How dueling pistols were loaded in Pushkin's time. Dueling weapon, what was it like? When did dueling weapons begin to be used?

Many things that are now done once or twice were previously more difficult and required much more time. For example, reloading a weapon. Below is an interesting video showing the process of preparing weapons for a duel.

At the same time we will find out others interesting facts about the most famous duel in Russia

Frame: the film “Pushkin: The Last Duel”

One hundred and eighty-one years ago, chamber cadet Alexander Pushkin fought a duel with lieutenant of the cavalry regiment Georges de Heeckeren (Dantes). The circumstances and course of the fight seem to have been studied thoroughly, but historians still cannot say for sure why Pushkin’s opponent remained alive despite being hit by a bullet in the chest? Saved him own hand, with which he defended himself, a copper button, or he cheated and took advantage of additional protection - this version pops up from time to time in publications. "Lenta.ru" about how they fought in duels and whether a button could protect a duelist from a bullet.

During the duel, Pushkin, as is known, was mortally wounded in the stomach. Dantes, according to the report of the senior police doctor, was wounded “in right hand right through and received a concussion in the abdomen.”

We decided to consider the technical aspects of the fight - tactics, level of training of the shooters, characteristics of the weapon, etc. We paid special attention to the notorious button and the hypothetical cuirass of Dantes. We managed to find two videos showing experiments with shooting from dueling pistols at metal button plates, and received a commentary from a surgeon and an expert on muzzle-loading weapons.

Lessons in morality and good manners

A strictly regulated duel not only allowed the nobleman to respond to an insult, but, according to the plan of European moralists, contributed to the improvement of morals in society. After all, an awkward joke or an inappropriate pun could end fatally for a wit. True, a duel required completely equalizing the opponents' chances, and in duels with edged weapons, the advantage in health, age and training often turned the duel into legalized murder. They used this to deal with rivals and even political opponents without breaking the law.

The gun changed everything. It was not for nothing that he was nicknamed the equalizer of chances: an old man could defeat a young man, a strong man could yield to a weak one. The relative availability of weapons and ammunition allowed civilians to practice marksmanship as thoroughly as military personnel. Finally, there was always an element of chance in a pistol duel. By the middle of the 18th century, duels with pistols began to dominate, and by end of the 19th century almost replaced other types of fights.

The first dueling sets were produced by the workshop of the British gunsmith Manton - a pair of completely identical pistols (they were distinguished only by the numbers “1” and “2” on the parts) in a special case made of expensive wood. In addition to weapons, the set included a powder flask, a supply of bullets, a bullet gun, cleaning rods, a hammer and an oil can.

Who fought duels

Only nobles could fight a duel - inter-class duels were not allowed. Duels between blood relatives and patients were also excluded; it was considered absurd to fight with old people or teenagers, one could not accept a challenge for career or economic reasons, and a creditor could not fight with a debtor.

The rules were very different. Opponents could shoot from the spot, and who would fire the first shot was determined by lot. But more often they shot in advance, for example, the opponents stood with their backs to each other, at the command of the second they quickly turned around, cocked the hammers and fired a shot. The most famous option is a duel with barriers, this is how Pushkin and Dantes fought. In the Russian version, barriers - any object, sword, cloak - were placed at 10-15 steps, that's seven to ten meters. The opponents were separated by 20-30 steps. At the command of a second, they began to walk in the direction of the barriers and could shoot at any time from any distance.

If the shooter missed first, he remained in place (in the so-called “duelist pose” - semi-sideways, his hand covering his chest, the gun covering his head), and his opponent could come close to the barrier, take aim and shoot. The return shot was usually given a minute, the wounded shooter - two. Anyone who hesitated lost the right to fire. A misfire was also considered a shot.

For Pushkin and Dantes, the barriers stood at 10 steps, the opponents were separated by 20 - five steps to the barrier for each.

The weapons were capsule pistols, presumably made by the famous French master Lepage, with a 12 mm rifled barrel. “In terms of accuracy, these pistols are not inferior to modern ones. Record for 25 meters - 100 points. A modern sporting target, a regular ten, good shooters put 10 bullets in it,” says the representative Russian branch Muzzleloading Associations in International Committee muzzle-loading associations Igor Verbovsky, explaining that today in many countries, including Finland, Poland, and the Baltic states, shooting competitions with ancient weapons are held.

The weight of gunpowder in dueling pistols ranged from three to eight grams, depending on the caliber. A 50-caliber bullet weighing about 12 grams left the barrel at a speed of about 350 meters per second. Its energy reached 730 Joules - this is slightly more than that of a TT pistol, but the penetrating ability of a round lead bullet was much lower, and it lost speed faster than a modern bullet. According to the most common version, the seconds loaded weakened charges of gunpowder into the pistols of Pushkin and Dantes.

How the Russians did it

It is believed that Russian duels were particularly bloody - in Europe, barriers were usually placed at 30 steps, and for satisfaction it was enough to shoot in the direction of the enemy. In Russia, duels were often fought until one of the duelists was killed or seriously wounded. A duel “through a scarf” was practiced - from the distance of an unfolded scarf, the ends of which the duelists held with their hands. In 1824, the future Decembrist Ryleev fought with Prince Konstantin Shakhovsky from three steps; due to the close distance, the bullets twice hit the opponents’ pistols.

Lepage dueling pistols

In the first half of the 19th century in Russia, for a military man, refusal to duel actually meant retirement, for a secular person - excommunication high society. Historians believe that the wars of the beginning of the century played a significant role in this - the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809 and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army during the Napoleonic wars. On the one hand, many officers became acquainted with the traditions of the European aristocracy, including dueling, on the other, many military officers were susceptible to post-traumatic syndrome - military officers were accustomed to looking death in the face, they felt like winners of the strongest army in the world and liberators of Europe. This was reflected in exaggerated ideas about honor and attitude towards duels.

How the fights went

Literature and cinema have formed a stereotype of a duel: duelists slowly walk towards each other, slowly raising their pistols, carefully aiming... In fact, the duel could have looked completely different. “There was such a strategy - it was preferred by experienced duelists - to quickly, almost run, cover your distance and shoot at the approaching enemy,” explains Igor Verbovsky. - The shooter created for himself favorable conditions: it is difficult for his opponent to make an aimed shot while moving, in addition, standing sideways, you reduce your projection as much as possible, and when you walk, it is difficult to do this.”

Technically, it is not difficult for a trained shooter to run five steps and quickly hit a target the size of a human torso from seven meters. According to Verbovsky, at a costumed shooting show in Finland, Russian shooters using muzzle-loading weapons specifically staged an experiment: an averagely trained shooter, who had not previously dealt with dueling pistols, practically ran up to the barrier and shot at a cardboard target offhand. Of the six attempts, five were successful. One bullet hit the edge of the target, the rest hit closer to the center line.

Pushkin also chose this strategy in the last duel; he very quickly covered the distance to the barrier and began to aim. But Dantes outplayed him, shooting immediately, just one step short of the barrier.

Level of training of duelists

Alexander Sergeevich was known as a good shooter and, according to legend, he could hit a card ace with a pistol in 10 steps. “The targets have not survived, but there are memories of contemporaries,” says Verbovsky. - In exile in Chisinau, the poet, barely getting out of bed, without getting dressed, shot at the wall with a pistol many times. There are recollections of his serf that during his exile in Mikhailovskoye, Pushkin fired a hundred bullets into the barn wall every morning. In general, he had a reputation as a good shooter; people were afraid to shoot with him.”

