Old Abe Old Abe ( May 1861 – March 26 , 1881 ) , a female bald eagle , was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War . Later , her image was adopted as the eagle appearing on a globe in Case Corporation ' s logo and as the screaming eagle on the insignia of the U . S . Army ' s 101st Airborne Division . Capture and sale . Old Abe was captured by Ahgamahwegezhig or " Chief Sky " . He was the son of Ah - mous ( translated either as " The Little Bee " or " Thunder of Bees " ) , who was an influential leader of the Lac du Flambeau Ojibwe . In spring of 1861 , Chief Sky set up a hunting and fishing camp near the South Fork of the Flambeau River , within the present day Chequamegon National Forest , east of Park Falls , Wisconsin . Here , he noticed a treetop nest , with two fledgling eagles , and to capture them , cut down the tree . One eaglet died from the fall , and the other became the young Indian ' s pet . That summer , Chief Sky and his father canoed down the Chippewa River on a trading expedition . At Jim Falls , Wisconsin , they encountered Daniel McCann , who lived nearby in Eagle Point . The Indians sold the eagle to McCann in exchange for a bushel of corn . In August 1861 , John C . Perkins , assisted by Seth Pierce , Frank McGuire , Thomas G . Butler and Victor Wolf , recruited a company of volunteers from Eau Claire and Chippewa Counties . This company was called the " Eau Claire Badgers " . Soon after its formation , McCann offered to sell the eagle to the Badgers , for $ 2 . 50 . In his " History of Old Abe " , published in 1865 , Joseph O . Barrett , who helped McCann bring the eagle to Eau Claire , gave a description of the transaction , which can be paraphrased as : " Will you buy my eagle , " said McCann , " only two dollars and a half ? " < br > < br > " Here , boys , let ' s put in twenty five cents apiece , " answered Frank McGuire , who began to collect quarters . < br > < br > He also solicited a contribution from a civilian , S . M . Jeffers , but was rebuffed . When the soldiers heard of this , they accosted Jeffers , and gave him three lusty groans . When he understood that they were protesting against his reluctance to help buy the eagle , Jeffers laughed , paid for the bird with a Quarter Eagle and presented her to the Company . After that , he had cheers instead of groans . The quarters were returned to the donors . Captain Perkins named the eagle after President Abraham Lincoln , his quartermaster , Francis L . Billings , made a special perch on which to carry the bird into battle , and a young soldier , James McGinnis , volunteered to take care of her . Civil War . On September 3 , 1861 , the Badgers embarked , aboard the steamer " Stella Whipple " , on a trip down the Chippewa to the Mississippi and up the Wisconsin River to Madison , Wisconsin . They arrived on the 6th and were immediately mustered into service as Company C of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment . They became the regimental color company and were given the name " Eagle Company " . The regiment also became the " Eagle Regiment " . After a few weeks of training at Camp Randall , it began to play an important role in the Western Theater of the American Civil War . Island Number Ten . On October , 12 , the regiment left for St . Louis , Missouri , where the eagle got loose and flew out of sight . Fortunately , a policeman soon returned him . On the following day , the regiment left by rail to Fredericktown , Missouri , and on October 20 , 1861 , took part in the battle of Fredericktown . Subsequently , they were assigned guard duty until March 4 , 1862 , when they relocated to Point Pleasant , near New Madrid , Missouri , where they became part of General John Pope ' s Army of the Mississippi . From this base , during March and April , they participated in the battle of Island Number Ten , which ended with a major victory that opened the Mississippi to Union forces down to Fort Pillow , just above Memphis Thousands of Confederate prisoners were taken , along with valuable supplies . Corinth . In May 1862 , the 8th participated in General Henry Halleck ' s Siege of Corinth , whose objective was to secure a critical rail junction of the Mobile & Ohio and Memphis & Charleston railroads . On May 9 , 1862 , during the approach to Corinth , the Eagle Company experienced its first serious combat at the battle of Farmington , Mississippi , during which Old Abe Spread his wings and screamed . Here , Captain Perkins died and was replaced by the newly promoted Captain Victor Wolf . On May 29 , after a skirmish at defensive works before Corinth , the Confederates withdrew during the night . The next day , the regiment marched into the city . That day , James McGinnis became sick with a fatal illness and was replaced as eagle bearer by Thomas J . Hill , who served until David McLain took over on August 18 . On August 22 , after being bivouacked in summer quarters , the regiment arrived