General James Shields : soldier, orator, statesman

MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY.
VOL. XV. PLATE XVII.

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS,

SOLDIER, ORATOR, STATESMAN.*

BY HENRY A. CASTLE.

James Shields was born in County Tyrone, Ireland, May 12,
1806. Many authorities place this date four years later, but the
original family records, now in the hands of St. Paul relatives,
confirm much collateral evidence of the correctness of this
statement. He was of notable ancestry. In the paternal line
it was distinctly Irish and Catholic, but a great-grandmother
was English, and his mother was Scottish. For generations the
Shields family were people of property, education, and consid-
eration, living at Cranfield, County Antrim, Province of Ulster.
At the battle of the Boyne, in 1690, Daniel Shields and four
sons fought on the losing side, that of King James II. There
the father and one son were killed. Two of the surviving sons
went to Spain, where one of them became a general and finally
Captain General of Cuba. Daniel, the youngest son, remained in
Ireland, but suffered from the confiscations and banishment
visited on the Catholic soldiers of the dethroned king by "Wil-
liam of Orange, the victor.

This Daniel married an English girl, whom he had roman-
tically rescued from drowning, and settled on mountain land
at Altmore, County Tyrone. He was the direct ancestor of the
future American general and senator. Charles Shields, a grand-
son of Daniel, married Katherine McDonnell, of Glencoe, Scot-
land, lineage, a woman of education and refinement. To them
were born James, the subject of this memoir, Daniel, and Pat-
rick, who thus inherited an infusion of the Scotch-Irish blood
which has been manifest in many distinguished Americans.
Daniel was the father of Lytton E. Shields and the grandfather
of James Shields and Lytton J. Shields, all of whom have long
resided in Saint Paul.

*Read at the monthly meeting of the Executive Council, April 13,
1914.

712 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Charles Shields died when his son James was only six years
old, but the mother, with her Scottish industry and thrift, raised
her three boys well, giving them the best of existing educational
facilities. James received some special attention, having early
developed a taste for books which remained with him during
his long and active career, and which was of great value in fit-
ting him for the high positions that he occupied. Soon after
his father 's death, his uncle and namesake came from America,
where he had lived for many years. The elder James had
fought in the War for Independence, and in the War of 1812,
on the American side, having been wounded in the Battle of
New Orleans. He remained in Ireland for a few years, during
which time he acted as schoolmaster to young James and laid
the foundation for his military bent. This uncle had been pro-
fessor of Latin and Greek in Charleston, S. C. The boy made
rapid progress, and the uncle promised that when he grew
older he would bring him to America and make him his heir.
At that period also Ireland was full of old soldiers who had
served in the British army in long campaigns against Bona-
parte. From one of these young Shields learned fencing or
sword exercise and became expert in that line. His early les-
sons in the military drill were from the same source, and the
rudiments of a military education were acquired from books
presented to him by one of these veterans. Supplementing the
education received from his uncle, was a classical training from
a relative of his mother, a clergyman from Maynooth College.
One of the old soldiers also taught him French, so that when
he migrated to America he was unusually well educated for a
boy of that period.

Young Shields was a soldier by instinct. He drilled his
school mates and led them in local battles with opposing clans.
His shrewd devices, bold strategies, and firm discipline, made
his force invincible.

In 1822, at the age of sixteen, James Shields, mindful of his
uncle's alluring offer, sailed from Liverpool for America. But
vicissitudes followed him. His ship was driven a wreck on the
coast of Scotland, and he was one of only three survivors. He
remained several months in Scotland as tutor in a wealthy

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. 71 3

family. Then he embarked under better auspices. Arrived in
America and failing to find his uncle, who had died in the in-
terim, James adopted, for the time, a sailor's life, was purser
on a merchantman, and became so expert in seamanship that
many years later he was placed in command of a sailing vessel
on the Pacific, whose officers were disabled, and brought her
safely into port. His career as purser terminated in an acci-
dent, which left him with both legs broken and sent him to a
New York hospital for three months.

He interrupted or supplemented this seafaring with service
as volunteer in a campaign against the Seminole Indians. Au-
thentic details of this episode are lacking, but he is said to have
been a lieutenant and to have been wounded in battle, where
he displayed marked gallantry. On this service rests his title
of a soldier in three wars.

Having now reached years of discretion, through varied ex-
periences, young Shields chose the law as his profession, and
the old French town of Kaskaskia in Illinois as his field of
labor. This town, the Territorial capital of Illinois, being also
the county seat of Randolph county, had been founded by La
Salle in 1682; was garrisoned by the King of France in 1710
with troops who in 1755 helped defeat Braddock at Fort Du-
quesne ; and was captured by George Rogers Clark in 1777.

