The Starlit Path

Halloween

A duelist’s grave in savannah

Lieutenant James Wilde, shot through the heart in 1815 after a quarrel no one remembers…

The Starlit Path

October 16, 2025

1–2 minutes

Famous graves, Savannah

Savannah, Georgia

I stumbled across the famous ‘Duelist’s Grave‘ in Savannah — a lonely marker beneath the moss-draped oaks. It tells of Lieutenant James Wilde, killed in a duel on January 16, 1815, after four rounds of gunfire near the Savannah River. His killer, Captain Roswell Johnson, was once his friend. This cemetery is a popular stop on Halloween tours, book one here.

The reason for their duel was never recorded

The Colonial Park Cemetery wasn’t just the city’s primary burial grounds, it was a popular site for dueling to resolve conflict

In 1809, Governor David B. Mitchell signed an order to outlaw the practice of dueling in this cemetery

One response to “A duelist’s grave in savannah”

Halloween in Savannah – Ghost Stories, Haunted Squares & Charm

October 16, 2025 at 12:44 pm

[…] I’d always dreamed of visiting Savannah, and one Halloween, fate finally cracked open a door — The Gastonian had a last-minute vacancy. It felt like winning a ghostly lottery. Gas lamps flickered as I wandered past the Cathedral Basilica and Forsyth Park, just steps from my room. Nights here run between $284 and $416, depending on your haunt of choice. Locals warn that if you ever see a lantern flicker three times in Wright Square, turn around. They say it’s Alice Riley, Savannah’s oldest ghost, counting the living before midnight. See my other post on The Gastonian here. Check out my post on a duelist’s grave nearby here. […]

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