in Tuscumbia , Alabama , which is in the northwest corner of the state a few miles from the Mississippi border . By this time , General Ulysses S . Grant had taken over Halleck ' s responsibilities in northern Mississippi . The 8th Wisconsin was still part of the Army of the Mississippi , but General William Rosecrans had replaced Pope as commander . The regiment was in the second brigade of General David S . Stanley ' s second division , which was led by Colonel Joseph A . Mower . Pope ' s army was assigned to hold 20 miles of rail from Corinth east to Iuka , where the 8th Wisconsin was stationed . On September 13 , 1862 , the Confederate Army of the West under General Sterling Price appeared at Iuka and forced the regiment back to Farmington . Shortly thereafter , forces under Rosecrans and General Edward Ord attempted to capture Price ' s army , which awaited , at Iuka , the arrival of massive reinforcements from General Earl Van Dorn ' s Army of West Tennessee . On September 19 , during the battle of Iuka , a fresh north wind caused an acoustic shadow that prevented Ord from hearing the battle . Consequently , he was unaware of it , and his troops stood idle while fighting raged a few miles away . Nevertheless , the Army of the Cumberland forced Price to withdraw during the night . He soon linked up with Van Dorn in Ripley . On October 3 and 4 , the combined Confederate armies launched a full scale assault on Corinth , which was repulsed by troops under Rosecrans . During heavy fighting in this Second Battle of Corinth , 21 soldiers of the 8th Wisconsin died , and 60 were wounded . Colonel Mower was wounded in the neck and briefly captured . Newspaper accounts of this battle claimed that Old Abe soared over the front lines . According to David McLain , these stories are exaggerated : … a bullet cut the cord that held the eagle to his perch . About the same time that the cord was cut , Old Abe was shot through one wing , cutting out three quill feathers , but not drawing blood , and the bearer ( McLain ) was shot through the left shoulder of his blouse and right leg of his pants . < br > < br > … ( The eagle ) flew about 50 feet down the line , must have been what caused the newspapers to come out the next week with great headlines telling about the eagle of the 8th Wisconsin getting away after a rebel bullet cut his cord and soaring , over the lines of both armies , and back to his perch , which is not so . < br > < br > He was quite excited always in battle and he ' d spread his wings and scream but never flew over the lines of either army . Vicksburg . On November 2 , 1862 , the regiment moved to Grand Junction , Tennessee , where it joined forces being assembled for General Grant ' s first attempt to take the strategic river city of Vicksburg . From this base , Grant moved down the Mississippi Central Railroad in conjunction with General William Tecumseh Sherman , who launched a simultaneous advance north of the city . Confederates attempted to defend the railroad ' s Tallahatchie River bridge near Abbeville , but retreated when they learned of a flanking maneuver by Grant . Skirmishes were fought along the railroad to Oxford , and the Confederates were pushed south past Water Valley , but after the battle of Coffeeville , managed to stall the Federal advance at Oakland . During this push , the 8th Wisconsin , with Old Abe , was in the thick of the fighting . In Oxford , the regiment was accosted by a southern girl who scornfully exclaimed : " Oh ! See that " Yankee Buzzard " . " , enraging the men , drawing a verbal response from the 8th ' s ranks that caused her to retreat hastily to her house . This was a name by which southern civilians and soldiers referred to Old Abe . Under orders from their officers , Confederate troops made numerous attempts to kill or capture the eagle , but they never succeeded . On December 20 , while Grant was stalled , General Van Dorn led a successful cavalry raid on the Union supply base at Holly Springs . After destroying the supplies , Van Dorn and General Nathan Bedford Forest moved north into Tennessee tearing up railroad and telegraph lines . With his infrastructure disrupted , and with Sherman ' s advance turned back at Chickasaw Bayou , Grant was forced to end the campaign and retire to Memphis . At the time of Van Dorn ' s raid , the Wisconsin regiment was stationed in Holly Springs on guard duty . Its troops , were surprised , overwhelmed , captured , and immediately paroled . Consequently , their commander , Colonel Murphy , was dismissed . He was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Robbins , who was promoted to Colonel . On December 28 , when the regiment had moved to La Grange , Tennessee , David McLain turned over his job as eagle bearer to Ed Homeston . In March 1863 , the regiment went to Helena , Arkansas , where it became part of Grant ' s plan to cross the Mississippi south of Vicksburg . His objectives were to separate