|
Reuben Ross shoots Ben McCulloch in duel
On this day in 1839, Reuben Ross, standing in for Alonzo B. Sweitzer,
seriously wounded Ben McCulloch in a duel. The encounter and its
aftermath exemplify the persistence (and absurdity) of the Southern
code duello tradition in the Republic of Texas and the
ineffectiveness of the antidueling law passed by the Congress of the
republic in 1836. The bad blood between McCulloch and Sweitzer began
during their 1839 race for a seat in the Texas House of Representatives
and intensified during their subsequent involvement in the pursuit of
Indians who had raided Gonzales County. After a lengthy exchange of
insults, Sweitzer's friend Ross delivered a formal challenge to
McCulloch, who refused to accept on the grounds that Sweitzer was not a
gentleman. Ross, however, was an acceptable substitute, and the two
faced off with rifles at forty paces in a field two miles north of
Gonzales. Ross, a trained duelist, shot McCulloch in the right arm, a
wound that left him permanently crippled. With honor apparently
satisfied, Ross sent his personal surgeon to tend to McCulloch and
expressed his regret at having "to meet so brave a man in a private
encounter." McCulloch was indicted for "setting at nought the quiet and
good morals of this community" by "wickedly, willfully, and maliciously"
accepting Ross's challenge, but the district attorney chose not to
prosecute. The violence continued, however, as McCulloch's brother Henry
shot and killed an obstreperous (and reportedly intoxicated) Ross a few
months later, and the quarrelsome Sweitzer died in a pistol duel with
Robert S. Neighbors in 1841. Ben McCulloch went on to serve as a
Confederate general during the Civil War and was killed in the battle of
Pea Ridge.
- Links to Related Handbook of Texas Online Articles
- DUELING IN THE REPUBLIC OF TEXAS
- MCCULLOCH, BENJAMIN
- ROSS, REUBEN
- SWEITZER, ALONZO B.
- MCCULLOCH, HENRY EUSTACE
- NEIGHBORS, ROBERT SIMPSON
- Other Texas Day by Day Articles for This Date
- Clyde Littlefield, future UT coach, born in Pennsylvania (1892)
- Freethinker whipped in Bell County (1877)
|
