Born in the County Tyrone, Ireland, in 1806, James Shields came of a fighting stock. His progenitors had fought at the Boyne and Aughrim for the Stuart king and several had followed Sarsfield after the surrender of Limerick, to serve under the banners of King Louis on the continent. So it was that young Shields inherited the warlike tastes and the “rebel” sympathies common to his countrymen. The story of his boyhood shows that he early manifested a taste for military pursuits. He was the drill-master of his boyish companions at school, and headed them in many juvenile skirmishes and exploits.
He never gained the opportunity and advantages of a college or university education, but he made up for this by the industrious and persevering use of his opportunities in later life, so that he came to be recognized as an excellent classical scholar and even linguist.
His youthful attention was early drawn toward America—as indeed, is the case with nearly all Irish boys. In the instance of young Shields he was spurred to emigrate by the counsels of an uncle who had seen service in the revolutionary war, and who had written to the mother telling her that if James did not leave the country he would surely be shot or hung as a rebel! In 1823, when 17 years of age, James Shields set out for America. He first landed at Quebec. The uncle who had counseled his leaving Ireland and from whom he naturally expected aid and counsel, was dead, and he was thus left to his own scanty resources. He made his way to the States, and pushed westward to Illinois, until he reached Kaskaskia, then the capital of the state, and it was there he commenced his career, first as a school teacher, employing his leisure hours in reading law. That he made good use of his time, and had the knack of making friends, may be judged by his early election as a member of the legislature.
Shields had been admitted to the bar in 1832 and was elected to the legislature in 1836. In 1841 he was elected auditor and in 1843 he was elected judge of the Supreme Court of Illinois—pretty rapid promotion for the young Irishman.
He quickly entered the arena of national renown. President Polk in 1845 appointed Shields commissioner of the general land office in Washington, and when the war with Mexico was declared Shields offered his services and was appointed brigadier general of volunteers—this in 1846. His military career in the campaign in Mexico I scarcely need recall. It is to be found in the history of that war and in the official reports of the chiefs of the army. His dash and bravery as well as his signal military capacity were shown in every engagement from Cerro Gordo to Chapultepec and the City of Mexico.
He was reported by General Scott in dispatches as fatally wounded at Cerro Gordo, a ball having passed “clean through” his body. Happily the skill and dexterity of a Mexican surgeon—a prisoner—saved him. Some accounts say this surgeon was an Irishman who had seen service in the French army. This brings to mind an incident in the general’s later life. During a visit to Chicago on a lecturing tour I introduced the general to some of the “sights,” among other places to the board of trade, of which I was then a member. When the fact became whispered about that General Shields was on the floor the “pits” were quickly deserted, the operators evidently being eager to testify their respect or gratify their curiosity. As he stood acknowledging the salutations of the throng around him, a member of the board shook hands with him, saying: “General, do you remember me?” The general evidently did not and said so.
“Don’t you remember the soldier who tore off a piece of his shirt to stanch the blood from your wound when you lay on the field of Cerro Gordo?”
Sure enough, it was the very man! He, too, was a veteran of the Mexican war. I regret that I cannot now recall his name, which I heard at the time. Of course, there was a cordial reception and hand-shake between the two old soldiers.
On his return from Mexico at the close of the war, Shields was brevetted major general, and was nominated by the president governor of the territory of Oregon. This appointment Shields declined. In 1849 he was elected United States senator from Illinois, as associate to Senator Stephen A. Douglas.