Abraham Lincoln is challenged to a duel, gets silly.

>[James Shields](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/8/8e/James_Shields_-_Brady-Handy.jpg) did not see the practical humor in [Lincoln](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/ab/Abraham_Lincoln_O-77_matte_collodion_print.jpg)’s choice of weapons – “cavalry broadswords of the largest size” – when he challenged Lincoln to a duel; but we can picture, as Lincoln undoubtedly could, the ludicrous figure of the diminutive Shields would have cut in a combat with such weapons with the long-armed railsplitter. ________________________ **Author’s note for context:** >James Shields [1810-79] was a U.S. senator from Illinois [1849-55] and became a general in the Civil War. In 1842 he and Lincoln nearly fought a duel. ________________________ **Source:** Thomas, Benjamin Platt, and Michael Burlingame. “Lincoln’s Humor.” *"Lincolns Humor" and Other Essays*. University of Illinois Press, 2002. 10. Print. ________________________ **Further Reading:** James Shields: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/James_Shields_(politician,_born_1806) [Abraham Lincoln](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Abraham_Lincoln)