North Shields

“ From Newcastle to North Shields, 8, 9, 10, 11 & 12 a.m ; 1, 2, 3,
4, 5, 6, 7, & 81⁄2 p.m.
North Shields to Newcastle, 81⁄2, 91⁄2, 101⁄2, 111⁄2 a.m.; 121⁄2, 11⁄2,
21⁄2, 31⁄2, 41⁄2, 51⁄2, 61⁄2, 71⁄2 and 9 p.m. ”

“ The woods available for making shields are in the south very different from those of the north. A species of ficus which grows in the north yields a soft and light wood, which is admirably suited to the requirements of the native; and with this he has constructed a weapon which differs essentially from the heavy wooden club-shield and the lighter spear-shield of the men of the Murray and the Yarra.
The weapons and implements of the West Australian natives differ in some respects from those of the natives of the eastern and southern parts of the continent. ”

“ Shields, North, a flourishing seaport of Northumberland, on the Tyne, near the mouth, 8 m. NE. of Newcastle-upon-Tyne, and lying within the municipal borough of Tynemouth (47) ; is of quite modern growth, and of a plain, uninteresting appearance; has a theatre, free library, Mariners' Home, fine park, &c.; the docks cover 79 acres, and a large export trade in coal is carried on.
Shields, South (78) , a busy seaport and popular watering-place in Durham, with a frontage of 2 m. on the south bank of the Tyne, 9 m. ”

“ Ewell was some four miles distant, near the road leading from Harrisonburg to Port Republic. General Fremont had arrived with his forces in the vicinity of Harrisonburg, and General Shields was moving up the east side of the Shenandoah, and had reached Conrad's Store. Each was about fifteen miles distant from Jackson's position. To prevent a junction, the bridge over the river, near Shields's position, had been destroyed.
As the advance of General Shields approached on the 8th, the brigades of Taliaferro and Winder were ordered to occupy positions immediately north of the bridge. ”

“ Here we dismount and picket our horses again. We ascend a high butte, and from the top of it we can see three more antelope about a mile to the north of us; but this time they are in a hilly, broken country, and the wind is coming directly from them to us. We shall be able to get a shot at them at short range. So we cautiously back down out of sight, and then begins the tedious process of stalking them. We walk briskly along around the foot of a hill for a quarter of a mile, to where it makes a turn that would carry us too far out of our course. ”

“ Besides, sir, it is my firm conviction that the institution of slavery, as it now exists in the South, would not last, in its present shape, for the space of twenty years in that Southern Confederacy. The South might as well attempt to shut out the pressure of the atmosphere, as to shut out the whole pressure of the civilized world on its cherished institutions.
Senator Shields' term of six years expired March 4, 1855, and on February 8 preceding the Illinois legislature met in joint session to choose his sucessor. ”

“ When the yellow fever, a very pestilence, scourged the South and depopulated cities, when every heart throbbed in sympathy for the stricken sufferers, and when in populous Atlanta there were not enough of well ones left to bury the dead, it was the clarion tones of General Shields that woke the echoes from city to city, until more money was raised and sent through his individual effort than was secured by any score of his co-workers, who also did their best in this noble work. ”

“ Establishing the right at a strong building, Shields extended his left parallel to the road, to outflank the enemy toward the capital. But the enemy extending his right, supported by three thousand cavalry, more rapidly (being favored by better ground) in the same direction, Shields concentrated the division about a hamlet and determined to attack in front. The battle was long, hot and varied; but, ultimately, success crowned the zeal and gallantry (p. 321) of our troops, ably directed by their distinguished commander, Brigadier-General Shields. ”

“ On the last ballot the anti-Nebraska men concentrated on Trumbull and elected him, thus saving Lincoln for the great debate with Douglas three years later which made him President in 1860.
On leaving the Senate in 1855, General Shields came to Minnesota to select some lands that had been awarded for his war service. He was so favorably impressed with the country that he decided to go East and organize a large colony of Irish-Americans to settle on the fertile soil of Rice and Le Sueur counties. ”

“ They divide, somewhat unevenly, a population of something over a hundred thousand persons between them. South Shields is of more rapid and most recent growth, but both the towns originated in the erection of a few fishermen’s sheds, or shielings, which existed so long ago at least as the reign of Edward I. There were then, and for very long afterwards, two mouths to the Tyne, one of which ran parallel with the present main street of South Shields, and made an island of the Roman station which was founded here. ”

“ It shows General Shields, easily distinguishable, in the thick of the fight, where he always loved to be. It thus, on the outer walls of the Senate, where ten years later he shed glory on Minnesota, certifies to his imperishable renown.
After the conquest of Mexico, and on July 28, 1848, General Shields' brigade was disbanded, and he returned, still feeble from his wound, to Illinois and resumed his law practice. His State presented to him a sword that cost $3,000, and South Carolina presented him a diamond-hilted sword which cost $5,000. ”

“ He was always a helper. No human being struggling in any whirlpool of difficulty or danger came within his sight that he did not immediately "throw out the life line."
And he has never received due credit for his accomplishments and abilities as a theoretical soldier. On January 10, 1862, in a letter to General McClellan, commander in chief of the army, General Shields outlined the military operations which he deemed necessary for the suppression of the Rebellion. ”

“ So it proved; and the next business was to drive him once more up the Valley. Gen. Shields was ordered up on the eastern side of the Massanutten Range, while Fremont pushed the enemy on the western side. The roar of artillery daily marked his advance.
On the 8th of June the Rebel General halted his column and gave battle at Cross Keys. The third and fourth brigades of Shields' troops, numbering 3000 men, reached Port Republic on the same day. This town is on the She [Pg 28] nandoah, sixty-eight miles above Front Royal, and was occupied by the rear of Jackson's army. ”

