Courage and Country: James Shields Book

Courageand Country is a psycho-biographical study of General James Shields, and histimes, written by psychiatrist-journalist Dr. Sean Callan,after five years of in depth research in Ireland and America.¿ Shields, anoff-the-boat Irishman, was elected U.S. Senator from three different states,was the only commander to defeat Thomas 'Stonewall' Jackson in opencombat, was a State Supreme Court Justice who advanced women's rights, wasdescribed as "a knight-errant who lived too late," was one of the few nineteenthcentury national figures accepted equally on both sides of the Mason-Dixondivide, and was a man who crossed swords figuratively and almost literally withAbraham Lincoln, the US President. Courageand Country, depicting American history from a different perspective, includesa reinterpretation of the psychological motivations underlying theswords-in-hand face off between Shields and Lincoln on the banks of the mighty Mississippi River in 1842.¿ Theinescapable conclusion is that the near duel resulted more from passion over awoman than politics.¿ Shields proved timeand again that persistence pays off.¿ Hisamazing achievements did not spring merely from luck; they resulted from doggeddetermination and time-tested techniques that still apply today.¿ How Shields succeeded is spelled out in thisriveting account of life, politics, intensity and inspiration on the Americanfrontier.