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Vanderbilt Law Review

First Page

1805

Abstract

Jonathan Cilley and William Graves fought their duel in the early afternoon of February 23, 1838. The two faced off near the Anacostia River bridge leading out of Washington, D.C., having agreed in advance to duel with rifles at a distance of eighty paces. Shortly before three o'clock, they stood opposite one another, and at the signal, they exchanged shots, Cilley firing first. Both men missed. The men who accompanied them to the duel-their seconds-tried to work out the disagreement that led the men to the dueling-ground, but to no avail. For a second time, both stood and exchanged fire; for a second time, both missed. Now, Cilley was ready to end the duel, but by this time Graves was enraged and insisted on another exchange. The two men's seconds backed away again, the signal was given again, and the men exchanged fire once more. This time, Cilley dropped to the ground, shot dead.

The duel and its result quickly attracted national attention, for the two duelists were not just gentlemen skirmishing over a private slight, but United States Congressmen--Cilley from Maine, Graves from Kentucky. So were six of the witnesses at the duel. The outcry grew when Graves and the other Congressmen were not immediately expelled from Congress, but instead merely made the subject of an investigation.

As word of the duel and its outcome spread, Congress was bombarded with petitions demanding that it pass a law banning dueling in the District of Columbia, even though dueling was already illegal under the common law. Within two weeks of Cilley's death, Senator Samuel Prentiss of Maine put before the Senate a bill "[T]o prohibit the giving or accepting within the District of Columbia of a challenge to fight a duel."" The bill would make send- agreed in advance to duel with rifles at a distance of eighty paces. Shortly before three o'clock, they stood opposite one another, and at the signal, they exchanged shots, Cilley firing first. Both men missed. The men who accompanied them to the duel-their seconds-tried to work out the disagreement that led the men to the dueling-ground, but to no avail. For a second time, both stood and exchanged fire; for a second time, both missed. Now, Cilley was ready to end the duel, but by this time Graves was enraged and insisted on another exchange. The two men's seconds backed away again, the signal was given again, and the men exchanged fire once more. This time, Cilley dropped to the ground, shot dead.

The duel and its result quickly attracted national attention, for the two duelists were not just gentlemen skirmishing over a private slight, but United States Congressmen--Cilley from Maine, Graves from Kentucky. So were six of the witnesses at the duel. The outcry grew when Graves and the other Congressmen were not immediately expelled from Congress, but instead merely made the subject of an investigation.

As word of the duel and its outcome spread, Congress was bombarded with petitions demanding that it pass a law banning dueling in the District of Columbia, even though dueling was already illegal under the common law. Within two weeks of Cilley's death, Senator Samuel Prentiss of Maine put before the Senate a bill "[T]o prohibit the giving or accepting within the District of Columbia of a challenge to fight a duel."" The bill would make sending a challenge a felony punishable by five years imprisonment, and would make killing an opponent in a duel murder.

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