Vicksburg from Confederate units under General Joseph E . Johnston and to prevent supplies from reaching the city on the Southern Railroad . From Helena , the regiment went to Young ' s Point , Louisiana , where they joined the second brigade of the third division of Sherman ' s XV Corps , under the command of Brigadier General Mower , who had been promoted on November 29 , 1862 . Here , on April 13 , 1863 , a promotion to Lieutenant Colonel went to Major John Wayles Jefferson . He had been with the regiment since it was formed , and as the grandson of Sally Hemings , is believed to have been also a grandson of Thomas Jefferson . On May 2 , Sherman ' s corps crossed the river at Grand Gulf and proceeded toward Raymond , Mississippi , which the XVII Corps under General James B . McPherson occupied on May 12 . Sherman bypassed Raymond and advanced on Jackson , which he and McPherson took on May 14 , and from which Johnston had withdrawn . After Sherman appointed Mower as military governor of Jackson , Union troops burned part of the town , destroyed numerous factories , and cut the railroad connections with Vicksburg . Grant ' s objectives were further consolidated when his army prevailed at the battle of Champion Hill on May 16 and at the battle of Big Black River Bridge on May 17 . On May 22 , the regiment participated in Grant ' s all out assault on Vicksburg . When this operation failed , Grant reluctantly settled into a siege . During the siege , the 8th Wisconsin left Vicksburg to participate in an expedition to Mechanicsburg , Mississippi , where Benjamin Hilliker was severely wounded on June 4 , 1863 . They then returned to Young ' s Point where they blocked Confederates from escaping westward from Vicksburg . From this encampment , Sherman despatched them as part of a force assigned to drive General John G . Walker ' s Confederates from Richmond , Louisiana . This objective was accomplished by the battle of Richmond , on June 15 , after which the 8th returned to Youngs Point . On July 12 , 1863 , the regiment returned to Vicksburg , shortly after its surrender on July 4 . Subsequently , the regiment camped in various places near Vicksburg , from which they joined several mop - up operations . During this period , in September , Ed Homeston resigned his position as eagle bearer , John Burkhardt took charge of Old Abe , and Colonel Robbins was replaced by Lieutenant Colonel Jefferson . Under his command , the regiment joined McPherson ' s expedition to Canton , from October 14 to 20 , and participated in expeditions toward Pocahontas , Arkansas against General Nathan Bedford Forest . From February 3 , 1864 , until March 5 , they took part in Sherman ' s Meridian expedition against an important railroad center and arsenal in eastern Mississippi . In the following letter to Governor Edward Salomon , General William T . Sherman summarized the activities of the Eighth Wisconsin during the Vicksburg campaign : H 15 A C , < br > Sept . 21st , 1863 < br > < br > < br > " To His Excellency , the Governor of Wisconsin : " < br > < br > Sir Lt . Col . Jefferson , of the Eighth Wisconsin , is about to start for his home on a short leave of absence , during the period of rest allowed us by the lull of military events in this quarter . I avail myself of the opportunity to express to you my personal and official approbation of the entire regiment since I have had the honor to count it as one of my command . The Eighth Wisconsin has ever done its whole duty , in the camp , on the march and in battle . It has shared with us all the honors and success of our conquest of Mississippi and has displayed peculiar courage and gallantry at Jackson , May 14th , and throughout the siege of Vicksburg . < br > < br > It also , under the leadership of Gen . Mower , cleared the west bank of the river , driving the enemy out of Richmond , La . , and bore patiently and manfully the deadly sickness of Young ' s Point , till the fall of Vicksburg admitted of its recall to join us on this higher and more healthy ground . I am glad to report that the men are fast recovering from the sickness caused by that exposure , and I hope it will share with us our future labors and honors . If within your power , I hope you will fill its thinned ranks , and then I will promise all I can to ensure its return to your State , bearing a full share of honor and fame in the establishment of our General Government on a basis so firm , that no internal or external power can shake it during this generation . < br > < br > With great respect , etc . , < br > W . T . SHERMAN , < br > " Maj . Gen . " Sherman was not the only general who had a high regard for the 8th Wisconsin and Old Abe . In the words of David McLain : I have frequently seen Generals Grant , Sherman , McPherson , Rosecrans , Blair , Logan , and others , when they were passing our regiment , raise their hats as they passed Old Abe , which always brought a cheer from the regiment and