He supported himself by teaching school in and near Kas-
kaskia, his knowledge of the French language being of great
value then and afterward. He was admitted to the bar in 1832,
and opened an office. He gained so rapidly in acquaintance and
popularity, that in 1835 he was elected a representative in the
State Legislature, as a Democrat from Randolph county, then
overwhelmingly Whig in sentiment. He took his seat at Van-
dalia, the state capital, in January, 1836. Here he met, as
fellow representatives, Douglas, Lincoln, Browning, Hardin,
Baker, McClernand, and other young athletes of politics.
Shields easily took his place on terms of equality in this dis-
tinguished company. His personal appearance and manners
were engaging. He was five feet nine inches tall, of fine figure
and graceful bearing. His voice was well modulated; his
speech frank, clear and resolute. He was prominent in debate

714 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

and influential in council. It was a critical time in the affairs
of Illinois, the inauguration of a policy of extensive public im-
provements, in which the youthful legislator bore a progressive
part.

Shields served four years in the Legislature, gaining so
much prominence that in 1839 he was elected State Auditor.
Meantime, Springfield had become the state capital, and in 1840
he began his residence there, which continued for fifteen years.
His administration was so successful that in 1841 he was re-
elected without opposition.

While he occupied this important office he was involved in
an " affair of honor" with a Springfield lawyer, — no less a per-
sonage than Abraham Lincoln. At this time " James Shields,
Auditor, ' ' was the pride of the young Democracy. In the sum-
mer of 1842 the Springfield Journal contained some letters from
the ''Lost Townships," by a contributor whose nom de plume
was "Aunt Becca," which held up the gallant young Auditor
to ridicule. These letters caused intense excitement in the
town. Nobody knew their authorship except the editor of the
paper, of whom Shields demanded the name. The real author
was Miss Mary Todd, afterward the wife of Abraham Lincoln,
to whom she was engaged, and who felt bound to assume the
responsibility for 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
adjusted without any fighting, and thus ended the Lincoln-
Shields duel of the Lost Townships. The antagonists were ever
afterward firm friends.

Considering all the circumstances, the temperament of the
respective parties, the customs and surroundings, there was
nothing censurable in the conduct of either. Shields justly
deemed himself grossly insulted and humiliated by some of the
epithets in the letters, and bitterly resented. Lincoln felt in
honor bound to represent his fiancee. Both displayed bravery
in meeting the crisis and magnanimity in adjusting it. Times
and customs have happily changed. Some mistaken friends on
both sides have latterly felt impelled to discredit the whole
story, but the truth of history demands that it be correctly

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. 15

stated. Existing files of the Springfield newspapers contain all
the correspondence, no material part of which has ever been
controverted.

In 1843, Auditor Shields was appointed by the Governor as
Justice of the Supreme Court of Illinois to succeed Stephen A.
Douglas, who had been elected to Congress. He heard and de-
cided many difficult cases. Among the great lawyers who prac-
ticed at the bar when Judge Shields was on the supreme bench,
were Abraham Lincoln, John M. Palmer, Lyman Trumbull, 0.
H. Browning, E. B. Washburn, E. D. Baker, J. J. Hardin,
Stephen T. Logan, J. C. Conkling, W. Bushnell, and Archibald
Williams. All of these men afterward acquired distinction,
many of them becoming United States senators, congressmen,
and judges. That Shields, who was still a young man, sus-
tained himself in such exalted company, and afterward, in war
and in peace, fully maintained his position with them and others
of nation-wide renown, is conclusive tribute to his ability and
energy. An eminent Minnesota lawyer of a later generation
has carefully studied the decisions of Judge Shields, as re-
corded in the Illinois Supreme Court Reports, and testifies that
they bear conclusive evidence of a legal erudition and discrim-
ination, rare in that period, and little to be expected of one so
seemingly immersed in non-professional interests.

In 1845, President James K. Polk appointed Judge Shields
Commissioner of the General Land Office at Washington. He
was deeply interested in the important matters coming before
this great bureau, and was solicitously preparing for such an
energetic administration as the exigencies then demanded,
when the outbreak of the Mexican War gave him a new oppor-
tunity of proving his devotion to his adopted country. Presi-
dent Polk, recognizing in him the qualities that constitute a
great soldier, appointed him a brigadier general of United
States volunteers. His commission was dated July 1, 1846.

At the siege of Vera Cruz General Shields distinguished
himself, and gave good promise of other valiant service. This
promise was amply fulfilled at the battle of Cerro Gordo and at
the storming of Chapultepec. At the former battle his deeds
of valor seem like those of Roland at Roncesvalles or Ney at
Borodino.

716 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

At Cerro Gordo he was severely wounded while leading his
men, but he refused to quit the field. He advanced to the
charge, when he was struck in the chest by an iron grapeshot,
an inch in diameter, that passed through his lungs. He fell
into the arms of Oglesby, afterward United States senator
from Illinois, and was carried from the battlefield to all ap-
pearances lifeless. The wound was skillfully treated by a
French surgeon, who had been captured with the Mexicans, and
in nine weeks he was again in the saddle.

