James Shields | |
|---|---|
 | |
| United States Senator | |
| In office January 27, 1879 – March 3, 1879 | |
| Preceded by | David H. Armstrong |
| Succeeded by | George Graham Vest |
| Constituency | Missouri |
| In office May 11, 1858[a] – March 3, 1859 | |
| Preceded by | Seat established |
| Succeeded by | Morton S. Wilkinson |
| Constituency | Minnesota |
| In office October 27, 1849 – March 3, 1855 | |
| Preceded by | Himself |
| Succeeded by | Lyman Trumbull |
| Constituency | Illinois |
| In office March 4, 1849 – March 15, 1849 | |
| Preceded by | Sidney Breese |
| Succeeded by | Himself |
| Constituency | Illinois |
| Commissioner of the General Land Office | |
| In office April 16, 1845 – January 5, 1847 | |
| President | James K. Polk |
| Preceded by | Thomas H. Blake |
| Succeeded by | Richard M. Young |
| Auditor of Illinois | |
| In office 1841–1843 | |
| Governor | Thomas Carlin Thomas Ford |
| Preceded by | Levi Davis |
| Succeeded by | William Lee D. Ewing |
| Personal details | |
| Born | (1806-05-10)May 10, 1806 Altmore, Ireland |
| Died | June 1, 1879(1879-06-01) (aged 73) Ottumwa, Iowa, U.S. |
| Party | Democratic |
| Signature |  |
| Military service | |
| Allegiance | United States |
| Branch/service | United States Army Union Army |
| Years of service | 1835–1842 1846–1848 1861–1862 |
| Rank |  Brigadier general |
| Battles/wars | |
James Shields (May 10, 1806[b] – June 1, 1879) was anIrish American politician andUnited States Army officer, who is the only person inU.S. history to serve as aSenator for three different states, and one of only two to represent multiple states in the U.S. Senate. A member of theDemocratic Party, Shields representedIllinois from 1849 to 1855, in the31st,32nd, and33rd Congresses,Minnesota from 1858 to 1859, in the35th Congress, andMissouri in 1879, in the45th Congress.
Born and initially educated in Ireland, Shields emigrated to the Americas in 1826. He was briefly a sailor, and spent time inQuebec, before settling inKaskaskia, Illinois, where he studied and practiced law. In 1836, he was elected to theIllinois House of Representatives, and later asState Auditor. His work as auditor was criticized by a youngAbraham Lincoln, who (with his thenfiancée,Mary Todd) published a series of inflammatory pseudonymous letters in a local paper. Shields challenged Lincoln to aduel, and the two nearly fought on September 22, 1842, before making peace, and eventually becoming friends.
In 1845, Shields was appointed to theIllinois Supreme Court, from which he resigned to becomeCommissioner of the U.S.United States General Land Office. At the outbreak of theMexican–American War, he left the Land Office to take an appointment asbrigadier general of volunteers. He served with distinction and was twice wounded. In 1848, Shields was appointed to and confirmed by the Senate as the first governor of theOregon Territory, which he declined. After serving asSenator from Illinois, he moved to Minnesota and founded the town ofShieldsville there. He was then elected asSenator from Minnesota. He served in theAmerican Civil War, and at theBattle of Kernstown, his troops inflicted the only tactical defeat ofStonewall Jackson in the war (although he had been wounded the day before and was not present on the battlefield). Shields resigned hiscommission shortly thereafter due to a dispute over a promotion. After moving multiple times, Shields settled in Missouri and served again for three months in the Senate. He died in 1879 and represents Illinois in theNational Statuary Hall.
Shields was born inAltmore,County Tyrone, Ireland, to parents, Charles Shiells/O`Shiells/Shields and Anne McDonnell, the first of three children. As his father died when Shields was six, his uncle, also namedJames Shields and also born in Ireland, played a large role in his life.[5]: 711–2 The elder Shields was a professor ofGreek andLatin, and served as aCongressman fromOhio.[6]
The younger Shields obtained early schooling at ahedge school near his home, later at a school run by aclergyman fromMaynooth College, and subsequently his uncle. He was educated inmilitary science,fencing, and theFrench language by a veteran of theNapoleonic Wars, of which there were many in Ireland at the time.[5]: 712 [7][8]: 26 Shields attempted to emigrate to the United States in 1822, but failed when his ship was driven aground off the coast ofScotland, leaving him one of only either three or four survivors.[c] He successfully made it to America around 1826, although his uncle whom he had sailed to meet had died.[5]: 712–3 [d]
Shields took a job as a sailor, becoming apurser on a merchant ship. However, after a time, an accident left Shields disabled, and in the hospital with both legs broken for three months.[e][5]: 713 After the accident, he volunteered and fought in theSecond Seminole War, reaching the rank oflieutenant.
