Weekly Trinity journal., 1866-03-03
NUMBER s.
The Battle Eagle OF the sth wisconsin.

One day in the spring of 1861 Chief Sky, a
Chippewa Indian living in the northern wids of
Wisconsin, captured eagles nest. To make
sure of his prize, he cut the tree down, and
caught the eaglets as they were sliding from the
nest to run and hide in the grass One died.
He took the other home and built it a nest in the
tree close by his wigwam. The eaglet was as
big as a hem covered with a soft brown down
The red children were delighted with their new
pet and as soon as it got acquainted, it liked
to sit down in the grass and see them play with
the dogs. But Chief Sky way poor, and he had
to sell it to a white man for a bushel of corn
The white man brought it to Eau Claire, n little
village, alive with white men going to the war
Here's a recruit" said the man. "An
gle an eagle p shouted the soldiers, q let him
enlist" and sure enough he was sworn into the
service with ribbons round his neck-red white
and blue.
On a perch surmounted with the stars and
stripes the company took him to Madison, the
capital of the State. As they marched into
Camp Randall, with colors flying, drums beating
and the people cheering. the eagle seized the flag
in his beal and spread his wings, his bright eyes
knding with the spirit of the scene. Shouts
rent the air: " The bird of Columbia the Ca
Gle Of freedom forever I! The State made him
a new perch, the boys named him :; Old Abe"
the regiment, the Eighth Wisconsin, was hence
forth called The Eagle Regiment" On the
ny, and everywhere greeted with delight At
! St Louis gentleman offered five hundred dol
lars for him, another his farm No, no, the
boys had no notion of parting with their bird
1t was above all price, an emblem OF battle and
victory Besides it interested their minds, and
made them think less of hardships and home.
cannot tell you all the droll adventures of
the bird through its three years of service, its
flights in the air, its fights with the guinea hens,
and its races with the darkies. When the regi-
ment was in summer quarters at Clear Creek, in
/ Dixie, it allowed to at large, and every
morning went to the river half mile off, where
it splashed and played in the water to its hearts
content, faithfully returning to camp when it
had enough. Old Abe's favorite place of resort
was the suffers tent, where a live chicken
found no quarters in IFS presence But rations
got low and for two days Abe had nothing TO
/ eat Hard tack he objected to: fasting wasNis-
agreeable and Tom his bearer, could not get
beyond the pickets to a farmyard. At last,
pushing his way to the Colonel's tent, he pleaded
for poor Abe. The Colonel gave him pass,
and Tom got him an excellent dinner.
! One day rebel farmer asked Tom to come
and show the eagle to his children. To satisfy
/ the curiosity of the family, Tom sent him down
in the barnyard. Oh, what a screeching and
scattering among the fowls for what should
Abe do but to pouncc upon one and gobble up
another, to the great disgust of the farmer, who
declared that not in the bargain. Abe,
however, thought there was harm in confs-
eating, nor did Tom.
Abe was in twenty battles besides many skirm-
ishes lie was at the siege of Vicksburg the
storming of Corinth, and the march with A. j.
Smith up Red river. The whz of bullets and
the of shells his delight. As the
battle grew hotter and hotter, he would flap his
wings and mingle his wild notes with the noise
around. He very fond of music, especially
Yankee Doodle and Old John Brown. Upon
duty he always gave heed to % Attention1''-
With his eyes on the commander, he would
listen and obey orders, noting time accurately.
After parade he would put of his soderly air,
flap his wings and make himself at home. The
rabels called him - Yankee Buzzard," "Old
Owl, and other hard names but his eagle
nature quite above noticing it.
The Rebel General Price gave orders to his
men to be and capture the eagle of the
Eighth Wisconsin; he would rather have him
than dozen battle flags. But for all that he
scarcely lost feather only one from his right
wing. His tail feathers were once cropped by
bullet.
/ At last the great rebellion came to an end
and the brave Wisconsin Eighth with their torn
and rddled flags, were welcomed back to Mad
ison. They went out thousand strong, and
returned a little band, SCARED and toilworn,
having fought and won.
] And what of the soldier bird? In the name
of his gallant veterans, Captain Wolf presented
him to the State. Governor Lewis accepted the
/ lustrious gift, and ample quarters are provided
/ for him in the beautiful State House grounds,
where may he long live to tell us
'What heroes from the woodland sprang,
When through the fresh awakened land
The thrilling cry Of freedom rang"
! Nor is the end yet. At the great Fair in
Chicago last summer, enterprisng gentleman
( invited . Abe" to attend lie had colored
photographs of the old hero struck off, and sold
/ SIC, 700 worth for the benefit of the poor and
7 e;n JIas tbo III dana
his part?
/ NEW OUTFIT.-About eighty persons left by
the steamer Goldea CITY on Monday week for the