The Castlereagh–Canning duel was a pistol duel between the British Minister of War Viscount Castlereagh and Foreign Secretary George Canning, which took place on 21 September 1809 at Putney Heath. The reasons for the duel were the rivalry between the two politicians and numerous disagreements between them over the conduct of the war against Napoleonic France in 1808 and 1809. These differing opinions ultimately led to Canning's demand for a new appointment to the War Office in the spring of 1809, accompanied by a threat of his own resignation. The incumbent Prime Minister, the Duke of Portland, was reluctant to lose either Canning or Castlereagh and delayed a decision for an extended period. Instead, the matter was discussed with various members of the Cabinet and also King George III without the knowledge of Castlereagh, who only became aware of the discussions in the late summer of 1809 and responded by challenging Canning to a duel a few days later. The duel, in which Canning was wounded in the leg by Castlereagh, resulted in the final collapse of the Portland government and the advancement of Spencer Perceval as the new Prime Minister. Castlereagh and Canning, meanwhile, spent several years on the backbenches, absent from any government responsibility.
The origins and rise of Castlereagh and Canning
Both Castlereagh and Canning had similar roots in the Irish Ascendancy. While Castlereagh was the son of an aristocratic family with Irish-Scottish roots, George Canning was the son of a disinherited Irish landowner and an actress. He spent his early years in poverty before, thanks to the generosity of a relative, he received a privileged education at Eton and Oxford, where he excelled intellectually and was quickly regarded as a promising politician for what were considered his outstanding talents.Theo Barclay: George Canning. In: Iain Dale (Ed.): The Prime Ministers: Three Hundred Years of Political Leadership., Hodder & Stoughton, London 2022, p. 135. A celebrated orator and unashamedly ambitious, he was nevertheless regarded as an outsider by his more privileged political contemporaries, who viewed him with a mixture of snobbery and suspicion because of his humble origins. By contrast, CastlereaghSince 1796 his courtesy title was Viscount Castlereagh, as he was Heir apparent to his father, the Earl of Londonderry. was perceived as the archetypal representative of a privileged group of insiders. Although widely regarded as a poor speaker, he had a knack for holding ministerial offices at key moments.
Both began their political careers as supporters of the Whigs around Charles James Fox. As the increasingly bloody French Revolution unfolded, both underwent a shift in their political orientation and joined William Pitt the Younger, who promptly recognised their political talent and supported them. Nearly of the same age, the two rapidly became rivals for promotions and government posts in Pitt's cabinet. Upon Pitt's resignation in 1801, both followed Pitt's example and returned to the backbenches. Pitt encouraged numerous of his closest political associates to join the newly constituted government under the leadership of Henry Addington (whom he had previously proposed for the role). Castlereagh followed Pitt's advice and became President of the Board of Control. However, the rhetorically adept Canning thought Pitt was wrong to resign and remained on the opposition benches, deriding Addington and ardently advocating for Pitt's cause. This angered Pitt, who had not only proposed Addington himself as his successor but regarded him as his temporary replacement and supported him in the House of Commons.
Upon Pitt's return to the office of Prime Minister in 1804, Castlereagh retained his previous office and assumed the additional role of Leader of the House of Commons, thereby relieving Pitt, whose health was already failing, of the burden of attending to the House of Commons. Apart from Pitt, he was the only Cabinet member in the House of Commons. He also became Secretary of State for War and the Colonies. Castlereagh, who had already established a reputation as a reliable and capable administrator during his tenure as a Cabinet minister, thus ascended to become an indispensable figure within the government. In contrast, the ambitious Canning was compelled to accept a relatively insignificant post outside the Cabinet and was also overlooked for subsequent Cabinet vacancies. Canning felt humiliated by these slights and considered resignation. In a candid talk with Pitt, Canning poured out his grievances. He complained about the preferment of Castlereagh ahead of himself, yet at the same time claiming he had no animus against Castlereagh. Pitt promised him the next open Cabinet post, but died in January 1806, whereupon William Grenville and Charles James Fox formed the Ministry of All the Talents.
Canning and Castlereagh were not involved in the formation of the government. In accordance with an arrangement with other young "Pittites", including Spencer Perceval and Lord Hawkesbury, the group collectively went to the opposition benches. After the death of Fox, Grenville tried to strengthen his government and split the group by making overtures to Canning and possibly Perceval, while ignoring the other two. Grenville's scheme came to nothing, as Canning declined his offer. But in a letter to his wife, he listed the other colleagues he might have been able to bring over with him and marked them according to various criteria. Castlereagh alone was awarded no positive scores at all. For the biographer John Campbell, this is an indication that Castlereagh had already become Canning's bête noire.
