Sandbar Fight: The Duel That Made Jim Bowie Famous
The Sandbar Fight of 19 September 1827 made James 'Jim' Bowie famous, as well as the Bowie knife – less than 10 years before the Alamo (where he fell alongside the heroes William Barret Travis and David Crockett) – but it was essentially just a brawl on a sandbar between people who could not let go of grudges and felt the need to act upon them. There were twelve men who went to a sandbar – two to face each other with pistols 'on the field of honor', two seconds, two physicians, and six supporters, three on each side.
It should have been a simple affair. One duelist would kill or wound the other, or both would miss and retire with their honor intact. In any event, the gathering should not have ended with two dead, two wounded, and two seriously injured – none of them the duelists – but that is exactly what happened.
The Sandbar Fight
In 1827, in Rapides Parish, Louisiana, Samuel L. Wells III and Dr. Thomas H. Maddox had a disagreement that they felt could only be settled by a duel with pistols. On 19 September, to avoid interference from those enforcing anti-dueling laws in the parish, they agreed to meet on a sandbar in the Mississippi River – located between Natchez, Mississippi, and Vidalia, Louisiana – outside Rapides jurisdiction. The participants were:
Maddox Side:
Dr. Thomas H. Maddox – Duelist
Colonel Robert A. Crain – Second
Dr. James A. Denny – Surgeon
Alfred Blanchard – Non-Participant
Carey Blanchard – Non-Participant
Major Norris Wright – Non-Participant
Wells Side:
Samuel L. Wells III – Duelist
Major George McWhorter – Second
Dr. Richard Cuny – Surgeon
James Bowie – Non-Participant
General Samuel Cuny – Non-Participant
Jefferson Wells – Non-Participant
Maddox and Wells took their positions and fired – both missed. They reloaded and fired again – and, again, missed. At this point, feeling their respective honors satisfied, they shook hands and started toward a grove of trees to have some wine together.
However, the non-participants had other ideas. Colonel Crain and General Samuel Cuny, who had previously served together in the military, had fallen out with each other, and Cuny declared that this would be a good time to settle their differences. Major Norris Wright had previously shot at James Bowie, and Bowie had attacked him. The Blanchard brothers supported Wright in his argument with Bowie, and Bowie supported Cuny in his complaint against Crain.
The duelists were ahead of the rest of the group when Cuny drew on Crain, and Crain raised his pistol. Bowie, next to Cuny – and perhaps not seeing that Cuny had drawn first – drew his pistol, and Crain, judging Bowie the more dangerous of the two, shot him. Cuny then shot Crain, wounding him slightly, and Crain fired back, striking Cuny in the thigh and severing an artery.
Bowie lunged at Crain, who hurled his empty pistol, striking Bowie in the forehead and knocking him down. Major Norris Wright then shot at Bowie, perhaps missing him (sources differ), and then stabbed him with his sword cane. As Wright struggled to pull the sword from Bowie's chest, the Blanchard brothers appeared, shot Bowie, and Alfred Blanchard joined Wright in stabbing Bowie with a sword cane.
As Wright struggled to free his blade, Bowie grabbed his shirt and, when Wright straightened up, he drew Bowie up with him. Bowie then stabbed Wright with his large knife (later famous as the Bowie knife), killing him instantly, and then slashed Alfred's forearm open. Alfred was then shot by Jefferson Wells, and Carey was fired on by Major McWhorter, who missed. The entire "historic fight" was over in about 90seconds.
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⇒ Sandbar Fight: The Duel That Made Jim Bowie Famous