For his gallant conduct on this occasion, he was brevetted
Major General, and his commanding officers, Generals Twiggs
and Scott, both mentioned him in most laudatory terms in their
official reports. Four months afterwards, he led the celebrated
charge of the "Palmettos" of South Carolina and the New
York volunteers at the battle of Cherubusco, where the Mexi-
cans, according to the official account of Santa Anna, lost one-
third of their army. On the 13th of September, he was in the
thick of the fight at Chapultepec. His horse having been shot
under him, General Shields fought on foot, bareheaded and in
his sh;rt sleeves, leading his brigade, sword in hand. His com-
mand led the van into the City of Mexico and first planted the
stars and stripes on the halls of the Montezumas. Here
Shields received another severe wound, a fractured arm, but
remained with his brigade until the goal was reached. Among
the young subordinates and subalterns in the regular service,
who participated in this victory and won early distinction, were
U. S. Grant, Joseph E. Johnston, Robert E. Lee, James Long-
street, George E. Pickett, and "Stonewall" Jackson.

One of the notable battle-pictures of the world, hanging in
the corridors of the capitol at Washington, is that of the as-
sault on Chapultepec, the citadel of the City of Mexico. It
shows General Shields, easily distinguishable, in the thick of
the fight, where he always loved to be. It thus, on the outer
walls of the Senate, where ten years later he shed glory on
Minnesota, certifies to his imperishable renown.

After the conquest of Mexico, and on July 28, 1848, General
Shields' brigade was disbanded, and he returned, still feeble
from his wound, to Illinois and resumed his law practice. His

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. 717

State presented to him a sword that cost $3,000, and South Car-
olina presented him a diamond-hilted sword which cost $5,000.
When he died, thirty-one years later, there were left to his
widow and children the swords of Cerro Gordo, which, with his
blessing, was about all he had to leave them.

President Polk, recognizing General Shields' valuable serv-
ices in Mexico, appointed him Governor of the new Territory
of Oregon. But his election to the senatorship, which imme-
diately followed, prevented his acceptance.

The people of Illinois were not unmindful of the fidelity
with which the General in his various civil and military capaci-
ties had served them. Although Senator Breese, then in office,
had greatly distinguished himself and was a candidate for re-
election, yet Shields' popularity was so great that he defeated
Breese and was elected United States Senator for the term of
six years, commencing March 4, 1849. When he presented his
credentials some technical question was raised as to their reg-
ularity. He promptly resigned, returned to Illinois, and was
at once re-elected.

He entered the Senate as the colleague of Stephen A. Doug-
las. He found there Webster, Clay, Calhoun, Benton, and Cass,
who were among the grandest figures in our annals of states-
manship, while Chase, Breckenridge, Jefferson Davis, Sumner,
Fessenden, and Everett, were already entering upon their sev-
eral spheres of action. This was the beginning of the end of
the slavery struggle, which affected nearly every important
debate in the Senate. Shields was opposed to the extension of
slavery, although his party was for slavery, and he did not
hesitate to express his opinions on the subject. He was placed
on important committees. His work in constructive legislation
was intelligent, practical, and influential. He made many effec-
tive speeches. He advocated grants of land to agricultural col-
leges, to railroads, to soldiers, and to actual settlers under a
liberal homestead law.

Probably the most significant speech of General Shields in the
Senate was that delivered in January, 1850, on the bill for the
admission of California. This speech fills many pages in the
reports, and is saturated throughout with the spirit of patriot-

718 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL, SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

ism, the spirit of liberty, the spirit of wisdom, the spirit of pro-
phecy. On the attempt by the South to force slavery on Cali-
fornia, he said :

Sir, they are laying the foundation of a great empire on the shore
of the Pacific, — a mighty empire,— an empire that at some future day
will carry your flag, your commerce, your arts and your arms into Asia,
and through China, Hindustan, and Persia, into Western Europe. Talk
about carrying slavery there, of imposing such a blight upon that peo-
ple, of withering their strength and paralyzing their energies by such
an institution! No, sir; such a thing was never intended by God, and
will never be permitted by man. It is sometimes urged here that our
constitution carries slavery with it wherever it goes, unless positively
excluded by law; in other words, that slavery is the normal law of this
Republic. I think the principle is just the reverse. Slavery, being in
violation of natural right, can only exist by positive enactment; and the
constitution of this country only tolerates slavery where it exists, but
neither extends or establishes it anywhere.

Concerning the Southern threat of secession, he philosoph-
ized thus eloquently and convincingly:

But suppose the Southern Confederacy was now established, that
it was quietly and peaceably established this moment, what would be
the actual condition of the Confederacy? It could not exist a single day
without a close and intimate connection with some great nation having
all the elements of industrial, financial and commercial power. The
South possesses none of these elements. It has plenty of cotton, and it
has brave men and lovely women, but it is wholly destitute of all the
other material elements of national power. In fact the Southern Con-
federacy would be a mere colony of masters and slaves to raise cotton
for the factories of England. Besides, sir, it is my firm conviction that
the institution of slavery, as it now exists in the South, would not last,
in its present shape, for the space of twenty years in that Southern Con-
federacy. The South might as well attempt to shut out the pressure of
the atmosphere, as to shut out the whole pressure of the civilized
world on its cherished institutions.