Even the fact that, being seriously wounded, Pushkin found the strength not only to fire back, but to hit the enemy, says a lot about his skill and character. The poet shot while reclining, leaning on his left hand.

Painting by Adrian Volkov “The Last Shot of A. S. Pushkin”

Dantes, a professional military man, also had to have good shooting training; in addition, as Verbovsky recalls, while studying at an officer school in France, he won the champion title in pigeon shooting. This is the forerunner of modern clay pigeon shooting or sporting (shotgun shooting at flying clay plates).

Pushkin is sometimes called an experienced duelist, almost a fighter, and dozens of duels are attributed to him. In fact, the poet had about 30 dueling stories - this is how situations involving a challenge to a duel are called, but most ended in reconciliation. Before the fight with Dantes, the poet went to the barrier four times, and only once shot at the enemy, but missed. There is no exact information about the Heeckeren-Dantes dueling experience.

Why did Dantes survive?

While waiting for the shot, Dantes, as expected, stood sideways, covering himself with his hand with a pistol. The bullet pierced his forearm and hit his torso - he was wounded and fell, but quickly got up.

According to the official version, a button saved Dantes from a bullet, but it was not presented at the trial. This gave rise to rumors that Pushkin’s killer played a foul game, wearing chain mail or a cuirass specially made for him that fit tightly to the body. After all, the opponents were not examined before the duel.

Photo: courtesy of the Russian branch of the Muzzleloading Weapons Association

The opinions of modern experts on this matter differ. “The bullet fired by the poet pierced the sleeve, the soft tissue of the arm, the sleeve again and hit the fabric of the uniform, which it could no longer pierce. On the front surface of the chest, protected by the uniform, there may well have been no damage at all, including abrasions. Although the wounded person would certainly have felt a blow to the chest,” surgeon Mikhail Khramenkov commented to Lenta.ru.

During the Finnish experiment, shots were fired at a dummy (a plastic bag of earth, dressed in an M65 jacket), onto which copper plates two millimeters thick and about five centimeters in diameter were attached - they acted as buttons. With a reduced weight of gunpowder, up to 3.5 grams (the same weakened charge), the bullet did not penetrate the button, leaving a dent and breaking through the bag. Of course, this experiment cannot be considered scientific, if only because of the material of the mannequin. Nevertheless, the “button” version is supported by European, in particular English, sources of the 18th-19th centuries, describing cases when buttons and coins saved from a pistol bullet, and the victim experienced severe pain as a result of the hit, but remained virtually unharmed.

On the other hand, we do not know exactly how much gunpowder was in the pistol from which Pushkin shot, because when it fell, the barrel of his pistol became clogged with snow, and his seconds gave him another. The authors of the documentary-production film “Pushkin. The 29th Duel also experimented with weapons from the 19th century. They had a bullet fired at a ballistic gelatin dummy, pierce the body and drive a button into it.

The “legal” method of murder, the duel, according to its inventors, was supposed to contribute to the improvement of morals in society. However, the costs of this method of punishing the offender were so great that it was banned almost everywhere. But, being outlawed, it continued to exist. The unique nature of the duel required not only its own set of rules, but also special weapons designed to equalize the chances of opponents approaching the barrier.

European infection

Sometimes an incident puts a person in such a difficult situation when it is no longer possible to endure an insult. We grind our teeth, curse, clench our fists and, as if in a fit of monstrous pain, groan and rush about in search of a way out, without finding it. What to do? How to erase a burning insult from yourself? How to punish the offender?..

Just a hundred years ago the answer was extremely simple and clear - a duel!

But the romantic idea that duels contributed to the improvement of morals and normalization interpersonal relationships, very controversial and ambiguous. Moralists, lawyers, Pushkin scholars and Lermontov scholars will argue about this for many centuries to come. And collectors and amateurs, in turn, will admire the elegance of dueling weapons and the peculiarities of the officer’s code of honor.

A terrible weapon - a single-shot dueling pistol equipped with a flintlock or cap lock - in the hand of an experienced shooter left little chance for the enemy. Differences in combat experience, moral and physical qualities of the participants never made the duel absolutely equal. The statement that identical pistols gave equal chances to duelists during a duel is true only in comparison with more ancient weapons such as swords or sabers. Coming to the fatal barrier, many hoped for the “Judgment of God”, for the Supreme Justice, thanks to which the offender would certainly suffer a well-deserved, inevitable punishment. It happened this way, it happened another way. One thing became certain: the number of people killed in duels was growing. Not a single monarch in Europe could come to terms with the idea of his subjects dying from wounds in normal conditions. peaceful life. Too often, graceful martial arts with swords or pistols developed into bloody battles, in which not only the duelists themselves participated, but also their many friends, relatives, servants and even residents of entire streets and neighborhoods. (Remember tragic story clans Montagues and Capulets.)

Emperor Peter I, who boldly “cut a window to Europe,” unwittingly let a “draft” into this window with a special opinion about officer and noble honor. Before Peter, all disputes between Russian nobles were resolved privately, in the old fashioned way, with fists or in the “field” with the help of a wooden club “oslop” and ended, as a rule, with heavy drinking and fraternization together. In more difficult cases the enemy was simply cut with a boot knife, and then went to the chopping block. The European infection, satisfaction, or duel, having penetrated Russia, spread and multiplied. As usual, everything new and Western took on gigantic, grotesque proportions here. They fought under any pretext, anywhere and everywhere. This was greatly facilitated by the universal love for vodka, gambling and flirtatious beautiful ladies. The officer corps consisted of very brave, but very ignorant and full of all sorts of prejudices, small landed nobles, for whom a duel was a good means of establishing their own dignity and satisfying their pride. Peter I introduced the death penalty for all participants in the duel, but never hanged anyone.

Sparkling Flint

In the middle of the 18th century, duels with pistols became most common. The appearance of the dueling weapon was finally formed. First of all, it should be noted that the pistols were paired, absolutely identical and did not differ from each other in any way, with the exception of the numbers “1” and “2” on the design elements. To avoid misunderstandings, the seconds brought two boxes of pistols to the duel. During the famous duel on the Black River, the wounded Pushkin fell and dropped his weapon. Snow filled the barrel of his gun. To return the shot, he asked the second to give him a pistol from the second set. It can be noted that Pushkin’s opponent showed a certain nobility by allowing the faulty weapon to be replaced, since according to the rules this should have been agreed upon in advance, before the duel, and during the duel any replacement of weapons was not allowed.

In the 18th and first third of the 19th centuries, pistols were equipped with a flintlock, the so-called “French battery” ignition lock, which was invented by the mechanic and writer Chevalier de Aubigny. This lock was improved by the great English gunsmiths Joseph Menton, James Perde, Charles Lancaster, Harvey Mortimer, Henry Knock and was a very progressive mechanism for its time. The principle of its operation was quite simple and in many ways resembled a regular lighter. A piece of specially sharpened and beaten flint was clamped in the hard jaws of the trigger. Opposite it there was a steel flint; under it there was a so-called “shelf” with fine seed powder. When the trigger was pressed, the trigger with the flint hit the flint hard, the shelf automatically folded back and a bright beam of sparks rained down on the gunpowder. Through a special seed hole in the breech of the barrel, the fire entered and ignited the main charge. A loud, booming shot followed.