then the eagle would spread his wings … Red River Campaign . In early 1864 , many soldiers in the 8th Wisconsin became eligible for veteran furlough . However , General Sherman made a special request that they join General A . J . Smith ' s forces who had been assigned to the Red River Campaign , along with troops from the Army of the Gulf , under General Nathaniel P . Banks , and Admiral David Dixon Porter ' s Mississippi River Squadron . After agreeing to Sherman ' s request , the regiment joined the Right Wing of the XVI Corps , under the command of General Mower . On March 10 , 1864 , the contingent began a voyage from Vicksburg down the Mississippi and up the Red River to Simmesport , Louisiana , where they disembarked on March 12 . Two days later , Mower ' s command surprised and captured Fort DeRussy , which opened the river up to Alexandria . After arriving there on March 16 , the troops from Vicksburg settled down to wait for Banks to arrive and to assess opposing forces under General Richard Taylor , who was the son of President Zachary Taylor . While waiting , General Mower assembled a task force , with which he proceeded twenty five miles to Henderson ' s hill on Bayou Rapides . Here , he encountered Confederate defenses . After leaving a blocking force to engage the defenders at the front , he made a detour of 15 miles to get to their rear , where he arrived around midnight on the cold and rainy night of March 21 . On the way , a courier from General Taylor was captured and provided the countersign . This enabled Mower ' s forces , including the 8th Wisconsin , to overcome the defenses without a shot being fired . In addition to 262 prisoners , 4 guns and 400 horses were taken . This success made it possible for Smith ' s army to move quickly upriver to Grand Ecore , where it prepared to support forces of General Banks , which were advancing on Shreveport . On April 8 , Banks was routed by Taylor at the battle of Mansfield . This was a decisive victory , for it stopped the Union advance and turned the campaign into a general retreat . That evening , retreating units under Banks reached Pleasant Hill nearly simultaneously with Smith ' s XVII and XVI Corps , which included the 8th Wisconsin . These reinforcements enabled the Union to win the next day ' s battle of Pleasant Hill , but Banks immediately ordered a retreat to Grand Ecore , and from there , to Alexandria . During this retreat , the regiment fought rear guard actions at Natchitoches , Monett ' s Ferry , and Cloutierville . After Smith ' s forces arrived in Alexandria on April 26 , they were temporarily deployed to prevent attacks during Joseph Bailey ' s attempts to get Porter ' s squadron over the rapids there , with the aid of Bailey ' s Dam and two small wing dams upstream . After this task was completed , Banks resumed his retreat on May 13 , leaving Alexandria in flames . On May 16 , Union forces reached Mansura where Taylor ' s army attempted to prevent them from reaching river transportation . After heavy fighting , the Confederates fell back , and the Union troops marched toward Simmesport , where Bailey was building a bridge over the Atchafalaya River that would allow them to reach transport ships . On the 18th , Banks learned that Taylor ’ s force was deployed near Yellow Bayou and arranged for Mower to stop the Confederates . After several hours of see - saw action , the ground cover caught fire and forced both sides to retire . The next day , Smith ' s army embarked and reached Vicksburg on the 24th . In early June 1864 , General Smith ordered Mower to launch a forceful demonstration to deter interference with Mississippi river traffic near Lake Village , Arkansas . This town is named for its location on Lake Chicot , an oxbow lake formed from the Mississippi . On the evening of June 5 , Mower disembarked and camped near Sunnyside Landing . The next morning , as he marched along the south side of the lake , Confederates , led by General Colton Greene , fought a delaying action at Ditch Bayou and then withdrew . The Union troops advanced to Lake Village , camped there overnight , and the next day , boarded transports that took them to Memphis . At Ditch Bayou , the regiment lost 3 killed and 16 wounded . Return to Wisconsin . On June 19 , 1864 , 240 reenlisted veterans left Memphis on furlough , with their eagle . They arrived at Chicago on the 21st . The next day , flags were displayed along the streets of Madison , the bells of the city were rung , and a national salute was fired . At the Capitol , crowds of citizens assembled to greet the veterans and Old Abe . Here , they were addressed by several dignitaries , including General Lucius Fairchild , Colonel Jefferson and Chauncey Abbott , who was a former mayor of Madison . A few days later , on June 26 , 56 veterans of Company C arrived at Eau Claire , with the eagle , and were greeted with booming cannons , martial music , patriotic songs , and an abundant feast . Citizens of Chippewa Falls , constructed a huge wigwam . Here , according to Reverend Joseph O . Barrett , who spoke at the celebration , a great feast was served to Old Abe and the soldiers on July 4 , 1864 . Afterwards , a procession circled through the streets , headed by a band , the eagle and the veterans . In August 1864 , the veterans and Old Abe returned from furlough to Memphis . During their absence , the regiment had been active in northern Mississippi . Following Forrest ' s victory over a large Union force at Brice ' s Crossroads , on June 10 , 1864 , Sherman vowed to track him down with forces under " two officers at Memphis who will fight all the time , A . J . Smith and J . A . Mower . " A month later , Mower ' s four brigades overtook Forrest near Tupelo , Mississippi , repulsed a series of attacks , and inflicted hundreds of casualties , including the slight wounding of Forrest himself . On August 13 , 1864 , the day after Mower had been promoted to Major General , the regiment , including the returned troops , participated in another defeat of Forrest ' s command at Hurricane Creek , Mississippi This was Old Abe ' s last battle . September 16 , 1864 , marked the end of the three years for which original members of the 8th Wisconsin had enlisted . Consequently , the veterans headed north with the eagle , whom the regiment had agreed to give to the state of Wisconsin . On September 21 , they reached Chicago , where John Burkhardt resigned as eagle bearer and turned Old Abe over to John H . Hill , who had been disabled by a wound at Corinth . He was the brother of Thomas J . Hill who had also served as eagle bearer . The next day , Hill bore the eagle into Madison at the head of 70 veterans , of which 26 were from Company C . Here , on the 26th , Captain Victor Wolf presented Old Abe to Governor James T . Lewis , who handed the eagle , with its perch , to Quartermaster General N . F . Lund . Postbellum . After Wisconsin took possession of Old Abe , state officials classified him as a “ War Relic ” and created an “ Eagle Department ” in the Capitol building , which included a two room “ apartment , ” a custom bathtub for the eagle , and a caretaker . Later John Hill served in this capacity . Old Abe became a nationally known celebrity , whose presence at events was requested by individuals and organizations from the state and the country . Old Abe appeared at the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia , Pennsylvania and the 1880 Grand Army of the Republic National Convention . Other events were fundraisers for charities , which included : the 1865 Northwest Sanitary Fair in Illinois , Soldiers ' Home Fair , Soldier ' s Orphan ' s Home , Harvey Hospital , and Ladies Aid Society of Chippewa Falls . In February 1881 , a small fire broke out in the basement of the Capitol . After Old Abe raised an alarm , the fire was quickly put out . However , the eagle inhaled a large amount of thick black smoke , and about a month later , lost strength and began to decline . On March 26 , 1881 , in spite of the efforts of numerous doctors , Old Abe died in the arms of caretaker George Gilles . On September 17 , 1881 , Old Abe ’ s stuffed remains were placed in a glass display case located in the rotunda of the Capitol . Four years later , Old Abe was moved , within the Capitol , from the rotunda to the G . A . R . Memorial Hall . In 1900 , his remains were transferred to the new building of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin . However , pressure from veterans convinced Governor Robert M . Lafollette to return Old Abe to the Capitol building in 1903 . That year , President Theodore Roosevelt viewed the remains and expressed his pleasure at being able to see the eagle he had studied in school as a child . In 1904 , Old Abe ’ s remains and the glass case were destroyed in a fire that razed the Capitol building . Since 1915 , a replica of Old Abe has presided over the Wisconsin State Assembly Chamber in the Capitol , and another is on display at the Wisconsin Veterans Museum in Madison . A stone sculpture of the eagle is at the top of the Camp Randall Arch . In memoriam . In 1865 , Jerome Case incorporated Old Abe into the trademark of the J . I . Case agricultural equipment manufacturing company of Racine , Wisconsin . This trademark was retired in 1969 . The insignia of the U . S . Army ' s 101st Airborne Division is a depiction of Old Abe . Wisconsin was the territory of the original 101st Division after World War I , and the insignia ' s design is based on Civil War traditions of the state . The black shield derives from black hats worn by members of the Iron Brigade . This was a famous Civil War unit composed of western regiments , which included three from Wisconsin , but not the 8th regiment . Old Abe is the mascot of Eau Claire Memorial High School , whose athletic teams are known as " Old Abes " , and of Racine Case High School , whose teams are " Eagles " .