Senator Shields' term of six years expired March 4, 1855,
and on February 8 preceding the Illinois legislature met in
joint session to choose his sucessor. Shields was the Demo-
cratic caucus nominee, but the embryo Republican party was in
the ascendant and elected Lyman Trumbull in his stead. On
the first ballot Shields received 41 votes, Abraham Lincoln 45,
Lyman Trumbull 5, and 5 votes were scattered. On the last
ballot the anti-Nebraska men concentrated on Trumbull and

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. 719

elected him, thus saving Lincoln for the great debate with
Douglas three years later which made him President in 1860.

On leaving the Senate in 1855, General Shields came to Min-
nesota to select some lands that had been awarded for his war
service. He was so favorably impressed with the country that
. he decided to go East and organize a large colony of Irish-
Americans to settle on the fertile soil of Rice and Le Sueur
counties. His project met with much general approval, but was
vigorously opposed by Archbishop Hughes, then at the head of
the American hierarchy, and was only partly successful. That
this opposition policy was a mistaken one, both for the church
and the people, was clearly shown twenty-five years later by the
grand work of another and a greater Archbishop, our esteemed
prelate and citizen, John Ireland. What Shields, unimpeded,
might have accomplished, with an earlier start and better oppor-
tunities, can only be imagined. His wisdom and prescience can
only be commended. He saw, as in a vision, the Clontarfs,
Gracevilles, Green Isles, and Avocas, embosomed in prolific
farmsteads, which we now see face to face.

General Shields received a warm welcome in Minnesota. His

(fame had preceded him, for it was nation-wide. He brought
with him more acquired eminence than any predecessor. He
entered at once and with vigor on constructive work. He was
one of the original proprietors of Faribault. He founded the
town of Shieldsville, a few miles distant, as the center of his
extensive rural settlements, but resided in Faribault for a con-
siderable period. His" colony prospered and is now one of our
richest domains.

When the first Legislature of the State of Minnesota con-
vened in December, 1857, it was Democratic in politics and there
was great rivalry between numerous candidates for the two
United States senatorships. General Shields was a newcomer,
with no local claims, but was suggested as a compromise ; and
he was finally elected with Henry M. Rice, then the Territorial
delegate. The General drew the short term, which expired on
March 4, 1859, while Mr. Rice had the allotment which carried
him until 1863. The next Legislature was Republican, and
Shields failed of re-election, for that reason alone, Morton S,

720 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Wilkinson being chosen as his successor. Thus, for a second
time, the shifting fortunes of his party, and not a lack of merit
or popularity, prevented his return to the Senate.

The value of Senator Shieds to this State cannot be meas-
ured by the length of his term. His previous high status in
the body to which he now returned, made him a worthy col-
league of the astute pioneer, Mr. Rice ; they worked together in
fine harmony and with rare effectiveness in securing liberal
favors for the struggling young commonwealth. They ante-
dated this militant generation, when the hand that rocks the
cradle stones the premier, and the spear that smites the octopus
knows no brother. But they helped found a State that has roy-
ally justified their intelligent solicitude.

That the services of General Shields to Minnesota were ap-
preciated is testified to by the naming of a military company in
St. Paul, ' ' The Shields Guards, ' ' in his honor. The manuscript
files of the Minnesota Historical Society contain many letters
from Shields to H. H. Sibley, during the period of his residence
in this state, which throw instructive side-lights on political and
social affairs of that period.

On June 25, 1856, during the last year of Franklin Pierce 's
administration, Shields wrote to Sibley, both being Democrats :
"This administration has been the most insignificant that ever
disgraced this great country." On November 21 of the same
year, Buchanan having just been elected President to succeed
Pierce, and Shields having gone to Washington to act as "best
man" at the (second) marriage of his former colleague from
Illinois, Senator Stephen A. Douglas, he said to Sibley of Buch-
anan's proposed cabinet : "My fears outrun my hopes. Buch-
anan will be forced to take warring elements in, — difeunionists
from the South, presidential aspirants from the North. The
South elected him, and will make him a Southern President. If
he yields to this, he is lost." Impartial history has long since
verified these sagacious, independent statements and prophecies.