However, flintlock pistols had some disadvantages. First of all, a bright flash of gunpowder on the shelf and a cloud of smoke interfered with the accuracy of the sight. Despite the invention by the British of a special “waterproof” lock, shooting in rainy, damp weather was extremely risky, because moisture wet the gunpowder on the shelf and often led to a misfire, and a misfire, according to the harsh rules of a duel, was equivalent to a shot.

Lethal force

At the beginning of the 19th century, a truly revolutionary turn in the history of firearms was made by a modest Scottish priest from the Bellevue district, Alexander John Forsyth. He invented a fundamentally new ignition lock, which would later be called the “capsule lock.” The meaning of the innovation was that now it was not gunpowder that ignited on the seed shelf, but a special chemical composition. Later, the composition that ignited from the impact was placed in a copper cap-cap, placed on a steel rod - a fire pipe, through which the fire instantly went into the barrel. The capsule worked in any weather with virtually no misfires. It was from a capsule pistol that Alexander Pushkin was killed. It is believed that these fatal pistols are kept in a museum in the small French town of Amboise. They were made by the Dresden gunsmith Karl Ulbrich. Unfortunately, the pistols that Pushkin fired from have not survived.

The dueling pair was placed in an elegant box along with accessories. Usually they consisted of a charging ramrod, a wooden hammer, a bullet, a powder flask, a powder measure, tools - a screwdriver, a cleaning tool, and a kreutzer for unloading the pistol. In front of each other, the opponents' seconds, jealously watching all the subtleties, measured out an equal amount of gunpowder, carefully wrapped the lead bullet with a special leather plaster and, using a ramrod, hammered it into the barrel with blows of a hammer. The bullets were round, lead, with a diameter of 12 x 15 mm and a weight of 10 x 12 g. Black smoke powder was added to 3 x 8 g. According to the rules, it was allowed to use both rifled and smooth-bore pistols, as long as they were exactly the same. All dueling pistols had sights. On the earliest samples, the sight and front sight were fixed, like those of a military weapon. Later, adjustable sights appeared: front sight horizontally, rear sight vertically, to adjust the aiming line. Sometimes the trigger mechanism of the pistol was equipped with a special trigger-softening device called a trigger, but most duelists preferred the usual “tight” trigger. This can be explained simply: in excitement, unable to control his own finger, the shooter could fire an involuntary, accidental shot past the target. Even without a sneller, the pistol made it possible to fire a very accurate shot. It is known that Pushkin trained every day and hit the card ace from a distance of 10 steps. As a rule, for particularly important duels, new pistols were bought or borrowed from friends.

Opponents had to shoot from unfamiliar weapons. The amount of black powder and the weight of the bullet were such as to provide the necessary stopping power. Famous weapons historian Yu.V. Shokarev in one of his articles says that “in the middle of the last century, an expert commission that studied all the circumstances of Lermontov’s death fired control shots from a dueling pistol and a powerful army TT. It turned out that the penetrating ability of a dueling pistol is only slightly inferior to the power of the TT, the pointed bullet of which can pierce through eight dry inch boards at a distance of 25 meters. But most duels took place at a distance of 15 steps.” Some slaves of honor happened to shoot at 6 steps. Occasionally, by special agreement, a shot was generally fired at point-blank range, through a scarf, with the opponents holding different angles with their left hands. The subtlety of this duel was that only one pistol of the pair was loaded, and which one was unknown, everything was determined by chance. The bloodthirstiness of Russian duels is proverbial. However, it should be said that in special, absolutely exceptional cases, the opponents’ seconds, not wanting their friends to die, by mutual agreement allowed some liberties when loading pistols. The most innocent was a double or even triple charge of gunpowder: when fired, the pistol was thrown up strongly and the bullet flew past the target. “Criminal” from the point of view of the code of honor was simply not putting a bullet into the barrel, which M.Yu. described so well. Lermontov in "Hero of Our Time". One of the most anecdotal cases happened with Alexandre Dumas. The French writer lost the bet against the “American woman” and, according to the terms of this wild duel, had to shoot himself within an hour. Having had an excellent lunch, he locked himself in a separate office. The seconds waited gloomily at the threshold, finally a deafening shot was heard and a few seconds later Dumas came out to his friends alive and unharmed. “I shot and missed!” the writer said casually, pouring a glass of champagne.

Sleek and reliable

Pistols could be purchased without special permission from the police at any large gun store or directly from a gunsmith. The products of English gunsmiths were considered the best, but in 1840 in England, on the initiative of peers, admirals and generals, a society was created, the members of which swore an oath to no longer take part in duels. Thus, under the influence of the British elite, who protested against dueling, duels were rejected and all conflicts were resolved in court.

Since that time, the production of dueling pistols in England has practically ceased, and gunsmiths have switched to the creation of sports, road and hunting weapons. The palm went to the French and German masters. In Russia, dueling pistols were purchased in St. Petersburg from the merchants Kurakin, Zhernakov, Ponomarev, Surguchev, Shishkin, as well as in the workshops of the court gunsmiths Bertrand and Orlov. In Moscow, pistols could be ordered from the excellent craftsmen Artari Kolomba on Basmannaya or Ivan Aristov. In Tula with Nikita Krapivintsov. In Paris at Napoleon's gunsmith Nicolas Boutet, at Henri Lepage on Richelieu Street; at Tom's in the Delorme gallery; at Devim's on Italian Boulevard; at Caron and Firmen in Opera Proezd; at Gastin-Renette on the Rue Antennes. In Germany famous dynasty gunsmiths Kuchenreuter from the city of Regensburg in Bavaria. In Prague with Antonin Vincent Lebeda. Pistols were bought in all European capitals and were even ordered by mail. Needless to say, dueling headsets have always been particularly carefully crafted. These perfect killing mechanisms were decorated with steel engraving, gold and silver inlays, and the stocks were made of seasoned butts of Italian walnut, ebony or Karelian birch. The trunks were forged from the best varieties bouquet damask and were deeply blued in black, brown or blue. The pistol handles were covered with beautiful grooves and flutes. Arabesques and grotesques were often used in decoration: stylized ornaments of flowers and plants, bizarre images of half-humans, half-animals, mysterious masks, faces of satyrs, mythical monsters and acanthus leaves. Dueling pistols were expensive, but who would dare to bargain when purchasing an instrument of honor.

Approaching the fatal line, often a moment before death, the duelist wanted to hold in his hand something extraordinary, beautiful and amazing. Death arrived in the form of a work of art. Death was beautiful. The duel was wonderful. The challenge was exquisite, and even the insult itself was sometimes a subtle and exciting action. The severity and grace of the black dueling frock coat would be the envy of any dandy. In general, it must be said that among people of the 19th, and even more so the 18th century, life was not an absolutely dominant value or, as they would say today, a basic instinct. The attitude towards both life and death was completely different then. They did not fear death in battle or duel and even often did not respect it at all. The fear of death was invented much later. This is difficult for us, children of electronic technology and thermonuclear reactions, to understand.

Code of Honor

Society recognized several types of pistol duels. Three of them were main: a duel with stationary arrows, with “barriers” and on parallel lines. The duel always began with a challenge, or cartel. Let's remember Pushkin.

He was pleasant, noble,
Short call, il cartel:
Courteously, with cold clarity
Lensky invited his friend to a duel.

