Gwinnett–McIntosh duel

The Gwinnett–McIntosh duel was a pistol duel between Button Gwinnett, a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence and former governor of Georgia, and Lachlan McIntosh, a brigadier general in the Continental Army, that took place on May 16, 1777, in Savannah, Georgia. The duel resulted in both men suffering gunshot wounds, with Gwinnett dying of his wounds several days later.

The cause of the duel stemmed from a rivalry that had developed between the two individuals in the preceding years. During the American Revolution, both Gwinnett and McIntosh were Whigs. However, Gwinnett was a leader of the more radical faction of Whigs in Georgia, while McIntosh was a political conservative. In early 1776, the state's Provincial Congress elected Gwinnett to lead a battalion of Continental Army troops in the state, though Gwinnett ultimately turned down the position, due in large part to the divisiveness between the radical and conservative factions. Instead, McIntosh was elected, while Gwinnett was selected to attend the Second Continental Congress, where he signed the Declaration of Independence. Upon returning to Georgia in late 1776, Gwinnett again served as the radical Whigs' leader, helping to write a new constitution for the state and serving for a brief time as the state's governor. In this role, he was also the commander-in-chief of the state's military, and in this position, he led an invasion of East Florida, a British colony that bordered the state. McIntosh and other conservatives were opposed to the military action, viewing it as a politically motivated endeavor by Gwinnett to increase his political standing. The invasion ended in disaster, and in subsequent hearings before the Georgia General Assembly, McIntosh attacked Gwinnett as a "scoundrel and a lying rascal". Feeling dishonored, Gwinnett then challenged McIntosh to a duel, which McIntosh accepted.

The duel took place on the morning of May 16, 1777, near the city's Colonial Park Cemetery. Both individuals fired their shots roughly simultaneously, with both getting hit in their legs. Gwinnett's injuries caused him to collapse, and while he accepted an offer from McIntosh to continue their duel, their seconds intervened and ended the dispute. While McIntosh recovered from his injury, Gwinnett did not, and he died several days later on May 19. A trial took place, with McIntosh accused of murder, though he was ultimately acquitted. However, the duel and Gwinnett's death damaged his reputation in Georgia, and he was soon relocated elsewhere. The duel is considered one of the most famous in the state's history, coming during a time when dueling was a much more common occurrence. Partially as a result of his death, which occurred less than a year after his signing the Declaration of Independence, Gwinnett's signature is considered one of the rarest of any of the signers.