UC-NRLF 
 
 SB SMO 
 
OF THE 
 
 UNIVERSITY M 
 
 OF 
 
 
"OLD ABE. 1 
 
IDENTIFICA TION. 
 
 The picture opposite is the Veteran Eagle in one of his grave moo-is, 
 as fie stood on his " Centennial Perch." J. R. Stuart, an artist of Moai- 
 son, taking observations of the bird as he is, accurately sketched it from a 
 photograph by J. M. Fowler, of the same city. It was engraved with fine 
 effect by the Chicago Engraving Company. 
 
 His Excellency, the Governor of Wisconsin, has thus courteously given thf 
 author his autographic identification of " Old Abe: " 
 
 "EXECUTIVE OFFICE, MADIPOX, "Wis.. February 8, 1876. 
 " / hereby certify that this picture is a correct likeness of Old Abe," 1 the 
 live War Eagle, carried for three years by the Eighth Wisconsin Reg t in 
 the War of the Rebellion." 
 
THE SOLDIER BIRD. 
 
 4 4 
 
 OLD ABE:" 
 
 THE LIVE WAR- EAGLE OF WISCONSIN, 
 
 THAT SERVED A THREE YEARS CAMPAIGN IN THE GREAT 
 REBELLION. 
 
 BT 
 
 J. O. BARRETT. 
 
 " When Freedom from her mountain height 
 
 Unfurl d her standard to the air, 
 She tore the azure robe of night, 
 And set her stars of glory there. 
 
 ** 
 Then from his mansion in the sun 
 She called her eagle-bearer down. 
 And gave into his mighty hand 
 The symbol of her chosen land ! " 
 
 DRAKE. 
 
 1 I d rather capture * Old Abe than a whole brigade." 
 
 GEN. STEBLING PBICB, of the Conf. Army. 
 
 FIFTH EDITION. 
 
 MADISON, WIS.: 
 
 ATWOOD & CULVER, PUBLISHERS. 
 1876. 
 
 
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1876, 
 
 BY J. O. BARRETT, 
 In the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington, D, C. 
 
 ATWOOD & CTJLVER, 
 
 Stereotypers and Printers^ 
 
 MADISON, WIS. 
 
E 
 .5 
 
 TO 
 
 AMERICAN PATRIOTS; 
 
 WHO REVERENCE THE WISDOM AND VIRTUE OF 
 
 ABRAHAM LINCOLN, 
 
 THE MARTYRED PRESIDENT OF A BLEEDING COUNTRY. 
 
 TO 
 
 SOLDIERS OF THE FEDERAL ARMY; 
 
 WHO MADE THEMSELVES A BREASTWORK OF DEFENSE 
 
 FOR LIBERTY AND HOME. 
 TO 
 
 CONFEDERATES OF THE SOUTH; 
 
 WHO CHEEK AGAIN THE EAGLE 
 
 THAT HOVERS AMONG 
 
 THIRTY -EIGHT STARS OF A UNITED REPUBLIC. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 INTRODUCTION, 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 THE EAGLE A NATIONAL EMBLEM, 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 - 13 
 
 " OK TO THE FBONT!" 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CENTENNIAL BIRD OP STATE, 
 
 A Battle, 30 
 
 Abe and the Dog, Frank, 31 
 
 Abe and the (iuinea Hen, 49 
 Adventure of an Eagle-Bearer, 121 
 Appearance of Old Abe in Battle, 57. 
 
 Another Coquettish Flight, 45 
 
 Artistic Tribute to our War-bird, 96 
 
 Assault on Vicksburg, - - 61 
 Attempt of Gen. Price to capture 
 
 Old Abe, 
 Augury of Success, - 
 
 Bald-Headed Veteran, - - 83 
 Bravo, Old Abe, ... - 5! 
 Building an Orphans Home, - 109 
 
 81 
 78 
 
 m 
 
 88 
 B6 
 
 - 22 
 
 Celebration at Chippewa Falls, 
 Centennial Bird of State, - 
 
 Chastising the Illinois Soldier, 
 Chasing the Negro, .. 
 Charge on Jackson, 
 Companionship of Old Abe, 
 Confederate Respect, - 
 
 Cotton is King, . - - 
 Covering the Retreat, 
 Cropping the Eagle, 
 
 Defending his Feathers, 
 
 52 
 50 
 74 
 43 
 
 103 
 
 Eagle at Corinth (poem) - - 109 
 Eagle a National Emblem, 
 Eagle of Freedom (poem) - - 118 
 Eagle s Vernacular, ... 44 
 Enlistment and Departure for the 
 War, ..... 19 
 
 Grand Army of the Republic, - 114 
 Great Seal of the United States, 15 
 
 Heraldry of Freedom in St. Louis, 26 
 
 Introduction, .... 7 
 luka, ...... 39 
 
 Medallion of Old Abe, - - 120 
 Milwaukee Soldiers 1 Home, - 97 
 Morale of Appetite, - - - 44 
 
 Mustered Out, 
 
 77 
 
 87 
 
 New Perch, ..... 24 
 Northwestern Sanitary Fair, - 94 
 
 Olden Legend Verified, - - 101 
 Old Abe s Last Battle, - - 84 
 Old Abe a Gentleman Passenger, 82 
 Old Abe s Battles and Skirmishes, 86 
 Old Abe s Pictures and Profits, 90 
 Old Abe s Reproof to Gen. Sher 
 man, - - 96 
 Old Abe s Fight with Andy, - 91 
 Old Abe in a Dance, - - - 119 
 On to the Front, 29 
 
 Pets of Soldiers, 
 
 Ifl 
 
 Red River Expedition, - - 70 
 Repenting at Sight of the Eagle, 59 
 Return to Eau Claire, 79 
 
 See dat Yankee Bird, - - 47 
 
 Soldiers Monument, Peoria, 111., 108 
 Soldiers and Sailors Convention 
 
 at Pittsburg, - - . - 104 
 Soldiers and Sailors at Chicago, 110 
 Soldiers Reunions, - - - 111 
 Strategy at Karmington, - - 83 
 Surrender of Vicksburg, - 06 
 
 Tableau of Old Abe, - - -117 
 Taking a Glass, - ... 70 
 Torch-light Procession, - 107 
 Transferred to the Mate, 88 
 
 Transit through Chicago, 25 
 
 Undergoing Discipline, 35 
 
 Under Arms, Once More, - - 127 
 Unvexed to the Sea, ... 67 
 
 War-Bearers of the Eagle, 87 
 
 Yanka. Buzzard, ... 46 
 Yankee Trick, .... 72 
 
 1878! 14 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 " AMONG all the incidents of this eventful war," says the Mil 
 waukee Home Journal, of May 20, 1865, " few are more remark- 
 able, than that an eagle, the emblem of our country, should fol 
 low a regiment through all the vicissitudes of a three years ser 
 vice in the field." Such is the fact. With a view to the eventual 
 publication of the biography of this celebrated Eagle,.! under 
 took the task, while a resident of Eau Claire, Wis., in the winter 
 of 1865, of identifying his Indian captor, that I might obtain a 
 correct account of its infancy. The following letter from THEO 
 DORE COLEMAN, Editor of the Chippewa Falls Union, whom 
 with W. W. BARRETT I had engaged to institute a personal re 
 search among the Chippewa tribes, explains the plan of opera 
 tions so successfully executed : 
 
 CHIPPEWA PALLS, WISCONSIN, February 13, 1865. 
 
 J. O. BARRETT, ESQ. Dear Sir: Having been engaged for a short time 
 in the collection of information relative to the capture and early ownership 
 of the Eagle of the 8th Wisconsin Regiment, whose history you intend to 
 publish, I take pleasure in submitting a few facts in regard to the progress 
 made. Ascertaining, first, that the Eagle had been sold to Mr. DANIEL Mo- 
 CANN, of the town of Eagle Point, in this county, by some Indians, you 
 wished me to discover if possible, who those Indians were, and to se 
 cure their presence at Eau Claire, at an early day. I learned from Mr. 
 McCANN that the Indians who had brought the Eagle to him in the summer 
 of IfcGl, were of the Lake Flambeau tribe, and that the owner was a son of 
 AH-MONSE, chief of that tribe, or baud, of Chippewa Indians. I proceeded to 
 obtain corroborative evidence of this account, and found, through the evi 
 dence of Mr. JOHN BRUNET, Mr. JAS. ERMATINGER, Mr. CHAIILES CORBINE, 
 and others all old residents of the upper Chippewa and Flambeau rivers 
 besides the testimony of different Indians, who were acquainted with the 
 facts of the capture of the Eagle, that it was correct. All accounts agree 
 that the name of the captor of the bird is A-GE-MAH-WE-OE-ZUIG, or Chief 
 Sky, one of five sons of the said AII-MONSE. Having satisfied myself 
 by such evidence, and by other inquiries made in every direction, that there 
 
8 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 could be no mistake in the identity of the captor of the Eagle, I have made 
 arrangements, according to your directions, to bring the said A-GE-MAH-WE- 
 oE-ZHioto Eau Claire, as soon as possible. He is now with his band, hunt 
 ing between the head waters of the Yellow and Flambeau rivers, and is 
 shortly expected at Brunei s Falls, on the Chippewa. 
 Wishing you full success in the publication of your work, 
 
 I remain, with much respect, Yours Truly, 
 
 THEODORE COLEMAN. 
 
 Ascertaining that A-GE-MAH-WE-GE-ZHIG, with other hunters 
 would soon arrive at Brunei s Falls, on their way up the river, 
 Mr. COLEMAN engaged Mr. BRUNET to detain him there until a 
 concerted movement. At length they came, the Indian with 
 them, to whom was communicated the wishes of the " white man 
 at Eau Claire," who desired to talk with him 4t about the Eagle he 
 caught a few years ago." He hesitated, apprehensive of a trick, 
 for all white men had not been true to their red brethren. Finally 
 he appealed to his father. It was a grave question indeed ; they 
 were all afraid of being arrested for capturing an eagle! After 
 a long counsel together, the old chief resolved to goto Chippewa 
 Falls, without further waiting, requiring his boys to follow the 
 next day, and appear in proper costume, should he find it safe. 
 Arriving there, he had an interview with H. S. ALLEN, Esq., a 
 pioneer resident, who, being a friend of the Indians, persuaded 
 him to venture. Meeting his boys, as before arranged, he select 
 ed two of them, A-GE-MAII-WE-GE-ZIIIG and A-ZHA-WASH-CO-GE- 
 ZHIG, and with Messrs. COLEMAN and BARRETT and ELIJAH ER- 
 MATINGER for interpreter, rode to Eau Claire, the 19th of Feb. 
 1865, welcomed with a cordiality that at once inspired mutual 
 confidence. The native nobility of these sons of the northern 
 forests created quite a sensation. A-GE-MAH-GE-WE-ZHIG related 
 his eagle adventures in a very intelligent manner, so simple and 
 candid as to assure every one present of their truthfulness. His 
 father, who is much beloved as chief of the tribe, was particular 
 ly loquacious and is properly named AH-MONSE, the " Thunder 
 of Bees." He had much to say about his " Great Father LIN 
 COLN," whom he had visited several times at Washington, in 
 the interest of his tribe, averring that Mr. LINCOLN gave him 
 " plenty of money, and to his children much land, and let him 
 
INTRODUCTION". 9 
 
 seeabattie field." Photographs of these "red brothers" were 
 taken by A. J. DEVOR, of Eau Claire, and never did mortal ap 
 pear more proud than the eagle captor when attiring himself in 
 regal costume for his carte de visile. A full blooded Indian of 
 consequence then about twenty-five years old belonging to 
 the royal family of the Flambeaux, it is glory enough for him 
 to be known among his fellows as the captor of the American 
 Eagle of the Eight Wisconsin Regiment of Volunteers. 
 