Once the challenge was made and accepted, the opponents had to communicate only through seconds. It was their personal experience, knowledge of the rules, composure and nobility that determined the entire course of the fight. The second was the second most important figure after the duelist; a huge burden of responsibility fell on him. We should not forget that a duel differed from a murder precisely in that it was always carried out according to certain rules.

The main and dominant thing was that a challenge to a duel and the duel itself could only be carried out between nobles. Inter-class duels were not allowed. Only healthy adult men had the right to participate in the fight. A duel between blood relatives, the sick and the mentally ill was not allowed. It was impossible to accept the challenge for career, economic or political reasons. It was considered absurd to fight with a deep old man or a green youth. It’s funny to call a lady who insulted you to the barrier. In this case, her husband, brother or “family friend” had to answer for the lady. In France, duels between women or men and women were allowed, but here, in Russia, far from emancipation, they preferred not to fight with ladies, but to languidly fan themselves, carefully blowing off specks of dust and rush headlong to the far corner to pick up a handkerchief that had been accidentally dropped.

A noble man could not exist outside the laws of honor, outside a society that jealously watched all his actions. First of all, the nobleman was proud of his family, a series of glorious ancestors to whom he was responsible. To endure an insult meant for him not only a personal insult, but also a direct humiliation of his entire family. The nobleman could not run away, dissolve in the indifferent human sea; everywhere and everywhere he had to be responsible for his actions, protect the weak, protect the honor of women and the holy of holies - the honor of the uniform. Society's judgment was more important than fear physical death, the order of the commander and even the will of the emperor. There is a known case when, at a review, one of the guards officers of the cavalry regiment, Mikhail Lunin, was challenged to a duel for insulting the regiment commander, Their Imperial Highness Grand Duke Konstantin Pavlovich. A hundred years earlier, the Russian Tsar could and had the right to personally punish any of his subjects with a cane. This was considered a “fatherly teaching” and was not taken as an offense. Many were even proud and willingly showed off bruises and bumps, for example Alexander Menshikov. Now things were different. In matters of honor there could be no ambiguity, no halftones or discrepancies - “Half-brave”, “a little less noble”, “more honest than usual” - this was already a direct insult, which was immediately followed by a challenge. It’s hard to imagine, but for almost one and a half hundred years, dueling rules were not written down or published anywhere by anyone, but belonged entirely to the oral tradition of the nobility. The rules of the duel were determined by the opponents themselves and the seconds, who were strict in matters of honor. The French dueling code of Chateauvillard, which appeared in 1836, and many other written Rules did not take root in Russia.

Usually the duel was held outside the city, in nature, in a quiet and secluded place where no one could interfere with the opponents. In St. Petersburg, such places most often were Okhta, Kamenny Island, and Chernaya Rechka. In Moscow, duels took place in Sokolniki, Izmailovo and Maryina Roshcha.

The type of duel was not always chosen arbitrarily. This depended on the severity of the insult, of which there were three: a simple insult caused by ordinary impoliteness, a shameful insult, and the most serious insult by action. In the first case, the offended person chose a weapon, in the second - a weapon and type of duel, in the last - weapon, type of duel and distance. The opponents received pistols from the seconds with the safety cocked. The duel began in complete silence at the command of the senior second with the words “shoot”, pronounced in an impassive voice. A feature of the stationary duel was the alternating exchange of shots, in which the right of the first was determined by lot. A variation of this duel was a duel, in which the opponents stood with their backs to each other, and after the commands quickly turned around, cocked their guns and fired. The exchange of shots should have followed in no more than a minute. Whoever failed lost the right to shoot. In a duel with barriers, the distance was initially 35 x 40 steps. A line was drawn in front of the opponents, indicated by a sword, a cane or a white flag. As a result, the final distance turned out to be 15 x 20 steps. At the command “forward,” the opponents walked towards each other, holding their pistols with their barrels up. Any duelist could fire a shot from any distance, but if one of them reached the barrier and the second stopped, then no one could force him to move further. The first shooter was obliged to wait for a return shot motionless for a minute, and it was not considered shameful to stand in a “dueling pose,” that is, sideways, covering his chest with a pistol. The opponent could come close to the barrier at this time. The wounded man was given only two minutes to shoot. This is exactly how the famous duel between Pushkin and Dantes took place.

The duel on parallel lines was similar. The opponents each moved along their own line, the distance between them was 15 steps. At the beginning of the duel, they were separated from each other by 25 x 30 steps, but as they moved, the distance was reduced to a minimum, although each remained on his own line. The dueling code specifically stipulated what to do if one of the opponents deliberately fired to the side. If the offended person does this, then the offender must also refuse to shoot. However, if the offender fired into the air, then the offender had every right to shoot at the target The seconds had to take care of the doctor in advance, but in practice the presence of an aesculapian was not encouraged. According to the law, a duel was a criminal offense, and the presence of an extra witness was a hindrance. Besides good doctor it was quite difficult to get and persuade, and a bad one could not cure even a runny nose. The seconds stocked up on bandages and often bandaged wounds themselves, if necessary.

Wild West Games

For all its obvious belligerence, a duel was never an ordinary murder, much less sports competition. In the distant North America, a land of traders, colonists, trappers, cowboys, farmers and Indians, the strict noble dueling code was never popular. This people, half-wild by European standards of that time, had their own rules of duels. Children of endless prairies, majestic forests and dusty towns preferred freedom of action in all its forms. It should be remembered that American culture developed under very special conditions, different from those of Europeans. Basically, it was not a battle with an equal enemy, but a struggle with the elements and the endless development of new lands. A real American duel was, accordingly, more likely a hunt, where rivals, armed with carbines, went into the forest, often for several days, and tracked each other for a long time, using various Indian tricks, including camouflage and installation of false scarecrows. Such a duel was more consistent with the worldview of the harsh buffalo hunters. Often the “American woman” looked like an ordinary cowboy brawl with a knife and a six-shooter 45-caliber revolver, but always in front of eager spectators. However, the most sophisticated and, one might even say, cynical form of American dueling was a duel called “Ku-Ku”! This gruesome fight took place in a completely darkened room with shoes removed. One of the opponents screamed “ku-ku-ku”, and the other quickly fired at the sound. The one who screamed was obliged to remain where he was. After which the roles of the “cuckoo people” changed until one of the opponents was killed or seriously wounded.

National searches

In Russia, duel hunting, despite the huge number of forests and first-class hunters, has not become widespread. The personal honor of a nobleman and an officer did not extend beyond the dueling code, and the unlimited freedom of the individual did not extend beyond serving the sovereign and the ideals of the empire.

There are no rules without exceptions! Any social movement, any foundations and orders sooner or later become overgrown with various kinds of perversions and deviations from the norm. The strict duel did not escape this fate. At the beginning of the 19th century, a special kind of dueling madness arose in Russia called braiting (from the French bretteur “bully”). The Breters enjoyed nationwide fame, they were proud of their friendship, their “exploits” were described famous writers. These madmen made the duel an end in itself, the duel a kind of altar on which they constantly celebrated a bloody mass. The pistol in their hands turned into a cult symbol, and even an insult resembled a prayer. These Knights of the Barrier, Kings of Challenge, Troubadours of Honor believed that a noble man has the right to any actions if they do not contradict his personal ideas of honor and if he is ready to answer for them with arms in hand. The duel is like the work of a lifetime. Duel as self-expression

The insane courage of these sinister and predatory people could not help but delight the wild, warlike youth, who were clearly bored during the intervals between hostilities. The names of the Breters were well known M.I. Lunin, F.I. Tolstoy-American, A.I. Yakubovich, F.F. Gagarin, F.A. Uvarov-Cherny and many others are undoubtedly bright, outstanding personalities who deserve separate description. They reflected an era where there was no place for petty feelings, trivial insults, light sins, or simple delights.

