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Bladensburg Dueling Grounds is the name of a small spit of land in the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, just east of Washington, DC, United States, an area which hosted over fifty bloody pistol duels.

In 1819, Colonel John McCarty killed his cousin, General Armistead Mason. McCarty was haunted for years by his experience after surviving the twelve pace musket duel.

Stephen Decatur was mortally wounded here in 1820.

In June, 1836, twenty-two year old Daniel Key, a son of Francis Scott Key, was killed in a senseless duel with a fellow Annapolis Naval Academy student, John Sherbourne, over a question regarding steamboat speed.

Jonathan Cilley, a Representative from Maine, was a reluctant participant in another duel here. In February 1838, Cilley was killed by Congressman William J. Graves of Kentucky. Graves was a stand-in for New York newspaper editor James Webb, whom Cilley had called corrupt. Cilley was inexperienced with guns, and Graves was allowed to use a powerful rifle. A shot to an artery in Cilley's leg caused him to bleed to death in ninety seconds. This duel prompted passage of a congressional act of February 20, 1839, prohibiting the giving or accepting, within the District of Columbia, of challenges to a duel.

Coordinates: 38°56′1.92″N 76°57′10.26″W / 38.9338667°N 76.95285°W / 38.9338667; -76.95285

References

• "Haunted Places, The National Directory" by Dennis William Hauck

External links

• Pictures and more information