 Public sentiment was against Rowan in the matter of his duel with Chambers . Soon after the duel , friends of Chambers formed a posse and rode toward Rowan 's house . Rowan concocted a ruse whereby he dressed a family slave in his coat and hat and sent him riding from the house on horseback . The posse was fooled into thinking the slave was Rowan and gave chase , but the slave escaped and Rowan 's life was spared as well . Days later , the owner of the land where the duel had taken place swore out a warrant for Rowan 's arrest for murder . Some accounts hold that , as Commonwealth 's Attorney , Rowan 's friend Felix Grundy would have been responsible for prosecuting the case against Rowan and that Grundy resigned the position to avoid prosecuting his friend . Grundy 's biographer , John Roderick Heller , admits that this was possible , although no evidence exists to confirm it . Heller also points out that Grundy was Commonwealth 's Attorney not in Nelson County ( the location of Bardstown ) , but in neighboring Washington County at the time . Joseph Hamilton Daveiss and Colonel William Allen served as counsel for Rowan . The judge opined that there was insufficient evidence to send the case to a grand jury , and Rowan was released . 