He spent some time in Quebec, founding afencing school. Eventually, Shields settled in Kaskaskia,Randolph County, Illinois, where he studied and began practicing law in 1832, supplementing his income by teaching French.[5]: 712–3 [8]: 26 [10] He served as a member of the Illinois House of Representatives, beginning in 1836, and in 1839 was elected as state auditor.[5]: 714 As auditor, Shields was involved in correcting the state's finances following thePanic of 1837. This was done, at times, through practices that proved unpopular.[8]: 45 [11]
Shields almost fought a duel on September 22, 1842, with Abraham Lincoln, then a young lawyer inSpringfield, Illinois. Lincoln had published an inflammatory letter in a local newspaper, theSangamo Journal, that attacked Shields, impersonating a local farmer, and taking the pseudonym of Aunt Becca, or simply Rebecca.[f] At the time, there was great controversy over the use ofpaper money, or that of gold and silver for the paying of public debts. The Illinois State Bank had been forced to close, and Shields as state auditor had become the target of resentment among members of theWhig Party, and more so given the upcoming1842 elections. Lincoln's future wife and then fiancée, Mary Todd, helped to revise the letter, and she and a close friend Julia Jayne,[g] continued writing to the paper without Lincoln's knowledge.[5]: 714 [13]: 113–5
"Rebecca" as she was, denounced Shields in the paper as a "fool as well as a liar," and scandalously described him at a party among a group of women:
If I was deaf and blind I could tell him by the smell ... All the galls about town were there, and all the handsome widows, and married women, finickin about, trying to look like galls, tied as tight in the middle, and puffed out at both ends like bundles of fodder that hadn't been stacked yet, wanted stackin pretty bad ... He was paying his money to this one and that one and tother one, and sufferin great loss because it wasn' silver instead of State paper ... [quoting Shields] "Dear girls,it is distressing, but I cannot marry you all. Too well I know how much you suffer, but do, doremember, it is not my fault that I amso handsome andso interesting."[h][i][13]: 114
The publications caused "intense excitement" in Springfield, and Shields, taking great offense at being publicly ridiculed, demandedsatisfaction, as well as the true identity of the author, then known only to the editor of the paper. Lincoln took responsibility for the articles and accepted the challenge.[5]: 714 Shields confronted Lincoln, demanded a full retraction, and the incident escalated to the two men picking seconds,[5]: 714 [13]: 115 and meeting on an island located between Missouri and Illinois calledBloody Island to participate in a duel.[j][12][15] Lincoln, as the one challenged, chose the weapons for the duel, and selected the cavalry broadsword, as Shields was an excellent marksman, and because Lincoln stood 6 feet 4 inches (1.93 m) to Shields' 5 feet 9 inches (1.75 m).[13]: 114–5 [16]
At least two accounts haveJohn J. Hardin and R. W. English intervening and convincing the two to cease hostilities.[16][17] Others have them resolving their differences without incident, whether through threats on the part of Lincoln, or through apology and explanation from him. However, all accounts agree that they left the island without following through with the duel.[5]: 714 [8]: 49 [13]: 115 Thereafter, Shields and Lincoln became and remained good friends.[5]: 714 [k]
Shields was appointed as an Illinois Supreme Court justice on February 18, 1845, to take the seat vacated byStephen A. Douglas.[8]: 50 [l] His term was relatively unremarkable, and he soon resigned to become Commissioner of the U.S. General Land Office. While at the Land Office, Shields spent much effortboring, testing, surveying and examining land inIowa, as he planned to establish a colony forIrish immigrants there. He resigned from the position to assume command as a brigadier general following the outbreak of the Mexican–American War.[8]: 51–2, 55
On July 1, 1846, Shields was commissioned a brigadier general of volunteers to fight in the Mexican–American War. He served underZachary Taylor, then also a brigadier general, and later under Brigadier GeneralJohn E. Wool and Major GeneralWinfield Scott.[19]: 606