Retribution for the winner

The usual punishment for a duel at the end of the 18th and beginning of the 19th centuries was imprisonment in a fortress for up to a year, demotion to a soldier with the right of length of service, transfer to active army to the Caucasus, from the guard to the army, dismissal from service and exile to his village. Non-serving nobles were most often prescribed strict church repentance, exile to the countryside and a ban on entering the capitals. All these measures had no effect on the spread of duels, the participants of which enjoyed the approval and support of society.

Only at the end of the 19th century, when fights became very rare, and the decline of morals in society, and especially in the army, was too obvious, the emperor Alexander III On May 13, 1894, the Supreme Court granted the court of officers' honor the right to prescribe duels.

The duel still remained a criminal act, but those who came to the barrier by decision of the society of officers were guaranteed the highest pardon in advance. According to the dueling code of General F.V., repeatedly published in those years. Durasov, the entire course of the duel had to be carefully recorded by the seconds and certainly included in a special duel protocol. Historians know that more than three hundred recorded pistol fights took place in Russia between 1894 and 1910. 644 people took part in them, including 4 generals, 14 staff generals, 187 captains and staff captains, 367 lieutenants, second lieutenants and warrant officers, 72 people of civilian rank. On average, up to 20 duels took place in Russia per year.

One hundred and eighty years ago, chamber cadet Alexander Pushkin fought a duel with lieutenant of the cavalry regiment Georges de Heeckeren (Dantes). The circumstances and course of the fight seem to have been studied thoroughly, but historians still cannot say for sure why Pushkin’s opponent remained alive despite being hit by a bullet in the chest? Whether his own hand, with which he defended himself, was saved by a copper button, or whether he cheated and took advantage of additional protection - such a version pops up in publications from time to time.

During the duel, Pushkin, as is known, was mortally wounded in the stomach. Dantes, according to the report of the senior police doctor, was wounded “through the right arm and received a concussion in the abdomen.”

We decided to consider the technical aspects of the fight - tactics, level of training of the shooters, characteristics of the weapon, etc. We paid special attention to the notorious button and the hypothetical cuirass of Dantes. We managed to find two materials that showed experiments with shooting from dueling pistols at metal button plates, and received comments from a surgeon and an expert on muzzle-loading weapons.

Lessons in morality and good manners

The gun changed everything. It was not for nothing that he was nicknamed the equalizer of chances: an old man could defeat a young man, a strong man could yield to a weak one. The relative availability of weapons and ammunition allowed civilians to practice marksmanship as thoroughly as military personnel. Finally, there was always an element of chance in a pistol duel. By the middle of the 18th century, pistol duels began to dominate, and by the end of the 19th century they almost replaced other types of fights.

Who fought duels
Only nobles could fight a duel—interclass fights were not allowed. Duels between blood relatives and patients were also excluded; it was considered absurd to fight with old people or teenagers, one could not accept a challenge for career or economic reasons, and a creditor could not fight with a debtor.
Photo: courtesy of the Russian branch of the Muzzleloading Weapons Association
The rules were very different. Opponents could shoot from the spot, and who would fire the first shot was determined by lot. But more often they shot in advance, for example, the opponents stood with their backs to each other, at the command of the second they quickly turned around, cocked the hammers and fired a shot. The most famous option is a duel with barriers, this is how Pushkin and Dantes fought. In the Russian version, barriers - any object, sword, cloak - were placed at 10-15 steps, that's seven to ten meters. The opponents were separated by 20-30 steps. At the command of a second, they began to walk in the direction of the barriers and could shoot at any time from any distance.
If the shooter missed first, he remained in place (in the so-called “duelist pose” - semi-sideways, his hand covering his chest, the pistol covering his head), and his opponent could come close to the barrier, take aim and shoot. The return shot was usually given a minute, the wounded shooter - two. Anyone who hesitated lost the right to fire. A misfire was also considered a shot.
For Pushkin and Dantes, the barriers stood at 10 steps, the opponents were separated by 20 - five steps to the barrier for each.
The weapons were capsule pistols, presumably made by the famous French master Lepage, with a 12 mm rifled barrel. “In terms of accuracy, these pistols are not inferior to modern ones. Record for 25 meters - 100 points. A modern sports target, an ordinary ten, good shooters put 10 bullets in it,” says Igor Verbovsky, a representative of the Russian branch of the Association of Muzzle-Loading Weapons in the International Committee of Muzzle-Loading Associations, explaining that today in many countries, including Finland, Poland, and the Baltic states, competitions in shooting from ancient weapons.
The weight of gunpowder in dueling pistols ranged from three to eight grams, depending on the caliber. A 50-caliber bullet weighing about 12 grams left the barrel at a speed of about 350 meters per second. Its energy reached 730 Joules - this is slightly more than that of a TT pistol, but the penetrating ability of a round lead bullet was much lower, and it lost speed faster than a modern bullet. According to the most common version, the seconds loaded weakened charges of gunpowder into the pistols of Pushkin and Dantes.
How the Russians did it
It is believed that Russian duels were particularly bloody - in Europe, barriers were usually placed at 30 steps, and for satisfaction it was enough to shoot in the direction of the enemy. In Russia, duels were often fought until one of the duelists was killed or seriously wounded. A duel “through a handkerchief” was practiced - from the distance of an unfolded handkerchief, the ends of which the duelists held with their hands. In 1824, the future Decembrist Ryleev fought with Prince Konstantin Shakhovsky from three steps; due to the close distance, the bullets twice hit the opponents’ pistols.
Lepage dueling pistols
In the first half of the 19th century in Russia, for a military man, refusal to duel actually meant retirement; for a secular person, it meant excommunication from high society. Historians believe that the wars of the beginning of the century played a significant role in this - the Russian-Swedish war of 1808-1809 and the foreign campaigns of the Russian army during the Napoleonic wars. On the one hand, many officers became acquainted with the traditions of the European aristocracy, including dueling, on the other, many military officers were susceptible to post-traumatic syndrome - military officers were accustomed to looking death in the face, they felt like the winners of the strongest army in the world and the liberators of Europe. This was reflected in exaggerated ideas about honor and attitude towards duels.
How the fights went
Literature and cinema have formed a stereotype of a duel: duelists slowly walk towards each other, slowly raising their pistols, carefully aiming... In fact, the duel could have looked completely different. “There was such a strategy - it was preferred by experienced duelists - to quickly, almost run, cover your distance and shoot at the approaching enemy,” explains Igor Verbovsky. “The shooter created favorable conditions for himself: it is difficult for his opponent to make an aimed shot while moving, in addition, standing sideways, you reduce your projection as much as possible, and when you walk, it is difficult to do this.”
Technically, it is not difficult for a trained shooter to run five steps and quickly hit a target the size of a human torso from seven meters. According to Verbovsky, at a costumed shooting show in Finland, Russian shooters using muzzle-loading weapons specifically staged an experiment: an averagely trained shooter, who had not previously dealt with dueling pistols, practically ran up to the barrier and shot at a cardboard target offhand. Of the six attempts, five were successful. One bullet hit the edge of the target, the rest hit closer to the center line.
Pushkin also chose this strategy in the last duel; he very quickly covered the distance to the barrier and began to aim. But Dantes outplayed him, shooting immediately, just one step short of the barrier.
Level of training of duelists
Alexander Sergeevich was known as a good shooter and, according to legend, he could hit a card ace with a pistol in 10 steps. “The targets have not survived, but there are memories of contemporaries,” says Verbovsky. — In exile in Chisinau, the poet, barely getting out of bed, without getting dressed, shot at the wall with a pistol many times. There are recollections of his serf that during his exile in Mikhailovskoye, Pushkin fired a hundred bullets into the barn wall every morning. In general, he had a reputation as a good shooter; people were afraid to shoot with him.”
Even the fact that, being seriously wounded, Pushkin found the strength not only to fire back, but to hit the enemy, says a lot about his skill and character. The poet shot while reclining, leaning on his left hand.