 The following letter, with a map, gives an accurate description 
 of the infant home of the Eagle : 
 
 CHIPPEWA FALLS, WISCONSIN-, February 25, 1885. 
 
 MY DEAR BROTHER: According to your request, I will give you what in 
 formation I have obtained of the Chippewa country, and especially of the 
 home of your Pet Eagle. Inclosed I send you a map of this country, being 
 a perfect copy from J. I. LLOTD S New Map of the United States, with a 
 slight change in the location of the Flambeau Lakes and tributaries, which 
 are copied from a drawing made for me by AH-MONSE and the Eagle-Indian. 
 I can flnd no maps representing the United States surveys of these lakes. 
 To-aay I saw ISRAEL GOULD, the Indian Interpreter, who rendered you so 
 valuable assistance last summer on your Indian expedition. At my request 
 he drew a map of the Flambeau and its lakes, and it agreed precisely with 
 the drawing made by AH-MONSE and his son. Mr. GOULD is an intelligent 
 Scotchman, and has lived with the Chippewa Indians for fifteen years. He 
 has a good knowledge of Indian character and probably is one of the best of 
 Indian interpreters. At one time he lived one year at Flambeau Lake, or 
 Ah-monse s Lake, as it is most generally called, trading with AII-MONSE and 
 his tribe, and, consequently, he is well acquainted with their country. I 
 have much confidence in his account of the location of these lakes; and as 
 all the other Indian traders, and trappers, and AH-MONSE and the Eagle-In 
 dian do agree with him, I believe you can rely upon my map as being correct. 
 I will give his description of this country: 
 
 The whole Chippewa country is well watered with innumerable streams, 
 swamps, lakes and rivers ; its surface varies in hills and bluffs, prairies, oak 
 openings and meadows, and is covered, for the most part, with every variety 
 of hard wood, Norway and white pine. The soil in many places is good, 
 while many of the hills and blufl s are rocky, and in its northern portion are 
 to be found iron, copper and other minerals. It is inhabited by the various 
 tribes of the Chippewa Indians, and abounds in wild beasts, fish and birds. 
 The Flambeau River is a wide, crooked stream, the longest tributary of the 
 Chippewa, and its general course is southwest. Upon its north fork are the 
 Itapids, at which place the Eagle-Indian said he caught the Eagle. It is 
 about 125 miles from Eau Claire, 70 miles from the mouth of Flambeau Kiv- 
 er, and 80 or 90 miles from Lake Superior. It ia three miles from here to 
 
10 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Little Flambeau, or Asken Lake, which is three miles long; six miles fur 
 thcr north is Flambeau, or Ah-mouse s Lake a stream uniting the two. 
 This is the largest of the Flambeau Lakes, being three miles wide and six 
 long. It is a beautiful stream of clear, pure water, where are found fish of 
 many varieties. The meaning of its Indian name is Fire-Hunting Lake. 
 Near its northern shore is a fine island, where AH-MONSE frequently lives. 
 On its eastern shore is a pretty, sloping hill, nearly forty feet high, covered 
 with maples. Here, overlooking the lake, the Indians, a few years ago, had 
 their villages, which are now located upon the north and northwest shores, 
 where they have cleared their land, leaving now and then a shade tree, giv 
 ing the country a beautiful appearance. The soil is good; and here they 
 raise their corn and potatoes. Farther to the north is Rice Lake, the chain 
 of lakes, the Big Portage and the Montreal iiiver. A few years ago, this was 
 the route of the Indian traders, going from Lake Superior to Eau Claire. 
 The country near the lakes, for two miles east and west of the river, and 
 about four miles in all directions from the lakes, is low prairie land, covered 
 with hard wood, with here and there a lonesome pine; while beyond, in all 
 directions, the country is uneven and hilly, and wooded with the dark pine. 
 In this sequestered country, AH-MONSE and his tribe have lived for many 
 years, subsisting upon their corn and potatoes, rice and sugar, fish and 
 game. The Flambeau tribe is the most enterprising and intelligent of the 
 Chippewas. Their warriors number from 140 to 150 men, and they kill more 
 game than any other tribe. Here are found the deer and elk, the mink and 
 marten, the bear and otter, and also the fish-hawk, the owl, the eagle and 
 other birds. 
 
 Mr. GOULD says the region of the Flambeau Lakes is an eagle country, he 
 having seen more there than in any other, and has there found many eagles 
 nests, containing from two to four young birds. Having seen the War Eagle 
 at different times, he is satisfied it is a bald eagle; and this is the opinion 
 of A-GE-MAH-WE-GE-ZHIG. Mr. GOULD also says, Asken Lake is situated 
 about five miles east of the fourth principal meridian, which line is well de 
 fined upon the river bank; and, if he is correct, and I rely upon his state 
 ment, then the Eagle must have been caught in Chippewa County, in or near 
 township forty, north of range one, east of the fourth principal meridian, 
 nearly four miles from its eastern boundary. 
 
 Trusting my map and letter may aid you in obtaining a better idea of the 
 home of the Eagle, 
 
 I remain, your brother, for Freedom and Union, 
 
 W. W. BARRETT. 
 
 By examining the map, the reader will notice the location of 
 the birth-place of the Eagle that is now so famous in the world. 
 His captor said the nest was found on a pine tree, about three 
 miles from the mouth of the Flambeau, near some rapids in a 
 curve of the river; that, at the proper time, just after sugar. 
 
INTKODUCTIOlf. 11 
 
 making at the l< bend," he and another Indian cut the tree down, 
 and, amid the menaces of the parent birds, caught two young 
 eaglets, of a greyish-brown color, about the size of prairie hens, 
 one of which died from the effects of an injury; that they pre 
 served the old nest "big as a washtub, made of sticks, turf 
 and weeds" and nursed his Me-kee-zeen-ce (Little Eagle) in it, 
 as a plaything for the pappooses at the Indian village ; that, a 
 few weeks after, while en route for Chippewa Falls and Eau 
 Claire, with their furs, moccasins and baskets, he sold his Eagle 
 to DANIEL McCANN for a bushel of corn. 
 
 This statement of " Chief Sky " quite a significant name 
 agrees with that of Mr. McCANN, who subsequently tried to sell 
 the bird to a company, then just forming at the Falls for the 1st 
 Wisconsin Battery, but, failing, carried it to Eau Claire, some 
 time in August, 1861, and offered it to a company organizing for 
 the Eighth Wisconsin Infantry. It was then about two months 
 old. 
 
 About the close of the war, being personally acquainted with 
 some of the Eagle-Bearers and other members of the company, 
 I obtained from them most of the facts herein related of the 
 bird s " Southern life," dressed in their own apt language, which 
 I have frequently used in this work, with their minute and 
 graphic description of battle scenes. In writing up their and 
 others testimony, I have, of course, made the Eagle the central 
 figure, not intending to furnish a complete delineation of the 
 regimental movements, nor its official relations, but simply to 
 mention instances where our hero acted some conspicuous part 
 worthy of record. For many of these facts and incidents, I 
 here acknowledge my indebtedness to Lieut. BURNETT DEMO- 
 BEST, Capt. VICTOR W^OLF, THOS. B. BUTLER, THEODORE COLE- 
 MAN, THOMAS and JOHN F. HILL, EDWARD HOMASTON, DAVID 
 McLANE, Col. J. W. JEFFERSON, Serg t MYRON BRIGGS, DAVID 
 NOBLE, GEO. W. DRIGGS, author of " Opening of the Mississip 
 pi," GEO. W. BAKER, HUGH LEWIS, Capt. ANGUS R. MCDONALD, 
 EUGENE BOWEN, WM. J. JONES, Mrs. G. P. HEWITT, Jr., O. W. 
 GREEN, Mrs. M. IMOGENE GREEN, O. H. OLDROYD, Mrs. H. C. 
 CROCKER, JOSEPH LAWTON, and W. W. BARRETT, especially, for 
 his indefatigable efforts in procuring material for these pages. 
 
12 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 With the testimonials of these friends and others, in military 
 and civil relations, as vouchers for the accuracy of my history, 
 I here respectfully suhmit it to the patriotic public, as an attrac 
 tive episode of the Great Rebellion, appropriate to the Centen 
 nial of American Independence. 
 
 J. O. B. 
 
 GLEN BEULAH, Wis., 
 Centennial Year, March, 1876. 
 
u 
 
 OLD ABE:" 
 
 THE LIVE WAR- EAGLE OF WISCONSIN. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 a HE EAGLE A NATIONAL EMBLEM. 
 
 What heroes from the woodland sprung, 
 
 When, through the fresh awakened land, 
 The thrilling cry of Freedom rung 1 BKYANT. 
 
 As the lion is king of beasts, so the eagle is king 
 of birds. Homer calls it " the strong sovereign of the 
 plumy race." Xenophon says: "The golden eagle, 
 with extended wings, was the ensign of the Persian 
 monarchs long before it was adopted by the Romans. 
 It is probable the Persians borrowed the symbol from 
 the Assyrians, on whose banners it waved till imperial 
 Babylon bowed her head to the yoke of Cyrus." 
 
 The great banner of the tribe of Dan, borne by Prince 
 Ahiezer, was of a bright green color, charged with 
 an eagle as a component part of the cherubim, denoting 
 wisdom and sublimity. The eagle was considered to be 
 the symbol of Daniel, because he spoke with angels 
 and received visions which relate to all time; of Christ, 
 because of his divine nature; of John the Evangelist, 
 
14: OLD ABE. 
 
 because he soars to heaven in Revelations. The eagle 
 was also the insignia of Egypt. The Etruscans are 
 reputed to be the first who adopted the eagle as the 
 symbol of royal honors, and bore its image as a stand 
 ard at the head of th?ir armies. 
 
 "The Romans adopted the eagle symbol at an early period of 
 their history. At first, according to Dionysias, of Halicarnassus, 
 they bound it to the scepter of their kings; afterwards, when 
 they had toppled cL.Tn the throne, they made it the ornament 
 of the scepter of their warrior chiefs, and the only ensign of 
 their legions. Under the republic, the Roman eagle was carved 
 in wood; then in silver with a thunderbolt of gold in its talons. 
 Caesar was the first who had the whole cast in gold, but he de 
 prived it of tbj thunderbolt on which it had hitherto rested. 
 To mark his .ndefatigable activity, and his constant yearning 
 after new conquests, the Romans always represented Caesar s 
 eagle with outstretched wings, as if seeking to enclose the entire 
 world in the grasp of its shadow." 
 
