The Indianapolis journal. [volume] (Indianapolis [Ind.]) 1867-1904, 1897-07-11
WOMEN IN THE DUELLO
MANY HAVE REsORTED TO THE
CODE TO RESENT INSULTS.
France Has Furnished the Greatest
Number-Chevaliere D'EOR and
Mile. De Maupin.


fought a duel the other day, according to
a brief cable dispatch, one receiving a
wound in the neck. slightly more formid-
able than a pin scratch, and the other es-
Gaping with nothing more serious than
profuse attack of fright and perspiration.
Some innocents might imagine the dueling
woman to be an -of-the-century prod
uct a far-reaching growth of the feminine
desire to ape masculinity in all things. But
as far as the duello is concerned, the wom
of to-day is an immeasurable distance
behind her sister of century or two ago.
In fact. the further back one goes into the
duskiness of the past the more prevalent
the dueling woman becomes.
In the time of the crusades particularly
in the eleventh and twelfth centuries the
fighting woman was as prevalent as bad
debts are to-day Clad in mail and armed
with sword and lance, she accompanied her
warrior husband, brother or sweetheart to
the holy land and mixed plentifully in the
constan broils which marked those long
and boisterous marches. She came from
England, France and Germany by the
thousand and tigureo prominently in the
outrages which blotted the pathways of
the blood-spilling crusaders. In some of
the crusades there were as many as 1900
of the amazons, and naturally they didn't
get on very we'll together, their rows in
variably ending by recourse to arms. In
fact, they fought so much among them
selves that the leaders of subsequent cru
sades forbade their Joining the army, but
this edict was futile Disguised men,
and with proficiency in arms equal to
the average warrior, they easily passed off
as the masculine article, and continued to
Kill the Saracen and each other until the
last of the crusades.
The French woman has always taken
front rank in the matter of duels Italian
and Spanish women have often settled dis
puteS with the sword; Austrian and En-
glSh women figure lightly in the history of
the duel, and the instances of American
women who reSOrted to the field of honor
are extremely rare
One of the few cases of the latter kind
occurred III France only eleven years ago
A French woman named Nine. Astia de
Valsayre considered herself insulted by
some utterance of an American girl named
Genevieve Shelley. The French woman de-
manded satisfaction on the field of honor
and the American girl, who had lived in
France from her babyhood, saw nothing
particularly strange IN the loea OK FEM
mime duel, so she accepted Seconds, a
surgeon and the principals journeyed to
the field of Waterloo, where the duel was
fought with swords. Both were clever fenc-
ers, but Nine Nalsayre was the more eX-
perlenced and succeeded in wonndlng her
fed the injured honor of the combatants
and the duel ended.
The most noted woman duelist was a
mysterious creature named Charles Gene
We've Louise Auguste Andre Timothee
d Eon, whose mixture of masculine and
feminine names was quite consistent with
passed man and the other half as a
woman So successfully did she impersonate
the masculine that after her DEAN count
less disputes arose over the question of her
sex, and some historians of to-day still
throw doubt on the matter
But when everything is considered, it
woman and q l.
tiful woman, too. She was contemporary
of the wicked Nine. Pompadour and Nine.
du Barry, who helped King Louis XIV to
rule France. The times were propitious
for an adventurous person like the Chev-
aliere d Eon, and 1t seems that she made
the most of her opportunities. She was a
favorte of the King, and in many diplo
matte necessities performed extraordinary
services, at one time wheedling out state
secrets as a beautiful and fascinating Wom-
an; at another time bullying as deadly,
fighting man.
dress to the court of the Empress Eliza
beth of Russia from 1855 to 1860, and later,
as man was ambassador to England.
The chevaliere face was handsome and
the voice high pitched. When dressed in
feminine attire she was as handsome a
woman as any in the courts of Europe, and
as a man, in the silk and satin bravery of
those picturesque times, there was not a
noble among all the courtierS who could
drink deeper or throw dice for higher
stakes than the chivalere.
No mans hand more readily sought the
hilt of his sword than did dEons. She
was one of the best sword weders of the
epoch, and was noted and much feared
duelist. She had notable encounter with
the Chevaliere de St. Georges on a bright
summer day in the Palace Royale-a fe-
vorite spot-and was wounded in her
sword arm. AS soon as she was recovered
from her hurt she again picked a quarrel
with her former adversary and ran him
through the heart.
Another French woman, who earned I'M
dying, fame 3I1 as a duelist was the eel t,,
Theophile Gautier. She was reckoned the
most expert fencer of her time, and the
famous duelist thought twice before pro-
voking a quarrel with her. She was an
actress in Paris, but she fell in love with
a fencing master, and followed him to
Marseilles. There they disagreed, fought
with swords, ard she returned to Paris
leaving him to find some one else to nurse
In Paris she entered the opera and at
tanned great celebrity, both by her talent
and eccentricities. An actor named Du-
in wait for him in the Place des VICTORIES
Being unsuccessful in provoking him to
fight, she tore his watch and snuffbox
from him and carried them off as the spoils
of war Another actor she forced to beg
her pardon on his knees before the whole
company.
palace she was disguised as a man. and
paid violent and unmistakable attentions
to one of the ladies of the court Three
gentlemen provoked a combat with her
on this account, and she fought them one
after another and killed them all, after
which, relying on the immunity which she
enjoyed, owing to her high protectors. she
returned to the ballroom and amused her
self until daybreak.
One of the few cases on record of En-
gliSh women dueliStS is that of q bat
tie between Lady Almeria Braddock and
a Mrs. Elphinstone, both of them leaders
in London society at the end of the eight
zenith century. The quarrel arose over
some criticisms which Mrs. Elphinstone
made concerning Lady Braddock. History
says that these referred to the latter's age
At any rate, Lady Braddock felt MORALLY
injured and. following the fashion of her
masculine friends, sent a challenge to Mrs
Elphnstone. The latter did not care to
carry the dispute to such a degree, but
some Of her friends insisted upon her ac-
cepting. They told her she could select pis-
tolls and there would be no possible chance
of either being hit.
September of 1892, with pistols at ten
yards. AS was predicted, the ladies fred
and neither was hit, although a bullet
passed through the hat of Lady Almeria
This quite unnerved the latter, but infused
tremendous confidence in the heart OF Mrs
be continued with swords. To her surprise
Lady Almeria accepted, and before the
new duel had lasted two minutes the titled
fighter succeeded in stabbing her antagon-
list through the arm. That ended the af-
fray.
lere Eon was Nine. de Chasteau-Gay.
who having been often led by one or her
male friends challenged him. He was
borne wounded from the field, after the
duel which followed. Nine. Chasteau-Gay s
sister, Nine. La Douze, went further yet.
She fought her own husband on the field
of honor 1t seems the poor man and she
could not agree on some matter, and, after