James Wilde died in a duel on the riverbank

On 16 January 1815, two officers of the 8th Regiment, United States Infantry, crossed the river to the Carolina side to settle a dispute. Lieutenant James Wilde and Captain Roswell P. Johnson stood on the ground and prepared to fire. The nature of the argument that brought them to this point remains unknown, but the resolve of the two men was absolute. They stood their ground and exchanged fire not once, but four times. On the fourth exchange, a bullet struck James Wilde through the heart, killing him instantly.

The grave marker in this cemetery carries an epitaph written in bitterness. It identifies Captain Johnson as a man who, only a short time before the duel, would have been friendless if not for the intervention and friendship of the man he killed. The conflict between the two officers left a mark on the Wilde family that lasted long after the burial.

James Wilde had recently served in a military campaign against the Seminoles. During his time in the field, he wrote detailed descriptions of the Florida landscape. These accounts inspired his brother, the poet and statesman Richard Henry Wilde, to begin work on an epic poem. The poem remained unfinished, interrupted by the death of the soldier who provided the inspiration.

The brother’s work is now remembered for a single lyric that captures the sudden end of the lieutenant’s life. The lines compare a human existence to a summer rose that opens to the morning sky, only to be scattered on the ground before the evening shades can close. Richard Henry Wilde served in the United States House of Representatives for several terms, representing Georgia in Congress from 1815 to 1825 and again from 1827 to 1835.