7/31/2019 James Shields Brigadier General.

1/4

James Shields 1

James Shields

James Shields

United States Senator

from Illinois

In office

October 27, 1849 March 4, 1855

Preceded by Sidney Breese

Succeeded by Lyman Trumbull

United States Senatorfrom Minnesota

In office

May 11, 1858 March 4, 1859

Preceded by None

Succeeded by Morton Wilkinson

United States Senator

from Missouri

In office

January 27, 1879 March 4, 1879

Preceded by David Armstrong

Succeeded by George Vest

Personal details

Born May 10, 1810

Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland

Died June 1, 1879 (aged 69)

Ottumwa, Iowa

Nationality American

Political party Democratic

Military service

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Democratic_Party_%28United_States%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ottumwa%2C_Iowahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=County_Tyrone%2C_Irelandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Altmorehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=George_Graham_Vesthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_H._Armstronghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=US_Congressional_Delegations_from_Missourihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Senatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Morton_S._Wilkinsonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=US_Congressional_Delegations_from_Minnesotahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Senatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lyman_Trumbullhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Sidney_Breesehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=US_Congressional_Delegations_from_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Senatorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AJames_Shields_-_Brady-Handy.jpg

7/31/2019 James Shields Brigadier General.

2/4

James Shields 2

Service/branch United States Army

Union Army

Years of service 1846 - 1848; 1861 - 1862

Rank Brigadier General

Battles/wars Mexican-American War

American Civil War

James Shields (May 10, 1810 June 1, 1879) was an American politician and United States Army officer who was

born in Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland. Shields, a Democrat, is the only person in United States history to serve as

a U.S. Senator for three different states. Shields was a senator from Illinois 1849 to 1855, in the 31st, 32nd, and 33rd

congresses, from Minnesota from May 11, 1858 to March 4, 1859, in the 35th congress, and from Missouri from

January 27, 1879 to March 4, 1879, in the 45th congress.

Early life and career

A descendant of the Siadhail clan, Shields was the nephew of another James Shields, also born in Ireland, who

was a Congressman from Ohio. The younger Shields immigrated to the United States around 1826 and settled inKaskaskia, Randolph County, Illinois where he studied and later practiced law.[1] He served as a member of the

Illinois House of Representatives, beginning to serve in 1836, and then as an Illinois Supreme Court justice and in

1839 as the state auditor. (He was elected when not yet a citizen; Illinois then required only that a legislator have

been residentin the state for six months.)

Shields nearly fought a duel with Abraham Lincoln on September 22, 1842. Lincoln had published an inflammatory

letter in a Springfield, Illinois, newspaper, the Sagamon Journal that poked fun at Shields, the State Auditor.

Lincoln's future wife and her close friend, continued writing letters about Shields without his knowledge. Taking

offense to the articles, Shields demanded "satisfaction" and the incident escalated to the two parties meeting on a

Missouri island called Sunflower Island, near Alton, Illinois to participate in a duel. Lincoln took responsibility for

the articles and accepted the duel. Just prior to engaging in combat, Lincoln made it a point to demonstrate his

advantage by easily cutting a branch just above Shields' head, the two participants' seconds intervened and were able

to convince the two men to cease hostilities, on the grounds that Lincoln had not written the letters. [2][3]

Shields as brigadier general during the

Mexican-American War

In 1846, Shields was selected as a brigadier general of volunteers to

fight in the Mexican-American War. He served under Zachary Taylor

along the Rio Grande River. He commanded the 3rd Brigade,

Volunteer Division, at the battles of Vera Cruz and Cerro Gordo,

where he was wounded. He returned to fight at the battles of Contreras

and Churubusco, his brigade now part of the 4th Division. He was

again wounded at the Battle of Chapultepec.Following the war, on August 14, 1848, he was nominated by

President Polk, and confirmed by the United States Senate to serve as

governor of Oregon Territory that was created that same day.[4]

However, he declined the position and Joseph Lane was nominated and

became the first governor of the new territory.[5] He resigned to run for

the Senate from Illinois. His election was voided by the Senate on the

grounds that he had not been a United States citizen for the nine years

required by the United States Constitution; having been naturalized

October 21, 1840. He returned to Illinois and campaigned for

re-election, and won the special election to replace himself, and was

then seated.

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Constitutionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_citizenshiphttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Joseph_Lanehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Oregon_Territoryhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Senatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_K._Polkhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Chapultepechttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Churubuscohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Contrerashttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Cerro_Gordohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Siege_of_Veracruzhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Rio_Grande_Riverhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Zachary_Taylorhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mexican-American_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brigadier_general_%28United_States%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AJames_Shields_Brigadier_General.jpghttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Alton%2C_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Illinois_Comptrollerhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Springfield%2C_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Abraham_Lincolnhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Illinois_Supreme_Courthttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Illinois_House_of_Representativeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Randolph_County%2C_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Kaskaskia%2C_Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ohiohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_House_of_Representativeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=James_Shields_%281762-1831%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=%C3%93_Siadhailhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=45th_United_States_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Missourihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=35th_United_States_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Minnesotahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=33rd_United_States_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=33rd_United_States_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=32nd_United_States_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=31st_United_States_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Illinoishttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=U.S._statehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Senatehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=History_of_the_United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Democratic_Partyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=County_Tyrone%2C_Irelandhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Altmorehttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Politicianhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_Stateshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mexican-American_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Brigadier_general_%28United_States%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Union_Armyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=United_States_Army

7/31/2019 James Shields Brigadier General.

3/4

James Shields 3

In 1855, he was defeated for re-election, so he moved to Minnesota. He was elected as one of the two first Senators

from that state, but his term was only from 1858 to 1859, and he was again not re-elected.

