The Pitt–Tierney Duel took place on 27 May 1798 when the Prime Minister of Great Britain William Pitt the Younger met his political opponent George Tierney in a duel on Putney Heath outside London.[1]
Pitt has been Prime Minister since 1783 and from 1793 had led the country during the French Revolutionary War.[2] Tierney was a Whig opposition figure associated with Charles James Fox and the radical wing of the opposition Whig Party. During a debate in the House of Commons when Pitt had been proposing a new measure to increase the manpower of the Royal Navy, Tierney had suggested a longer consideration of the bill. Pitt frustrated by this move, had suggested Tierney's attitude came from a "desire to obstruct the defence of the country".[3] When Tierney protested, Pitt refused to withdraw this remark.
The two politicians met by arrangement on Putney Heath, then in Surrey several miles outside London. Dudley Ryder was Pitt's second while George Walpole acted for Tierney.
Armed with pistols, both men took aim and missed. When it came to take a second shot, Pitt deliberately aimed in the air. The Times reported "the seconds then jointly interfered, and insisted the matter should go no further, it being their decided opinion that sufficient satisfaction had been given, and that the business was ended with perfect honour to both parties.[4]
The reaction to the duel was mixed. A general attitude was of amusement, with one commentator suggesting "never did two men meet more ignorant of the use of their weapons".[5] Notable amongst this was a cartoon by the satirist James Gillray.[6] Others took the bloodless duel more seriously. Pitt's friend and political ally William Wilberforce was upset both because Pitt might have lost his life but also because he strongly opposed duelling. He had to be persuaded not to move a motion in the House of Commons condemning duelling.[7]