26. Lincoln Nearly Took Part in a Duel… but scared his opponent off.
In 1842, Abraham Lincoln publicly shamed banker James Shields about not accepting paper money to pay off debts. Lincoln wrote a series of letters under the name “Rebecca” in the local newspaper. Shields eventually found out who “Rebecca” was and challenged Abraham Lincoln to a duel. On the day of the fight, Lincoln and Shields met in the chosen location, Bloody Island, Missouri, with the selected weapon by Lincoln, cavalry broadswords. Lincoln used his height as an advantage and cut off a tree branch to intimidate Shields. This worked as the men called a truce before the duel.