Attributed to Henry Dacre Symptoms of a Duel Publisher: H. R. Robinson Lithograph 1839
Whig Representative James Harlan (right) was elected chair of the committed charged with investigating Van Buren’s Treasury Department. Other Whig members of the committee were Edward Curtis, David Douglas Wagener, and Henry A. Wise. Wise (who speaks from offstage) was known as a “dead shot” and to have tried to provoke House Speaker James Polk into duel.
Martin Van Buren’s Treasury Secretary Levi Woodbury (left) challenges the “Scrutiny” of the committee with pistols bearing the names of its loyal Democratic members, Francis Thomas and Samuel Cushman.
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