Painting by Adrian Volkov “The Last Shot of A. S. Pushkin”
Dantes, a professional military man, also had to have good shooting training; in addition, as Verbovsky recalls, while studying at an officer school in France, he won the champion title in pigeon shooting. This is the forerunner of modern clay pigeon shooting or sporting (shotgun shooting at flying clay plates).
Pushkin is sometimes called an experienced duelist, almost a fighter, and dozens of duels are attributed to him. In fact, the poet had about 30 dueling stories - this is how situations involving a challenge to a duel are called, but most ended in reconciliation. Before the fight with Dantes, the poet went to the barrier four times, and only once shot at the enemy, but missed. There is no exact information about the Heeckeren-Dantes dueling experience.
Why did Dantes survive?
While waiting for the shot, Dantes, as expected, stood sideways, covering himself with his hand with a pistol. The bullet pierced his forearm and hit his torso - he was wounded and fell, but quickly got up.
According to the official version, a button saved Dantes from a bullet, but it was not presented at the trial. This gave rise to rumors that Pushkin’s killer played a foul game, wearing chain mail or a cuirass specially made for him that fit tightly to the body. After all, the opponents were not examined before the duel.
The opinions of modern experts on this matter differ. “The bullet fired by the poet pierced the sleeve, the soft tissue of the arm, the sleeve again and hit the fabric of the uniform, which it could no longer pierce. On the front surface of the chest, protected by the uniform, there may well have been no damage at all, including abrasions. Although the wounded person would certainly have felt a blow to the chest,” surgeon Mikhail Khramenkov commented to Lente.ru.
During the Finnish experiment, shots were fired at a dummy (a plastic bag of earth, dressed in an M65 jacket), onto which copper plates two millimeters thick and about five centimeters in diameter were attached - they acted as buttons. With a reduced weight of gunpowder, up to 3.5 grams (the same weakened charge), the bullet did not penetrate the button, leaving a dent and breaking through the bag. Of course, this experiment cannot be considered scientific, if only because of the material of the mannequin. Nevertheless, the “button” version is supported by European, in particular English, sources of the 18th-19th centuries, describing cases when buttons and coins saved from a pistol bullet, and the victim experienced severe pain as a result of the hit, but remained virtually unharmed.
On the other hand, we do not know exactly how much gunpowder was in the pistol from which Pushkin shot, because when it fell, the barrel of his pistol became clogged with snow, and his seconds gave him another. The authors of the documentary-production film “Pushkin. The 29th Duel also experimented with weapons from the 19th century. They had a bullet fired at a ballistic gelatin dummy, pierce the body and drive a button into it.

*****
Pushkin's bullet was treated with an enema
The cause of death of Alexander Pushkin, the great Russian poet and writer, is known to every fifth grader. The poet was mortally wounded in a duel with the French officer Georges Charles Dantes.
According to the calculations of literary historian Vladislav Khodasevich, before the duel with Dantes, Pushkin had already had several dozen challenges to a duel, and Pushkin himself was the initiator of fifteen, of which only four ultimately took place.
The conflict between Pushkin and Dantes, provoked by Dantes's love for Pushkin's wife, Natalya Goncharova, and the poet's jealousy, lasted several years. It was brought to an end by a duel that took place on February 8, 1837 near the Chernaya Rechka on the outskirts of St. Petersburg.
Pushkin and Dantes shot from a distance of 20 steps. Dantes shot first. The bullet hit the poet in the stomach, hitting the neck of the thigh. After being wounded, Pushkin was able to shoot back, but did not inflict a serious wound on the enemy. Pushkin was taken home from the scene of the duel.
In the days after the injury, Pushkin was conscious. He found the strength to communicate with numerous visitors who wanted to inquire about his health.
At the same time, he was tormented by such severe pain that at night his wife, who was dozing in the next room, jumped up from his screams.
The cause of the pain, as noted by the historian and literary critic Pyotr Bartenev, in particular, was enemas.
“The doctors, thinking to alleviate the suffering, put on a washout, which is why the bullet began to crush the intestines...” he wrote.
Pushkin often asked cold water and only took a few sips.
By noon the next day after the duel, the poet felt better. He talked with Vladimir Dal and joked, and those around him received hope for the poet’s recovery. Even the doctors doubted the initial forecasts - they told the wounded man’s friends that doctors’ assumptions were sometimes wrong and that perhaps Pushkin would recover. He even helped put leeches on himself.
But the poet felt himself weakening. Every now and then he called his wife to him, but he did not have the strength for long conversations. By nightfall he felt worse again.
The next day, Pushkin felt a little better again. Ivan Spassky, one of the doctors who treated Pushkin, noted that his hands became warmer and his pulse became more pronounced. By seven in the evening, as Spassky wrote, “the warmth in his body increased, his pulse became much clearer and the pain in his stomach became more noticeable.”
“Actually, he suffered from pain, according to him, not so much as from excessive melancholy, which should be attributed to inflammation of the abdominal cavity, and perhaps even more to inflammation of the large venous veins,” Dahl recalled.
On the morning of February 10, the assembled doctors unanimously recognized Pushkin’s situation as hopeless. According to their estimates, he had no more than two hours to live.
Pushkin's house was surrounded by so many people that his friends had to resort to the help of the Preobrazhensky Regiment. The poet was getting worse, but he continued to remain conscious. Shortly before his death, he wanted cloudberries. Pushkin wished that his wife would feed him from her hands.
“You will see that he will be alive, he will not die,” she said, hopeful, to Spassky.
But very soon he asked Spassky, Dahl and Konstantin Danzas, his lyceum friend, who were at the bedside, to turn him on his right side.
The autopsy was performed by Spassky. Dahl wrote: “During the autopsy it turned out: the loin part of the right half was crushed, part of the sacral bone as well; the bullet got lost near the tip of the last one. The intestines were inflamed, but not killed by gangrene; inside the peritoneum there is up to a pound of dried blood, probably from two femoral or mesenteric veins. The bullet entered two inches from the upper anterior extremity of the right loin bone and passed indirectly or in an arc within the greater pelvis from top to bottom along the sacrum bone. Pushkin probably died from inflammation of the large veins combined with inflammation of the intestines.”
If the duel had happened today, Pushkin would have a chance to survive, modern doctors believe. The volume of blood loss, according to surgical historian Uderman, amounted to 40% of the total blood volume in the body, which is now no longer considered fatal due to the possibility of blood transfusion. Pushkin did not receive donor blood. Instead of hospitalization, Pushkin was taken home, dragged to a sleigh, aggravating the traumatic shock.
Those wounded in the stomach were not operated on at that time, and science knew neither aseptic techniques, nor antibiotics, nor anesthesia. They were recommended to be treated with poultices, castor oil, laxatives and enemas.
The use of leeches worsened the blood loss. By that time, according to Mikhail Davidov, associate professor of the Perm Medical Academy, author of the book “The Duel and Death of A.S. Pushkin through the Eyes of a Modern Surgeon,” the poet had already developed peritonitis. Thanks to foreign bodies that got into the abdominal cavity - a bullet that no one pulled out, pieces of clothing, bone fragments - an infection entered there. Meanwhile, blood from the damaged vessels filled the small pelvis and from there also poured into the abdominal cavity. Bacteria from a gangrenous area of the wall of the small intestine also got there. The disease could also be complicated by osteomyelitis of the pelvic bones.
In a modern interpretation, Pushkin’s diagnosis would sound like this:
“Gunshot penetrating blind wound of the lower abdomen and pelvis. Multi-fragmented gunshot infected fractures of the right iliac and sacral bones with incipient osteomyelitis. Traumatic diffuse peritonitis. Gangrene of a section of the wall of the small intestine. Infected abdominal hematoma. Foreign body (bullet) in the sacral area. Phlebitis of the pelvic veins. Fulminant sepsis. Traumatic shock. Massive blood loss. Severe acute posthemorrhagic anemia. Acute cardiovascular and respiratory failure. Multiple organ failure."
To save Pushkin, it was necessary to provide first aid after being wounded, applying an aseptic bandage and administering painkillers and hemostatic agents.
Next, he should have been transported in a supine position to the surgical department, with blood plasma substitutes and anti-shock agents administered along the way. In the hospital, it would be necessary to conduct an urgent examination, including x-rays and ultrasound, and then operate on the poet under general anesthesia. In the postoperative period, intensive therapy with antibiotics would be necessary.
“If these measures were carried out in full, death due to the severity of the wound could still occur, but the chances of recovery would be at least 80%, since the mortality rate for such gunshot wounds is now 17.2 - 17.5%,” - Davidov notes.
But in the first half of the 19th century, no one suspected aspects that now seem self-evident. Even in the 1980s, according to the estimates of the prominent Soviet surgeon Boris Petrovsky, Pushkin's chances of survival would have been 30-40%.
At a special scientific conference dedicated to the wound and death of the poet, he formulated the general opinion of those present: “From the position of modern surgery, we can say that before A.S. Pushkin was seriously wounded, our colleagues were the first half of the 19th century centuries were helpless."