 The eagle was the sacred bird of the Hindoos, and of 
 the Greek Zeus. With the Scandinavians, it was the- 
 bird of wisdom, sitting on the boughs of the tree 
 uggrasill. The double headed eagle was in use among 
 the Byzantine Emperors, " to indicate," it is said, " their 
 claims to the empire, both of the east and west." It 
 was adopted in the 14th century by the German Em 
 perors. The arms of Prussia were distinguished by the 
 black eagle, and those of Poland by the white. Napo 
 leon adopted it as the emblem of imperial France. It 
 was not, however, represented in the heraldic style r 
 but in its natural style, with the thunderbolts of Jupi 
 ter. It was discarded by the Bourbons, but was re 
 stored by the decree of Louis Napoleon, Jan. 1, 1852. 
 
GREAT SEAL. 15 
 
 GEEAT SEAL OF THE LOOTED STATES. 
 
 At the time of the Declaration of Independence, July 
 4, 1776, Dr. Benjamin Franklin, John Adams and 
 Thomas Jefferson were appointed by Congress a com 
 mittee to prepare a device for a great seal of the United 
 States of America. It underwent various modifications 
 from year to year, until June 20, 1782, our present 
 great seal was adopted. " It represents the escutcheon 
 on the breast of the American eagle, holding in his 
 dexter talon an olive branch, and in his sinister a bun 
 dle of thirteen arrows, and in his beak a scroll in 
 scribed with this motto: E Pluribus Unum." The 
 olive signifies peace, the arrows, war. In our flag, on 
 which the eagle is sometimes inscribed, white signifies 
 purity and innocence; red, hardness and valor; and 
 blue, vigilance, perseverance and justice. "The es 
 cutcheon is borne on the breast of the American eagle 
 without any other, sup porters, to denote that the United 
 States of America ought to rely on their own virtue." 
 Though Mr. Franklin was one of the original commit 
 tee for the device thus modified and adopted, he pays 
 the bald eagle a poor compliment when he fancied the 
 turkey would be more appropriate as an emblem, be 
 cause it is indigenous to America. In one of his letters 
 he says: 
 
 "For my part, I wish the bald eagle had not been chosen as 
 the representative of our country. He is a bird of bad moral 
 character; he does not get his living honestly." After alluding 
 to his tyranny over the hawk, he continues: " With all this in 
 justice, he is never in good case, but, like those among men who 
 live by robbing, he is generally poor; besides, he is a rank 
 
16 OLD ABE. 
 
 coward; the little king bird, not bigger than a sparrow, attacks 
 him boldly and drives him out of the district. He is therefore 
 by no means a proper emblem for the brave and civic inmates 
 of America, who have driven all the king birds from our coun 
 try, though exactly fit knights which the French call chevaliers 
 
 cPindustrie" 
 
 t 
 
 How well the white headed eagle represents the 
 Model Republic, let the incidents and facts herein related 
 demonstrate. Our Eagle could tell Dr. Franklin how 
 much there is in military discipline to develop the 
 latent heroism of America, both in men and birds. 
 
 PETS OF SOLDIERS. 
 
 It is no uncommon thing for soldiers to take pet ani 
 mals and birds to the war. In the Crimean campaign, 
 the Russians carried cats on their knapsa,cks in all their 
 marches and battles. Sometimes they rested on their 
 masters shoulders or heads, or hung dangling on their 
 bayonets. They were frequently found dead on the 
 battle-fields. During the whole campaign of General 
 McClellan on the Peninsula, a Minnesota regiment had 
 a half-grown bear which smelt powder in a dozen en 
 gagements, and was sent home in good condition. Sev 
 eral Wisconsin regiments had badgers. A rebel Arkan 
 sas regiment went into the fight at Shiloh with a wild 
 cat, which was captured by the Federals, and afterwards 
 killed by accident. Another Southern regiment had a 
 pelican, thus representing in living form a symbol on 
 the belt of Confederate soldiers. The 49th Illinois took 
 to the war two game cocks of the first-class breed. 
 Others had their heroic u Polanders " and " Shanghais." 
 A Wisconsin drummer had a tame squirrel ; it often 
 
PETS OF SOLDIERS. 17 
 
 danced to martial music, and spun like a top around the 
 rim of its master s drum. The 12th j Wisconsin Battery 
 had a coon, which was taught many tricks, to while 
 away the dull hours of camp life. The 102d Pennsyl 
 vania regiment had a large black-and-white dog, named 
 " Jack," which was in about twenty battles of the Poto 
 mac army. At Malvern Hill, he was wounded. At 
 Salem Heights, he was taken prisoner, and remained 
 with his regiment six months on Belle Isle ; and was 
 also a prisoner for six hours at the battle of Middle- 
 town. "A brave soldier dog, intelligent and faithful, 
 he was much prized by all the members of his regi 
 ment." 
 
 But, of all the pets of the Union regiments, the 
 " Wisconsin Eagle " is the most popular, and his career 
 the most remarkable and brilliant. He is a true Ameri 
 can specimen, representing, in his actual bodily pres 
 ence, the sublimated figure on our national escutcheon. 
 When in good condition, his weight is ten and a half 
 pounds. His breast is full and heavy, trembling with 
 ardent emotions. His head is large, and well developed 
 in front, towering up in moral aspect, and flattened a 
 little toward the neck, where it is the widest. His beak, 
 measuring two and three-quarter inches, bends in a 
 semi-circle over the mandible, having its edges cut 
 sharp, clear to the point, where it is hard as steel and 
 of a beautiful flint color, but changing gradually toward 
 the base into a sparkling saffron. The neck is short 
 and thick, the body large and symmetrical ; the wings 
 are long and tail rounded ; the legs a bright yellow, the 
 tarsus three inches long, bare for the lower two-thirds, 
 
18 OLD ABE. 
 
 and covered with hard, tough scales ; the foot short and 
 full ; the toes free, tuburculous beneath ; the four 
 curved talons on each foot have sharp ends, and look 
 like grappling steel ; the thighs are remarkably thick, 
 strong and muscular, covered with long feathers pointing 
 backwards ; the conformation of the wings is admirably 
 adapted for the support of so large a bird, measuring, 
 from tip to tip, six feet and a half ; length of one, two 
 feet on the greater quills, the longest primaries twenty 
 inches, and upwards of one inch in circumference where 
 they enter the skin ; the scapulars are very large and 
 broad, spreading from the back to the wing to prevent 
 the air from passing through. The plumage is compact 
 and imbricated ; the feathers on the breast, back and 
 top of the wings are a dark brown with a changeable 
 gloss ; those on the head, neck and breast are narrow 
 and pointed ; the other parts more rounded. The 
 general color of the plumage is brown with a golden 
 tinge ; the head and greater part of the neck and 
 coverts are a fine snowy white ; the tail is also white r 
 and spotted black on the upper feathers for about half 
 their length; the quills are brownish black with lighter 
 shafts. The eyes are clear and round, encircled with 
 yellow papillary linings, fringed on their inside with 
 thin, elastic, black bands or plates, like concentric rings; 
 the iris is a brilliant straw color, and appears like the 
 sky, changing in luster just as his moods are ; the pupil 
 is large, intensely black and piercingly sharp, contract 
 ing and expanding with microscopic and telescopic ac 
 tion at every light and shade. When looking backward, 
 his head appears in as natural position as when looking 
 
ENLISTMENT AND DEPARTURE. 19 
 
 forward. The expression of his eyes is most fascinat 
 ing; when inspired with ambition it is a burst of sun 
 light through a white cloud; when angry, every feather 
 in ruffled rage, it is the lightning when the storm is on. 
 He moves with grace and dignity, ever riveting the at 
 tention of the observer. Withal, he is majestic, having 
 the intelligent air and heroism of a warrior grown bald 
 in the service of his country. 
 
 ENLISTMENT AND DEPARTURE FOR THE WAR, 
 
 If peace can be emblemized by a dove which Noah 
 "sent forth to see if the waters were abated from off the 
 face of the ground," the second time returning " unto 
 him in the evening, and, lo! in her mouth was an olive 
 leaf plucked off"-- why not war by an eagle? Is not 
 one as much a bird of heaven as the other? Among 
 the significant devices of strategy and battle, drawn 
 perhaps by unseen agencies in the solemn councils of 
 the nation, where brave men and women appealed to the 
 Lord of Hosts for protection, what more fitting than 
 that an eagle, from the evergreen forests of the Great 
 West, should descend from his eyrie to herald the march 
 of armies in the morning of a revolution for freedom? 
 
 Though the emblem was thus strikingly illustrative 
 of the hopes that hung upon the coming contest, 
 there was some hesitancy about accepting it by the Eau 
 Claire Volunteers; but through the sagacity and fore 
 sight of R. F. Wilson, an influential resident, who 
 argued " nothing could be better chosen, not even the 
 flag itself, to ensure fame and success," they looked up 
 on it in favorable light, and after a surgeon-like exami- 
 
20 OLD ABE. 
 
 nation of the eyes, claws, beak, wings and plum 
 age, concluded by a jocose vote to accept " the new re 
 cruit from Chippewa." A little flurry ensued about 
 contributions, when S. M. Jeffers, a civilian, purchased 
 the bird for two dollars and a half, and presented it 
 to the company. In due time the Eagle was sworn in 
 to the United States service by putting around his neck 
 red, white and blue ribbons, and on his breast a rosette 
 of the same colors. James McGinnis craved the priv 
 ilege of superintending the eagle, to which all tacitly 
 assented. In a few days he produced quite a respect 
 able perch; and two patriotic ladies made some little 
 flags to be carried on each side of him, when on the 
 march; and gay and imposing indeed did he appear as 
 he rode in imperial state beneath those miniature " stars 
 and stripes," through the principal streets of Eau Claire, 
 inspired by martial music and cheered by the enthusi 
 astic people. The Eau Claire Free Press, of September 
 5, 1861, published the first newspaper notice of his 
 honor: 
 
 " The Eau Claire Badgers are going into battle under the pro- 
 tective segis of the veritable American Eagle. It was captured 
 by the Indians of the Chippewa River, and purchased by the 
 Badgers. Its perch is to be the flag-staff of the Stars and 
 Stripes. Who could not fight under so glorious emblems ? " 
 
 On the morning of the 6th of September, 1861, the 
 merry drum beat the muster roll with unusual vigor in 
 Eau Claire, and every volunteer answered to the call 
 with an alacrity that betokened an earnest will. Some 
 even danced as they stood inline; others, more thought 
 ful, were calm, appreciating the seriousness of the occa- 
 
ENLISTMENT AND DEPARTURE. , 21 
 
 sion, and just as resolute to depart for their country s 
 battles. 
 