He was the editor of the 1854 book,A History of Illinois, from its Commencement as a State in 1818 to 1847

Civil War and later career

Statue of Shields at the Minnesota State Capital

Shields then moved to California and served as a brigadier general of

volunteers from that state during the American Civil War. He

commanded the 2nd Division of the V Corps, Army of the Potomac

(subsequently part of the Army of the Shenandoah), during the Valley

Campaign of 1862. He was wounded at the Battle of Kernstown on

March 22, 1862, but his troops inflicted the only tactical defeat of

General Thomas J. "Stonewall" Jackson during the campaign (or the

war). The day after Kernstown, he was promoted to major general, but

the promotion was withdrawn, reconsidered, and then finally rejected.

His overall performance in the rest of the Valley Campaign was poor

enough that he resigned his commission, and his departure was not

resisted by the War Department.

In 1863 he moved to Mexico and operated mines, and then to

Wisconsin, but in 1866 moved to Missouri, where he served as

member of the Missouri State House of Representatives, and as

railroad commissioner. In 1879, he was elected to fill the seat left

vacant by the death of Senator Lewis V. Bogy. He served only three

months and declined to run for re-election.

Shields died in Ottumwa, Iowa. He is buried in St. Mary's Cemetery, Carrollton, Missouri. He represents Illinois in

the National Statuary Hall.

Notes

[1] "James Shields". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913.

[2] "Abraham Lincoln Prepares to Fight a Saber Duel" (http://www.historynet. com/abraham-lincoln-prepares-to-fight-a-saber-duel. htm),

originally published by Civil War Times magazine

[3] Carnegie, Dale (1982).How to Win Friends & Influence People. New York, NY: POCKET BOOKS. pp. 9. ISBN 0-671-72365-0.

[4] Senate Executive Journal: Monday, August 14, 1848. (http://memory. loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+

@lit(ej007195))) Library of Congress, retrieved September 13, 2007.

[5] Senate Executive Journal: Tuesday, December 12, 1848. (http://memory. loc. gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:4:. /temp/~ammem_fN3M::)

Library of Congress, retrieved September 13, 2007.

References

Eicher, John H., and Eicher, David J., Civil War High Commands, Stanford University Press, 2001, ISBN

0-8047-3641-3.

External links

James Shields (http://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000362) at theBiographical

Directory of the United States Congress

http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congresshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Biographical_Directory_of_the_United_States_Congresshttp://bioguide.congress.gov/scripts/biodisplay.pl?index=S000362http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=David_J._Eicherhttp://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/D?hlaw:4:./temp/~ammem_fN3M::http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ej007195))http://memory.loc.gov/cgi-bin/query/r?ammem/hlaw:@field(DOCID+@lit(ej007195))http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Dale_Carnegiehttp://www.historynet.com/abraham-lincoln-prepares-to-fight-a-saber-duel.htmhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Catholic_Encyclopediahttp://en.wikisource.org/wiki/Catholic_Encyclopedia_(1913)/James_Shieldshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=National_Statuary_Hall_Collectionhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Carrollton%2C_Missourihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ottumwa%2C_Iowahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Lewis_V._Bogyhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Missouri_State_House_of_Representativeshttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Wisconsinhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Mexicohttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Major_general_%28United_States%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Thomas_J._Jacksonhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Battle_of_Kernstown_Ihttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valley_Campaignhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Valley_Campaignhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Union_Army_of_the_Shenandoahhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Army_of_the_Potomachttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=V_Corps_%28ACW%29http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=American_Civil_Warhttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Californiahttp://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File%3AMajor_General_James_Shields.JPG

7/31/2019 James Shields Brigadier General.

4/4

Article Sources and Contributors 4

Article Sources and ContributorsJames Shields Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?oldid=486929417 Contributors: Aboutmovies, Anetode, Appraiser, Ardfern, Astuishin, Bagworm, Blahblah32blahblah, BorgHunter,Brian0918, Can't sleep, clown will eat me, Canuckian89, Catgut, Chrisn4255, Cremepuff222, Cube lurker, D6, Davepape, Eastlaw, Fergananim, Floydspinky71, Ghosts&empties, Giarraputo,Good Olfactory, GoodDay, Hlj, Hmains, Iamwisesun, JASpencer, Jeremy Bentham, Jfshields1221, Jimi777, Jwillbur, Kernel Saunters, Kresock, Kumioko (renamed), Looper5920, Lst27,MZMcBride, Mike Selinker, Mikeblas, Minesweeper, Monegasque, Mulad, Nhprman, OCNative, Packerfansam, PhilFree, Pmanderson, Psychless, RFD, Rich Farmbrough, RickK, Rmhermen,Roseohioresident, Rrius, Ryuhaku, Sbrockway, Scott Mingus, Searcher 1990, Shsilver, Smith03, Snori, Terker, Thismightbezach, Tom, TonyTheTiger, Ulric1313, Voot42, Ylee, 28 anonymousedits

Image Sources, Licenses and Contributorsfile:James Shields - Brady-Handy.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:James_Shields_-_Brady-Handy.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Davepape, Ebcdic,Frank C. Mller, Psychless, Rmhermen, Tom, 2 anonymous edits

File:James Shields Brigadier General.jpg Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:James_Shields_Brigadier_General.jpg License: Public Domain Contributors: Originaluploader was Anetode at en.wikipedia

File:Major General James Shields.JPG Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=File:Major_General_James_Shields.JPG License: Public Domain Contributors: sil

License

Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported//creati vecommons.org/lic enses/by-sa /3.0/