Today we are going to talk about a future President and the duel that almost was. This is a story of Abraham Lincoln that has long been one of my favorites, but it certainly one that unless you study Lincoln outside of mainstream history, you most likely have never heard. The last time I visited Springfield (2017) we toured the old state capitol building, and I was pleasantly surprised when our tour guide briefly touched on this story, which I was excited to hear. However, I don't think anyone else in my group knew about it before our tour, and I loved seeing their reactions. When I was a guide at a historic house that had a set of dueling pistols and a tie to Abraham Lincoln, this was one of my favorite stories to tell because again most guests, even those who said they were Lincoln fans, had never heard it before.
One of the reasons I love this story is that is classic Lincoln. Today when we are taught about Lincoln in school we see the monument, we learn about him being on the penny, you learn briefly about him teaching himself to read and living in a log cabin. You hear how he steered the country through the Civil War and freed the slaves, you learn about a short speech he gave in Gettysburg, and of course about him being killed by an assassins bullet. Although all of these parts of Lincoln's life are important, they are much more about Lincoln the myth (after his death) and Lincoln the statesman/president. They do not touch on the more personal side of Lincoln. Lincoln was incredibly smart and witty, and he could be lethal with the written word. Of course we know how he was able to craft speeches for cemetery dedications and inaugurations that have become some of the most widely read and quoted words in the world, but he also used that talent to humiliate opponents and to address issues of his day in print. And that is where our story begins.
To weave our tale, we must go back to the days before Lincoln was President, and instead see him as simple "prairie lawyer" living in Springfield Illinois. The issue of the day was about banking in Illinois. Now, to fully understand what Lincoln and his target James Shields are arguing about in the first place, you need to understand that prior to the American Civil War, there was no national paper currency. The Federal Mint only dealt with coins, typically in gold or silver. Instead of there being a federal paper currency backed by the Federal Government, paper currency was left to each individual state. As you can imagine, that led to some problems. In the case we are talking about specifically for this post, the Illinois State bank actually went bankrupt in 1842, and in the wake of this said it would no longer accept it's own paper currency as payment for debts owed by citizens of Illinois. Instead, Illinois said that it would only accept gold or silver (which most Americans did not have) for payment of loans, putting the majority of people in debt to the bank in the position of being unable to repay their debts, through no fault of their own.
Lincoln would strongly oppose this move. However, James Shields, state auditor at the time, and a Democrat, would follow party line and agree with the closure of the banks. This would make him a prime target for the opposing Whig Party of which Abraham Lincoln was a member (there was no Republican party yet). Lincoln would fan the flames by writing a scathing editorial of Shields and the situation in the newspaper.
Lincoln was friendly with Simeon Francis, editor of the Sangoman Journal, and therefore was allowed print his editorial of Shields under the pen name of "Rebecca". In this letter, Rebecca (aka Lincoln) would attack Shields not only professionally but also personally. After attacking the decision to close the bank, "Rebecca" would go onto attack Shields pursuit of women:
"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.'"
After writing the letter, but before submitting it, Lincoln showed it to Mary Todd, whom he had only recent gotten back with after breaking off their engagement. The letter delighted Mary Todd. She then took it upon herself (without Lincoln's knowledge) to pen and submit her own letter critiquing Shields under the pen name of "Cathleen". These two letters hit their mark and Shields did not take kindly to the two letters. He would demand of Simeon to know the identity of "Rebecca" which Simeon promptly provided.
Once James knew the identity of "Rebecca" he sent a handwritten note to Lincoln requesting that he retract his letter in full. In his note, Shields stated:
“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.”
However, Lincoln refused and instead returned a note to Shields requesting that Shields rewrite his note in a more "gentlemanly" manner. That was the last straw for Shields, who quickly challenged Lincoln to a duel. They would would duel in Missouri, where it was still legal.
According to the rules for a duel between gentleman, whichever man was challenged was allowed to select the weapons which would be used. Today, when we hear the word "duel" we immediately picture 2 men in a clearing, taking their 10 steps before turning and firing their pistols. However, pistols were not the only weapon of choice for dueling, and in fact swords were the weapons used in the first fatal duel in Boston Commons in 1775. Knowing that if they used pistols he was likely to get himself shot and possibly killed, and not wanting to kill Shields, Lincoln showed his cunning by selecting cavalry broadswords, "of the largest size", instead of pistols. Lincoln knew that with his size (6 ft 4 in) and strength, he would have a distinct advantage over Shields (5 ft 9 in).
When they day of the duel arrived, Lincoln and Shields met at a spot (fittingly) called Bloody Island, Missouri. As they prepared for the duel, separated by a board that neither were allowed to cross, Lincoln swung his sword above Shields head and cut through a nearby tree branch. This display of strength and advantage caused Shields to rethink his challenge and with the encouragement of bystanders, call a truce.
Latter in life, as often happens, Lincoln and Shields would again cross paths. This time their level of powers would be greatly different. Lincoln would then be the 16th President of the United States, and Shields would be a Brigadier General in the Union Army during the Civil war. Operating in the Shenandoah Valley, Shields would hand Confederate General Stonewall Jackson his only defeat of the war in the battle of Kernstown, but would be fatally wounded during the battle. Lincoln would nominate him for promotion to Major General, effectively burying the hatchet.
Although Lincoln did not like to discuss the duel that almost was, it did cure him of thinking that he could ruthlessly attack an opponent in print, behind a false name, and get away with it. Although Lincoln would continue to let his feelings be known to his opponents, he never again crossed the line that "Rebecca" did, and he clearly came away with a lesson well learnt.
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I would be interested to know if you had ever come across this story of Lincoln before! If you had, where did you first hear it? Leave your story in the comment section below. I would love to hear from you.
If you want to "hear" this story told by the amazing Mike Rowe, I would highly suggest giving his podcast episode entitled "Broadsides in a Pit" (#149) a listen!
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