sword, pistols, rapier saber, gun.

Annotation:

The article discusses the characteristics of types of duels, weapons; basic rules of behavior in a duel.

Article text:

One of the equally important elements of the dueling ritual is the choice of the type of duel. The ritualized duel was strictly regulated by the code certain rules, which includes: choosing the place and time of the duel, clothing option and type of duel. It should be noted that the formation of the dueling ritual was greatly influenced, first of all, by the medium of distribution, namely the military, the foreign style of behavior and the course of the duel itself were adopted. The psychological aspect of the opponents and the nature of the insult play a certain role in the conduct of the fight.

It is known that during the historical period of conflict resolution through combat, there were a huge number of types of duels. Over time after Patriotic War 1812 and Russia’s foreign campaigns, brutal types of duels that determined the fatal outcome of the fight, which were similar to suicides, became widespread. These are such types of duels as shooting at three steps, the so-called “American duel”, where the price of life or death was determined by lot, and its variations: swallowing a pill, one of which is poisoned, using a poisonous snake, which was let into a dark room where both were enemy; near a cliff, etc.; so-called « quadruple duel" (fr. une partie carrée) - a duel in which their seconds fired after the opponents.

Typically, the “American duel” was used in cases of legal prohibitions, unequal position of opponents, physical restrictions in which the result of a regular fight was predetermined, but the opponents were unable or unwilling to exercise the right of substitution, and so on), but both opponents believed that that differences can only be resolved by the death of one of them.

Also, the “American duel” could be called another type of duel, more similar to hunting each other: the rivals, by mutual agreement, arrived, usually from different sides, at a certain time in a given place, chosen as the “duel territory”, for example, a copse or gorge, and with weapons in hands they set off to track each other down. The goal was to locate the enemy and kill him.

One of the most known species duels - “Russian (hussar) roulette” - an extreme kind of gambling or bet with a fatal outcome. According to the rules of the game, one cartridge is loaded into the empty drum of a revolver, after which the drum is rotated several times so that the players do not know where the only cartridge is located. After this, players take turns bringing the barrel of the revolver to their own head and pulling the trigger.

There are several varieties of Russian roulette. Basically, playing techniques differ in the following ways:

By the number of cartridges in the drum

The minimum number of cartridges in the drum is one, the maximum is one less than the number of chambers in the drum. It is clear that the risk increases in direct proportion to the number of cartridges in the drum.

By drum rotation

After each attempt, the revolver drum can (in addition to the automatic rotation of the drum) be rotated by hand. Mathematically, such an operation makes the game somewhat less risky, but at the same time less predictable.

According to the injuries caused

In the “classic” version, after turning the drum, the barrel of the revolver is pressed to the temple, that is, a shot most likely means death. However, there were also “safer” options, when the revolver was placed, for example, against the palm. In the “bloodless” version, the shot is fired to the side.

In this case, the “classic” version of Russian roulette is considered to be a game with the presence of one cartridge in the drum of a revolver, additional rotation of the drum with the palm of the hand after each shot and placing the muzzle of the revolver to the temple (to the head). Russian roulette obeys general laws mathematical statistics. A description of this type of duel is found in literature: in the novel by M.Yu. Lermontov “Hero of Our Time”, in the novel by Boris Akunin “Azazel”, in the novel by Stephen King “Inflammable with a Glance”, etc., filmed in cinema, found in the plot computer games, mentioned in the lyrics.

In fact, a duel in Russia was legalized with the adoption of the “Rules on the resolution of quarrels that occur among officers” (May, 1894), and a clear structuring of the conditions of the duel was set out by V. Durasov in the “Dueling Code” (1908), which incorporated all possible types of duels , systematized the entire Russian dueling tradition. According to this code, all conditions for the fight had to be stipulated in writing and in great detail, so that they could later be accurately reproduced at the battle site. In practice, this circumstance was not always met.

Despite the existence large quantity various types of duels, to 19th century a certain minimum was established, from which a certain choice was made when organizing a duel, depending on the degree of insult. The types of duels differed by the type of weapon: cold steel and firearms.

According to the codec of V. Durasov, who distinguished three types of duels: legal, exclusive and secret. Legal duels can only take place with pistols, swords and sabers.

The choice of the location of the duel and the weapon belonged to the offended person and the age, health and desire of the opponents were taken into account. Weapons became a kind of sign and language of conflict resolution.

Edged weapons were allowed to use swords, sabers and rapiers. Often a pair of identical blades of the same type was used. “If there was an urgent need to conduct a fight in the absence of identical blades, it was allowed, with the consent of opponents and seconds, to use a pair of similar blades, if possible of the same length. The choice of weapons in this case was made by lot. If one of the opponents, rightfully offended by an action, decided to use his own weapon, he thereby gave the opponent the right to use his own weapon of the same type.