Anent the Douglas wedding, Shields dropped a remark in
this letter which the future also fully justified: "The bride,
Miss Cutts, is a splendid person, and will be a great benefit to
Judge Douglas. She has good sense, exquisite taste, and a

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. 721

kind, generous disposition. Her influence will improve his ap-
pearance and soften his manners. ' '

This manuscript correspondence with Sibley shows that dur-
ing the entire period of his residence in Minnesota, Shields
manifested a lively interest in public affairs generally as affect-
ing the new State, and especially the region occupied by his
Irish- American colonists. On June 7, 1859, after he had ceased
to be Senator, we find him writing to Sibley, then Governor of
Minnesota, from Faribault, that a meeting in that town at
which he presided, had selected directors to choose a site for
the State deaf and dumb asylum, including four from Faribault,
William Sprigg Hall of St. Paul, and N. M. Donaldson of Owa-
tonna.

The memory of Gen. Judson W. Bishop supplies the nar-
rative of an episode which we do not find of record, but which
shows General Shields' dominating military spirit, and which
came near giving him the title of a Soldier in four wars. When
the Indian massacre at Spirit Lake, Iowa, occurred in 1857,
General Shields, then residing at Faribault, promptly rallied a
company of his colonists and other citizens, had them armed
and mounted and started for the scene of hostilities, about 150
miles distant. Other bands of settlers, living nearer, arrived
first, and the Indians had disappeared. General Bishop, head-
ing a surveying party, met Shields' detachment on their re-
turn, and vividly describes their zeal and ardor. Thus the for-
mer brigade commander in Mexico, the future division com-
mander in Virginia, was equally ready to lead a hundred un-
disciplined men in what might have been a very hazardous
campaign.

After retiring from office as Senator from Minnesota, Gen-
eral Shields was led by business considerations to settle in Cal-
ifornia. In San Francisco, in 1861, he was married to Miss
Mary Carr, who was a daughter of Jerome and Sarah Carr and
was born August 15, 1835, in County Armagh, Ireland. Her
father, a linen merchant, with the proverbial Irish large-heart-
edness, had endorsed a note for a friend and thereby lost his
fortune, the accumulation of years of industry and frugality.
Looking, as so many others had done, for a place to recover

46

722 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

his lost resources, he turned to America and settled in the city
of Baltimore, where he died in 1852, his wife only surviving
him a year. The daughter, thus left, for a time attended a
convent boarding school and made her home with relatives.

The Shields and Carr families were friends in Ireland, had
intermarried, and quite naturally James Shields and Mary Carr
met and were friends in America. During the summer of 1861
Miss Carr was visiting at the convent in San Francisco, and
when General Shields found he had business in that city, he
pressed his suit and won his bride. They were married August
16, 1861, in the Church of St. Ignatius. The General and his
bride embarked that evening on a steamer for Mazatlan,
Mexico, thus auspiciously beginning their matrimonial voyage
on the smooth and placid waters of the Pacific, truly typical of
the happy and tranquil domestic life which was ever theirs.

Soon after Sumter was fired on, General Shields, blazing
with loyalty and soldierly ardor, tendered his services to his
old friend, now President of the United States. Official notice
of his appointment as brigadier general of volunteers to date
from August 19, 1861, reached him in Mexico, where he was
manager of a profitable mine in which he had a large interest.
As soon as his business affairs could be adjusted, he repaired
to Washington and reported for duty. He was sent t<* the
Shenandoah valley in Virginia, which had been the theater of
much indecisive marching and fighting.

March 7, 1862, General Shields assumed command of the
division of General Lander, who had died two weeks before of
Mexican war disabilities. The division instantly felt the magic
of his touch, and although only a few men of his new command
had previously been in battle, they recognized that their com-
mander had brought with him his master hand, and if any
soldier had doubts as to the courage or ability of General
Shields the doubts soon vanished. In fact, within two weeks
from his taking command they were fighting "Stonewall"
Jackson's army at Winchester, on the 22d of March. The bat-
tle continued two days, ending at Kernstown. Early in the
engagement, General Shields was wounded, as usual, having
his arm fractured and his shoulder badly torn by the explosion

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. 723

of a shell, and was carried from the field. But so thoroughly
had he enthused his little division with his own invincible spirit
that it went on and gained the victory, while Shields directed
its movements from his cot of suffering three miles in the rear.
Colonel Nathan Kimball, who succeeded to the leadership, offi-
cially reports that he carried out his general's plans and fol-
lowed his directions, until the field was won and ''Stonewall"
Jackson's invincible cohorts were in full retreat. This was two
years before Sheridan sent Early "whirling up the valley,"
over some of the same ground.

Of the close of the battle, in which Shields' division alone
confronted Jackson 's entire army, Colonel Kimball wrote :
"With cheers from right to left our gallant soldiers pushed
forward, and as the sun went down, our stubbornly yielding
foe, who had thrice advanced to the attack, gave way and Jack-
son's army was badly beaten, — his shattered brigades in full
retreat." General Banks, Department Commander, congratu-
lated the troops on their great victory, which had expelled
Stonewall Jackson from the valley. Jackson retreated eighty
miles to Harrisonburg, confessing his first and only defeat.

