 How the matter escalated to a duel is also the subject of some uncertainty . In his biography of Benjamin Hardin , Lucious P. Little recounts that Chambers immediately challenged Rowan to a duel . According to Little , Rowan , embarrassed at his behavior , refused the challenge and repeatedly apologized for his actions , but Chambers was insistent on the duel and continued hurling insults of growing severity at Rowan until Rowan accepted the challenge . A letter from George M. Bibb , published a year after the event and reprinted in 1912 in the Register of the Kentucky State Historical Society , claims that Chambers ' challenge was issued through a letter delivered to Rowan by Chambers ' friend , Major John Bullock , on January 31 , 1801 . Bibb claims that he and Rowan had , after the night of the incident , gone to nearby Bullitt County on business , that Rowan had returned first , and that Rowan showed Bibb the letter upon his return on February 1 . 
