Lincoln - Shields Duel
ABRAHAM LINCOLN AND JAMES SHIELDS DUEL
September 22, 1842
Under the pen name of “Aunt Rebecca,” Abraham Lincoln, then an
attorney, wrote a series of letters to the Sangamon Journal keenly
satirizing young James Shields, auditor of the State of Illinois on
the Democrat ticket. Shields’ dress, his "dudeish" manners, and his
self-proclaimed status as a "ladies’ man," drew down ridicule from
others. In his first letter to the newspaper, Lincoln wrote the
following, referring to “Jeff,” a farmer: “I’ve
been
tugging ever since harvest, getting out wheat and hauling it to the
river, to raise State Bank paper enough to pay my tax this year, and
a little school debt I owe; and now just as I’ve got it…, lo and
behold, I find a set of fellows calling themselves officers of
State, have forbidden to receive State paper at all; and so here it
is, dead on my hands.” When “Rebecca” identifies Shields as one of
the “officers of state” and reads aloud from his declaration against
accepting state money, Jeff explodes. “I say–it-is-a-lie…. It grins
out like a copper dollar. Shields is a fool as well as a liar. With
him truth is out of the question.” Lincoln went on to deride Shields
on the social scene, with “Jeff” recalling Shields at a recent fair
attended by the eligible women of Springfield: “His very features,
in the ecstatic agony of his soul, spoke audibly and distinctly –
‘Dear girls, it is distressing, but I cannot marry you all. Too well
I know how much you suffer; but do, do remember, it is not my fault
that I am so handsome and so interesting.’” The letter ended
with an appeal to the editor: “Let your readers know who and what
these officers of State are. It may help to send the present
hypocritical set to where they belong and to fill the places they
now disgrace with men who will do more for less pay.” Lincoln signed
the letter, “Rebecca.”
After reading the letters in the newspaper, Shields fumed, which
only
encouraged their continuance. Mary Todd (future wife of Abraham
Lincoln) and Julia Jayne (future wife of Lyman Trumbull) sent a poem
under the pen name of “Cathleen” to the Sangamon Journal, which
pictured Shields as receiving a proposal of marriage from "Aunt
Rebecca." Another poem followed, which celebrated the wedding.
Shields went to the editor of the Journal in a rage, demanding to
know the name of his tormentor. The editor went to Lincoln, who was
unwilling that Misses Todd and Jayne be revealed. Lincoln ordered
that his name be given as the author. Shortly after, Lincoln
received a letter from Shields, demanding an apology.
Shields wrote, “I have become the object of slander, vituperation
and personal abuse. Only a full retraction may prevent consequences
which no one will regret more than myself.”
Lincoln replied that he could give the note no attention, because
Shields had not first asked if he really was the author of the poem.
Shields wrote again, but Lincoln replied he would receive nothing
but a withdrawal of the first note, or a challenge. The challenge
came, and was accepted. Lincoln chose broadswords as the weapon, and
the place of the duel - Sunflower Island, directly across from Alton
– was selected. The islands in the Mississippi River at that time
were in a “no man’s land,” and were out of the jurisdiction of both
Missouri and Illinois. Contrary to what you may read on different
websites, the island where the Lincoln – Shields duel was held was
not “Bloody Island,” which was directly across from St. Louis (and
now a part of Illinois), and has its own history of duels
(Benton-Lucas, August 12, 1817; Barton-Rector, June 30, 1823;
Biddle-Pettis, August 26, 1831; and Brown-Reynolds, August 26,
1856). To read more on “Bloody Island,”
please visit this website.
Shields was only five feet, nine inches tall, while Lincoln stood at
six feet, four inches. But Shields was stubborn, ambitious,
perseverant, and had served in the Black Hawk War. Later in the
Mexican War, he would take a bullet in the chest at the Battle of
Cerro Gordo. After surgery and nine weeks of recuperation, he
returned to his command. This was clearly a man who would not run
from a fight.
On the morning of September 22, 1842, Shields and Lincoln arrived in
Alton. The party took breakfast at the Franklin House, 206 State
Street, in Alton (now the Lincoln Lofts apartments), and at about
10:30 a.m., proceeded to a ferry boat which was owned and run by a
Mr. Chapman. The boat was propelled by two horses, which worked
around a windless at one end of the boat deck. A Telegraph reporter
by the name of Mr. Southers (the owner and editor of the newspaper,
John Bailhache, was out of town), a man by the name of John
Broughton, and Dr. Thomas Hope accompanied Lincoln and Shields and
their party to Sunflower Island, directly across from Alton. A spot
was cleared by the party, and Shields took a seat upon a fallen log
on one side, with Lincoln on the other. Their “seconds” proceeded to
cut a pole about twelve feet long, and placed it in two stakes with
crotches in the end, about three feet above the ground. The men were
to stand on either side of the pole, and fight across it. A line was
drawn on the ground on both sides, three feet from the pole, with
the understanding that if either stepped back across the line, it
was to be considered a concession and an end to the duel.
