Aaron Burr

:Alternate meaning: Rev. Aaron Burr, Sr.

The duel

When it became clear that Jefferson would drop Burr from his ticket in the 1804 election, the Vice President ran for the governorship of New York instead. Burr lost the election largely due to a personal smear campaign orchestrated by his own party rivals, the Clintons of New York. Hamilton also opposed Burr, due to his belief (still controversial) that Burr had entertained a Federalist secession movement in New York. But Hamilton exceeded himself at one political dinner, where he expressed a "still more despicable opinion" of Burr. Novelist Gore Vidal speculated Hamilton might have accused Burr of having an incestuous relationship with his beautiful daughter Theodosia, but most historians discount this as fiction. After a letter regarding the incident written by Dr. Charles D. Cooper circulated in a local newspaper, Burr sought an explanation from his erstwhile friend.

Related Topics:
1804 election - Governorship of New York - Gore Vidal - Charles D. Cooper

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Hamilton had written so many letters, and made so many private tirades against Burr, that he could not reliably comment on Cooper's vaguely-worded statement. Burr demanded that Hamilton recant or deny everything he had ever said regarding Burr?s character, but Hamilton, having already been disgraced by the Maria Reynolds scandal, could not afford to make this gesture. Burr responded by challenging Hamilton to personal combat under the code duello, the formalized but largely antiquated rules of dueling. Hamilton accepted, and as the challenged party chose to settle the matter of honor with pistols at ten paces. Both men had been involved in duels in the past, usually on the periphery, but Hamilton had particular qualms because his beloved son, Philip, had rashly entered into a fatal duel in 1802. Hamilton had also developed some religious scruples against dueling. The two would nevertheless use the same pistols owned by Hamilton's brother-in-law, which are now preserved by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Related Topics:
Maria Reynolds - Dueling - 1802 - JPMorgan Chase & Co

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

On July 11, 1804, Burr shot and fatally wounded Hamilton in their duel in Weehawken, New Jersey. The bullet entered Hamilton's abdomen above his right hip, and he died the following day. Some have debated who fired first; Hamilton's shot went upward and to Burr's right, striking a tree branch. Burr later learned that Hamilton intended to hold his fire during the duel. His response: "Contemptible, if true." Burr was later charged with murder in New York and New Jersey, but was never tried in either jurisdiction. He escaped to South Carolina, where his daughter lived with her family, but soon returned to Washington, D.C. to complete his term of service as Vice President. He presided over the Samuel Chase impeachment trial with the "impartiality of an angel and the rigor of a devil." Burr's heartfelt farewell speech in March 1805 moved some of his harshest critics in the Senate to tears.

Related Topics:
July 11 - 1804 - Weehawken, New Jersey - Abdomen - Hip - Murder - South Carolina - Washington, D.C. - Samuel Chase - Impeachment trial - 1805

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~