Castlereagh and Canning in Portland's wartime government
Following the collapse of the short-lived administration of all the talents, George III turned once again to the elderly Duke of Portland to lead a new government of Pitt's followers in the spring of 1807. As in his first term as prime minister, when Charles James Fox had been the dominant figure in the government, Portland was once again more of a figurehead than the head of government. In practice, Portland proved to be weak in leadership, sluggish, and conflict-averse. He never spoke in the House of Lords and rarely attended the Treasury and the Cabinet meetings. As a result of Portland's weakness, the departments were left to themselves while the government was without a higher authority to smooth down differences between departments and arbitrate disagreements between ministers. The real figures of importance were a foursome of Pittites, consisting of Castlereagh, Canning, Spencer Perceval and Lord Hawkesbury.
In the new cabinet, Castlereagh was given his former office, the War Office. Canning leapfrogged into the government and was awarded the Foreign Office following the Marquess of Wellesley's refusal. Despite the substantial promotion, Canning also claimed the post of Leader of the House of Commons, which Castlereagh had held. Castlereagh was prepared to relinquish this office (which he felt was a burden), but refused to give it to Canning. As a compromise solution, the position was assumed by Spencer Perceval, who also became Chancellor of the Exchequer. Lord Hawkesbury (who inherited the title Earl of Liverpool in 1808 after the death of his father) was given the Home Office. Additionally, the Cabinet included Castlereagh's uncle, Lord Camden, who held the position of Lord President of the Council.
Conflicts over warfare
In 1807 the real issue of importance was the war against Napoleonic France. As in the preceding governments, Portland's Cabinet was right from the start torn between different choices of strategy. Numerous disagreements arose within the Cabinet, which increasingly impeded the government's ability to function. In contrast, George Canning had increasingly established himself as the driving force of the government. To secure the maritime superiority of the Royal Navy, Canning successfully proposed neutralising the fleet of neutral Denmark either through diplomatic overtures or, if necessary, by force, to remove it from Napoleon's grasp. At the same time, he persuaded the Portuguese royal family to flee to Brazil to protect the Portuguese fleet from Napoleon's grasp.
Castlereagh supported both measures. When Napoleon's intervention in Spain presented the opportunity to open up a new theatre of war, Canning was once again the driving force behind the prompt decision to dispatch troops under the command of Arthur Wellesley (later Duke of Wellington) to the Iberian Peninsula to support the uprising against Napoleon. Castlereagh was indisposed for several months during 1808 with an unspecified illness. As a consequence, he became a liability to Canning. The two frequently disagreed in the Cabinet over the question of a suitable commander-in-chief. Canning regarded the previous commander Wellesley as a suitable choice, while Castlereagh supported George III's demands in the Cabinet for a formally higher-ranking officer and ultimately prevailed.
Wellesley's forces were victorious over the French at the Battle of Vimeiro in August 1808, but were subsequently placed under the command of the two generals Burrard and Dalrymple. In the Convention of Cintra, both generals renounced the advantages the British army had gained under Wellington before the armistice had been negotiated with France. John Moore, who was subsequently dispatched to replace the two recalled generals, and who was once again viewed with scepticism by Canning, did not fare much better in the eyes of the British Cabinet. He was compelled to withdraw his army after Napoleon intervened. Moore was killed in a rearguard action in January 1809, thereby reinstating Wellesley as commander-in-chief. The army was initially evacuated and sent to Portugal in the spring.
Despite repeatedly voicing his misgivings within the Cabinet, Canning defended Moore's campaign in the House of Commons against the opposition's intense criticism in a compelling and unanimously endorsed speech, preventing the government from suffering a setback in the subsequent close vote. Canning and Castlereagh also increasingly disagreed about the best strategic approach. Canning advocated for a concentration of the limited military forces on the Iberian theatre of war. Castlereagh, on the other hand, was preparing a British invasion of the Netherlands or northern France in parallel with the Iberian campaign to support and relieve the military pressure from France on the British ally Austria. This led to the planning of the Walcheren Expedition. Canning perceived this as a potential threat to the success of the Iberian campaign, yet he ultimately acquiesced to the majority decision of the Cabinet.