The Lame Duel

Marks’s etching dated 17 May 1824 is subtitled ‘The 10th DO Fight!! take the Town by Surprise and Folly by the Ears. (Sic itur ad astra)’. It was published by Fores 5 days after the Fairburn cartoon of the duel between Cornet Battier and the Marquis of Londonderry. There is no indication that the proposed duel in this cartoon is between the same two officers, however the man standing behind the duellist in the hat-box must be Sir Henry Hardinge who was married to the sister of the Marquis of Londonderry. He was the Marquis’s second in the duel and is identifiable because of his missing left hand which he lost at the battle of Ligny in 1815. The Marquis, in the uniform of the 10th Hussars is portrayed as a foppish baffoon popping out of the box. He refers to the muddle over the time of the duel which was arranged as 9pm but thought to be 9am the next day and actually took place at noon. His servant, La Fleur, is an effeminate dandy loaded with the Marquis’s toiletries. Image courtesy of the Brown University.

Regimental Details | 10th Hussars Cartoons 1824