Lincoln Lincoln challenged to a duel.

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In 1842, a young Abraham Lincoln publicly chastised State Auditor James Shields in the course of a debate about banking in Illinois. The ridicule pushed Shields to challenge Lincoln to a duel in which the victor took both the life and the pride of his opponent. The affair was to be held in Missouri where dueling was still legal. And since Lincoln was the one challenged, he had the choice of weapons. He chose swords believing with pistols that one of them would've stood a greater chance of being killed and Lincoln did not want to kill Shields or himself be killed. At six feet, four inches tall, Lincoln planned to use his height to his advantage against Shields, who stood at a mere five feet, nine inches tall.
As the two men faced each other, with a plank between them that neither was allowed to cross, Lincoln swung his sword high above Shields to cut through a nearby tree branch. This act demonstrated the immensity of Lincoln’s reach and strength and was enough to show Shields that he was at a fatal disadvantage. With the encouragement of bystanders, the two men called a truce.
As fate would have it, the two adversaries crossed paths again due to the Civil War. Shields was a brigadier general and Lincoln the Commander in Chief. After the Battle of Kernstown in which General Shields bested Stonewall Jackson ( which was Jackson's only defeat ) , Shields was seriously wounded. A grateful Lincoln nominated Shields for promotion to major - general.

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/lincoln-hub/abraham-lincolns-duel.html


james-shields.jpg

James Shields
 
In 1842, a young Abraham Lincoln publicly chastised State Auditor James Shields in the course of a debate about banking in Illinois. The ridicule pushed Shields to challenge Lincoln to a duel in which the victor took both the life and the pride of his opponent. The affair was to be held in Missouri where dueling was still legal. And since Lincoln was the one challenged, he had the choice of weapons. He chose swords believing with pistols that one of them would've stood a greater chance of being killed and Lincoln did not want to kill Shields or himself be killed. At six feet, four inches tall, Lincoln planned to use his height to his advantage against Shields, who stood at a mere five feet, nine inches tall.
As the two men faced each other, with a plank between them that neither was allowed to cross, Lincoln swung his sword high above Shields to cut through a nearby tree branch. This act demonstrated the immensity of Lincoln’s reach and strength and was enough to show Shields that he was at a fatal disadvantage. With the encouragement of bystanders, the two men called a truce.
As fate would have it, the two adversaries crossed paths again due to the Civil War. Shields was a brigadier general and Lincoln the Commander in Chief. After the Battle of Kernstown in which General Shields bested Stonewall Jackson ( which was Jackson's only defeat ) , Shields was seriously wounded. A grateful Lincoln nominated Shields for promotion to major - general.

http://www.civilwar.org/education/history/lincoln-hub/abraham-lincolns-duel.html


View attachment 48021
James Shields
 
What's incredible about this is that Lincoln wrote the published letter to a newspaper criticizing Sheilds under the pen name Rebecca.
 
What's incredible about this is that Lincoln wrote the published letter to a newspaper criticizing Sheilds under the pen name Rebecca.

It's possible that Lincoln didn't write it, but that Mary Todd and Julia Jaynes, who later married Lyman Trumbull, actually wrote it. Lincoln just took the blame! Trumbull was a major player in Lincoln's political career - don't know how close to the marriage this was, though.
 
It's possible that Lincoln didn't write it, but that Mary Todd and Julia Jaynes, who later married Lyman Trumbull, actually wrote it. Lincoln just took the blame! Trumbull was a major player in Lincoln's political career - don't know how close to the marriage this was, though.
Diane, I read that too and agree its quite possible considering Marys strong political opinions. I like the idea Lincoln was chivalrous enough to consent to a dual on behalf of a lady.
 
Duels...what a macho, tough guy way to die. :D
If the story is true...very smart on Abe's part to demand swords and demonstrate to Shields how foolish his "macho" mind was to suggest a duel.
 
Seems like I read years ago about Lincoln being challenged to a duel and choosing shillelaghs as the weapons. I am obviously thinking of someone else or some other incident. Can someone fill me in on this?
 
Duels...what a macho, tough guy way to die. :D
If the story is true...very smart on Abe's part to demand swords and demonstrate to Shields how foolish his "macho" mind was to suggest a duel.

Hamilton and Burr - Hamilton gallantly fires to miss and Burr shoots to kill... Hamilton didn't think he was that mad! Andrew Jackson got hit then took careful aim and shot dead the guy who insulted his beloved Rachel. Steven Decatur - skipper of the Chesapeake lost it to the British and Decatur was on the court-martial board that found him guilty... On it goes. Lincoln thought it was a bad way to settle anything and fortunately by his time the custom was really going the way of the dodo. It morphed into shootouts like the OK Corral in its final incarnation. The Forrest-Gould matter was actually a duel gone awry - Gould had grand ideas of cleaning up his honor and Forrest had grand ideas of staying alive!
 
And we still have drunken bar brawls and the like today. Certainly not as polite and formal, but essentially the same sort of thing. Someone perceives an insult. All of a sudden, beer bottles and fists start flying. I haven't seen it happen in years, but I've seen...
 
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