Bladensburg Dueling Grounds

John Mason McCarty vs. Armistead Thomson Mason (1819) Stephen Decatur vs. James Barron (1820) Daniel Key vs. John Sherbourne (1836) Jonathan Cilley vs. William J. Graves (1838) Armistead Thomson Mason, killed Stephen Decatur, mortally wounded Daniel Key, killed Bladensburg Dueling Grounds is a small spit of land, a fraction of its original size, along Dueling Creek, formerly in the town of Bladensburg, Maryland, and now within the town of Colmar Manor, just to the northeast of Washington, D.C., United States.

Dueling Creek, formerly known as '"Blood Run" and "The Dark and Bloody Grounds", is a tributary of the Anacostia River, which was formerly, called the East Branch Potomac River.

[1] From 1808 the grove witnessed approximately fifty duels by gentlemen, military officers, and politicians, settling "affairs of honor".

[2] A formalized set of rules and etiquette, the code duello was usually enforced by the duelers and their seconds.

[citation needed] Bladensburg was said to have a notorious reputation due to its association with the dueling grounds, becoming a tourist attraction due to its bloody history.

The most publicized duel of the 19th century was that of Commodore Stephen Decatur , the U.S. naval hero, who was mortally wounded in 1820 at the Bladensburg Dueling Grounds and later died at his home in Washington D.C.
Portrait of Francis Scott Key . Key's son, Daniel, was killed, at the dueling grounds, in 1836 by a fellow midshipman from the navy over a disagreement about steamboat speed.
The last recorded duel at the Bladensburg Dueling Grounds was between General A. Galletin Lawrence and Baron Kusserow in 1868.
Old dueling ground, Bladensburg, Md, pictured between 1910 and 1926