 "Forward!" shouted the Captain with emphasis, and 
 on moved the company, led by martial music and the 
 Eagle carried under the new made banner that had just 
 before been presented by the women of the Ladies Aid 
 Society. It was a proud moment. What a sacrifice, 
 what a strength of patriotism, what a price to pay for 
 liberty, what a splendor of self-denial, when those 
 fathers, mothers and sisters, crowding near, as if to as 
 suage a soldier s anguish, said in every rainbowed tear, 
 and look and prayer "Go, my son!" "Go, my 
 brother! " " my husband! " A cold drizzling rain beat 
 down from the northwest, but scarcely was it noticed, 
 so absorbed was the crowd in the intense feeling of the 
 parting hour: 
 
 " Shout, sob, and greeting, 
 
 Love s deep devotion constantly meeting." 
 
 The company and people moved slowly to the levee 
 on the Chippewa River, where lay the steamer " Stella 
 Whipple" Held back by the entreaties of weeping 
 friends, Capt. John E. Perkins found it difficult to get 
 his men on board. What a strange commingling in 
 association the vast crowd standing in the rain, weepers 
 many, soldiers resolute, and, on board the steamer, the 
 Eagle lifted high on his perch by his Bearer, alone on 
 the upper deck. He seemed a Roman soldier, while the 
 Eagle, delighting in the storm and excitement, occasion 
 ally shook the wet from his pinions and flapped his 
 wings, at which the little boys exclaimed, "See! the 
 
22 OLD ABE. 
 
 Eagle is playing in the rain; lie spattered drops right 
 here ; bully for the Eagle ! " After much parleying and 
 managing, there was a general movement of the volun 
 teers toward the steamer. The bell rung, the engine 
 sprung to duty, off swung the " Stella Whipple " in a 
 graceful curve, and, just as she reached the current, three 
 cheers from the people on the shore greeted that stal 
 wart band, and hands, throwing kisses, and voices 
 choked by tears, gave the patriotic " good by! " 
 
 Toward evening of the next day, when within hail 
 ing distance of La Crosse, Wisconsin, the steamer sent 
 forth her semi-bugle notes, announcing arrival. In ten 
 minutes the news w^as heralded through the city, that a 
 " Company of soldiers from the Chippewa Valley has 
 come with a live American Eagle! " Crowds lined the 
 wharf, and, just as the boat landed, a salute from the 
 1st Wisconsin Battery, by order of Capt. Foster, was 
 fired, followed by cheers from civilians and soldiers. 
 All eyes were upon the Eagle, and deafening were the 
 hurrahs in his favor. It was a thrilling enthusiasm of 
 all that heaving mass of patriots. Capt. Perkins was 
 here offered two hundred dollars for the Eagle. Quite a 
 sudden rise in value from a bushel of corn. Courteous 
 ly declining, the Captain replied, " The Eagle belongs 
 to the company, and no money can buy him." 
 
 AUGURY OF SUCCESS. 
 
 Arriving at Madison, on the 9th, the company marched 
 to a martial quick-step through the principal streets of 
 the city, passing the Capitol, the colors and Eagle dis 
 played in fine style. The reception was earnest. At 
 
AUGURY OF SUCCESS. 23 
 
 Camp Randall was a most inspiriting scene. As the com 
 pany approached the hill, its musicians struck up the . 
 tune of u Yankee Doodle." The 7th Wisconsin and 
 fractional parts of the 8th were there awaiting acces 
 sions ; seeing the Eau Claire Badgers and their Eagle 
 coming, they ran to the gate of entrance and opened 
 right and left. During all this commotion, the majestic 
 bird sat quietly on his perch ; but just as the company 
 was passing the gate, defiling between those living rows 
 of spectators, with a dart of his piercing eye to the flag 
 floating close over his head, the Eagle seized one end of 
 it within his beak, and spread his wings with a continu 
 ously flapping motion, expressive of inspirational ambi 
 tion. It was spontaneous; the bird seemed to under 
 stand his mission, and grandly did he illustrate it as he 
 proudly held the flag during the time of crossing the 
 grounds, through the excited crowd, to the front of Col. 
 R. C. Murphy s headquarters. A correspondent of the 
 Eau Claire Free Press thus describes it : 
 
 "When the regiment marched into Camp Randall, the instant 
 the men began to cheer, he spread his wings, and taking one of 
 the small flags attached to his perch in his beak, he remained in 
 that position until borne to the quarters of the late Col. Murphy." 
 
 The Madison State Journal, of the 10th, thus men 
 tions the incident : 
 
 "An incident occurred yesterday, as the Chippewa company 
 arrived at Camp Randall. They bore in advance of them a plat 
 form on which was a live eagle, surmounted by a small Ameri 
 can flag. Just as they entered camp, the eagle expanded his 
 wings and seized the flag in his beak. The incident attracted 
 much attention, and if it had happened in other days, in a Roman 
 
24: OLD ABE. 
 
 camp, would have been regarded by the augurs as a singularly 
 favorable omen." 
 
 NEW PERCH. 
 
 At Madison, the Eagle s visitors numbered thousands, 
 and among them were dignitaries of civil and military 
 professions. Here, by Capt. Perkins, he was donned 
 with the title of " Old Abe," in honor of Abraham Lin 
 coln, the faithful President and patriot. By vote of the 
 company, the u Badgers " were to be styled the " Eau 
 Claire Eagles," and, by voice of the people, the Eighth 
 Wisconsin was designated as the "Eagle Regiment." 
 As the Eagle was then a soldier bird, sworn into the 
 service of his country, Quartermaster Francis L. Billings, 
 at the expense of the State, had a new perch construct 
 ed. It was a shield in the shape of a heart, on which 
 was inscribed the "stars and stripes," and along the 
 base were legibly painted, " 8th Reg. W. V." Raised a 
 few inches above the shield was a grooved cross-piece 
 for the Eagle s roost, and on each end of it were three 
 arrows, pointing outwards, representing war as in the 
 great seal of the United States. In the shuffle of war 
 these were broken off. Evidently such a perch must 
 have been a heavy weight for one soldier to carry, dur 
 ing the long and tiresome marches through the enemy s 
 country ; but he had no other task than this, under 
 strict orders to care faithfully for the bird. When in 
 line, the Eagle rode always on the left of the color bearer, 
 in the van of the regiment. In battle or march, the 
 Eagle was carried in the same manner as the flag. The 
 Bearer had a belt around him, to which was attached a 
 socket to receive the end of the staff, which was about 
 
TRANSIT THROUGH CHICAGO. 25 
 
 five feet long. Holding it firmly in his hand, the Bearer 
 thus raised the Eagle high above his head, in plain sight 
 of the column. A leathern ring was fastened to one of 
 the Eagle s legs, to which was connected a strong hemp 
 cord from sixteen to twenty feet long. When marching, 
 or in an engagement, the surplus cord was wound around 
 the arrow head, leaving the Eagle but about three feet 
 length, or just enough to circumscribe him to his shield. 
 
 TRANSIT THROUGH CHICAGO. 
 
 On the 12th of October, 1861, the aggregate strength 
 being nine hundred and ninety men, the regiment, un 
 der command of Col. Murphy, took its departure for the 
 theater of war. As the long train of cars passed through 
 the villages and cities of Wisconsin, great was the en 
 thusiasm of the people; they poured forth rounds of 
 cheers that fired every soldier with electric inspiration. 
 At Janesville, the crowd was immense and intensely 
 excited. It will be remembered that Rock county had 
 given the first fruits of her patriotism to the country 
 company G, of the Eighth, led by Capt. Win. B. Brit- 
 ton hence the peculiar interest of the people on the 
 occasion. 
 
 After a continuous ovation through the whole line of 
 route, the regiment arrived in Chicago, near the close 
 of the day, and marched through the city with the 
 Eagle under the colors. How the scene electrified 
 Chicago ! A correspondent of the Eau Claire Free 
 Press says: 
 
 "Formed in platoons, we took our way through the city, our 
 Colonel and Governor Alex. Randall leading us on horseback. 
 
26 OLD ABE. 
 
 Our progress was marked by many demonstrations of enthusi 
 asm tbe regiment as a whole, and our glorious bird carried 
 alolt at the head of our company, appearing to divide about 
 equally the general attention and applause. I fancied the Eagle 
 seemed for once to be of more importance than the Eagles, and 
 received cheers and flattering comment enough to spoil any less 
 sensible bird." 
 
 The Chicago Tribune, under date of October 13, thus 
 alludes to the reception: 
 
 "A noticeable feature among them was the Chippewa Eagles 
 Capt. Perkins company a company of the first-class stalwart 
 fellows. The live Eagle which they brought with them was an 
 object of much curiosity. He is a majestic bird and well 
 trained. When marching, the Eagle is carried at the head of 
 the company, elevated on a perch at the top of a pole. The 
 Eagle was caught on the head waters of the Chippewa River by 
 an Indian. Capt. Perkins company takes it to the war. The 
 men were offered a large sum for it in Madison, but they will 
 not part with it. They swear it shall never be taken by the 
 enemy. No doubt the Chippewa Eagles and their pet bird will 
 be heard of again." 
 
 HERALDRY OF FREEDOM Itf ST. LOUIS. 
 
 On the morning of the 14th, the regiment arrived at the 
 Mississippi, opposite St. Louis. The ferry-boat steamed 
 to the shore and received the "Wisconsin cargo 1 with 
 brisk orders. When approaching the city, the band 
 played the " Star Spangled Banner," hearing which, the 
 ladies waved their handkerchiefs in proud welcome. 
 Knowing that Union soldiers had recently been fired 
 upon by rebel citizens, difficulties were anticipated; 
 but, what was their surprise, instead of rebels, Union 
 ists showed signs of belligerency. What did it mean? 
 Like the Confederates, our soldiers were then dressed in 
 
HERALDRY OF FREEDOM. 27 
 
 gray, and, therefore, were at first taken for a rebel regi 
 ment. Though excessively hot, they were obliged to 
 put on their blue overcoats to satisfy the patriotic 
 populace that had been outraged a few days before. 
 When the regiment was preparing to enter one of the 
 principal streets, a promiscuous crowd huddled around, 
 and, seeing the Eagle, cried out, "a crow! 11 "a wild 
 goose! 1 u a turkey buzzard! 11 As if resolved upon a 
 demonstration of defiance to these insults against his 
 highness, " Old Abe, 1 crouching low for a spring, half- 
 poising his wings, sprung impetuous, breaking the cord 
 that held him to his perch, and scud just over the heads 
 of the niotle} 7 crowd, even flapping a few caps with the 
 tips of his pinions, and, thence shooting higher, sailed 
 up, up, a thousand voices shouting after him, and ma 
 jestically alighted upon the chimney of an aristocratic 
 mansion. The whole regiment was thrown into excite 
 ment, especially company C, that could scarcely be 
 wheeled into rank and file for marching order through 
 the city. In the general confusion, several soldiers 
 sped after their Eagle, scattering in different alleys and 
 constantly watching him on his inaccessible eyrie. The 
 flight heightened the curiosity of the spectators. Be 
 ing informed it was an Eagle from the North, they 
 were in ecstasies. Meantime, " Old Abe " sat on his new 
 perch of a chimney, leisurely surveying the sea of 
 heads, and, after a half hour s liberty alone in his glory, 
 scooped down to an obscure sidewalk, where he was 
 caught, and thence conveyed to his regiment. 
 