General Shields' wound disabled him for five weeks. He
resumed command of his division April 30, 1862. Jackson had,
after his defeat at Winchester and Kernstown, retreated so
rapidly and so far that the authorities at Washington sup-
posed he had returned to Richmond. Hence Shields' division,
with other troops, was hurried across the Blue Ridge to rein-
force McDowell at Predericksburg. But Jackson had not left
the valley, and he came back northward as rapidly as he had
gone the other wray. Shields was at once ordered to retrace
his steps. The remainder of McDowell's corps were taken by
rail to Aquia Creek, by transports to Alexandria, and by rail-
road to Front Royal, where they arrived two days later than
Shields' division. General Fremont with his forces, had been
ordered from the Kanawha Valley to get in the rear of Jack-
son. Banks was reinforced, and Jackson, learning of these
movements, again retreated up the Shenandoah. McDowell
followed, Shields in advance. At Port Republic, Jackson made
a stand, and Shields disposed his division for another battle.

724 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

He ordered Carroll, one of his brigade commanders, to burn
the bridge across the Shenandoah, in certain contingencies.
This order was, it was alleged, countermanded by McDowell.
At any rate, the bridge was not burned. Jackson crossed the
river, and severely handled the troops opposed to him.

Speaking of this occurrence, General Gates, an officer in
high command under Stonewall Jackson and later a U. S. Con-
gressman, stated at the reception of the Shields statue in Wash-
ington: ''Had General Shields' orders been obeyed, there was
no escape for Jackson." In the same connection, Jefferson
Davis wrote of Shields and his division as being superior in
efficiency to the entire corps of General Howard.

President Lincoln showed his appreciation of Shields'
achievements in the valley, by promoting him to Major Gen-
eral of Volunteers, and appointing him a brigadier general in
the regular army. The Senate, on political grounds, it is said,
failed to confirm the latter nomination. It is authentically
stated that the President informally tendered to General
Shields the command of the Army of the Potomac after Mc-
Clellan had failed, but that the position was declined, owing
to the general's strained relations with Secretary Stanton.
For this, and other reasons, Shields resigned from the army
March 28, 1863, returned to California, and settled in San
Francisco.

On some accounts the Pacific coast did not satisfy General
and Mrs. Shields as a place of residence. After the close of
the war, in 1866, he returned to the Mississippi valley, via
steamer and New York City. Mrs. Shields, ever on the alert
for her husband's welfare, persuaded him to retire to a farm,
hoping that the quiet, restful life would restore his health so
sadly shattered by his brilliant, though exacting, service to his
adopted country. The general climate, fertile soil, and new-
born prosperity of Missouri appealed to them. On an explor-
ing expedition, the general happened to meet, at Carrollton,
Missouri, an old friend and supporter in the Illinois legislature,
Judge George Pattison, who so impressed him with the beauties
and prospects of that region, that he decided to make that his
future home. The place selected, still pointed out as the

' GENERAL, JAMES SHIELDS. 725

' ' Shields Farm, ' ' was the ideal for which these people sought ;
its quiet shade, its spacious comfortable house, its orchard bur-
dened with fruits, and its natural scenic beauty, appealed to
the General. Neither he nor his wife had ever lived on a farm,
but they thoroughly enjoyed all the pleasures of rural life.
Their hospitality soon became proverbial, and the evening of
the old soldier's life could not have been more happily spent.

But he could not entirely escape the penalties of his merited
prominence. His fame had preceded him. In 1868, only two
years after his settlement in Missouri, his fellow Democrats
forced on him the nomination for Representative in Congress in
his district, which embraced Kansas City. He received a de-
cided majority, but, on account of some alleged irregularity in
returns, the hostile canvassing board rejected the votes of two
counties, and gave the certificate to his opponent. Shields'
friends contested the election in his name, but the Congress,
also politically antagonistic, declined to seat him. Neverthe-
less, it recognized the force of his claim to the extent of voting
him a full year's salary.

General Shields' home remained in Carrollton from 1866
until his death in 1879. Here he cultivated his farm, devoted
much of his time to lecturing tours for charitable objects, and
also resumed some interest in political affairs. His benevolence
covered a wide scope. Lacking wealth, he gave freely of his
time and of his eloquent appeals for every good cause, and for
every phase of human suffering. When the yellow fever, a very
pestilence, scourged the South and depopulated cities, when
every heart throbbed in sympathy for the stricken sufferers,
and when in populous Atlanta there were not enough of well
ones left to bury the dead, it was the clarion tones of General
Shields that woke the echoes from city to city, until more
money was raised and sent through his individual effort than
was secured by any score of his co-workers, who also did their
best in this noble work.

In the year 1876, General B. F. Butler, Republican repre-
sentative in Congress from Massachusetts, proposed the name
of General Shields for doorkeeper of the House, which was then
Democratic. The position was worth $200 per month, but the

726 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

veteran resented the proposal as an indignity, and Butler was
suspected of a design to entrap the opposition. The Democratic
caucus had nominated General Field, an ex-Confederate, who
had left the country to serve in the Egyptian army, and Shields
was defeated. The House, in order to atone for this action,
voted to place Shields on the retired list as a brigadier general,
but the Republican Senate, for some reason, failed to concur,
and the bill failed to become a law.

