October, 1775: The Duel Between Henry Laurens and John F. Grimké 

250 years ago this month, a peculiar event occurred in South Carolina history that could have altered America’s path to independence. On the morning of October 17, 1775, Henry Laurens and John Faucheraud Grimké met on the northern outskirts of Charleston to engage in a duel.

By all accounts, the duel was the culmination of a strange series of events that had begun a few weeks earlier. In late September of 1775, 22-year-old John Faucheraud Grimké returned to Charleston from England. The son of a prominent silversmith, Grimké had spent the past few years studying law at Trinity College, Cambridge University before deciding to return home due to the American Revolution. On the day of Grimké’s return, 51-year-old Henry Laurens decided to visit Grimké to congratulate him on his safe arrival. Laurens was a wealthy merchant, planter, and slave trader who had become the head of South Carolina’s revolutionary government in June when he was appointed president of the Council of Safety.

According to Henry Laurens, he was on his way to the Grimké family home when he encountered Grimké in the street. Upon learning that Grimké already had engagements for the evening, he decided to visit the Grimké family home anyway to greet Grimké’s father, John Paul Grimké. At the home, John Paul Grimké reportedly received Laurens with “warm embraces of friendship” but soon directed his attention to an important matter: several packets of letters that his son had been entrusted to carry from London.

These were no ordinary letters. They were addressed to several suspected loyalists in Charleston. Most alarming to Laurens, however, was John Paul Grimké’s request that he deliver the letters to the Secret Committee to be opened and read.

Letter from Henry Laurens to his son John Laurens discussing the duel. From the collections of the South Carolina Historical Society.

Prior to this incident, Laurens had already condemned the practice of opening private correspondence to obtain military and political intelligence. This had been an issue a few months earlier when members of the revolutionary government decided to storm Charleston’s post office to steal letters that had been sent to royal officials in the colonies. Although Laurens conceded that the information gained seemed to justify the act, he still wrote in a letter to his son that the interception of the letters had been “altogether contrary to my opinion.” Often described as a conservative revolutionary, Laurens consistently opposed extra-legal tactics that he thought were unbecoming of the patriot cause.

Consequently, when John Paul Grimké asked Laurens to take the letters to the Secret Committee, Laurens immediately refused. According to an account that Laurens later published in the South Carolina and American General Gazette, he told the elder Grimké that he was part of the Council of Safety, not the Secret Committee, and declared that, “I never concern myself in opening letters.” John Paul Grimké then asked if he should send the letters to the Council of Safety’s secretary, Peter Timothy, but Laurens refused to get involved once again. Taking a small packet of newspapers that was meant for his friend John Wells, Laurens left the Grimké home.

A few days later, Laurens received a note from John Faucheraud Grimké, accusing him of taking some of the letters from the Grimké home. Laurens was shocked; while he did take the packet of newspapers for Wells, Laurens states that he took them with the consent of Grimké’s father and immediately forwarded them to Wells. Moreover, according to Laurens, Grimké’s father had outright insisted that Laurens take the letters to deliver them to the Secret Committee, which Laurens refused to do. The whole situation was baffling to Laurens, and he immediately gave a response to Grimké in which he denied taking any of the letters.

Laurens’ response sparked a quarrel that dragged on for weeks and quickly became the talk of Charleston. On October 13, John Grimké published an account in the South Carolina and American General Gazette in which he did not accuse Laurens of taking any letters but instead claimed that Laurens had directed his father to hand the letters over to Peter Timothy, which led to the letters being forwarded to the Secret Committee and read for their intelligence. This prompted Laurens to publish his detailed account of the affair a few days later, which proclaimed Grimké’s accusations as false. At the end of the account, Laurens also declared his commitment to the truth by stating that if Grimké would “name his time, place and weapons,” Laurens would duel him.

Grimké’s challenge to a duel came on the evening of October 16. Grimké told Laurens, via his chosen second, Ralph Izard, to meet him the next morning at New Market, a suburban area that was located on the Charleston Neck. Although Laurens initially hesitated to accept Grimké’s challenge, he eventually picked his close friend John Lewis Gervais to be his second, and the two rode out to New Market at 6 o’clock the next morning.

Both parties met in front of a house belonging to a “Mr. Gibbes.” After a few minutes of bickering between the parties, Laurens and Grimké stepped out into the street and began the ritual to settle their dispute. Drawing their freshly-loaded pistols, Grimké directed Laurens to fire first, but Laurens refused. In a calculated but daring move, Laurens decided to prove his willingness “to Seal to the Truth with my Blood” by standing silently as Grimké took a few steps forward, aimed his pistol, and fired a direct shot at him.

Luckily for Laurens, the gun misfired. Grimké then demanded again that Laurens take a shot at him. Laurens declined and stated that if another shot had to be fired in the duel, it would have to come from Grimké. Telling Laurens that it would not be “consistent with my Honor” to fire again, Grimké tried to provoke Laurens into fighting by suggesting that they use swords instead of pistols. Laurens cited his bad leg and said that he would be unable to use a sword. The duel ultimately ended when Grimké, frustrated with Laurens’ evasive conduct, attempted to challenge Laurens to a second duel, but Laurens used his superior social status to shame Grimké and refuse to further engage with him.

While both Laurens and Grimké walked away with their lives, it is interesting to consider what may have happened if the duel had gone differently, especially if Grimké’s gun had not misfired. After the duel, Laurens continued to serve in South Carolina’s revolutionary government before being appointed to represent South Carolina in the Second Continental Congress. From November 1, 1777, to December 9, 1778, Laurens served as president of the Continental Congress and was responsible for leading America through some of the most trying and formative events of the Revolution, including the winter encampment of Washington’s army at Valley Forge, the Conway Cabal, America’s alliance with France, and the visit of the Carlisle Peace Commission. A few years later, Laurens shaped America’s path to independence again when he helped negotiate the 1783 Treaty of Paris.

As for Grimké, he would become an officer in the Continental Army and fight in several significant battles, including the siege of Charleston and the Battle of Yorktown. After the war, Grimké played a role in shaping South Carolina’s early judicial system as an associate justice of the South Carolina Court of Common Pleas and General Sessions and author of several law books. Additionally, Grimké married Mary Smith in 1784 and was the father of 14 children, including the famed abolitionists and women’s rights activists Sarah and Angelina Grimké.

The South Carolina Historical Society holds materials for both Henry Laurens and John Faucheraud Grimké. The SCHS Henry Laurens Papers are in the process of being digitized and include letters concerning this duel. To view what has been digitized from this collection, visit the Lowcountry Digital Library’s website by clicking the link below:

https://lcdl.library.cofc.edu/content/henry-laurens-papers-1747-1860/