 This being the first band of warriors from the North 
 west, bringing, too, a live Eagle, with the loyal people 
 
28 OLD ABE. 
 
 the reception was magnificent. " The little darkies 
 hurrahed for the Union, and one old 4 Dinah, in par 
 ticular, will be long remembered, she laughed so hearti 
 ly, showing her white teeth and ; big eyes, 1 and crying 
 out at the top of her voice, Go in, boys ! go in ! God 
 bress ye! r Halting at one of the principal hotels, the 
 regiment was welcomed to the city by Governor Gam 
 ble, who, in the course of his patriotic address, fre 
 quently pointed to the Eagle, cheered by the soldiers. 
 Arriving at Benton Barracks, they were addressed by 
 Secretary Cameron and Gen. Thomas, who highly com 
 plimented them for their fine appearance, with a good 
 word for " Old Abe." 
 
 A gentleman in St. Louis offered the company five 
 hundred dollars for the Eagle; and, somewhere in the 
 South, subsequent to this, an Illinoisian offered a valua 
 ble farm. Coming up from a bushel of corn! But all 
 proffers of this kind were declined. Capt. Perkins say 
 ing became proverbial u No money can buy him." 
 
ON TO THE FRONT. 29 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 ON TO THE FRONT. 
 
 " For thee they fought, for thee they fell, 
 
 And their oath oil thee was laid; 
 To thee the clarions raised their swell, 
 
 And the dying warrior prayed. 
 Thou wert, thro 1 an age of death and fears, 
 
 The image of pride and power, 
 Till the gathered rage of a thousand years, 
 
 Burst forth in one awful hour." 
 
 SCARCELY had the regiment unpacked, ere it was 
 ordered to advance, and, on the evening of the 15th 
 of October, 1861, that inexperienced band rushed 
 forward On their long and perilous adventure. Who 
 could read the future? Could that prophet bird of sun- 
 lighted vision ? It was a gala time. At Big River the 
 bridge burned by the enemy as the men transported 
 their baggage across on their backs, wading waist deep, 
 the Eagle, noticing the ripples and fishes, whistled a merry 
 note with the rest. The feeling was universal, that no 
 better companion could inspire hilarity and enthusiasm 
 under difficulties. As he led the van of the column, in 
 sight of all the soldiers, over that variegated country, 
 and thence in all their subsequent marches, he was not 
 only a constant reminder of their oath of trust, but of 
 loftiness of ambition. He often played under the wav 
 ing colors, watching other birds in the far-up blue 
 
30 OLD ABE. 
 
 where no human eye could penetrate, panting and as 
 piring to rise on peerless wing, monarch of all. 
 
 " An eagle has the power of altering the focus of his eye just 
 as he pleases; he has only to look at an object at the distance of 
 two feet or two miles, in order to see it with perfect distinctness. 
 The ball of his eye is surrounded by fifteen little plates, called 
 sclerotic bones; they form a complete ring, and their edges 
 slightly overlap each other. When he looks at a distant object, 
 this little circle of bones expands, and the ball of the eye being 
 relieved from the pressure, becomes flatter; and when he looks at 
 a very near object, the little bones press together, and the ball of 
 the eye is thus squeezed into a rounder or more convex form; 
 the effect is very familiar to everybody; a person with very 
 round eyes is near-sighted, and only sees clearly an object that 
 is close to him; and a person with flat eyes, as in old age, can 
 see nothing clearly except at a distance; the eagle, by the mere 
 will, can make his eyes round or flat, and see with equal clear 
 ness at any distance." 
 
 A BATTLE. 
 
 A march all night, on the 20th, a sleep in the streets 
 of Fredericktown, Missouri, till noon, a reinforcement, 
 and hark! the hugle calls; the enemy is discerned 
 in the woods. There is hot haste; it is such an earnest . r 
 The Eighth is a reserve. Chained on the roof of the court 
 house, only half a mile distant from the scene of action,, 
 the Eagle sees the rush and line of dark- winged battle. 
 His trepidation is that of a soldier when going to face 
 death. There comes the clash of arms, the spurring of 
 the ambulances, the wounded soldier returned, bleed 
 ing, groaning, dying ; he is wild with excitement, revel 
 ing and tearing, and, one observer says, " gnawing his 
 perch with his beak," as if crazed at the new exper- 
 
ABE AND THE DOG FRANK. 31 
 
 ience, but calras down with the lull of battle the first 
 victory ! 
 
 "There fell a moment s silence round, 
 A breathless pause ! a hush of hearts that beat, 
 And limbs that quivered." 
 
 " ABE " AND THE DOG " FRANK." 
 
 After winter quarters at Sulphur Springs, Mo., " Old 
 Abe " was next seen at Cairo, 111. Up to this date, Jan 
 uary 19, 1862, he had experienced enough of military 
 life to render him stern and heroic. Like the soldiers, 
 he was sure to retaliate injuries ; his motto was American 
 justice. One of his playmates was the dog " Frank," 
 that voluntarily came to the regiment whilst at Madison. 
 The Eagle felt an Epicurean interest in this animal, on 
 account of the spoils of the hunt. Whenever he heard 
 that sharp, familiar bark in the woods, he would bend 
 low his head to catch the welcome sound, for it beto 
 kened a fresh meal ; and the moment the canine hunter 
 returned with a squirrel or rabbit in his mouth, such 
 a coaxing from the perch, such a chuckling and rus 
 tling of wings, such a grateful u Thank you, Frank !" 
 In the absence of more agreeable company, the sol 
 diers were real Selkirks, whiling away monotonous* 
 hours in teaching these pets various cunning tricks. 
 Thus a mutual attachment sprung up between them, 
 constituting at length a " marriage on interest," and 
 quite happily did they live together in their odd asso 
 ciation, mutually sharing the patrimony of their friends. 
 But, as is common with such " unions," a divorce took 
 place under the most unfortunate circumstances : 
 
32 OLD ABE. 
 
 One day there was a constant draft upon his patience; 
 but this he could have endured, had no one tormented 
 him with sticks and mockings. Feeling forbearance too 
 long suffered is no Eagle virtue, he bit, and tore, and 
 yelled, but could not get near enough to his besiegers 
 to vindicate his sense of justice. Unfortunately " Frank n 
 came within the circle of his cord, and, quick as light 
 ning, he pounced upon him, sticking his talons into the 
 hide, and " making the fur fly." Such a povv-wow was 
 never before heard in a military camp. Ever after, 
 " Frank " kept at a respectful distance, and from that 
 time " Abe " has had an eternal hatred for dogs. He 
 evidently believed they were not " well mated." 
 
 Early the next spring, the u Eagles " moved to New 
 Madrid, and, on the llth of March, occupied rifle pits at 
 Point Pleasant, preventing rebel transportation to Island 
 No. 10, and frolicking with cannon and shell, " Old 
 Abe " often sending a scream to the boys from the camp 
 near by, enjo} 7 ing the " pegging business " with the 
 rest. The gunboat u Carondolet " sweeping both shores 
 of rebel batteries, the island captured, the Eagle chased 
 the flying enemy, and saw his comrades seize six thou 
 sand prisoners, who, beholding this living emblem of 
 national fealty, " quailed before his piercing look, that 
 sent the fire of convicting justice to their hearts." 
 
 The opening of the Mississippi, by conquest of that 
 blockade of batteries, nearly to Memphis, was the be 
 ginning of a series of victories, so important, Gen. J. B. 
 Plummer commanding the brigade of the " Eagles," an 
 nounced the order of Gen. Pope, for all the regiments 
 and battalions of his command to inscribe on their flag, 
 
STRATEGY AT EARMIXGTOK. 33 
 
 " New Madrid and Island No. 10." As " Old Abe " rode 
 under these new colors, lie appeared indeed the u Bird 
 of Jove," that u armed the skies." 
 
 STRATEGY AT FARMLNGTOST. 
 
 Proud of their achievement, aiming at a test of the 
 strength of the enemy at Corinth, "the Army of the 
 Eagle " sailed up the Ohio and Tennessee rivers, stop 
 ping at Pittsburg Landing, where lay the " Blue and 
 the Gray " peaceful now in half-covered graves. Dis 
 embarking at Hamburg, in quest of Gen. Beauregard, 
 they at length formed in line of battle at Farmington, 
 Miss., on the 9th of May, 1862, Maj. Jefferson com 
 manding the outposts. The odds were great 25,000 
 of the enemy against one brigade. The " Eagles " and 
 26th Illinois were sent forth to rake the woods. Up 
 rose the foe, quick, sullen, defiant ; but these two regi 
 ments held the ground for half an hour in that raking 
 fire. Anxious for " Old Abe," Capt. Perkins ordered the 
 Bearer to keep well in the rear, but within hailing dis 
 tance of his company. As the hosts of the enemy 
 pressed on, nothing could stand before the swath of de 
 struction. Simultaneously, they prostrated themselves 
 on the ground, in the open field behind a knoll, the 
 leaden rain pouring over them. Not being conspicuously 
 exposed, the Bearer determined to remain upright, but 
 the Eagle, seeing the men lying there, imitated their 
 example. He was picked up, with stern orders to keep 
 his perch, but refused to obey. This experiment was 
 tried five or six times. Giving him his own way, " Jim 
 at last threw the perch on the ground, and crouched low 
 3 
 
34: OLD ABE. 
 
 with the rest, when the Eagle crept close to his side, re 
 maining so till, at the bugle sound, he leaped volunta 
 rily to his perch with the rising of the men, a signal of 
 heroism through all the battle. The author of a little 
 work, entitled u Army Life and Stray Shots from a Staff 
 Officer of the Eighth Regiment Wisconsin Volunteers," 
 thus describes this scene: 
 
 "At the battle of Farmington, May 9, 1862, the men were or- 
 dered to lie down. The instant they did so, it was impossible 
 to keep him upon his perch. He insisted on being protected as 
 well as they, and, when liberated, flattened himself on the 
 ground, and there remained till the men arose ; when, with out 
 spread wings, he resumed his place of peril and held it till the 
 close of the contest." 
 
 David McLane, a member of company C, says, in a 
 letter dated " Camp near Vicksburg, Miss., Feb. 18, 1865: 
 
 " The first fight the Eagle was in was the battle of Farming- 
 ton, Miss., where he showed a great deal of sagacity. When we 
 were ordered to lie down on the ground, under a dreadful artil 
 lery fire from the enemy s batteries, he flew off his perch, get 
 ting as low as he could, and lay there until he saw the regiment 
 rise to advance, when he flew upon his perch again, and re 
 mained there through the engagement." 
 
