page_title: List of last words
section_title: 19th century
hierarchical_section_title: List of last words / Chronological list of last words / 19th century
caption_attribution_description: English: Duel of Alexander Pushkin and Georges d'Anthès Русский: Дуэль Пушкина с Дантесом
context_page_description: Last words or final words are a person's final articulated words, stated prior to death or as death approaches. Last words may not necessarily be written down or accurately recorded, and they may not be quoted accurately for a variety of reasons.
  Famous last words include literal utterings such as the sayings of Jesus on the cross, "Et tu, Brute?" from Shakespeare's Julius Caesar, and the ironic sense of words said before a disaster, such as:
  "They couldn't hit an elephant at this distance!" General John Sedgwick at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House immediately before being killed by enemy fire.
  "Let all brave Prussians follow me!" Field Marshal Kurt Christoph Graf von Schwerin at the Battle of Prague, immediately before being hit in the head by a cannonball.
  "What do you think I'm gonna do? Blow my brains out?" Terry Kath of the band Chicago, just before putting a pistol to his temple and pulling the trigger.
context_section_description: "Remember, my Eliza, you are a Christian."
  — Alexander Hamilton, American statesman (12 July 1804), addressing his wife after being mortally shot by his rival Aaron Burr in a duel
  "Thank God, I have done my duty."
  — Horatio Nelson, 1st Viscount Nelson, Royal Navy admiral (21 October 1805), mortally wounded at the Battle of Trafalgar
  "I think I could eat one of Bellamy's veal pies."
  — William Pitt the Younger, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (23 January 1806)
  "I die happy."
  — Charles James Fox, British statesman (13 September 1806)
  "Je suis toute à vous" ("I am all yours")
  — Adrienne de La Fayette, French marchioness who married Marquis de Lafayette.
  "I am not coward, but I am so strong. It is hard to die."
  — Meriwether Lewis, American explorer (11 October 1809), apparent suicide/possible murder
  "I am a queen, but I have not the power to move my arms."
  — Louise of Mecklenburg-Strelitz, Queen of Prussia (19 July 1810)
  "Oh!"
  — Spencer Perceval, Prime Minister of the United Kingdom (11 May 1812), mortally wounded by gunshot
  "Don't give up the ship. Fight her till she sinks."
  — James Lawrence, American naval officer (4 June 1813), mortally wounded by British fire
  "I want nothing but death."
  — Jane Austen, English novelist (18 July 1817), being asked by her sister Cassandra if she wanted something
  "That is surprising, since I have been practicing all night."
  — John Philpot Curran, Irish orator, politician and wit (14 October 1817), when his doctor said he was coughing "with more difficulty"
  "Nostitz, you have learned many a thing from me. Now you are to learn how peacefully a man can die."
  — Gebhard Leberecht von Blücher, Prussian field marshal (12 September 1819), to his aide-de-camp, August Ludwig von Nostitz
  "I am mortally wounded … I think."
  — Stephen Decatur, United States naval officer (22 March 1820), mortally wounded in duel with James Barron
  "France, the army, the head of the army, Joséphine."
  ("France, armée, tête d'armée, Joséphine.")
  — Napoleon Bonaparte, emperor of France (5 May 1821)
  "Let not my body be sent to England. Here let my bones molder. Lay me in the first corner without pomp or nonsense."
  — Lord Byron, English poet (19 April 1824), to his physician, Dr. Julius Michael Millingen
  "Is it the Fourth?"
  — Thomas Jefferson, president of the United States (4 July 1826), correctly remembering the national day of his country
  "Thomas Jefferson survives."
  — John Adams, president of the United States (4 July 1826), unaware that Jefferson had died earlier that same day
  "Pity, pity - too late!"
  — Ludwig van Beethoven, German composer (26 March 1827), being informed that his publisher had gifted him 12 bottles of wine
  "Napoleon was a great man and a great general. He conquered armies and he conquered nations. But he couldn't jump the Genesee Falls. Wellington was a great man and a great soldier. He conquered armies and he conquered Napoleon, but he couldn't jump the Genesee Falls. That was left for me to do, and I can do it and will!"
  — Sam Patch, American daredevil (13 November 1829), prior to fatal leap from Genesee Falls
  "Fuck, a bullet wound!"
  ("¡Carajo, un balazo!")
  — Antonio José de Sucre, Venezuelan independence leader and President of Peru and Bolivia (4 June 1830), after being shot while riding in the jungle of Colombia. He was said to be an educated gentleman who had never cursed until that day.
  "Well, I've had a happy life."
  — William Hazlitt, English essayist and critic (18 September 1830)
  "How do I get out of this labyrinth!"
  — Simon Bolivar, Venezuelan military and political leader (17 December 1830)
  "I regret that I should leave this world without again beholding him."
  — James Monroe, president of the United States (4 July 1831), referring to James Madison
  "Only one man ever understood me. And he really didn't understand me."
  — Georg Wilhelm Friedrich Hegel, German philosopher (14 November 1831)
  "Please open the second window of the bedroom so that more light can enter."
  — Johann Wolfgang von Goethe, German statesman and writer (22 March 1832)
  "Nurse, it was I who discovered leeches have red blood."
caption: Duel of Pushkin and d'Anthes.
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