Lincoln
remained firm, and said that Shields must withdraw his first note.
Shields was inflexible. Lincoln’s face was grave and serious. He
stood up, reached over and picked up one of the swords, and felt
along the edge of the weapon with his thumb. He stretched himself to
his full height, and with his long arm he clipped off a twig from
the tree above his head with the sword. There wasn’t another man
there who could have reached that twig, and some of the men came
near to howling with laughter. Lincoln returned the sword to its
scabbard and sat down once again with a gleam in his eye.
Finally, Dr. Hope sprang to his feet and faced Shields. He blurted
out, “Jimmie, you G—D--- little whippersnapper, if you don’t settle
this, I will take you across my knee and spank you!” This was too
much for Shields, and he yielded. A note was prepared by Shields and
sent across the line to Lincoln, which inquired if he was the author
of the poem in question. Lincoln replied that he was not, and mutual
explanations and apologies followed.
The men returned to the boat, chatting in a friendly manner. John
Broughton took a log and put it at one end of the boat, and covered
it with a red shirt to make it look like the figure of a man covered
with blood. As the boat reached Alton, the landing was crowded with
people who were waiting to learn the result of the duel. When they
saw the dummy at the end of the boat, some almost stepped into the
water to see who it was that had been slain.
News of the “duel” spread among the Alton community. The editor of
the Alton Telegraph, John Bailhache, who had recently returned from
a trip, wrote a scathing article regarding the action of the two
men. Both Lincoln and Shields were personal friends of his, and he
called their action disgraceful and unfortunate. Bailhache further
stated that a friendless, penniless, and obscure person would be
placed in jail and then sentenced to the penitentiary for the same
action. He called upon Attorney General Lamboro to exercise zeal in
bringing the two men to justice. However, Bailhache was happy the
two men were returned to their family and friends unscathed, and
hoped the citizens of Springfield would select some other town
rather than Alton, if they intended to take each other’s life in the
future.
Later, Lincoln and Shields rarely spoke of the duel. Once when asked
about it, Lincoln brushed the subject aside and spoke no further on
the matter.
In later years, Sunflower Island - where the duel was held - took on
the name of Smallpox Island, after the Confederate soldiers were
housed in a hospital there during the smallpox epidemic. Later, it
was known as McPike Island, Ellis Island, and Bayless Island. The
Lincoln – Shields Recreation Area in Missouri was named after the
event. There a monument stands in memory of the soldiers who were
housed in the hospital on the island during the Civil War. Most of
the island was destroyed by flooding during the construction of the
bridges and dam.
DISTINGUISHED GENTLEMEN ATTEMPT TO ASSASSINATE EACH OTHER
Source: Alton Telegraph, October 01, 1842
Our city was the site of an unusual scene of excitement during the
last week, arising from a visit of two distinguished gentlemen of
the city of Springfield, who, it was understood, had come here with
a view of crossing the river to answer the "requisitions of the code
of honor," by brutally attempting to assassinate each other in cold
blood.
We recur to this matter with pain and the deepest regret. Both are,
and have been, for a long time, our personal friends. Both we have
everJohn Bailhache, Editor of the Alton Telegraph esteemed in all
the private relations of life, and consequently regret that what we
consider an imperative sense of duty we owe to the public, compels
us to recur to the disgraceful and unfortunate occurrence at all.
We, however, consider that these gentlemen have both violated the
laws of the country, and insist that neither their influence, their
respectability, nor their private worth should save them from being
made a menable [sic] to those laws they have violated. Both of them
are lawyers - both have been Legislators of this State, and aided in
the construction of laws for the protection of society - both
exercise on small influence in community - all of which, in our
estimation, aggravates instead of mitigating their offense. Why,
therefore, they should be permitted to escape punishment, while a
friendless, penniless, and obscure person, for a much less offense,
is hurried to the cells of our county jail, forced through a trial,
with scarcely the forms of law, and finally immured within the
dreary walls of a Penitentiary, we are at a loss to conjecture. It
is a partial and disreputable administration of justice, which,
though in accordance with the spirit of the age, we must solemnly
protest against. Wealth, influence, and rank can trample upon the
laws with impunity; while poverty is scarcely permitted to utter a
word in its defense if charged with crime in our miscalled temples
of justice.
