Half of St. Louis lined the shore to watch the little group set out for Bloody Island [a popular contemporary dueling spot]. The September day was hot and sticky and breathless. Benton took off his coat and rolled up his sleeves and, to historians’ enduring horror, showed his red flannel underwear. It blazed like the banner of barbarians approaching the civilized gates. Gentlemen didn’t wear red flannel underwear, and if they did they wouldn’t expose it, most particularly not for a duel, for which the dress code was strict and formal. (Why, on a steaming hot day, he was wearing long underwear at all is a mystery.)
Source:
Holland, Barbara. “XI. Moving West.” Gentlemen’s Blood: A History of Dueling From Swords at Dawn to Pistols at Dusk. Bloomsbury, 2004. 207-8. Print.
Further Reading:
Thomas Hart Benton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Hart_Benton_(politician)
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