Same here. I get the image of him every time we go by the Mall of Georgia and his statue is resting on the very top.
I try to stay away from that area anyway.
I have read about those times, and I have never understood how he ended up being in the position to represent the state.
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I’ve always been more of a Lachlan McIntosh kind of guy.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lachlan_McIntosh.
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Duel with Button Gwinnett
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During the period of 1776 to 1777, Lachlan McIntosh became embroiled in a bitter political dispute with Button Gwinnett, the Speaker of the Georgia Provisional Congress and a radical Whig leader. Their bitter personal rivalry began when McIntosh succeeded Gwinnett as commander of Georgia’s Continental Battalion in early 1776. The two men represented opposing factions in a deeply divided Patriot movement in Georgia. Gwinnett had been forced to step aside after his election had been called into question by opposing forces within the independence movement. Gwinnett, thwarted in his military ambitions, became a delegate to the Continental Congress and a signer of the United States Declaration of Independence. He returned to Georgia after his allies gained control of the Provisional Congress and succeeded in electing him speaker. Shortly afterward, he was elected president and commander-in-chief of the Committee of Safety.
Gwinnett began purging the government and the military of his political rivals. One of his early targets was George McIntosh, Lachlan’s brother, who had opposed Gwinnett’s election. Gwinnett had George arrested and charged with treason against the revolution.
On May 1, 1777, Lachlan McIntosh, a staunch supporter of John Treutlen for Governor, addressed the Georgia assembly and denounced Gwinnett in the harshest terms, calling Gwinnett a “scoundrel and lying rascal.” Gwinnett sent a written challenge to McIntosh demanding an apology or satisfaction. McIntosh refused to apologize, and Gwinnett challenged him to a duel.
On May 16, in a field owned by James Wright a few miles east of Savannah, Gwinnett and McIntosh met to duel with pistols. At a distance of 12 paces, the two men leveled and fired virtually simultaneously. Gwinnett received a ball to the thigh and McIntosh was struck in the leg. McIntosh would recover from his wounds, but Gwinnett’s wound was mortal and he died three days later. Gwinnett’s allies had McIntosh charged with murder, but he was acquitted in the ensuing trial. George Washington, fearing Gwinnett’s allies would take revenge on McIntosh, ordered him to report to Continental Army headquarters on October 10. He spent the winter of 17771778 with the Continental Army at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania, where he commanded several regiments of North Carolina troops.