The Republican. [volume] (Oakland, Md.) 1877-current, 1886-12-25
LINCOLN AS A SOLDIER.
BIS Achievements During the FamOu.
Black Hawk Indian War.

Black Hawk Indian War.
Among those who enlisted at the
first tap of the drum was Abraham
Lincoln, and equally to his surprise
and delight he was elected Captain of
his company. The volunteer organi-
cations of those days were conducted
on purely democratic principles. The
company assembled on the green. an
election was suggested. and three
!ourths of the men walked over to
where Lincoln was standing; most Of
the remainder joined themselves to
one Kirkpatrick, a man of some sub
stance and standing from Spring
Creek. We have the word of Mr. Lin
coin for it that no subsequent success
ever gave him such unmixed pleasure
as this earliest distinction 1t was
sincere. unsought tribute of his equals
TO those physical and moral qualities
which made him the best man of his
hundred, and as suc III was accepted and
priced.
AS soon as he was mustered out of
his captaincy, after several uneventful
weeks, he reenlisted on the same day.
May q, as private solder. Several
other officers did the same. among
them General Whiteside and Major
Stuart Lincoln became a member of
Captain Elijah Hes company OF mount
ed volunteers, sometimes called the
'Independent Spy battalion" an or
ganization unique of its kind, if we may
JUICE from the accounts given by one
of its troopers. 1t was not, says MIR.
George w. Harrison. ''under the con-
troll OF any regiment or brigade, but
received orders directly from the com
mander-in-chief, and always, when
with the army, camped within the lines
and had many other privileges, such as
having no camp duties to perform and
drawing rations as much and as often
as we pleased" which would seem to
iken this battalion as nearly us possible
to the tabled regiment of briga1iers. "
With this elite corps Lincoln served
through his second enlistment, though
it was not his fortune to take part in
either of the two homogeneous in which
General Henry broke and destroyed
forever the power of Black Hawk and
the British band of Sacs and Foxes at
the Wisconsin bluffs and the Bad AK.
After Llncoln was relieved of the
weight Of dignity involved in his cap
taincy the war became a sort of holi-
day, and the tall private from New
Salem enjoyed it as much as any one.
He entered with great zest into the
athletic sports with VIII CHI soldiers love
to beguile the tedium of camp. He
was admitted to be the strongest man
in the army. and, with one exception,
the best wrestler. Indeed his friends
never admitted the exception, and Sc
verely blamed Lincoln for confesSing
himself defeated on the occasion when
he met the redoubtable Thompson and
the two fell together on the turf. His
popularity increased from the begin
ming to the end of the campaign, and
those of his comrades who still survive
always speak with hearty and affection
ate praise of his character and conduct
IL those rough yet pleasantly remem-
.bered days.
1t was on June Is, a month before
the slaughter of the Bad Ak, that the
battalion to which Lincoln belonged
was finally mustered out at Whitewater,
Wis. His final release from the service
was signed by a young Lieutenant of
artillery, Robert An ierson, who, TWEEN
ty-nne years later, in one of the most
awful crises in our annals, was to sus-
tain to Lincoln relations of prodig-
ious Importance, on % scene illumi-
mated by the flash of the opening
guns of the civil war. The men
started home the next day in high
spirits, like school-boys for their holt
days. Lincoln had need, like Horatio.
of his good spirits, for they were his
only outfit for the long journey to New
Salem, he and his messmate Harrison
having had their horses stolen the day
before by some patriot over anX Gus to
reach home. But" as Harrison says,
81 laughed at our fate an he joked at
it, and we all started of merrily. The
generous men of our company walked
and rode by turns with us, and we Jared
about equal with the rest. But for this
generosity our legs would have had to
do the better work; for in that day this
dreary route furnished no horses to buy
or steal; and whether on horse or afoot,
we always had company, for many of
the horses backs were too sore for
riding" 1t is not hard TO imagine
with what quips and quirkS of native
fancy Lincoln and his friends beguiled
the way through the forest and prairie.
With youth, good health and clear
conscience, and even then the dawn of
Il young and indebted ambition in his
heart, nothing WAS wanting to give
zest and spice to this long, sociable
walk of one hundred leagues. One
joke is preserved, and this is one at
the expense of Lincoln. One chilly
morning he complained of being cold.
"No wonder" said some facetious cava-
iisir. ''there is so much of you on the
ground. ''-NicoLGy anil Hay,tH Century.
a Conscientious Man.