Abraham Lincoln's Duel

Relevant History welcomes back Warren Bull, award-winning author of two novels on Kindle about Abraham Lincoln as an attorney (Abraham Lincoln for the Defense and Death in the Moonlight), plus a collection of historically-themed short stories, Murder Manhattan Style. His Young Adult novel, Heartland, about a family living in "Bleeding Kansas," is available on Kindle and, in paperback, from Avignon Press. His short stories have been published in several anthologies and other venues including Alfred Hitchcock's Mystery Magazine, Sniplits, The Back Alley, and Mysterical-E. For more information, check his web site and group blog.

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As unlikely as it sounds, Abraham Lincoln was once involved in a duel…almost. In the early morning of September 22, 1842 Lincoln crossed the Mississippi river to a small island named "Bloody Island" where he was prepared to meet James Shields who had challenged him to a duel that could prove fatal to either or both of men.

Although Lincoln and Shields were members of different political parties, they worked harmoniously together in the state legislature. They found a practical way to get needed legislation that helped save state banks during a dire financial situation. 

However, when Shields became state auditor, he made a series of decisions that many thought were foolish. For example, he issued a proclamation that county tax collectors should only accept gold and silver in payment for taxes and school debt. Lincoln and others thought that was especially hard on the indigent who had limited access to hard cash.

Lincoln wrote a number of anonymous letters to a newspaper editor using his well-honed sarcasm and satire to criticize his political opponent. Possibly in an effort to impress Mary Todd, the critique quickly turned from the political to the personal. Mary Todd and her friend Julia Jayne began sending anonymous letters of their own, which further upped the ante, and the level of venom, referring to Shields at one point as, "…overly pompous, a hypocrite and a liar." 

Other letters followed recounting fictitious social situations and painting Shields as wholly inadequate with the ladies. 

Lincoln told the newspaper editor not to mention the role of the two women. When Shields demanded to know who had written the letters, the editor gave Shields only Lincoln's name. Shields was appalled that his former friend had been responsible for such insulting, outrageous allegations. He sent Lincoln a letter demanding an immediate retraction of all charges. Lincoln reacted to the hostile tone of the letter by refusing to apologize until Shields sent a more "gentlemanly" epistle. Shield's response was to challenge his political rival to a duel.

Although dueling was illegal in Illinois, it was still actively practiced. Anyone refusing to defend his honor would be considered a coward by the general public, which could end a political career.

As the challenged party Lincoln had the right to set the conditions for the conflict. He made the strangest demands for any duel any time and anywhere. Lincoln insisted on a combat "pit" ten feet across by twelve feet long with a board hammered sideways into the middle of the fighting ground that neither man could step over on pain of death. He also insisted on "Cavalry Broadswords of the largest size" as the weapons. This gave Lincoln at 6' 4" a tremendous advantage over Shields who was 5' 9" tall.

Both stubborn and brave Shields accepted the conditions and showed up for the confrontation.

Lincoln demonstrated his advantage by hacking away at branches of a Willow tree on Shield's side of the pit but well beyond Shields' reach. Their seconds worked out a settlement in which Lincoln admitted authorship (including for the letters he had not written) and stated he "…had no intention of injuring your [Shields] personal or private character or standing as a man or a gentleman." By some accounts, by the time Lincoln and Shields returned to the Illinois side of the river they were already joking with each other about the cancelled swordfight.

Despite the risk of bloodshed and the absurdities involved, there was a lesson to be learned. Lincoln was never again as reckless or as harsh in his criticism of others. He became more aware of the possible consequences of intemperate language. He and Shields renewed their friendship and remained close for the rest of their lives. Shields later served as a Brigadier General in the Union Army.

Over time Lincoln became increasingly embarrassed about the duel. Later in life he refused to even discuss it.

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A big thanks to Warren Bull. He'll give away a paperback copy of Murder Manhattan Style to someone who contributes a comment on my blog this week. I'll choose the winner from among those who comment by Sunday at 6 p.m. ET. Delivery is available within the U.S. only.

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Comments

[Lynn]

I wasn't aware of the dueling Lincoln and the book sound most interesting! Thanks for opportunity to win a copy!

[Ramona]

A modern version of this would the daily online duels in story chat (the comment section following online news articles.) People call each other out all the time there--anonymously. It's easy to be brave when you're anonymous.
Did not know about this, Warren. Thanks for the lesson, and to Suzanne for providing the forum.

[Suzanne Adair]

Lynn, thanks for stopping by. Warren finds out da scoop about Abe Lincoln that our high school history classes censored out. To see what else he's dug up, check out his Relevant History post from last April.

[Suzanne Adair]

Nice to see you here, Ramona. What I've noticed in the comment sections following online news articles is that the section becomes a forum for trolls. And they usually don't post their real names.

[Warren Bull]

Thanks for the comments, Lynn.

[Warren Bull]

Ramona, It's hard to be anonymous in a duel.

[Jo Ann Butler]

I can't think of a person I'd rather duel with than Lincoln! Congratulations, Warren, and please put me in the drawing.

[Barb Schlichting]

Interesting. I thought the duel was more over Mary. I guess it wasn't, but I knew that Lincoln was able to change the outcome with his wit. Thanks.

[Suzanne Adair]

Jo Ann, is that because you figured he'd find a way to stop it from happening? :-)

[Suzanne Adair]

Barb, too bad more leaders of countries don't have that kind of wit. Thanks for stopping by.

[Janice H]

Interesting story showing how clever Lincoln was.

[Suzanne Adair]

Welcome, Janice. Lincoln's wit seems to have been on par with that of Mark Twain. It's been awhile since we've had such a clever president.

[SusanC]

Fascinating. Mary Todd was always thought to be unstable. Perhaps this should have been Lincoln's cue to walk away from that relationship!

[Pat Marinelli]

Fascinating bit of history! I never knew about the duel. Love anything to do with the Civil War era.

I’m going to check out all your books now.

[Norma Huss]

Warren (and Suzanne) I'm another one who never heard about Lincoln's duel! History is much more interesting without the school filter.

[Liz]

Lincoln did have Burr's example of what illegal dueling could earn you.

[Suzanne Adair]

Susan C, sounds like Lincoln experienced some temporary insanity. LOL Thanks for stopping by my blog.

[Suzanne Adair]

Welcome to my blog, Pat. If you love da scoop on the Civil War, check out this Relevant History post from last year. One more incident to help explain why the South lost the war... :-)

[Suzanne Adair]

Hi Norma! Great to see you back here. Yeah, the rule around here is "School Filter Off."

[Suzanne Adair]

Oh, excellent, Liz!

[Warren Bull]

Lincoln and Mark Twain are two of my favorite authors.

[Warren Bull]

Mary Todd is an fascinating person.

[Georgia Wilson]

Lincoln must have heard about the West African proverb before Teddy Roosevelt made it famous: Speak softly and carry a big stick; you will go far.

[Georgia George]

Love to read anything about Lincoln, but haven't read
many historical mysteries. Worth a try!!!!!!!!!!!!
I do love the mystery genre.

[Marja McGraw]

As others have said, this is a fascinating blog. Thank you for sharing. Thanks to people like you, Warren, I learn something new every day.