Spirit of Jefferson. [volume] (Charles Town, Va. [W. Va.]) 1844-1948, 1873-05-20
DUEL AT RICHMOND.

duel between Nlessrs. John b. NIordecaiS and
Page ID cgarty that il was possible 10 obtain
between midnight and O'Clock in the morn
Ing. Cur inquiries made in every direction ]
yesterday, with the view of procuring all the
facts connected with the matter, resulted in5
tile collection of the information following s
On the 9TH of last February the following
verses appeared on the fourth page Of the Ea,.s
quirer5 and though considered BY the editor
and nearly every person who read them as en-
tirely harmless, were the occasion of che first
rupture Of friendly relations between Messrs.
Mordecai and McCaray:
THE FIRST FIG IRE IN s.rHE GERMAN"
IN EPigram:
We have received for publicatiantthe following
from loving swain who, doubtless, has been kicked
by his sweetheart: -
When Mary's queenly form lipress 4
In strauss' latest waltz
IL wou Id as we'll her lips caress d
- Although those lips be false. s.. 5
For still with fire Love tips His dart &
And kind1es up anew
The flames which once consumed my heart,
oil When those dear lips were true.
oiforp 80 fair, Of tsith so faiut,
truth were only in her, -,
Though she'd be then the cw eetest saint ss'
- I'd still feel 1ike sinner. -. -.
Upon the publication Of these lines, Mr..
Mordecai'inquired who was the author. As.
certaining that Mr.. McCarty was, for some
reason unknown to us, he took personal af,
front, and at once, throug b friend. openedi
correspondeqce with him. At one time this
interchange of notes promised to result in
duel, but by the Intervention of mutual friends.
and giving Of some explanations, the affair
was amicably settled. It seems that there
was something behind these verses-some
event. or some transaction previous, which
had caused unfriendly relations between the
parties, and though peaceable adjustment
Of the difficulty was had, good feeling was
not restored, and the two were known to be.
bitter enemies, On last Monday night a. we
Informed, Mr.. Mordecai and Mr.. McCarty
met at Che Richmond Club Rooms. southeast
corner of Franklin and Third streets. Mr..
McCaEty was,in the saloon, talking to friend,
when Mr.. Mordecai entered The latter
thought he heard some insulting allusion to
him fall from the lips of McCaity as he came
in. and therefore Immediately approached him +!
and demanded to know what had, been said
when his name was mentioned The answer
was given. but proved far from satisfactory
Mordecai Immediately struck McCarty a tre>
mendons blow in the face, which knocked
him down. McGarfy sprang DIP, but was
again struck by Mordeca. who was so rapid
in his blows and SO vigorous ia his attack,
that the. former could make but poor de-
Tense. The gentlemen in the house ana those
near at hand used PROMPT exertions to sepa>
rate the gentlemen, and they were taken apart
after few seconds fight. Out of this oc>
currence at the Clubs Rooms grew the duel.
The duel took place at 6 o'clock in the af-
ternoon, near Oakwood Cemetery, just east of
the city !; that the weapons used should be
Colts navy revolt eTs. largest size, loaded with
army balls, and to be fred at distance of
ten PAGES.
Mr.. Nordeeai appeared on the field at the
hour named with his frinds, Mr. Royal and
Mr.. w. N. Trige, and was met by Mr.. Me-
Carly and his friends, Colonel w. B. Tabb
and Mr.. John S. Meredith. The spot selec-
ted for the encounter was on TIarrison's farm.
about half a mile beyond Oakwood cemetery.
The choice of pistols fell to Mr. NlcCatv.
aud his friend, Colonel Tsbb, also won the
privilege of giving the words Of command.
The revolvers were, loaded and the principals
put face to face. Messrs. Mordecai aud Nc
Carly were both perfectly cool and collected
neither showed the leas. sign Of agitation or
slightest mark of excitement and when placed
in position. faced each other in manner that
indicated their determination to make des>
perate fight There was absolutely no a.,van.
tage in position, though the choice had fallen
to Mr.. McCarty. They stood on line run
ming north and south, and the sun Just sink
ing. in the vest fell aslant of each of them.
The words were to be "Are you ready p
.'Fire"-"one," ''Geo," '.tEree." and the par
ties were to fire not before ..one," nor after
three" The words care you ready" were
slowly and distinctly uttered by NIr. Tabb.
aud responses came promptly and clearly from
Mordecai and MIcCarty, 'ready;" then as
Pabb said ''fire," the two pistols were raised
and steady aim taken at the word two
both fred, and so nearly togt Their in point of
time, that it seemed as if only one weapon
had been discharged. AS the smoke cleared
away both parties we're observed standing
quietly in place. 1t being apparent that his
adversary was urhurt. Mr. McCarty demanded
another fire. Mr.. Mordecai readily acceded.
and the same instructions as to firing as be-
fore were given the principals. They fred
this time between .'t,eo" and s'three;" and
both fell simultaneously.
Mordecai turned to the right, as if about
to raise his foot from the ground, then half
fell and toppled over upon his side: Nc
Carty, fell forward like statue pushed down
from behind. His feet scarcely moved from
their tracks. and he went TO tho, earth face
foremost. Surgeons were Immediately sent
for, and Doctors Hunter Mcclure and J:
Dorsey Cullen in a few seconds appeared upon
the scene. 1t was at first thought that Nor
decai was dying, aud the seconds, without the
exchange of any special formalites. came to
the conclusion that the matter had gone far
enough. Mordecai, however, offered to give
MeCar'y another shot, but of course, the idea
was not entertained:
In searching for secluded place, the par
ties had gone within, a few hundred yards of
the railroad, and as there were no convey ances
at hand fit to bear off the wounded men. Mr..
Royal started to Richmond to get car from
the railroad company, but by the time he
reached the depot the officers were ali gone
hcme, and he went to hunt for two carriages.
In the meantime, Major Poe, chief of the
police of this city, arrived at the scene of the
recent conflict, and took all present into cns-