It is known that the upbringing of nobles was not only strict, but also included a certain range of necessary knowledge, facilitating the socialization of the son of an aristocrat in his society. One of necessary conditions for boys it was education to be resilient, healthy person and paid great attention to various sports, including fencing. Subsequently, fencing matches were very common in Europe. Naturally, a person who is good with a sword and the art of fencing has a unique advantage that can affect the result of a fight, and it should be determined, first of all, as a divine providence. This feature of inequality between opponents determined the gradual degeneration of this type of dueling weapon. But one should take into account the fact that, unlike a pistol duel, where the result was often fatal, a duel with edged weapons was less bloodthirsty.

Duels with edged weapons were divided into mobile and stationary.

Mobile duel. A more or less long path or area was marked out, within which the duelists could move freely, advancing, retreating, bypassing the enemy, that is, using all the capabilities of fencing techniques. A mobile duel was possible without any site restrictions.
Fixed duel. Opponents were placed in a fencing position within the distance of an actual strike with the weapon used. It was forbidden to attack the enemy and retreat; the battle had to take place without leaving the spot.

The blow on swords could be continuous or periodic.

A continuous duel continues without interruption until one of the opponents is disarmed and wounded.
A periodic duel consists of regular periodic fights (3-5 minutes) and breaks, lasting a certain time and ending at the command of the leader.

In the 15th-17th centuries, in a duel with edged weapons, punches and kicks, wrestling on the ground, in general, any actions from the arsenal were not prohibited street fight. In addition, usually a dagger for the left hand was used in conjunction with the sword, or the left hand was wrapped in a cloak and used to deflect enemy blows and grabs. By the beginning of the 19th century, they fought with one sword (saber, rapier), the second hand was usually removed behind the back.

Punching and kicking were prohibited, and it was certainly forbidden to grab the blade of an enemy’s weapon with your hand. The fight began at the signal of the managing second and had to stop at his first request (otherwise the seconds had to separate the opponents). If one of the opponents dropped a weapon, the second had to stop the fight and give the first the opportunity to pick it up. During "to first blood" or "to wound" duels, after any blow had reached the target, the opponents had to stop and allow a doctor to examine the wounded person and conclude whether the wound was serious enough to stop the fight, in accordance with the accepted rules. In a duel “to the end,” the fight stopped when one of the opponents stopped moving.” (Wikipedia)

“When dueling with swords, you should choose a shady alley or lawn, protected from the sun, wind, dust, of sufficient size, level with solid soil. The size of the duel field must be at least 40 steps long and at least 12 steps wide. Field boundaries must be clearly marked." It is preferable for opponents to fight bare-chested, but depending on the weather, a shirt and vest were allowed; Starched linen was strictly not allowed.

For a nobleman, a sword is a symbol of personal honor, an attribute of a noble weapon.

There are more types of duels with pistols than with bladed weapons. In all cases, paired single-shot pistols were used for the duel. The weapon should not have been familiar to any of the opponents, this was given great value. A pistol duel equalized the opponents in age, physical development and level of training.

“Dueling pistols were sold in pairs in special cases (boxes, suitcases). The case also provided space for gunpowder, bullets and accessories needed for loading. Pistols could be skillfully inlaid, some of them were real works of art. The most popular in the first third of the 19th century were the French Lepage pistols and the German Küchenreuter pistols.”

There are two systems for selecting pistols for a duel:

Opponents use their personal weapons when the enemy brings his own pair of personal pistols and uses them;
Opponents do not use personal weapons. Seconds of the opposing sides bring a pair of pistols, the choice of a pair is decided by lot.

Loading of pistols was carried out by seconds directly at the site of the duel. When dueling with pistols, the terrain for the duel is open, level, with solid ground. During a duel, dark-colored clothing is preferable; Starched underwear and outerwear made of thin fabric are not allowed.

There are six common types of this duel: a duel with pistols, standing motionless; standing still and shooting randomly; with forward movement; with non-stop forward movement; with movement along parallel lines; pistol duel on signal.

In the most traditional duels, each opponent fired only one shot. If it turned out that as a result both rivals remained unharmed, it was nevertheless considered that honor was restored and the matter was over. In the case when the seconds agreed on a duel “until the result” or “until the injury”, in such a situation the pistols were loaded again and the duel was repeated either from the very beginning, or, if this was agreed, with changing conditions (for example, at a minimum distance).

Fixed duel.

Opponents are located at a specified distance from each other (usually within Western Europe a distance of about 25-35 steps was used, in Russia - 15-20 steps). They shoot after the manager’s command, depending on the previously agreed conditions, either in random order, or alternately, according to the lot. After the first shot, the second should be fired no more than a minute later.

Mobile duel with barriers.

The most common type of duel in Russia in the 18th-19th centuries. A “distance” (10-25 steps) is marked on the path, its boundaries are marked with “barriers”, which can be any objects placed across the path. Opponents are placed on equal distance from the barriers, holding pistols in their hands with the muzzle up. At the command of the manager, the opponents begin to converge - move towards each other. You can walk at any speed, it is forbidden to step back, you can stop for a while. Having reached his barrier, the duelist must stop. The order of shots can be specified, but more often they shoot when ready, in a random order (the enemy is targeted while moving and shot while stopping). There are two versions of the rules for this duel. According to the first, more common in Western Europe, the enemy who fired first had the right to stop where he fired from. According to the second, adopted in Russia, after the first shot, one of the opponents who had not yet fired had the right to demand that the opponent come to his barrier and, thus, get the opportunity to shoot from a minimum distance.

Duel on parallel lines.

Two parallel lines are marked on the ground at a barrier distance determined by agreement (usually 10-15 steps). Opponents stand opposite each other and walk along the lines, gradually reducing the distance. You cannot move back, increasing the distance to the line. You can shoot at any time.

Fixed blind duel.

Opponents stand motionless at a specified distance, with their backs to each other. After the manager’s command, they, in a certain or random order, shoot over the shoulder. If after two shots both remain intact, the pistols can be charged again.

“Put a gun to your forehead.”

A purely Russian version of an “extreme” duel. Opponents stand at a distance ensuring a guaranteed hit (5-8 steps). Of the two pistols, only one is loaded, the weapon is chosen by lot. At the command of the manager, the opponents simultaneously shoot at each other.

"Blow in the barrel."

Also used exclusively in Russia. Similar to the previous option, but both pistols are loaded. In such duels, both opponents often died.

"Through a scarf."

The opponents stand with their backs to each other, each holding with their left hand a corner of a scarf stretched diagonally between them. At the command of the manager, the opponents turn around and shoot.

In addition to swords and pistols, a duel could be fought with sabers and rapiers. But on the battlefield, such types of weapons were rarely encountered and always with the consent of both sides of the opponents. Hussars and lancers, for whom this type of weapon was familiar, cut with sabers. By the beginning of the 19th century, rapiers became exclusively sporting weapons. In Russia, a duel with rapiers was a very rare occurrence.

The gun was considered a common weapon for the American population. This type of weapon was not only a symbol of the American, his honor and courage, but also familiar in connection with the constant military clashes with the Indians in the struggle for land, a necessary attribute in ordinary life in the struggle for existence with the elements. Therefore, weapons were natural for the “American duel”, for which there were “rules of the game”, finding out the truth in conflict situations.

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