Omaha daily bee., 1909-07-18
FIELD OF HONOR A COWPATH
Ancient Blsdensburg Dueling Ground
Little More Than a Memory.
MUCH PISTOL SHOOTING THERE
wsshinEton's Ozark and bloody"
Ground when the Code Existed
Only n Mass of Tangled
Thickets.

road connecting Washington with Balu-
more, stands ancient Bladensburg-now in
ruins. II is not only the oldest OF all the
hanlets that had life and heroic history
before the war OF The revolution, but II is
now the deadsst
1t is probable that not one-half the popu-
lation Of Washington Of today ever heard
Of Rladensburg. And yet a short half mile
across the District OF Columbia. and on
an invisible line OF the state Of Maryland.
In the midst of tangled thickets and the
fantastic drapery of vines. wreathed in the
ancient trees, is the famous old dueling
ground. Here the most famous ducls were
fought, the most desperate and fatal ever
known on the western continent. 1t Is
rightly named the dark and bloody
ground" 1t lies In a deep valley sur
founded on all sides by high hills. There
Is a narrow COW path now across the field
Of honor" where men of blood and iron
settled all questions of honor with blood
instead Of organizing an Ananias club,
Thirty DueIs Fought There.
More than thirty duels we're fought on
this fatal spot. AS early as 1914 Captain
EdN ard Hopkins Of Maryland, then an
ensign OF infantry, was slain here in a
duel with swords. On February s, 1919, a
desperate and fatal duel was fought here
between two famous Yirginians, both Of
the F. f.. V. ped~igree-General Mason.
formerly United states senator, and Colonel
John NJ. McCarty. They were second
cousins, but had quarreled over politics.
McCarty first challenged Mason, but
Mason declined on account Of the condl-
lions. AftPrward Ubep Mace, mo, .tag,n
through Richmond, Va, in a stage, with
General Andrew Jackson Of Tennessee, the
general told Mason he should now chal-
lenge McCarty.
When McCarty received the challenge he
accepted and named the conditions, that he
and Mason should leap together from the
great dome of the capitol, 2lO feet above
the ground. These terms were declined as
against the code duello. Then McCarty
proposed bowie knives. close range, which
was also declined. The next proposition
was muskets loaded with buckshot. ten
feet apart. These terms Mason accepted.
At s a. m. Mason and McCarty met on This
fatal field. At first fire Mason fell dead.
and McCarty was severely wounded on the
right arm, but recovered-disabled for life.
Admiral Decatur Killed.
"a hrAN HloSN famous Quel was on March
q, 1890, between Admiral Stephen Decatur
and James Barron, a commodore of the
navy. Admiral Decatur was then in the
full vigor Of his manhood and at the zenith
OF his fame. The cause Of this duel was
as follows:
In 1907 Commodore Barron was in COM
mand Of the United States frlgate Chesa-
peake. On meeting the British ship Leo
Dard he allowed aaNara1 80 bIe non,on
claimed as British deserters, to be taken
from his deck without firing a gun, and
this was one OF the incidents that brought
on the war of 1912 between the United
States and England. Admiral Decatur was
chosen by the secretary of the navy as
one Of the members of the
that found Commodore Barron guilty. After
the court-martlal Barron challenged Ad-
miral Decatur to deadly combat. This duel
was fought with pistols, eight PAGES apart.
Both fired at the same instant and both
fell at first fire.
Admiral Decatur died at II o'clock that
night, but Barron recovered. A leading
Washington paper printed the following
the next morning.:
Commodore Stephen Decatur, the pride
Of his country, the noble-hearted gentle
man, is no more. Mourn, Columbia, for
one of thy brightest stars is set"
Seven Prove Fatal.
To give details OF the seven fatal duels
fought on the same spot would make this
letter too long. 1t was on this bloody
ground that Henry Clay fought his no
torious duel.
As TO dueling In general, it came to us
from across the Atlantic, but 1t was the
bloody game of the gentlemen Of hot blood
in this country for fifty years preceding
the civil war.
Dueling originated in the age of chivalry.
Chivalrous duels, however, were seldom
fatal, as knights fought each other in full
armor of steel, Neither did they have any
Ananias clubs in the fourteenth century,
and It was dangerous to fight duels either
with lance or broadsword.
In 1880, 500 years ago, a duel was fought
at Westminster, England, between a knight
and a squire, both in full armor. They
became so exhausted that when they
closed and fell they had to be lifted from
the ground by their seconds, on account Of
that tired feeling" The next day the
squire died from exhaustion, and the chron-
icles OF the period wrote: He died to the
delight Of the people and the grief Of all
traitors"
Great IoDuccO MaEts
But old Bladensburg, that was once a
smart town with 1900 people, has other re-
nown besides bloodshedding. 1t was a
great tobacco mart long before the war Of
the revolution, when the eastern branch Of
the Potomac was navigable, and sloops and
ships loaded tobacco on the docks at Blad-
ensburg to make sail direct to Liverpool,
across the Atlantic.
AT Biadepsburg still stands as a live host
elry the George Washington hotel" that
has been kept continuously as a hotel for
III years. 1t is a two-story brick struc-
ture, plastered and painted white, with a
projecting balcony on second story and a
large board sign swung in front, with a
faded and battered head of the immortal
George, that looks to be at least 100 years
old. A tower projects above the center
roof, on which is painted in bold, black
letters: George Washington Hotel, Estab-
ltshed 1731." During the war Of the revo-
luton, George Washington stopped over
night at this hotel on his way from Mount
Vernon to his army.
Everything that oliver Goldsmith said Of
the Deserted village" can be said with
all the pathos OF the pauper poets) Of old
- Il - mAAn - las az