Among the catalogue of crime that disgraces the land, we look upon
none to be more aggravated and less excusable than that of dueling.
It is the calmest, most deliberate, and malicious species of murder
- a relict of the most cruel barbarism that ever disgraced the
darkest period of the world - and one which every principle of
religion, virtue and good order, loudly demands should be put a stop
to. This can be done only by a firm and unwavering enforcement of
the law, in regard to dueling, towards all those who so far forget
the obligations they are under to society and the laws which protect
them, as to violate its provisions. And until this is done, until
the civil authorities have the moral courage to discharge their duty
and enforce the law in this respect, we may frequently expect to
witness the same disgraceful scenes that were meted in our city last
week.
Upon a former occasion, when under somewhat similar circumstances
our city was visited, we called upon the Attorney General to enforce
the law and bring the offenders to justice. Bills of indictment were
preferred against the guilty; but there the matter was permitted to
rest unnoticed and unexamined. The offenders in this instance, as in
the former, committed the violation of the law in Springfield; and
we again call upon Mr. Attorney General Lamboro, to exercise a
little of that zeal which he is continually putting in requisition
against less favored but no less guilty offenders, and bring all who
have been concerned in the late attempt at assassination to justice.
Unless he does it, he will prove himself unworthy the high trust
that has been reposed in him.
How the affair finally terminated, not having taken the trouble to
inquire, we are unable to say. The friends of Mr. Shields and Mr.
Lincoln claim it to have been settled upon terms alike, honorable to
both, notwithstanding the hundred rumors - many of which border upon
the ridiculous - that are in circulation. We are rejoiced that both
were permitted to return to the bosom of their friends, and trust
that they will now consider, if they did not do it before, that
rushing unprepared upon the untried scenes of Eternity is a step too
fearful in its consequences to be undertaken without preparation.
We are astonished to hear that large numbers of our citizens crossed
the river to witness a scene of cold-blooded assassination between
two of their fellow beings. It was no less disgraceful than the
conduct of those who were to have been the actors in the drama.
Hereafter, we hope the citizens of Springfield will select some
other point to make public their intention of crossing the
Mississippi to take each other's life than Alton. Such visits cannot
but be attended not only with regret, but with unwelcome feelings;
and the fewer we have, the better. We should have alluded to this
matter last week, but for our absence at Court. ~Signed John
Bailhache, Editor, Alton Telegraph
STORY BY AN EYE WITNESS - THE CHALLENGE - THE BATTLE
Source: Alton Evening Telegraph, February 25, 1902
There has been so many versions of the incidents of the duel, mostly
for the purpose simply to produce a sensational article, it becomes
a duty to history to give a simple and correct statement by an
eye-witness of what actually took place. There are several citizens
here in Alton now who were on the river bank or on the horse ferry
which carried the excited company over the Mississippi river from
the foot of State street to the island in sight and opposite to the
city of Alton - which is now much larger than then - Mr. Edward
Levis of Alton; also a Mr. George Booth of Chicago; and James E.
Starr of Portland, Oregon, still living; and the late Captain Joseph
Brown, ex-mayor of Alton and ex-mayor of St. Louis; and Mr. W. H.
Souther, now deceased, who was also on the old houseboat among the
crowd, have given us the Alton end correctly. The writer of this,
though four years too late to witness this exciting and most
humorous termination of what promised to be a bloody affair, became
acquainted personally with all the individuals connected with it,
and obtained the facts as herein detailed, also from the late Judge
John Bailhache, the editor of the Alton Daily Telegraph. The
Springfield end is given as I received it there. The Miss Mary Todd,
named, became later Mrs. Abraham Lincoln, and Miss Julia Jayne, the
wife of Judge Lyman Trumbull - both of whom have sons now residing
in Chicago. The Inter-Ocean of Chicago, a few days since, gave an
illustrated article of the duel in which not a single reference was
correctly stated. ~Henry Guest McPike.
Here is an exact copy of the statement of Mr. Southers, who was a
reporter on the Telegraph at the time:
James Shields was Auditor of State, elected on the Democratic
ticket, and from his swagger in dress, his dudish manners, and his
evident self-satisfaction with himself as a ladies man, quickly drew
down on himself the ridicule of the Whips. Lincoln wrote a series of
letters to the Sangamon Journal, after the fashion of the "Bigelow
Papers," keenly satirizing young Shields. He fumed under these
assaults, which only encouraged their continuance. Finally a poem
was sent to the Journal by Mary Todd and Julia Jayne, in which
Shields was pictured as receiving a proposal of marriage from "Aunt
Rebecca," and later another rhyme followed, celebrating the wedding.
