The new North-west. [volume] (Deer Lodge, Mont.) 1869-1897, 1877-10-26
T heLlncoln-S Duel.

A w.iter in the New York World gives
the following reminiscepce:
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 Indianapo-
lis, met one morning as he was going to
market one of the colored boys who had
been servant of his fathers in the State of
Alabama seated upon first-class carriage.
l asked Hiram-fnr that was his name
where he came from and where he was GO
ing to? He replied from "Springfeld, sir,
and am taking one of two gentlemen down
to Bloody Island to fight "Bloody Is
land'' is now known as East st. Louis, and
from 1920 till 1S47 under the first constitu-
ton of Illinois, there were perhaps not less
than one hundred duels fought there. 1t
turned out that the gentlemen who were to
slaughter one another upon this bloody
field were none less than Abraham Lincoln,
of ''Black Hawk war fame, and the then
Captain Paddy Shields, who had seen ser
vice in the British army. Aud here let me
say that it was because they had stopped
for breakfast at our little village that per-
haps Lincoln was spared and saved to make
for himself such grand and glorious name
Throughout the wcIld as he afterward did,
and that Shields became an honored soldier,
not only in the Mexican, but in the war to
preserve the Union, for the Circuit court
was in session for that county, and in at
tendance were some of the leading lawyers
of the district, among whom were Lincoln's
and Shields personal and political friends,
and as soon as it was noised abont--as it
was Immediately after breakfast-that they
had gone to Bloody Island'' to fight, then
it was that Stephen A. Douglass, who was
at the time prosecuting attorney for our
district-R. w. English, our member OF
Assembly, and A. w. Cavalry, our Senator,
all three of whom were warm political
friends of Captain Shields; Colonel John J.
Hardin, afterward killed at Buena Vista,
and Colonel 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 Lincoln and Shields ready for the COM
bat. They soon succeeded IN inducing
Shields to withdraw the challenge for five
minutes in order that Lincoln might make
an explanation, and should this be satisfac-
tory to Shields, he (Shields) should not in
future attempt to find out or discover who
might have been the author Of the newspa-
per article from which the trouble arose.
AS soon as Captain Shields withdrew the
challenge, Mr. Lincoln at once assured him,
on his honor as man, that he had never
seen or heard of the article in question till
he read the same in the morning paper, and
that he was in no sense responsible for the
same, but he had simply espoused the au-
thorship of it in order to protect the good
name OF most estlmable young girl in
Springfield. This settled what might have
terminated in q bloody affair. The would
be combatants shook hands and were ever
afterWard good friends. But for years the
question was. ssWho wrote the articler'
1t is now an open secret in Springfield. It
seems that a Miss jayne, who had recently
graduated from Monticello Seminary, and
who was quite belle at the capital, had
three young lawyers as her admirers. Mr.
Lincoln was one and Captain Shields was
anotheI aud she had written the article
which the Irish soldier thought was re-
Election upon himself, for be, be it known,
was very vain man and considered him.
self handsome. Neither Shields nor Lin
coin married the girl, but she became the
loving and honored wife of Lyman Trum-
bull.
s.