In 1874 General Shields was sent by the Democrats of Car-
roll county to the Missouri legislature and was re-elected in
1875. Here, as ever, he was active in useful work. One of his
wise measures was the law creating the State Railroad Com-
mission. In the year 1878, he was chosen for the third time
and from the third State, United States Senator, to serve dur-
ing the unexpired term of Senator Lewis V. Bogy, deceased.
He was welcomed back to the halls of legislation, which he had
first entered thirty years before, by a new generation of states-
men, who paid willing tribute to his rare endowments.

The richest treasure a people can possess is the memory of
their eminent men. Greater in importance than agricultural,
mineral, and industrial wealth, is the value of the inspiration
and example of men whose lives exemplify those qualities
which make for good government and free institutions. The
life of James Shields meets this standard. The general signifi-
cance to be found therein is that he was equal to every respon-
sibility and faithful in every trust. He doubtless had a fair
allotment of human shortcomings, but they neither marred his
record nor dimmed the luster of his worthy deeds. We may
fervently pray that the day will soon dawn when the nations
shall learn war no more; but sad will be the hour when we
cease to honor those who have bravely fought for the honor of
their country and the freedom of mankind.

His career emphasizes the possibilities of American citizen-
ship, and the freedom from religious and racial prejudices of
our people. Though he was neither of the race nor creed of
the majority of the people of the three great states whom he
represented in the United States Senate, this did not prevent his
selection. Of a people of whom it has been said, "they have

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. 727

fought successfully all battles save their own," he helped the
people of his adopted country to successfully fight their wars.
Born in a foreign land, he was in every fiber of his heart, in
the very texture of his soul, distinctively and intensely Ameri-
can. He devoted his life with unchallenged purity of purpose
to the service of his adopted country, and in three wars shed
his blood in her defense. He was too generous to be thrifty
and acquisitive, too honest to be a schemer, and too bold to be
a trimmer. But he was a true, brave man, a patriot, and a
gentleman.

His private life was irreproachable. He was strictly tem-
perate. His bearing was unobtrusive ; his tastes were literary
and domestic. The bitterest of partisan contests left no taint
on his reputation. He was a model husband, father, citizen,
and churchman.

On the 26th of September, 1878, General Shields, who died
eight months later, had a characteristic reception and ovation
in Brooklyn, New York, whither he had journeyed from his
home in Missouri to deliver a lecture before a large and rep-
resentative audience in one of the great auditoriums of the
city. The following spirited report of the occasion will con-
vey an idea of the enthusiasm which he created whenever he
made his appearance as an orator or lecturer.

The space in front of the Academy is black with people, and from
opposite directions come diverging streams. The doors are thrown
open, and in twenty minutes the house is packed. The stage, too,
presently fills up, civilians and military, lay and clerics, take their
places. The rattle of drums, the clashing of cymbals, and the notes of
the ear-piercing fife, float in from without. The General, with his
escort, enters. All is hushed. He is very pale, very attenuated.
Silence reigns, all eyes and all hearts turn toward him. Simultaneous-
ly all on the stage rise to their feet. A voice: "Three cheers for
General Shields!" The great audience rose, and then, as the band
played "Hail to the Chief," recollections of the victories he had helped
to win, from Buena Vista to Winchester, flashed back; then, as the
chieftain who had a generation ago led in triumph the citizen soldiery
of New York into the City of Mexico, stood before the remnants of his
comrades in arms; then, as the only man who had ever successfully
crossed swords with Stonewall Jackson, came in sight; then, when
General Shields, now a feeble, sick man, presented himself before the

728 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL, SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

people of Brooklyn, — then went up a tempest of ringing cheers such
as never before resounded within the four walls of that house.

Such episodes, varying in degree, but all testifying to a wide
popular recognition of his illustrious career, were numerous in
his later years. As a soldier, he was a true knight; but as an
optimist, he was a very prince. To his optimistic mind no cloud
had such density of midnight blackness that it did not show him
a silver lining. He was always a helper. No human being
struggling in any whirlpool of difficulty or danger came within
his sight that he did not immediately ' ' throw out the life line. ' '

And he has never received due credit for his accomplish-
ments and abilities as a theoretical soldier. On January 10,
1862, in a letter to General McClellan, commander in chief of
the army, General Shields outlined the military operations
which he deemed necessary for the suppression of the Rebel-
lion. Secretary Seward, in an official communication a few days
later, submitted this letter to the Secretary of War, urgently
inviting his attention thereto.' The letter is published in the
Rebellion Records, Series 1, Volume 5, pages 701 to 703. It is
one of the most important papers relating to the conduct of
the war, and stamps its author as not only brave, but capable
as a strategist of great ability.

