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largely discarded the “code duello” by 1830, the South maintained its adherence to the
traditional concept of honor, and Edgefield was first among the adherents. 34
The Edgefield Advertiser gives several accounts of duels and “affairs of honor”
that occurred during this time in the district, with many of these involving distinguished
families and political leaders. In 1840, Col. Louis T. Wigfall and Preston Smith Brooks,
noted Edgefield politicians, were involved in a duel, and were both wounded. Initial
accounts reported mortal wounds to both, but later information came forth that “the
parties were but slightly wounded, and are nearly restored to health.” The circumstances
leading to this personal confrontation were not publicly known, but it was assumed that
Wigfall challenged Brooks after an alleged public assault upon his honor in
correspondence and the press. 35 That the paper presents this act as an almost necessary
part of the life of a public leader speaks volumes as to the cultural climate of Edgefield
and the clout carried by the ethic of honor.
Hamburg, in the southern sector of Edgefield district, was the site of “an affair of
honor” that took place on August 9 th , 1843 between James Gardner, Jr. and “our brother
Jones of the Chronicle and Sentinel [Augusta].” The paper recounts the event:
The cause or causes of their resort to “horrida bella,” we know not but
congratulate them heartily at their scathless escape from the field of Mars.
After an exchange of shots, their feelings of resentment seemed to be
34 Bertram Wyatt-Bro wn, The Shaping of Southern Culture: Honor, Grace, and War,
1760s-1880s (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2001), 43; For more
on honor, violence, dueling, and Southern culture see Elliot J. Gorn, “Gouge and Bite,
Pull Hair and Scratch,” 19-22; Ed ward L. Ayers, Vengeance and Justice, 3-26; For
more on violence and dueling, see Clement Eaton, “Mob Violence in the Old South,”
352; Edward L. Ayers, Vengeance and Justice, 3-26.
35 Edgefield Advertiser, December 10, 1840, ECA.
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