Iowa County democrat. [volume] (Mineral Point, Wis.) 1877-1938, 1879-06-13
SHIELDS.
Some "reminiscences of the Late Gen
eral.

The New York Herald, in its sketch
of the career Of the late Gen. Shields,
gives the following incidents:
Shields became auditor of the state
of the state Of Illinois in 1889. While
he occupied this important office he
was involved in an affair Of honor
with Springfield lawyer-no less
parsonage than Abraham Lincoln. At
this time James Shields. Auditor
was the pride Of the Young democracy,
and was considered dashng fellow by
all, the ladies included. In the sum
mer Of 1872 the Springfield Journal
contained some letters from the lost
Townships" by contributor whose
nom de plume WAS Aunt Becca,'
which held up the gallant young auditor
rs "a ballroom dandy, iloatin about
on earth without he(t or substance, just
like u lot OF cat-fur where cats had
been tightin'.' These letters caused in-
tense excitement in the town. Nobody
knew or guessed their authorship.
Shields Swore It would I've coffee and
pistols for twoif he should find out who
had been lampooning him SO unmorci-
fully. Thereupon Aunt Becca" wrote
another letter, which made the furnace
OF his wrath seven times hotter than
before, III which she made very
humble apology and offered to let
him squeeze her hand for sahsfac-
ton, adding: IF this should not
answer, there is one thing more | would
do rather than get lickin' | have all
along expected to die y widow; but, rs
Mr.. Shields is rather good looking than
otherwise, | must say l don't care if we
compromise the matter by-really, Mr..
Printer, can't nelp bluShin' l.
must come out-l-but widowed mod
esty-well, if must, must--wouldn't
he--mayhe sorter let tho old grudge
drap If was To consent to he-be-nis
wife? l know he is tightin' man and
would rather fight than eat; hut isn't
marryin' better than tightin', though it
does sometimes run into it? And |
don't think, upon the whole, Id be SIGH
q bad match, neither; I'm not over CO.
and am Jest four feet three i'll my bare
feet and not much more round the
grth; and for color, | wouldn't turn my
back to nary a girl in the Lost Town
ships. But, after all, maybe Pa coun-
tim my chickens before theJ re Matched
and dreamin' Of matrimonial bliss when
the only alternative reserved for me
may be n lickin'. jeff tells me the way
these tire-eaterS do is to give the chal-
lenged party the choice of weapons,
which, being the case, tell you in con-
iidence that never fight with anything
lNt,f 81 DO ar ~ f.Ar ar ~.
elful of Goals or some such things; the
former of which, being somewhat like
a shillelah, may not be SO very Oh
jectionable to him. | will give him
choice, however, in one thing, and that
is whether, when We fight, shall wear
breeches or he petticoats, for presume
this change is sufficient to place MS on
an equality Of course some one had
to shoulder the responsibility Of these
letters after such shot. The real
aulho was none other than Miss Mary
Todd. aiterSard the wife of Abraham
Lincoln, to whom she was engaged,
and who was III honor bound to assume,
for belligerent purposes, the RESPONSE
bility of her sharp pen-thrusts. Mr..
Lincoln accepted the situation. Not
long after the two men with their
seconds were on their way to the field
of honor. But the affair was fixed up
without any fighting, and thus ended
in tizzle the nColn-Shields duel Of
the Lost Townships.
When Shields was member of the
state legislature lie roomed with Ste
phen A. Douglas at Nandalia, Ill.,, in
boarding house kept by certain Col.
Flack. The landlord, by the way, also
kept grocery. Shields and Douglas,
as the custom then was, always kept n
pitcher of bourbon whisky on the table.
They had plenty Of friends, and the
pitcher was replenished-just how
many times they could not tell, but
Flack, who had to carry the liquor
around, got tired of it, and said some
other way of dispensing the liquor
must be provided. There was n
partition between their room and
the grocery, and Douglas sug-
gested that hole should be
cut in the partition and two faucets
placed in the barrel, one on the grocery
side and one inside the partition. The
landlord was to sell on his side, Douglas
and Shields on the other. and the cost
of the barrel OF whisky was to be shared
equally. The proposition was accept
ed. The nrst day Flack came out
ahead, the second day they were even.
but on the third day Shields and his
chum were way ahead Of the proprie-
tor. Flaek couldn't stand it; saw they
were selling whisky cheaper than he
was, and compromised the contract.
which otherwise was TO have lasted ali
winter, by payment of five-gallon keg.
At Cerro Gordo Gen. Shields was Sc
verely wounded while leading his men,
but he refused to quit the field. He adj
vanced TO the charge, when he was
struck in the chest by copper grape
shot that passed through his lungs. He
fell into the arms Of Oglesby, ut present
United States senator from Illinois, and
was carried from the battlefield TO ali
appearances lifeless. Obituary notices
appeared afterward in nearly all the
papers Of the country, so convinced
were his brother officers Of the impossi-
bility Of his surviving such terrible
wound. For weeks he lay at the brink