.  Abe won.

There was no winner in the 1831 duel between Thomas Biddle (brother of the head of the Bank of the United States) and Congressman Spencer Pettis.  At that time, Thomas Biddle owned a huge part of Valley Park, where my buddy Randy and I live now.  

Thomas Biddle was insensed when the Congressman insulted his brother.  Biddle took a cowhide whip into St. Louis and thrashed the Congressman, who later challenged Biddle to a duel.

This duel took place on St. Louis’ most popular dueling ground: a sandbar in the Mississippi River called Bloody Island.  Biddle chose pistols for the duel; since he was far-sighted, he chose five paces.

The outcome was predictable: both men died of gunshot wounds.

Bloody Island eventually disappeared when Robert E. Lee of the Army Corps of Engineers altered the channel of the Mississippi River.

Dueling, just like Bloody Island, eventually disappeared as a means of settling political disputes.

However, last night I watched the 2012 vice presidential debate.  In previous years, the opponents had stood at separate podiums.  But now they were seated at the same table.  The debate grew heated and intense.

I grew nervous when I saw that Joe Biden and Paul Ryan were within striking distance of each other.  The candidates no weapons, but I was waiting for them to punch each other with their fists or bop each other with microphones or grab a necktie and try to choke their opponent.

I wondered how far we have come from the day when Abraham Lincoln crossed into Missouri, with broadswords, ready for mortal combat.

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Here is a photo of a futile legislative attempt to stamp out dueling in 1822, one year after Missouri became a state:

http://www.sos.mo.gov/archives/education/dueling/1822Anit-DuelingStatute.pdf

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NOTE: Doug's best stories have been collected into a book: Puppy Out Of Breath.  Price = $11.  You can purchase a copy at  http://www.puppyoutofbreath.com