“ After the battle of Winchester, General Shields showed a disposition to appropriate the laurels won by others to himself. In a letter to a friend at Washington, he claimed that, after the reconnoissance to Strasburg, on the 18th, he fell back hurriedly, for the purpose of deceiving the enemy into the belief that his force was small; and that after arriving at Winchester, he moved his division beyond the town, so as to create the belief in the minds of the citizens that most of his force had been sent away. ”

“ He with his contemporaries had finished the thinning of the central forest of the Shield, leaving the land as it is to-day, a rolling prairie with remnants of woodland like that crowning the hilltop near this house. This immediate forefather bore the countenance that began to develop in the Northerner and in the Southerner after the Civil War: not the Northern look nor the Southern look, but the American look—a new thing in the American face, indefinable but unmistakable. ”

“ He therefore moved round to the rear of Captain Magruder, and leaving three companies of the 3rd infantry under Captain Craig, a detachment of the rifles under Captain Sanderson, and a small party of the 1st artillery, to support the battery, he also entered the pedregal. Subsequently General Shields came up with his brigade of General Quitman's division, and was directed, by the General-in-chief, to follow the same intricate and difficult path over the field of lava, — perhaps resembling nothing so much, as what one might fancy, the fabled battle — ground of the Titans. ”

“ The command of our column of attack on the enemy’s left was the post of honor, for it was the strongest point of his position, as it covered his only line of retreat. That command was assigned to Brigadier General James Shields, one of that warlike Irish race who have ever keenly felt the rapture of the fight wherever battle was to be done for a noble cause—a most knightly and heroic soldier, who would have worn with stainless honor the white plume of Henry of Navarre on the field of Ivry, and have worthily led the immortal Irish Brigade along the path of glory that it trod at Fontenoy. ”

“ Shields Green behaved with equal heroism, ascending the scaffold with a firm and unwavering step, and died, as he had lived, a brave man, and expressing to the last his eternal hatred to human bondage, prophesying that slavery would soon come to a bloody end. ”

“ The bandits fled in a southwestern direction, toward the little hamlet of Shieldsville, situated about 20 miles on an air line, southwest from the scene of the tragedy at Northfield. The route taken by the robbers made the distance more than twenty-five miles; yet they were at Shieldsville before dark. They passed straight through the place and made no concealment of their identity. Shieldsville is a small 259 post village, containing a population of no more than 175 souls. ”

“ Wilder and his friend crossed the mountains at the South Pass, and struck out in a southerly direction. After passing the Republican Fork of the Platte, they found themselves in the heart of the country claimed by the Arapahoes.
White Shield took his companion in a direct course to the village to which he had been carried as a prisoner, but discovered, upon his arrival at the place where it had stood, that it had recently been removed. Following the lodge-pole trail, which was plain enough, they found the village in its new location, near the base of the mountains. ”

“ The fortunes of South Shields and Jarrow, though these towns are not in Northumberland, are yet so bound up with the story of the Tyne that no one would ever think of that river without them. Especially is this the case with Jarrow, which “Palmer’s” has raised from a small colliery village to a large and flourishing town. In those famous yards, everything that is necessary for the building of the largest ironclad, from the first smelting of the ore until the last rivet is in place, can be done. ”

“ In obedience to this order, he had marched his command more than 250 miles, and now that he had overtaken the fugitives, must he go into camp, fortify himself, and calmly wait for reinforcements, or for the Indians to attack him? Had he done so, the Indians would of course have retreated so soon as they found that he had arrived in their neighborhood. What would have been thought of such a course by his superiors? What would have been thought of it by these same pretentious newspaper critics? They would doubtless have raised the cry of cowardice as promptly as they raised that of rashness. ”

“ Let us now follow the northern sledge-party which left the Alert on 3rd April 1876. The dépôt of provisions at Cape Joseph Henry was reached on 10th April, and the remainder of that day was employed in bringing the provisions off to the sledges, which were left on the ice. Up to this point the northern and western parties had travelled together. Next day they separated, and the two supporting sledges returned to the ship.
The ice over which the northern party had to travel was of an extremely rugged character. Roads had frequently to be made before the sledges could be dragged forwards. ”

“ The Indians passed his ranch during his absence, broke into his house and rifled it of everything it contained that was of any value to them, including several hundred pounds of flour and bacon.
During the passage up the valley, White Bird is said to have scented danger, and to have counseled a more rapid movement toward the great plains. But Looking Glass replied: "We are in no hurry. The little bunch of soldiers at Missoula are not fools enough to attack us. We will take the world easy. We are not fighting with the ranchmen of this country." ”

“ The casualties on both sides were heavy. Nothing of importance occurred during the day at Port Republic, except that a few shells were fired by the advance force of Shields, resulting, however, in but little injury. Shields was [62] in hearing of the battle of Cross Keys, but was unable to give or receive aid to or from Fremont on that or the following day because of the intervening Shenandoah, still swollen out of its banks. There was no bridge save that at Port Republic, which in the emergency was a prize well worth a great effort to obtain. ”

“ It will be seen subsequently, in tracing the history of the shield, that in the rudest condition of savage life, this weapon of defence has a history of its own; that both in Africa and Australia it is derived by successive stages from the stick or club, and that the broad shield does not appear to have been developed until after mankind had acquired sufficient constructive skill to have been able to form shields of lighter and more suitable materials than is afforded by the shell of the turtle. ”

“ During the excavations in the peat mosses of Thorsbjerg and Nydam, in South Jutland or Slesvig, under the sanction of the Danish government, and conducted by Conrad Engelhardt, between the years 1858 and 1863, remains of wooden shields were found in great abundance, these being thin boards varying in breadth from 3 to 9 inches, the average thickness 1⁄2 to 3⁄4 of an inch. ”