In the words of the bounding west, these mischievous girls made life
exceedingly wearisome for the dudish young State auditor. At the
appearance of the last poem, Shields went to the editor of the
Journal in a towering rage and demanded the name of his tormentor.
The editor, in a quandary, went to Lincoln, who unwilling that Miss
Todd and Miss Jayne should figure in the affair, ordered that his
own name be given as the author.
Mr. Lincoln Challenged
Shortly after, Lincoln received a letter from Shields demanding an
apology. To this Lincoln replied that he could give the note no
attention because Shields had not first inquired whether he really
was the author of the poem. Shields wrote again, but Lincoln replied
that he would receive nothing but a withdrawal of the first note or
a challenge. The challenge came, was accepted, and Lincoln named
broadswords as the weapons to be used, the place selected being the
Mississippi riverbank opposite Alton.
Mary Todd Lincoln
It was on the morning of September 22, 1842 that Shields and Lincoln
arrived in Alton. I was then a printer and reported on the Alton
Telegraph, and had received an intimation of the coming duel, which
made me resolve to see it, if possible. The dueling party took
breakfast at the Franklin house, and about half past 10 in the
forenoon, proceeded to the ferry boat, which was owned and run by a
man by the name of Chapman. The boat was propelled by two horses,
which worked around a windless at one end of the boat deck, and I
made arrangements with Chapman to drive these horses. A young fellow
by the name of Broughton also smuggled himself aboard as a horse
driver, making just ten of us in all, as I remember.
Lincoln and his party sat at one side of the boat, and Shields and
his party at the other. The only thing which looked belligerent
about the equipment were six long cavalry sabers which lay on the
deck, in charge of Lincoln's seconds. There was no talking between
the opposite sides, and everything proceeded as solemnly and
decorously as at a funeral.
On the Battleground
Abraham Lincoln
Arriving on the opposite shore, which was a wilderness of timber, a
spot partially cleared was selected as the battleground. Shields
took a seat upon a fallen log on one side of the little clearing,
and Lincoln ensconced himself on another at the opposite side. The
seconds then proceeded to cut a pole about twelve feet long, and two
stakes with crotches in the end. The stakes were driven in the
ground and the pole laid across the crotches, so that it rested
about three feet above the ground. The men were to stand one on
either side of the pole and fight across it. A line was drawn on the
ground on both sides, three feet from the pole, with the
understanding that if either combatant stepped back across his own
line it was to be considered a giving up of the fight. This, you
see, would keep the fighters within range of each other all the
time, as neither could get more than three feet away from the pole,
and the swords seemed to me to be at least five feet long. After all
these arrangements had been completed, the seconds rejoined their
principals at the different sides
Shields Backs down
Lincoln remained firm, and said that Shields must withdraw his first
note and ask him whether or not he was author of the poem in
theLincoln - Shields Duel Journal. When that was done, he said, he
was ready to treat with the other side. Shields was inflexible and
finally Dr. Hope got made at him. He said Shields was bringing the
Democratic party of Illinois into ridicule and contempt by his
folly. Finally, he sprang to his feet, faced the stubborn little
Irishman and blurted out: "Jimmie, you G--- D--- little
whippersnapper, if you don't settle this, I will take you across my
knee and spank you." This was too much for Shields, and he yielded.
I believe Dr. Hope would have carried his threat into execution if
he hadn't. A note was solemnly prepared and sent across to Lincoln,
which inquired if he was the author of the poem in question. Lincoln
wrote a formal reply in which he said that he was not, and then
mutual explanations and apologies followed.
I watched Lincoln while he sat on his log, waiting the signal to
fight. His face was grave and serious. I could discern nothing of
'Old Abe,' as we knew him. I never knew him to go so long before
without making some sort of a joke, and I began to believe he was
getting frightened. But presently he reached over and picked up one
of the swords, which he drew from its scabbard. Then he felt along
the edge of the weapon with his thumb like a barber feels of the
edge of his razor, stretched himself to his full height, stretched
out his long arm and clipped off a twig from a tree above his head
with the sword. There wasn't another man of us who could have
reached anywhere near the twig, and the absurdity of that
long-reaching fellow fighting with cavalry sabers with little
Shields, who could walk under his arm, came pretty near making me
howl with laughter. After Lincoln had cut off the twig, he returned
the sword to its scabbard with a sigh, and sat down, but I detected
the gleam in his eye, which was always the forerunner of one of his
inimitable yarns, and I fully expected him to tell a side splitter
right there in the shadow of the grave.