 In this battle fell Capt. Perkins, mortally wounded 
 a brave soldier and true patriot Lieut. Victor Wolf 
 succeeding in command. In his report, Gen. Palmer 
 highly complimented the "Regiment that bore the 
 Eagle." 
 
 " Old Abe " was in the battle before Corinth, on the 
 28th of May. As the whole army sent up its shout at 
 sight of the Union flag on the enemy s works, he, the 
 heraldry of the victory, was seen " whirling and danc- 
 
UNDERGOING DISCIPLINE. 35 
 
 ing on his perch. 1 Battles made him voracious. A 
 soldier avers that, soon after the cheering, while he was 
 eating a rabbit, the bugle of his regiment calling to pur 
 sue the enemy, a convalescent soldier ordered him to 
 mount his standard, when, as if appreciating the ur 
 gency of the moment, "Old Abe" devoured the remain 
 ing half with one swallow, and leaped to his perch, wip 
 ing his beak as he rode to the colors, saying, in his 
 manner, " Well equipped, boys!" When at the front, 
 the question rose, "Who shall carry the Eagle?" his 
 Bearer being sick. Among the many voluntary appli 
 cants, Capt. Wolf selected Thomas J. Hill, of Eau 
 Claire, remarking, "Tom is worthy of it." Shoulder 
 ing his living musket, " Tom," in his hurry to keep up, 
 unavoidably entered a clump of bushes, where " Old 
 Abe " initiated his new Bearer into the apprenticeship 
 of the " perch business." Getting entangled, he tore 
 away exasperated, but was hustled up rather roughly, 
 when, wishing to give his master a trial of his mili 
 tary patience, "Abe" stuck his talons into his face; 
 but no court martial was held! 
 
 UNDERGOING DISCIPLINE. 
 
 Scattering the enemy, "Old Abe s" brigade went 
 into summer quarters near Clear Creek, in a charming 
 locality. Here he attended his " military school." The 
 live long days he busied himself running at large 
 catching crazy bugs with his claws in puddles of water, 
 fishing by " make-believes " in the creek, catching bul 
 lets rolled upon the ground, running off with the ball 
 in the hilarious game, tipping over water pails, visiting 
 
36 OLD ABE. 
 
 the sutlers tent, tearing up the soldiers clothes there 
 hung upon the line, with no chance for indemnity, for 
 " too much indulgence spoils the child," and " the con 
 quering party dictates terms." One day a soldier cut 
 off the heads of some chickens, and left them a few 
 moments to nutter, while preparing to cook them, when 
 " Old Abe " noticed the movement at a little distance 
 down the street, and slily hurried to the spot, passing 
 some soldiers, who warned the cook of the foraging 
 attitude; and as the man turned to look for his chick 
 ens in one direction, "Abe," perceiving one in the grass 
 just behind him, snatched it up and whirled off like a 
 rocket, amid the jeers of the spectators, the cook just 
 behind, puffing and swearing, unable to secure scarcely 
 enough for the captain s meal. He "went in swim 
 ming" with the "other soldiers." During one of these 
 water frolics, Mr. Hill was accosted by a semi-Unionist 
 farmer, who offered to give the Eagle a chicken, if 
 shown to his children. Arriving at the house, among 
 them appeared a fair young lady who vainly coaxed the 
 bird for the privilege of only touching his kingly 
 plumage, remarking, she "never expected to see the 
 celebrated Eagle which the Confederate soldiers say is 
 carried by a Yankee regiment." Soon " Old Abe " was 
 set at liberty among the fowls, when, after the style of 
 a lion a peculiarity of habit always noticed on such 
 occasions he threw his head from side to side, walked 
 around his selected victim with a stealthy air, and made 
 his terrible lunge; missing it, he measured the distance 
 again with his geometric eye, and succeeded. Drawing 
 the chicken directly under him, and standing defiantly 
 
UNDERGOING DISCIPLINE. 37 
 
 upon it, he opened his wings to a hovering motion, 
 bent down his tail spread out like a fan, rustled up his 
 feathers, and uttered a vengeful satisfaction; these in 
 cantations over, he plunged his heak into the heart, and 
 devoured it palpitating. Looking on and shuddering, the 
 children exclaimed " Oh ! Mister ! Oh ! " But " Tom " 
 gave the beautiful brunette a significant wink, saying: 
 "He is from old Wisconsin; you see how he likes the 
 South!" 
 
 Unless extremely hungry, "Old Abe" never eats 
 anything tainted or decayed. He enjoys his meals best 
 if allowed to kill his own game. If he rejects anything 
 from his perch, he frequently looks down at it with a 
 dignified scorn. He drinks like a hen; but, during war 
 time, when no better chance availed itself, he would 
 throw back his head, open his mouth, and permit his 
 Bearer to pour the water down his throat from a canteen. 
 
 To the soldiers he served as a barometer. If the 
 weight of the atmosphere indicated a storm, he was 
 uneasy to find a shelter ere it came on, and, if secured, 
 was very lively. No one but his Bearer could approach 
 him then without an Eagle s severe reproof; for they 
 were his sacred hours of communion with the Borean 
 gods, when his every motion said, " No admission, gen 
 tlemen, except on military business." If the lightning 
 flashed, his eye was lighted with a new fury; and, as the 
 thunder followed, he would listen with rapt suspense, 
 and then scream aloud in terrible revelry for a few 
 minutes; but as the rain beat steady and heavy, he 
 would grow calm, and, hiding his head under his wing, 
 "sweetly snoring," await the sunshine. 
 
38 OLD ABE. 
 
 " Abe " would sliake hands witli his Bearer, grasp the 
 lingers in his bill, pressing harder, chuclding, " Does it 
 hurt?" Very sensitive as to his rights, he resented 
 every abuse, and never forgot it. One day a sergeant 
 tormented him with rough handling, and affronted him 
 by mimicking his manner of self-defense; and, like an 
 Indian, he laid up a store of vengeance for him. When 
 the sergeant returned, several months afterwards, from 
 a journey, "Abe " fixed his eye upon him, and, the 
 moment he came into his presence, flew at his head 
 with fury, and actually drove him off. It takes an 
 Eagle to teach some men the laws of etiquette. 
 
 CHASING THE NEGRO. 
 
 One day, just after a bath in the creek, a negro ad 
 dressed the Eagle in a rough style, tormenting him; in 
 an instant he was after the " young sauce box, 1 his eyes 
 darting fire, his claws protruding, his beak wide open, 
 his feathers ruffled to wrath. By striking his wings 
 upon the ground, and springing on his elastic feet, he 
 leaped after his assailant with engine speed, accompa 
 nied with a revengeful screech. Hotter and hotter grew 
 the race, the negro gaining advantage only by turning 
 short corners. u Hurrah ! Nig !" shouted the laughing 
 soldiers, enjoying the fun. Looking back with a side 
 glance, he caught a glimpse of that awful mouth ex 
 tended close to his head, when, dodging downwards, the 
 infuriated bird just grazed his wool. The negro was 
 more respectful after that race ; a lesson we all should 
 learn, never to insult the American Eagle ! 
 
 At Camp Clear Creek a change of bearers was ordered. 
 
39 
 
 Mr. Hill being appointed to a regimental position, it 
 was tendered David McLane, of Menomonie, Wis., on 
 the 18th of August, 1862. 
 
 IUKA. 
 
 Towards the close of summer, an army three miles 
 long, " Old Abe " this time in the rear, marched into 
 northern Alabama and rendezvoused in beautiful Tus- 
 cumbia, famous for its mineral springs, " where charm 
 ing ladies in their teens, well trained by their loyal 
 mothers, pointed their tiny fingers at our Eagle, making 
 mouths prettily, and wanted to know if we called it 
 Yank ! Yank !" 
 
 It is the 18th of September, 1862. It is daylight ; 
 the army is stirring. The forces are concentrating on 
 luka. Stanley is there ; Oglesby, Ord, the Wisconsin 
 Hamilton, Hackleman, Kirby Smith, "the "Eagles," 
 "Old Abe," Rosecrans commanding, these are there. 
 There is a moment of perturbation. Who shall report 
 -a soldier s look-out of soul to the gathering storm, as he 
 thinks of home ? Who can register for the pondering 
 ages coming, how civilizations hung upon the issues of 
 a great battle ? Who can tell the chancery angel of 
 the reckoning day in the eternal world, what feelings 
 throbbed in the bosoms of Northern and Southern moth 
 ers, as their sons, the noblest of the country, there met 
 in deadly grapple ? Oh, those three hours of unceasing 
 conflict, sword to sword, bayonet to bayonet, trampling 
 brothers under feet ! A nation hears that awful clash 
 of arms ; it is victory at last, and the war Eagle sends 
 its news that night in a wild scream over the martyrs. 
 
40 OLD ABE. 
 
 Though the dead lay in heaps, no harm befell him ; 
 he was carried safely through by McLane. 
 
 On the same day of the luka victory, at Jackson, Tenn. T 
 expired James McGennis, the 1st Eagle Bearer. He 
 carried the Eagle through the battles of Fredericktown r 
 New Madrid and Farmington. 
 
 ATTEMPT OF GE^. PRICE TO CAPTUEE " OLD ABE." 
 
 ON discovering that the enemy was concentrating for 
 a grand attack on Corinth, then held by our forces r 
 Rosecrans rallied his hosts on the 3d of October, 1862 r 
 to meet the issue against 42,000 Southern troops com 
 bined under Price, Van Dorn and Lovell. In the at 
 tempt to gain the brow of a hill overlooking the town, 
 the rebels charged upon our lines with a yell and dash r 
 but were promptly met by a wall of adamant that 
 turned the tide. Again they formed and hurled them 
 selves forward like an angry wave of the sea to capture 
 our batteries, but were repulsed. At this time the 
 " Eagles " stood near the base of the hill, clear in front 
 of the line, " Old Abe " in the regimental advance. Be 
 fore the battle commenced, Gen. Price having heard of the- 
 Eagle and his fame, and, knowing his capture would elec 
 trify the South, ordered his men to take him at any hazard, 
 
 A staff officer of the regiment, who was not only an 
 eye witness but an actor in this battle, says: " At the 
 battle of Corinth, the rebel Gen. Price, having discov 
 ered him, ordered his men to be sure and take him; if this 
 they could not do, to kill him, adding he had rather get 
 that bird than the whole brigade." David McLane, in 
 his letter of the 18th February, 1865, also says: 
 
ATTEMPT TO CAPTURE OLD ABE. 41 
 
 "The rebel Gen. Price saw him there and ordered his men 
 either to capture, or kill him, at all hazards, stating that he had 
 heard of that bird before, and would rather capture him than the 
 whole brigade. I had this statement from rebel prisoners and 
 believe it to be true." 
 
