@eatherall, your topic has been moved to a more suitable location on the forum. Installation and Troubleshooting is not for problems with (nor for advise on) your project 
See About the IDE 1.x category.
Which shield exactly; link (url) please. Remove the shield, put a ruler next to a pin and take a photo.
It doesn't have to as long as it makes decent contact; if the pins are too long, the shield might stand a little away from the Uno.
- A drawing of what is all connected would be useful. Where is the battery connected.
- What kind of battery?
- How do you know that there is no response?
- Is the Uno still connected to the PC when you try the battery or is it disconnected?