General Shields died suddenly at Ottumwa, Iowa, on Sun-
day, June 1, 1879. He had gone there to deliver a lecture for
the benefit of a local charity, and remained several days visit-
ing relatives. He had appeared in his usual health on that day,
but just before retiring he complained of a pain in his chest,
and shortly afterward said to his niece that he was dying. In
thirty minutes he expired, sitting in his chair, remaining con-
scious to the last. His body left Ottumwa for his late home in
Carrollton the next day. The funeral took place in Carrollton
on Wednesday. It was largely attended and the services were
conducted with the imposing ceremonial of the Catholic Church,
of which he had been a lifelong and consistent member.

After the death of the General, Mrs. Shields continued to
reside in Carrollton, educating and caring for her two sons and
one daughter, as only a mother can from whom the staff and
stay has been removed, and who thus leans upon as well as lifts

GENERAL JAMES SHIELDS. 729

and buoys her children, the jewels of her home. For two de-
cades she lived in her home on North Main street, which she
still owns, though for the past few years she has lived with her
son, Dr. Daniel F. Shields, in New York.

James Shields had a remarkable career, and his was a re-
markable character. He is to us James Shields born in Ireland,
the American General, the American Senator, James Shields of
Ireland and America. We need not hesitate to claim a modest
participation in his fame and to hail him, James Shields of Min-
nesota ! His mortal remains rest in Missouri, but Illinois, Min-
nesota and California, Winchester, and Port Republic, claim
their share of his renown, for it is as true in America today as
it was in Greece of old that the whole earth is the sepulcher of
illustrious men and all time is the millennium of their story.

The State of Illinois, rich beyond measure in illustrious sons,
chose Senator Shields as her representative in the hall of fame
in Washington. The legislature of Missouri, at its latest ses-
sion, appropriated generously for a colossal bronze statue in his
honor on the public square in Carrollton. The Grand Army of
the Republic and the Loyal Legion of Minnesota have heartily
endorsed a movement to install his statue in our beautiful
capitol.

For thirty years his grave remained unmarked at Carroll-
tion. But finally, by joint action of local authorities and the
United States Congress, funds were provided early in 1910 for
the erection of an imposing monument near his resting place.
It is of red granite and is surmounted by a colossal bronze bust
of the distinguished General.

On Saturday, November 12, 1910, this monument was un-
veiled and dedicated in the presence of ten thousand people,
after a grand civic and military procession in which a battalion
of regular troops from Fort Leavenworth, a regiment of the
Missouri National Guard, and an immense concourse of citi-
zens, participated. The exercises at the dedication consisted of
addresses by Governor Hadley of Missouri, Archbishop Glen-
non of St. Louis, Congressmen Rucker and Borland, Attorney
Ralph F. Lozier, Senator Busby, and others. There were pres-
ent, as guests of honor, Mrs, Mary A. Shields, widow of General

730 MINNESOTA HISTORICAL SOCIETY COLLECTIONS.

Shields; Dr. Daniel F. Shields, their son; Mr. L. E. Shields, of
St. Paul, a nephew of General Shields, and other relatives.

Minnesota was represented at the ceremonies, in addition
to Mr. L. E. Shields, by Mr. J. J. Reagan, President of the na-
tional organization of the Ancient Order of Hibernians, and by
the writer hereof, who had been specially commissioned by
Governor A. 0. Eberhart as the State's official delegate.

Accorded a leading place on the programme of addresses,
Minnesota's envoy paid a brief tribute to the hero of the occa-
sion, which embodied this personal reminiscence:

A striking incident of my early boyhood is linked across two gen-
erations with this event. One morning, when I was seven or eight
years old, the tidings spread through the Illinois village which was my
home that General Shields, returning wounded from the Mexican War,
was a passenger in the stage from Quincy, which stopped for break-
fast and to change horses at our little tavern. A crowd assembled
and waited, with silent awe, the appearance of the hero. He came out,
pale and feeble, supported by two attendants, was lifted into the coach,
and it rolled on toward Springfield.

To the group of wide-eyed youth who gazed with undisguised
wonder on the scene, it was a revelation and an inspiration. Many of
them were destined, fifteen years later, to be soldiers and heroes in a
vastly mightier conflict for an inexpressibly holier cause. But this was
our first sight of a military uniform, our first view of a real general,
our first realization of the pains and penalties of war. It was an object
lesson in patriotism. As that coach rolled away toward Springfield,
the dust from its wheels, lighted by the morning sunbeams, became
a golden aureole through which we saw many things in new colors.
The world was never quite the same again.

Thus General Shields vanished from our sight as in a cloud of
splendor. Thus his restless spirit passed through life, — through a pic-
turesque, versatile, and always honorable career. Thus he lives and
will live in history, a faithful servant of the people, a fearless soldier
of the republic, worthy to be hailed, with an innumerable company of
his colleagues and comrades, as a priest in the temple of freedom, a
prince in the kingdom of glory.

14

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