After things had been adjusted at the dueling ground, we returned to
the ferry boat, everybody chatting in the most friendly manner
possible. But it must have been an awful trial to Lincoln to hold in
and not 'josh the life out of Shields.' Before we started back, John
Broughton got a log and put it at one end of the ferry boat and
covered it with a red shirt in such a manner that it looked like the
recumbent figure of a man covered with blood. When we reached Alton,
the landing was crowded with people who were there to learn the
result of the duel. When they saw the dummy at the end of the boat,
they almost crowded into the water to see who it was that had been
slain. I enjoyed this scene, although it was clearly offensive to
Shields."
LINCOLN – SHIELDS DUEL
Source: Alton Telegraph, October 4, 1877
A story, full of inaccuracies, concerning the great duel (?) between
Abraham Lincoln and General James Shields has lately been going the
rounds of the newspapers. We have recently learned some facts in
reference to this affair from the Hon. George T. Brown, who was
present and witnessed the closing scenes in the somewhat remarkable
drama spoken of. The misunderstanding originated, as has been
correctly stated, through a publication in the Sangamo Journal,
written by Miss Julia Jayne, afterwards Mrs. Lyman Trumbull, but for
which Mr. Lincoln assumed the responsibility. This led to a
challenge from Shields, who felt himself aggrieved by the article in
question. Lincoln, being the challenged party, chose broadswords as
the weapons, hoping thereby to terminate the combat without
bloodshed, and the parties and their friends came to Alton, crossed
the river, and selected a spot a few hundred yards above a point
opposite Piasa Street as the battleground. Mr. Merrimon of
Springfield was the second of Mr. Lincoln. Our informant, who was a
mere lad at the time, cannot recall the name of the person who
performed the same office for General Shields. Through the friendly
efforts of Colonel E. D. Baker, Colonel John J. Hardin, and others,
the matter was amicably arranged on the battleground, and the
principals were ever after firm friends. Hardin afterwards became
Colonel of an Illinois Regiment, and was slain on at the Battle of
Buena Vista in Mexico. Baker was the Colonel of a California
Regiment, and was killed during the bloody battle of Ball’s Bluff,
at the commencement of the War of the Rebellion.
But to return to the duel. The parties crossed the river on a
two-horse ferry boat, with but few persons in Alton knowing anything
of the affair. Our informant, however, got wind of it, and crossed
in a skiff, and witnessed the proceedings on the ground. As they all
returned, a fix-foot constable of Alton named Jake Smith said that
it was too bad that there had been no fight, and to keep up
appearances, got a log of wood, laid it down on the deck of the
boat, took his camlet cloak, and wrapped it around the log with the
red lining on the outside, in such a manner that it looked like a
prostrate, bloody human form. He also procured a branch from a tree,
and waved it over the object as though keeping away insects, and in
this way badly sold the crowd that he collected on the levee in
anticipation of seeing a corpse or two.
Our informant also states that this “duel” was once spoken of to Mr.
Lincoln at Washington, while he was President, when he earnestly
requested that it might never again be mentioned, as he was
profoundly ashamed of the whole business. General Shields could
never be induced to speak of it. The accounts that locate the
“battleground” on Bloody Island near St. Louis miss the spot by
about twenty-five miles. [Note: the “battleground” was on Sunflower
Island, directly across from Alton.]
LINCOLN – SHIELDS "DIFFICULTY"
Source: Alton Daily Telegraph, February 4, 1887
Most of the accounts of the duel (that did not come off) between
Lincoln and Shields state that the parties went to Bloody Island in
the Mississippi River, for the proposed encounter. The two noted
men, with their friends, came from Springfield to Alton in
carriages, and then went to what is now known as Bayless Island,
opposite Alton. Blood Island is about 25 miles below, constituting
part of East St. Louis.
The trip across the river was made on a ferry boat, and the affair
having “got noised around,” the people of Alton were greatly
excited. When the parties were returning to Alton, some wag in the
party took a log of wood, spread over it a red garment, and exposed
it near the bow of the boat, thus representing a bloody, prostrate
form, as though one of the duelists had fallen a victim to
broadsword practice, this weapon being similar to the Scotch
claymore, being the one agreed upon. Mr. D. S. Hoaglan, still a
resident of Alton, was here at that time, and was an intimate friend
of Mr. Lincoln’s. He states that Dr. R. W. English, our last
Democrat postmaster, then a resident of Carrollton, was the person
who arranged the difficulty between Lincoln and Shields, without
bloodshed.