The Manitowoc tribune. [volume] (Manitowoc, Wis.) 1866-1878, 1877-10-11
LINCOLN IND SHIELDS.
THE DUEL THEY DIDN'T FIGHT

THE DUEL THEY DIDN'T FIGHT
1t was somewhere about the year 1910
that the writer, then small boy, living
In little village on the line of the old
State road running from st. Louis to
Indianapolis, met cue morning as he was
going to market one of the colored bows
who had been a house servant for his
father, in the State of Alabama. seated
upon first-class carriage. I asked Hiram
for that was mis- name-where he came
from and where he was going to. He re-
piled, "From Springfield, sir, and I am
taking one or two gentlemen down to
Bloody island to fight" "Bloody island"
is now known as East ST. Louis, and
from 1920 to 1847, under the first consti-
tuition of Illinois, there were perhaps
not less than one hundred duels fought
thereon. 1t turned out that the gentle
men who were to slaughter one another
upon this bloody field were none less than
Abraham Lincoln of 'sBlack Hawk" war
fame, and the then Capt. Paddy Shields,
who had seen service in the British army.
And here let me say that it was because
they stopped for breakfast at our little
village that perhaps Lincoln was spared
to make for himself such grand and
glorious name throughout the world as
he afterwards did, and that Shields be-
came true and honored soldier, not only
in the Mexican but in the war to pre-
serve the Union, for the Circuit Court was
then in session for that county, and in
attendance were some of the leading
lawyers of the district, among whom were
Lincoln's and Shields personal and DO
htical friends, and as soon as it was
noised about-as it was immediately
after breakfast they had gone to
Bloody island to fight, then it was that
Stephen A. Douglas-wAo was at that
time Prosecuting Attorney for our dis
trict-R. W. English, our Member of
Assembly, and A. ". Caverly,
our Senator, all three of whom
were warm political friends of Capt.
Shields; Col. John J. Hardin, afterward
killed at Buena Vista, and Col. Edwin
D. Baker, killed at Balls Bluff, friends
of Lincoln, started in hot pursuit to
overtake the duelists. In this they did
not succeed till they reached the ground
upon which the fight was to take place.
Upon their arrival they found both Lin
coin and Shields ready for the combat
They soon succeeded in inducing
Shields to withdraw the challenge fol
five minutes, in order that Lincoln
might make an explanation, and, should
this be satisfactory to Shields, he
(Shields) should not in future attempt
to find out or discover who might have
been the author of the newspaper article
from which the trouble arose. AS soo1
as Capt Shields withdrew the challenge
Mr.. Lincoln at once assured him, on hi
honor as a man, that he had never seer
or heard Of the article in question til
he read the same in the morning paper
and that he was in no sense responsible,
for the same, but had simply espouse(
the authorship Of it in order to protec
the good name of a most estimabl,
young girl in Springfield. This settled
what might have terminated in a blood,
affair The would-be combaIants shool
hands and were ever afterward goot
friends. But for years the question was
Who wrote the article? It is now al
open secret in Springfield. Tt seems
that Miss Jayne, who had recent,
graduated from Monticello seminary an(
who was quite a belle at the capital
had three young lawyers as her admir-
ers. Mr.. Lincoln was one and Capt
Shields was another, and she had writ
ten the article which the Irish soldier
thought was reflection upon himself
for he, be it known, was a very vail
man, and considered himself handsome
Neither Shields nor Lincoln married
the girl, but she became the loving anC
honored wife of Lyman Trumbull.