James Shields

James Shields
James Shields

United States Senator from Illinois In office October 27, 1849 March 4, 1855 Preceded by Succeeded by Sidney Breese Lyman Trumbull

United States Senator from Minnesota In office May 11, 1858 March 4, 1859 Preceded by Succeeded by None Morton Wilkinson

United States Senator from Missouri In office January 27, 1879 March 4, 1879 Preceded by Succeeded by David Armstrong George Vest Personal details Born May 10, 1810 Altmore, County Tyrone, Ireland June 1, 1879 (aged69) Ottumwa, Iowa American Democratic Military service

Died

Nationality Political party

James Shields

2
Service/branch United States Army Union Army

Years of service 1846 - 1848; 1861 - 1862 Rank Battles/wars Brigadier General 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 in Kaskaskia, 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 resident in 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] 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.

Shields as brigadier general during the Mexican-American War

James Shields 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

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.

Statue of Shields at the Minnesota State Capital

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. ISBN0-671-72365-0. [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 the Biographical Directory of the United States Congress

Article Sources and Contributors

Article Sources and Contributors

James 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 anonymous edits

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