Pomeroy weekly telegraph. [volume] (Pomeroy, Meigs County, Ohio) 1860-1866, 1865-12-21
TheIsoidier Bird.

One day in til; |ftns of 1861, Chief Sky
a Chippewa Indian living in the hortherl
wilds of Wisconsin, captured an eagles nest
To make sure Of his prize, he cut the tire,
down, and caught the eaglets as they wer'
sliding from theEnest to run and hide in tn,
grass One died He took the other home
and built it nest close by his wigwam The
leaglet was as biz as hen, covered with sof
brown down. The red children were delight
ed with their new pet, and as soon as it 60
acquainted it liked to sit down in the grass
and see them plAy with the dogs. But Chic
Sky was poor, and he had TO sell it to whte
man for a bpshet Of corn. The white mar
brought it to Eaa Claire, . little village. alive
with white men going to the, war, "tHere is
recruit" said The man IAN eagle, an ca.
lgle! shouted the soldiers, s'let him enlist,
and sure enough he was sworn into the serv-
ice with ribbons around his neck, red, white
and blue, ...,.,....,....,,, ,,. ~, ". f.
On a perch, slrmounted by the stars and
stripes, the company took him to Madison,
the capitol Of the state AS they marched in
to Camp Randall, with colors flying, drums
beating, and the people cheering, the eagle
seized the flag in his beak and spread his
wings, his bright eye kindling with the spirit
Of the scene. sThe bird of Columbia! the
EAGLE of freedom forever' The State made
him a new perch, the boys named him "Old
Abe" and the regiment, the eigth Wisconsin,
was hen,eforth Ca lied the Eagle Regiment. "
On the march il was carried at the head of
The econpany, and everywhere was greeted with
delight At St Louis, II gentleman offered
| FIVE hundred dollars, and another his farm
The boys had nonoti6n Of parr!ng with the bird.
I twas above price, an emblem o. battle and
Of victory Besides it interested their minds,
and made them think in less s. of 4ardEsi'ps and
cannot tellsyoualI the droll adventures
Of the1bird through its three years of service,
its flights in the air, fights with the guinea
hens, and its race with the darkies. When
the regiment was in summer quarters at Clear
Creek, in Dixie, it was allowed to run at
large, and every morning went to the river
half mile off,swhere IL splashcd and played
in the water to its hearts content, faithfully
returning 10 cssup when it had enough: Old
Abe's favorite place of resort Wis the sutler s
tent, where live chicken found spo SqpartsE
in his presence. But rations got tws and for,
two days Abe had nothing to eat. a1FasAtaeE
he objected to, fasting was isagreeablcz aba
Tom, his bearer, could not get beyond thS
Hines to a tnrm-yard AT last, pushing his
way to the Colonels tent, he pleaded for poor
Abe. The Calonel gave him pass, and
Tom got him an excellent dinner. IT
e One dayIa rebel farmer asked Tom to come
and show the eagle to the children. Satisfy
ing the curiosity of the family, Tom, sat him
down in tho barnyard. 0 what sereeching
and scattering among the fowls; for what
should Abe do butlpounce upon one and COB
BILE up another, to the great disgust of the
farmer, who declared that was not in the bar
gain Abe however, thought there was no
harm in con6scation nor did Tom. ai Z
Abe was in twenty battles, besides many
skirmishes. He was at the Siege of Vicks.
burg, the stor1ning of Corinth, and marched
with Sherman up the Red River. The whiz
of bullets and scream Of shells wore his de,
light AS the battle grew hot and hotter, he
would flap his wings and mingle his widest
notes with the, noise, around him, He was
very fond Of music, especially Yankee Doodle
and Old John Brown Upon parade be al,
ways gave heed to Attention With his
eyes on the commander he would listen and
obey orders. noting time accurately. After
parade he would put off his soldirly air, flap
his wings and make himself at home. The
rebels called him yankee Buzzard," " t"Old
OWL and other hard names; but his eagle
nature was Quite above noticing it. 80 s'@iH !
q The rebel General Price gave orders to his
men, to BE Sure and. capture the eagle of the
eighth Wisconsin,; he would rather lave it
than 4 dozen battle Hags. But for all that lie
Scarcely, lost feather; only one from his
right wing. = His tail feathers were once
cropped BY a. bullet. in'"17"l 'h r '':fm74I 4
AT last the great rebellion came to. an end,
and the, brave Wisconsin Eighth, with, their,
Il live eagle and their torn and riddled flags !
were welcomed back to Madison. They went
out a thousand strbdg and returned q little
band Scared and toll worn, having fought
and .won.s NJ. stNsnt ~ - ,'' N''''.1S'" Snt
\ And what oftRe soldier.bird3 in the name.
|of his gallant veterans, Capt Wolf presented
him to the State. Gov Lewis accepted the
illustrious gift, and ample quarters are provi=i
ded for him in the beautiful State house
grounds, where may he long live o'tell Us J
- what heroes from tho woodland sprang, !
~ When through the fresh awakened land J. /
The thrilling cry Of freedom rang. ~
L Noris this the end Yet, AT the great fairl
In Chicago, last sunmer nm ehterprising gen,
tleman Invited "Abe' to attend He had col
ored photographs Of the old hero struck off,
and sold SIG, 100 worth for the benefit of poor,
and sick soldiers Has not the American ca
gle done his part? ''" ~, s'.tVh ~ .,'~i ''