Did he also demand Sumner's wallet or show any intent to rob Sumner? If not, it wasn't a mugging. And for the record, Brooks used a walking cane that he required due to wounds incurred in his hip from another duel he fought, not a "club."
And the second also comes in handy to keep other's at bay who might want to interfere while your beating a man as he lays on the floor.
Actually, one of the roles of a second is indeed to keep the action of honor recourse free from outside interference.
I assume that's part of your 'code of honor', too.
I suppose it could be part of an honor code, though that code is not mine - it's an historical thing dating back to trials by combat and the sort in the middle ages.
But not, it seems, under the Criminal Code which, I believe, outlawed dueling in D.C. and most Northern states
You'll have to check the law books of the time. I do know that there was a duel on the Marlboro Pike just outside of Washington in Maryland between two congressmen in 1838.
Sumner was eight years older than Brooks. Not decrepit, but he was older and unarmed.
Well thanks for finally admitting it! 8 years is nothing, Non-Seq. Based on the repeated claims of your earlier posts, one could have easily been left with the impression that Brooks was a bombastic 25 year old beating up a fragile elderly and defenseless 75 year old Sumner. You referred to Sumner as an "old man" at least twice and repeatedly gave the impression that he was elderly. In fact, he was about 45 which is hardly old by any standard
Especially when the victim is unarmed and laying on the floor and those who might choose to interfere were also unarmed.
You'll have to check the law books of the time. I do know that there was a duel on the Marlboro Pike just outside of Washington in Maryland between two congressmen in 1838.
I did. Dueling was a state issue and by 1857 had been outlawed in every Northern state but was still legal in almost every southern one. However, D.C. was under federal law and it had been it had been outlawed, some say because George Washington had been so opposed to the practice.
Merriam-Webster defines mugging as an assault usually with the intent to rob. Usually, but not always. Describing the actions of Brooks and Keitt as a mugging is accurate.