In 1846, Shields left for war with two brigades under his command.[8]: 87 In February 1847, whenTampico was abandoned, his men assumed control of the city. He commanded the 3rd Brigade, Volunteer Division, at the battles ofVera Cruz andCerro Gordo, where he was severely wounded bygrapeshot, and spent nine weeks recuperating.[m] He returned to fight in a single day, at both the battles ofContreras andChurubusco. His command that day was criticized as clumsy by some,[19]: 606 and praised as skillful by others.[8]: 75 He required reinforcements to overcome strong enemy resistance, but his brigade took over 800 prisoners.[19]: 606
Shields was again wounded, receiving a fractured arm in theBattle of Chapultepec, after his horse was shot out from underneath him, and he continued fighting on foot, and leading his troops with sword.[5]: 716 [19]: 606 He remained on the field until the conclusion of the battle,[5]: 716–7 but was then forced to spend several months recuperating, where he remained until after the final battles of the war.[19]: 606
Shields returned to America, where he wasmustered out and his brigade disbanded on July 28, 1848. Shields returned to his law practice in Illinois. He wasbrevetted to major general, and received two honorary swords from the states South Carolina and Illinois.[5]: 716–7 [19]: 606 [n]
Following the war, on August 14, 1848, he was nominated by PresidentPolk, and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as governor of Oregon Territory, which had been created that same day.[20] However, he declined the position andJoseph Lane was nominated and became the first governor of the new territory.[21]: 6–7, 10
Shields declined the governorship to run for the Senate from Illinois. He won, but the election was voided by on the grounds that he had not been aU.S. citizen for the nine years required by theUnited States Constitution; having been naturalized October 21, 1840, and elected on January 13, 1849.[22] He therefore resigned from the Senate on March 14, returned to Illinois, campaigned once again for the seat he had resigned, and won a special election held by the governor in December (after nine years had passed), in order to replace himself as senator.[5]: 717 [9]: 118 [21]: 79
As senator, he opposed slavery, and supportedland grants to agricultural colleges, torailroads, to soldiers, and to settlers under ahomestead act.[5]: 717
Shields published the 1854 book,A History of Illinois, from its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847, originally written by Illinois GovernorThomas Ford. According to the foreword by Shields, Ford gave him the manuscript on his death bed, so that Shields might publish it, and use the proceeds to benefit Ford's then orphaned children.[23] In 1854, a military company in Chicago was named "The Shields Guards" in his honor. The Guards would come to make up companies I and K in the23rd Illinois Volunteer Infantry Regiment.[17]
In 1855, Shields was defeated for re-election in Illinois in a three way runoff between himself, Lincoln, andLyman Trumbull, with Trumbull eventually winning the seat after several ballots.[9]: 119 Shields then moved to Minnesota, to inspect lands he had been awarded there in return for his military service. He arranged for Irish immigrants to move from theEast Coast to Minnesota, settling inRice andLe Sueur counties. Shields himself foundedShieldsville, Minnesota, and was also involved in the early settlement ofFaribault, Minnesota. In 1857, Native Americansmassacred settlers inSpirit Lake, Iowa. Shields led a group of about 100 people from Minnesota to fight the tribes; however, by the time he arrived, the tribes had been beaten by troops under the control of Judson Bishop.[5]: 719–21
When Minnesotaachieved statehood in 1858, and the legislature convened in December, Shields was put forward as a compromise candidate for U.S. Senator along withHenry Mower Rice. The twodrew straws to determine who would serve out the longer and shorter terms.[o] Shields drew the short straw and thus served until only March 1859, losing his1859 re-election bid toMorton S. Wilkinson.[5]: 719
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Shields then moved toCalifornia, and married Mary Carr in 1861. He was engaged in a mining venture in Mexico, and it was there that Shields was when he was appointed as brigadier general of volunteers from that state following the outbreak of the American Civil War, succeeding the lateFrederick W. Lander. He commanded the 2nd Division of theV Corps,Army of the Potomac (subsequently part of theArmy of the Shenandoah), during theValley Campaign of 1862.[5]: 721–4 [9]: 120
