“Hidden History”
Joe Guy
Dueling was once a common way for gentlemen to settle differences in the Tennessee hills, as it was over most of the young America in the late 18th and early 19th Centuries. It could be any insult, or even a perceived slight, that could force two men to stand only a few paces apart and shoot at each other. To some it was a ghastly act; to those involved it was frontier conflict resolution.
I’ve never seen any evidence that the venerable Judge Thomas Nixon Van Dyke of McMinn County was ever involved in such a duel. It had been outlawed for some time when Judge Van Dyke came of age. But his father, Dr. Thomas Van Dyke was very much involved in at least one duel, or at least it was supposed to be a duel, and if it had played out, Tennessee history could have been markedly different.
It was customary in a duel for each combatant to have present with him an assistant, properly called a “second”. It was the second’s duty to ensure that his man was not ambushed by the other party, that the rules of the duel were agreed upon and followed, that pistols or cutlasses were available, and sometimes the second simply stood by and held the horse.
On Saturday, October 1, 1800, Thomas Van Dyke was riding along with a friend of his, a one time a US representative and US senator, a lanky red-haired man, named Andrew Jackson. They two rode in the woods near Kingston, Tennessee, where Van Dyke lived and worked as a military doctor at Fort Southwest Point. Van Dyke was Jackson’s second in a duel that would commence that day, for the fiery lawyer had recently received an insult that had cut so deeply that the only resolution was a duel.
The insult had been directed in a face-to-face confrontation with Jackson’s mortal political enemy, the legendary General John Sevier. At one time the two had been friends, but their relationship had been sacrificed on the altar of politics when Jackson had accused Sevier of bribery in a land deal. The dispute became personal, resulting in Sevier bringing up the fact of Jackson’s morally questionable marriage to his wife, the former Rachel Donelson Robards. Facing each other on a Knoxville street, Jackson could not and would not forget the insult. He sent Sevier a letter the next day, challenging him to a duel. Jackson was 36, a bit younger than the 58-year-old Sevier. After much debate, Jackson finally agreed that they should cross to the "nearest Indian boundary line," which was about 40 miles west, near Kingston.
Somewhere on the Kingston Road, Jackson and Dr. Van Dyke encountered General Sevier and his son James. The Seviers had brought pistols, but tempers flared and the horses spooked and ran off when Jackson began yelling and swinging his sword around. Without pistols, Sevier hid behind a tree. James Sevier aimed his pistol at Jackson, which forced Dr. Vandyke to take aim at James and General Sevier. The horses watched from the distant forest, probably wondering which one of the fools was going to get shot first.
For several minutes, the situation was critical as threats, insults, and challenges were hurled across the Kingston Road. Somehow, due to the circumstances, the men finally agreed to part and resume the conflict at another time. But time passed. Their anger and hatred would always remain, but the duel never came about again.
It is interesting to consider “what might have been” out there on the Kingston Road. Had either Van Dyke or Jackson killed the legendary Sevier, the former first governor of Tennessee, renound Indian fighter and hero of King’s Mountain, it is almost assured that Jackson would have been vilified for the deed and thus would have never been able to seek public office again, and of course very likely would have never been President. The same is true if either of the Seviers had killed Jackson. Dead people simply don’t make good presidents.
And of course, had Van Dyke been killed, he would have never fathered one of the more significant characters of the Civil War in McMinn County.
Joe D. Guy is an author, columnist, and historian from McMinn County, TN. He may be reached via email at guyjd@hotmail.com or at PO Box 489, Englewood, TN 37329.