We have previously written about dueling, a practice by which gentleman who considered themselves of equal social standing would respond to a serious insult by fighting, sometimes to the death, with pistols. Many of these duels were fought at the Bladensburg Dueling Ground, located just outside the boundaries of Washington, D.C. One of my favorite digital collections offered by the Library of Congress is Chronicling America, a collection of digitized newspapers dating back to the nation’s founding that offers the ability to conduct full text searches. After paying a visit to Bladensburg several months ago, I decided to see if I could find some accounts of duels that were fought at Bladensburg in Chronicling America. A search for “duel” AND “Bladensburg” returned 42 results. Here are some of the highlights:
Burlington hawk-eye. (Burlington, Iowa) 1845-185x, June 12, 1851, Image 1Delaware gazette. (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, February 26, 1858, Image 2 part 1Delaware gazette. (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, February 26, 1858, Image 2 part 2Delaware gazette. (Delaware, Ohio) 1855-1886, February 26, 1858, Image 2 part 3Evansville weekly journal. (Evansville, Ind.) 184x-18xx, June 29, 1848, Image 2Evening star. (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, August 25, 1860, Image 3Green-Mountain freeman. (Montpelier, Vt.) 1844-1884, February 12, 1846, Image 2Maumee express. (Maumee City, Ohio) 1837-1838, September 23, 1837, Image 2New-York daily tribune. (New-York [N.Y.]) 1842-1866, June 17, 1843, Image 2Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, September 27, 1860, Image 1 part 1Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, September 27, 1860, Image 1 part 2Port Tobacco times, and Charles County advertiser. (Port Tobacco, Md.) 1845-1898, September 27, 1860, Image 1 part 3Semi-weekly standard. (Raleigh, N.C.) 1853-18xx, April 01, 1854, Image 3
The daily dispatch. (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, February 24, 1858, Image 2The Evansville daily journal. (Evansville, Ia. [i.e. Ind.]) 1848-1862, July 06, 1848, Image 2Virginia free press. (Charlestown, Va. [W. Va.]) 1832-1916, October 30, 1834, Image 2
Weekly North Carolina standard. (Raleigh, N.C.) 1850-1858, August 13, 1856, Image 1