River Falls journal. [volume] (River Falls, Pierce County, Wis.) 1872-2019, 1884-03-20
WOMEN DUELISTS.
How Ladies Have Executed the "cods of
Honor"


A San Francisco journal observes that
if women, as a general thing, do not
countenance, and have never counte-
nanced, modern dueling, and are nat
uralIv averse to all sy stems of individual
combat-for varied and sometimes he
role reasons--still they have cir woman.
ly sympathies at play, either upon one
side or the other, in all encounters of
controversies where they may be inter
ested, however trivial or majestic the
difficulty or its cause. During the ex-
istance of judicial dueling in European
countries ladies of rank were always
found to be among the respectable spec
tators, and there have been instances OF
the presence of women on hostile fields
since the prohibition of ju dicial duels.
particularly in Italy and France.
There are also records of hostile en-
counters between women-conspicuous
among which was the duel with pistols
between Lady de Nesle and the Countess
de Polignac. in 1921, in the gardens of
Versailles France). The ladies had
INDUCED in a most disgraceful quarrel
two evenings before, at grand fete at
the palace, over the Due de Richelieu-
than wondrous character in the history
of France-during which Lady de Nesle
losing control of herself, had sprung
like a tigress upon her rival and at.
tempted to tear a diamond necklace from
the countess neck Failing in this,
however, she snatched the blush roses
from their nest in the snowy bosom and
flung them in the face of her rival.
Up to this time, SAYS some English
writer the Countess of Pohgnac had
kept down, by a powerful effort, the
mighty rage which was inwardly con-
Stunning her, but this last indignity de-
stroyed even the outward calmness, and,
casting aside all further reserve, she at
tackled Lady de Nesle in the same way
she herself had been assaulted. In a
few moments jewels and flowers and
ribbons and laces strewed the floor, and
there is no telling to what extent the ex-
traordinary exhibition would have gone
had not the enraged Amazons been sep
arated by the Marquis de Malbulsson
and Mile Nathalie de Condacet. Out
of this grew the duel, the Countess of
Polignac being the challenging party.
The ladies met at six o'clock in the
morning, in July, 1921, and fired one
shot at each other without effect. Their
seconds (the Marquis de Malbuisson and
the Count de Penthievre for POlignac
and NJ de Remuset and Vicomte Dali
agne for De Nesle) then rushed in to
prevent further hostilities; the fair de-
mons, however, would not be appeased,
but called for change of pistols and
again blazed away-this second time
with satisfactory effect, for the marchion-
o IS fell dangerously wounded bya bull
let in her left side, while the countess
was just quietly touched in an ear.
A duel took place at Paris Jan. 81,
1771, between Mile. de Guignes and
Mile. d'Aiguilion two ladies of quality,
who had quarfels about presidency at a
soiree, and retired to a garden adjacent
to the scene of disturbance, and fought
with knives until both were wounded
the former in the arm and the latter in
the neck. 1t is recorded of Moussin, a
French prima donna, that after killing
three men in duels in the woods near
Paris, by sword, she fatally wounded
her fencing master, Scrane, and fled to
Brussels, where she dOmiciled with the
elector of Bavaria for brief period.
Lola Montez was also skillful with
both pistol and rapier, but it does not
appear that she ever engaged in any
thing of a hostile character above the
dignity of street fight. She once
challenged journalist at Grass Valley,
Cal, to meet her with pistols, accord
ing to prevailing rules governing such
meetings, and upon his refusal to dc so,
thrashed him with a cowhide upon a
public street. In 1843 she was wit
ness in the trial of Nj. Bouvallan for
killing NJ Duiarier, at Paris, and said
in her testimony: 81 was a better shot
than Duiarier,. and if Bouvallon only
wanted satisfaction / would have fought
himself"
Duiarier was friend of Lola Montez,
and in his will, written the evening be-
fore his death, he bequeathed the (af-
terwarO Countess of Lonsfeldt 100, 900
francs. On the 21st of August, 1777,
Mile Leverrier Ga young lady of good
family, who had been Tilted by navy
officer named DupreZ, met the latter In
the street and handed him pistol and
told him to defend himself-at the same
time she drew weapon and shot her
false one in the face, while he discharged
his pistol in the air.
An extract from Georgia newspa-
per, published in 1917, says:
Last week point of honor was de-
cided between two ladies near the South
Carolina line, the cause of the quar-
rel being the usual one-love. The
object of the rival affections of these
fair champions was present in the
field as the mutual arbiter in the dread
full combat, and he had the grief of be-
holding one of the suitors for his favor
fall dangerously wounded before his
eyes. The whole business was managed
with all the decorum and intlexibility
practiced on such occasions, and the
conqueror was Immediately married to
the innocent second, conformably to the
previous conditions of the duel. "
A Buffalo, n. Y, paper of August
1853, gives an account of an arrest OF
Catharine Hurley and Jane Hall, "whc
had met ON the toll-bridge on Ohio
street, in the presence of vast assem-
blage, to fight duel with Aliens re-
volvera" No other accounts of similar
performances have come under the OBJ
servation of the writer.
Compressed Matters.
VII L.