 Col. J. W. Jefferson, furnishing valuable facts for this 
 work, verifies what others have testified: 
 
 One of Gen. Price s men, who was captured by us, told me, 
 Price said to his men that he would rather have them capture 
 the Eagle of the 8th Wisconsin than a dozen battle-flags, 1 and 
 that if they succeeded, he would give the lucky (or unlucky) 
 Confederate Free Pillage in Corinth! The valiant rebels 
 did not succeed, however, but, instead, many of them were cap 
 tured." 
 
 A rebel soldier, brother of a guerilla chief, visiting 
 Madison, in 1875, informed Geo. W. Baker, one of the 
 Eagle s attendants, that, while in the Southern service, 
 during one of the battles, he heard a rebel general say, 
 " I rather capture Old Abe than a whole brigade." 
 
 During a lull in the battle, as the enemy was prepar 
 ing again to fire from the brow of the hill, distant not 
 over thirty rods from the Eighth regiment, the Eagle 
 being exposed in plain sight of the rebels, a Confeder 
 ate officer was heard by several in company C to 
 say "There he is the Eagle capture him, boys!" 
 No sooner was this command given, than the rebel artil 
 lery opened upon our forces, under whose cover a column 
 just discerned in the gathering smoke, moved briskly 
 over the crest to break and scatter our steady front, and 
 capture the prize. All this while, the Eagle scanned with 
 fire-lit eye every movement on that hill, and as the rebel 
 infantry hove clear out in sight, he, it is said, whistled a 
 
42 OLD ABE. 
 
 startling note of alarm, and instantly botli armies struck 
 each other in deafening shock, commingling with the 
 boom and crash of cannon that trembled forest and 
 valley. Shouts from both sides rent the air, while death 
 mowed his swath clear through both armies, and yet the 
 blood} r gaps closed up again and again. Such is war! 
 In the general conflict, the Eagle leaped up with a des 
 perate spring, breaking his cord or else it was cut by a 
 Minie ball, and was seen by the combatants, circling, 
 careering in the sulphurous smoke. The enemy pressed 
 nearer, exultant, as if sure of their prize; the bullets 
 flew as hailstones; there was a wavering of awing 
 was he hit ? but the war-bird rallied again, and, as he 
 rose higher, many a rebel shot went up to bring down 
 the American Eagle! but 011 he sped, towering above 
 that awful din, screaming back to his assailants, eyeing 
 the battle from his sky-eyrie, when, catching a glimmer 
 of his comrades in the fight and the colors where his 
 Bearer stood gazing upward with suspense as if in 
 spired by the very Roman gods he descended, like a 
 " bolt of Jove," to the left of his regiment, where Mc- 
 Lane, flying after him, easily caught him up in his arms, 
 trembling and panting with ardor, and whistling 
 with his peculiar air of satisfaction. By permission, 
 his Bearer immediately carried him cautiously from the 
 field to the camp, where he remained till the close of 
 the next day of battle, which ended in a Federal victory 
 "purchased at a dear cost. On examination, it was found 
 that the Eagle was hit by a rebel bullet in the feathers 
 of a wing near the flesh. 
 
 " If a Roman army were defeated, the eagle was not suffered 
 
CHOPPING THE EAGLE. 43 
 
 to fall into the hands of the enemy; when the standard-bearer 
 saw the rout begin, he broke his lance in twain, and buried in 
 the earth that portion which was crowned by the imperial sym 
 bol. Tliis took place after the fatal battle of Lake Thrasymcuu ; 
 and we owe to such a precaution the only legionary eagle that 
 lias been preserved to our times. It was found in Germany on 
 the land of the Count d Erlach; is of bronze gilt, three inches 
 high, and weighs eight pounds. It is supposed to have belonged 
 to the 22d legion, which being sorely pressed in a battle with 
 the Alemanni, the eagle-bearer, before he took to flight, con 
 cealed in the earth the precious symbol intrusted to his care." 
 
 Theirs was the reverential respect of the Roman sol 
 diery. Many a correspondent of the army, writing home 
 about this attempt of Gen. Price to capture " Old Abe," 
 threw out the challenge " Let him come and take 
 him! " They would have shot and buried the Eagle in 
 the midst of a battle, rather than permit him to fall 
 into the hands of the enemy. 
 
 CROPPING THE EAGLE. 
 
 Soon after the battle of Corinth, some one in the 
 regiment had the dastardly audacity to crop the tail 
 and a wing of the Eagle, to prevent his flying away 
 during an engagement. It was argued by the shabby 
 party concerned, that he " might get lost." After all, 
 lie could soar into a tree, but he no longer looked like 
 himself; and much did his appearance mortify the sol 
 diers generally and regimental officers. Disgusted with 
 the treatment of his bird, McLane resigned his Eagle 
 commission, on the 1st of Nov., 1862, when Edward 
 Homaston, of Eau Claire, was tendered the honor. 
 Having been reared among the Green Mountains of 
 Vermont, where in boyhood he watched the eagles 
 
44: OLD ABE. 
 
 flights every day, he took to " Old Abe " with a natural 
 instinct. Their friendship for one another was very 
 strong ; indeed, " Ed " and "Abe " were brothers, thor 
 oughly understanding each other. 
 
 THE EAGLE S VERNACULAR. 
 
 Mr. Homaston translated the Eagle s idiom into Eng 
 lish. He found " Old Abe " varies his voice according 
 to emotions. When surprised, he whistles a wild mel 
 ody, toned to a melancholy softness; when hovering 
 over his food, he gives a spiteful chuckle; when pleased 
 to see an old friend, he says a "how do you do?" with 
 a plaintive cooing. His scream in battle was wild, com 
 manding, uttering five or six notes in succession with 
 a most startling trill that was perfectly inspiring to 
 the soldiers. Strangers could never approach and touch 
 him with safety, but those of his regiment that treated 
 him with courtesy, he was ever glad to see. David Mc- 
 Lane says : 
 
 "He has his particular friends and his enemies. There were 
 men in our company whom he would not let come near him; on 
 them he would fly, and tear them with his talons and beak in a 
 way not very pleasant; but he would never fight his Bearer. He 
 knew his own regiment from any other, and would always cheer 
 with it, but never for any other regiment during the war." 
 
 MORALE OF APPETITE. 
 
 Late in the fall of 1862, Gen. Grant, then command 
 ing the Mississippi Division, formed an expedition to 
 gain the rear of Vicksburg and use up Price in his re 
 treat. Our war Eagle was in that imposing army, the 
 recognized signal of success. Passing through Grand 
 
ANOTHER COQUETTISH FLIGHT. 45 
 
 Junction, Tenn., thence over a country infested with 
 guerilla hordes, they arrived at Cold Water early in the 
 winter, and, chilled, fatigued and hungry, prepared for 
 encampment. After they had fairly stacked arms, and 
 were leisurely resting in various attitudes, " Old Abe," 
 whose wings were yet "a little awry," as if under 
 standing the laws of regimental hygiene by dispelling 
 a camp gloom, broke his cord and awkwardly flew for 
 the woods, drawing after him a goodly number of his 
 regiment, running in different directions. A soldier 
 climbed the tree in which he had alighted, and, catch 
 ing him, threw him roughly to the ground, when up 
 he flew, enraged, into another. This time they tried to 
 bring him down by throwing clubs and stones at him. 
 As was his custom at play, these he caught with his 
 claws; one of them caused his mouth to bleed pro 
 fusely, and he was stubborn. Finding that method use 
 less, they procured a live chicken, tied it with a long 
 string to the tree, and thus tempted him to docility. 
 After that stampede, they never forgot the moral of the 
 incident that the persuasion of the appetite is better 
 than brute force. 
 
 ANOTHER COQUETTISH FLIGHT. 
 
 On the 5th of December, the " Eagles " encamped at 
 Waterford, on the Tallahatchie River. The Eagle s 
 camp was a beautiful bower under the hollies, and there 
 "Abe" and "Ed" slept together. The author of 
 1 Opening of the Mississippi" says: 
 
 "The 12th Wisconsin, Col. Bryant, is encamped about half a 
 mile from us (at Waterford). As his regiment was passing our 
 
46 OLD ABE. 
 
 last camp a few days ago, the Eighth brought out the Eagle, 
 and formed in line by the roadside. As they caught a glimpse 
 of our old bird, they commenced cheering; and many here 
 found friends and relations whom they had not seen for over a 
 year." 
 
 As the Colonel made a brief speech, recounting the 
 hardships they had mutually endured, and the justice of 
 their cause, the Eighth cheering, " Old Abe, 1 jumping 
 up and down on his perch, sprung with such force, the 
 cord broke, and away he sped, soaring into the ether in 
 gay life. When he had satisfied his ambition, he gently 
 descended to a distant tree top, where the daring Philip 
 Burk captured and returned him thence to the regiment. 
 
 When fairly ready to enjoy the new homes at Water- 
 ford, marching orders came to "move on to Oxford." 
 Disappointed, but faithful to duty, they promptly 
 obeyed, and in one week reached the place, through 
 which they marched in platoons. When fairly in the 
 principal street, "a lady of the Emerald Isle 1 coolly 
 asked, "Why don t you shoot that buzzard?" Going a 
 few rods further, a young Miss, standing on the side 
 walk with the crowd, gaily attired, inquired, " What is 
 that bird you carry?" On being informed, "It is an 
 American Eagle," she replied, " You can t fool me; that 
 is a turkey buzzard !" Turning a corner, and keeping 
 a steady lookout, another lady, " of decidedly Southern 
 origin, rushed from a stately mansion by the wayside, 
 with arms extended and hair streaming wildly in the 
 wind, and, with scornful sarcasm, exclaimed, i Oh, see 
 that Yankee Buzzard ! By this time the soldiers con- 
 
SEE DAT YANKEE BIKD. 47 
 
 eluded a return fire would not be inapplicable, and a 
 hundred voices shouted back, " Where is your Southern 
 Pelican? in so unmistakable emphasis, that she re 
 treated for the house on double quick." As the regi 
 ment remained there about a week, keeping provost 
 guard, all such inquisitors soon learned the species of 
 the bird when first " they met his terrible eyes of jus 
 tice to rebellion." Some boys there, it is said, provoked 
 the Eagle and annoyed the soldiers. One day, a little 
 boy, with bare feet, approached the bird, then on the 
 ground. The boy s feet, by much exposure, were about 
 the color of a toad s back, and about the size, in general 
 appearance, of average specimens of those amphibia. 
 The Eagle began to turn his head right and left, peering 
 at them. 
 
 " Take care of your feet, boy," said one of the men. 
 " The Eagle will pounce on them, if you don t stand 
 back." 
 
 " Oh, I guess not," said another. " He isn t hungry 
 now. We fed him a small boy a little while ago." 
 
 The boy took a retrograde movement without further 
 delay ; and. after that, he and his grade of mates kept 
 at a respectful distance from the Eagle. 
 
 "SEE DAT YANKEE BIRD!" 
 
