Dueling in the Early 1800s in the United States

I have been writing about Hassard Stackpoole of the Royal Navy, who was killed by another officer of the British Navy in a duel in 1814.

Duels were popular in this era.

From Wikipedia.

In the 1600s and 1700s, most duels were with swords and rapiers, but starting in the 1800s, the pistol became weapon of choice.

Dueling became a popular way of settling differences in the United States.  In 1804, former secretary of the Treasury Alexander Hamilton was killed in a duel by sitting Vice President Aaron Burr.

Between 1798 and the Civil War, the U.S. Navy lost  two-thirds more of its officers to dueling than to combat with the enemy at sea.  One of those was naval hero Stephen Decatur.  Most of the officers killed were midshipmen and junior officers.

Despite prominent deaths and public outcry, dueling continued before the Civil War, particularly in the South because of contemporary ideals of chivalry and because of threat of ridicule if a duel challenge was declined.

And, as we will see in upcoming posts, there was also "dueling" between warships.

--Brock-Perry