Shields was wounded at theBattle of Kernstown on March 22, 1862, but his troops inflicted the only tactical defeat of GeneralThomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson during the campaign (or the war).[24] The day after Kernstown, he was promoted tomajor general, but the promotion was withdrawn, reconsidered, and then finally rejected. Largely a result of his promotion being rejected, Shields resigned from the army.[5]: 721–4 [9]: 120 [25][26] Shields was informally offered command of the Army of the Potomac by Abraham Lincoln. Shields declined owing to a poor relationship with Secretary of WarEdwin Stanton.[5]: 721–724 [7]
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In 1863, Shields moved toSan Francisco, where he would serve as the state railroad commissioner,[27] and then to theMississippi Valley, and toWisconsin. In 1866 he settled inCarrollton, Missouri, which remained his home, and where he tended to his farm, lectured, and continued public involvement until his death 13 years later.[5]: 724–5
He ran for Congress unwillingly in 1868, and, in a contested election, lost. The result was disputed, and Congress awarded a year's salary to Shields. A member of Congress,Benjamin Butler, proposed him asDoorkeeper of the United States House of Representatives in 1876, but Shields, viewing it as an indignity, declined. Shields was involved in fundraising to provide aid to theyellow fever strickenSouthern US. He served as member of theMissouri State House of Representatives, and as railroad commissioner was involved in establishing theState Railroad Commission.[5]: 725–6 In 1879, he was elected to fill the seat left vacant by the death of SenatorLewis V. Bogy. He served only three months and declined to run for re-election, but this made Shields the only person to have ever served as senator from three different states.[5]: 726–7 [7]
Shields died unexpectedly inOttumwa, Iowa, on June 1, 1879, while on a lecture tour, after reportedly complaining of chest pains.[8]: 329 His body was transferred to Carrollton, Missouri by train,[9]: 121–2 where a funeral was held at the local Catholic church, and his body escorted to St. Mary's Cemetery inCarrollton, Missouri by two companies of the Nineteenth Infantry, the Craig Rifles, and a twenty-piecebrass band.[8]: 330–1 His grave remained unmarked for 30 years, until the local government and the U.S. Congress funded agranite andbronze monument there in his honor.[5]: 729
Shields was not a wealthy man in later life,[5]: 725 and upon his death the most valuable possessions he had to leave his family were his ceremonial swords, given to him following the end of the Mexican–American War.[5]: 717 After his death, Mary Shields remained in Carrollton, with their daughter and two sons, until eventually moving to New York to live with their son Daniel.[5]: 728–9
Abronze statue of Shields was given by the State of Illinois in 1893, to theU.S. Capitol, and represents the state in the National Statuary Hall. The statue was sculpted byLeonard Volk, and dedicated in December 1893.[3][7] A statue of Shields stands in front of theCarroll County Courthouse in Carrollton, Missouri.[28] Dedicated on November 12, 1910, newspapers reported "hundreds of visitors from several states" that were present at the unveiling. Congress allocated $5,000 for the monument.[29] A third statue stands on the grounds of thestate capitol inSaint Paul, Minnesota, dedicated in 1914.[7][30]
Derek Warfield wrote a song named The Ballad of General Shields about him.[31]
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Works related toJames Shields at Wikisource| Political offices | ||
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| Preceded by | Auditor of Illinois 1841–1843 | Succeeded by |
| Government offices | ||
| Preceded by | Commissioner of the General Land Office 1845–1847 | Succeeded by |
| U.S. Senate | ||
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Illinois 1849 Served alongside:Stephen A. Douglas | Vacant Title next held by Himself |
| Vacant Title last held by Himself | U.S. Senator (Class 3) from Illinois 1849–1855 Served alongside:Stephen A. Douglas | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | Chair of theSenate Military Affairs Committee 1851–1855 | Succeeded by |
| New seat | U.S. Shadow Senator (Class 2) from the Minnesota Territory 1857–1858 | Succeeded by Himself asU.S. Senator |
| Preceded by Himself asShadow Senator | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Minnesota 1858–1859 Served alongside:Henry Mower Rice | Succeeded by |
| Preceded by | U.S. Senator (Class 2) from Missouri 1879 Served alongside:Francis Cockrell | Succeeded by |
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