 Flying, on the 20th, to Tallahatchie, on the cars, 
 there skirmishing with the enemy, reinforced with 
 5,000 troops, marching thence eighteen miles, resting 
 that night on the cold sods, with " bayonets for their 
 wives," they rose with the dawn of the 21st, and stood 
 on a hill overlooking Holly Springs, all spread out to- 
 
48 OLD ABE. 
 
 view in grand perspective, when, simultaneously, the 
 whole army sent up a jubilant shout that startled the 
 people in every street. " Old Abe," beholding the scene, 
 exulting in the enthusiasm, joined his shrill voice as the 
 addenda always of military rejoicing. Price had occupied 
 that city the day before, having sacked the town and made 
 good his escape; and now came the Northerners, with 
 banners unfurled to the breeze, headed by martial music, 
 and the Eagle at his post in heraldic dignity, marching 
 into that proud, beautiful city. " Abe " was the observed 
 of all observers, " and not a few negroes," says Mr. 
 Driggs, " overwhelmed with joy at the sight of Link- 
 um s army come to sabe us, swung their hats, and, 
 nudging one another, exclaimed, See dat Yankee Bird ! 
 whilst the secesh ladies peeped through the window 
 shutters, and, with scornful lips, hissed at the saviors 
 of American liberty ! " 
 
 Being now on the track of Price doubtless his com 
 rades will ever remember the "Eagle Regiment" 
 brigaded with the 17th and 32d Wisconsin and 93d In 
 diana, they chased him in zigzag directions, day and 
 night, weary, and everywhere imperiled, but never dis- 
 pairing. " Old Abe," in this swift pursuit, was on his 
 war perch, with head to windward, and wings flapping 
 backward to speed the journey. He was more quiet at 
 night when on the march, constantly on the watch, 
 alive to every sound, invariably informing his Bearer of 
 any danger from a limb of a tree, or of the enemy, by 
 an alarm note of surprise. Even when the army rested 
 at night, if any one approached, however cautiously, he 
 would suddenly withdraw his head from under his wing 
 
ABE AND THE GUINEA HEN. 49 
 
 and make a complaining screech, indicating he did not 
 care to be disturbed. Like a revolutionary " minute 
 man," he seemed to calculate for the morrow s march, 
 by resting when all was safe, conscious of protection 
 from faithful pickets. His quick ear detected the tread 
 of the enemy ; a sharp note and tremor of nerve un 
 mistakably warned the army to be vigilant. 
 
 Poor and forlorn were those faithful soldiers when 
 they arrived at Grand Junction, on the 23d, having had 
 no sleep for three nights, and being without tents, 
 blankets or covering of any kind. The Eagle felt all 
 the emotions of his comrades, and actually whined to 
 his Bearer, with a most searching plea for food. Every 
 body refusing his importunities for " pity on the Eagle," 
 Homaston sought the first hen roost convenient for fo 
 rage, satisfied that the "military necessity" of "Abe s" 
 voracious stomach demanded even the last chicken of 
 the Confederacy to " save the Union ! " 
 
 Again changing front to rear, " Abe " was next do 
 mesticated, on the 24th of December, at La Grange, 
 Tenn. Here no meat could be procured for our Eagle. 
 Capt. Wolf made several unsuccessful attempts to buy a 
 chicken of a semi-Unionist. Getting spunky over it, he 
 took the Bearer arid his hungiy bird with him one day 
 to that gentleman s house, and, by a porter, made the 
 same demand as before ; and the same provoking denial 
 was returned. Learning that the Captain had the Eagle 
 there under threat to let him (the bird) select his own 
 chicken, " the half-and-half loyalist " came out, and to 
 4 
 
50 OLD ABE. 
 
 compromise the matter, offered a Guinea hen, provided 
 the Eagle could kill her in a fair fight. About this time 
 quite a crowd had gathered, among which were several 
 regimental officers, to witness "the battle of birds." 
 Eying his prey with a measuring glance, "Abe" sprung 
 forward,, when the hen uttered her peculiar squall 
 a sound altogether new to his quick ear which so 
 startled him that he paused for further examination. 
 Improving this " cessation of hostilities," she scud off 
 to the opposite corner, u facing the music." Enraged at 
 such procedure, the Eagle made another dash, which 
 was followed by the same unearthly squall, and this by 
 another pause. There was no possibility of outflanking 
 the hen, neither did she dare to meet him in " mortal 
 combat," so round and round they flew, amid roars of 
 laughter, neither of the " flying squadrons " the victor, 
 till at length Madame Guinea escaped into a chink un 
 der a building, where Monsieur Eagle could not pene 
 trate. The general fun evoked a fellow feeling ; and 
 " Old Abe " was next permitted to seize a fat shanghai 
 with one unerring spring, when the grave looking 
 "Abraham" enjoyed a feast. 
 
 At La Grange, " Abe s v rendezvous was a fort com 
 posed of cotton bales, which furnished him new amuse 
 ment. " Cotton is King !" said the Southrons, for near 
 ly a century, and Church and State bowed to this Moloch 
 of Slavery, whose foot was upon our sable brother, press 
 ing out the bloody sweat to refresh the famished Eden 
 of the West ; but our " Bird of Liberty," inspired with 
 
BRAVO, OLD ABE. 51 
 
 the free idea of the age, evidently disdained the " King, % 
 and proved that despot was only " stuffed cotton," after 
 all, as he tore it out with a frolicking chuckle, and trod 
 it under his feet for a soft bed to lie on in the sun. On 
 Christmas day of 1862, the soldiers hoisted an immense 
 flag on these works, and then gave three rousing cheers 
 for the Union. " Old Abe " was standing at the time 
 right under it, close to the staff. When the last cheer 
 died away, he gave his startling war-scream with trilling 
 vibrations, when another shout went up in a general 
 " Hurrah for the Soldier Bird of Wisconsin !" 
 
 "BRAVO, OLD ABE." 
 
 Vibrating back to the old battle grounds of Corinth, 
 and thence to Germantown, Tenn., the " Eagles " there 
 made a church their headquarters, during the remainder 
 of the winter. Whether it was because of fashion, or a 
 sense of religious duty, the boys do not report, but " it 
 was most comical to see him going to church to prey so 
 earnestly !" 
 
 On the llth of March, 1863, they were ordered to 
 Memphis most welcome news, for they anticipated a 
 rest amid the gayeties and luxuries of city life. " Old 
 Abe " remained on his perch all that day, watching the 
 preparation ; becoming impatient the next morning, and 
 evidently thinking so long delay in filling an order un 
 like " the swift Eagles," the moment he heard the blast 
 of the bugle, so electrifying was it to his patriotic nerve, 
 he snatched up the cord, then stiffened by a recent cold 
 rain, and bit it in two clear and smooth, as if cut by a 
 knife, and, to signify " Come on, boys, it is high time to 
 
52 OLD ABE. 
 
 march," soared over the regiment with a whir of exul 
 tation, high, higher, on easy wing, sailing round and 
 round in the dark sky, and when up to a shooting point, 
 scooped far off in a grand circle, and back over the army 
 again, the whole brigade gazing, and thousands of voices 
 shouting, " Bravo, Old Abe !" They could not march 
 without their pet bird, and as the whole army paused 
 in the general excitement, Homaston, flying with the 
 rest, requested the frantic fellows to keep cool while he 
 and a German lad would surely capture him at his old 
 watering place, where he had then alighted. Approach 
 ing cautiously, he put the perch at the right angle, and 
 coaxing him to mount, at length secured him fast. 
 When returned to the regiment, amid acclamations, the 
 bugle sounded again, and " Abe," with the rogue in his 
 eyes, and patriotism in his air of dignity, said, " Steady, 
 
 sir, go on !" 
 
 COHFEDEKATE RESPECT. 
 
 When at Memphis, certain Confederate citizens gave 
 Mr. Homaston money to purchase meat for his Eagle. 
 They respected the living emblem of that Union for 
 which they had a heart, though conventionally arrayed 
 against it. The following clipping from the diary of 
 Joseph Lawton, Sergeant of Company K., who kept a 
 record of all the army movements, shows how earnest 
 was the respect at Memphis : 
 
 " ON STEAMER * EMPRESS, MEMPHIS, TENN., March 14, 1863. 
 " Yesterday afternoon, as we marched through the city of Mem 
 phis to embark on this steamer, the regiment and the live Eagle 
 attracted great attention, as usual, and many red, white and 
 blue flags, and white handkerchiefs saluted us on our march." 
 
CONFEDERATE RESPECT. 53 
 
 Their " long rest " at Memphis was only for a few 
 days. The order was imperative to Helena, the " Sol 
 diers Sepulchre. 1 " Old Abe " did not like the journey ; 
 steamboats and " mule wagons " were his disgust. When 
 arrived at Yazoo Pass, while the boys were freighting 
 the " Ben Franklin " with war equipments, the rain 
 poured in torrents, and the wind " blew like a southern 
 hurricane," before which the trees fell crashing all 
 around the men. In the desperate struggles to save his 
 life, " Old Abe " got the cord so awkwardly around him, 
 that he was actually hung in a tree ; and one of his legs 
 was much bruised, laming him for several weeks. 
 
 Landing at Ducksport, near Young s Point, on the 
 1st of April, 1863, they went into camp on the Louisi 
 ana side, only nine miles above Vicksburg and two 
 miles above the famous fleet anchored there to subdue 
 the city, employing their time digging canals, building 
 roads, and preparing steamers to run the blockade. 
 Here they were addressed one day by Gen. Thomas, 
 Adj. Gen. U. S. A., and, during his patriotic remarks, he 
 feelingly alluded to the immortal Emancipation Procla 
 mation of President Lincoln, ordering the freedom and 
 enlistment of negroes, and urged that such deserving 
 privates as their officers might recommend, should pre 
 sent themselves as candidates for commanders in colored 
 regiments and companies. As his eye glanced over the 
 stalwart ranks, he caught a view of " Old Abe," whom 
 he had not seen since the greeting in St. Louis, about 
 two years before; and, with a new luster firing his vis 
 ion so tense and determined, he added, " I supposed that 
 all present were strangers to me, but I see one familiar 
 
54: OLD ABE. 
 
 personage at least that majestic Eagle of the 8th Wis 
 consin, the emblem now of universal freedom in the 
 Republic." 
 
 In Gen. Tuttle s Division, marching, countermarch 
 ing, through Richmond, La., camping on Smith s Plan 
 tation, on Perkins Plantation, on the shore of Lake St. 
 Joseph everywhere encouraged by the negroes who 
 thanked " de Lor 1 that massa Linkum s army hab delib- 
 ered us from slabery" they reached Hard Times 
 Landing, on the 7th of May, when, just as each com 
 pany had stacked arms in the middle of the road, Gen 
 erals Mower, Smith, Sherman and Grant came dashing 
 by, inspecting the army, and, as they passed the old 
 Eighth, they doffed their hats to the Eagle, at which 
 the regiment cheered, and the bird responded with pat 
 riotic civility by his wings and inimitable voice. 
 
 Crossing the Mississippi on a gunboat, marching 
 thence to Grand Gulf, to Fort Gibson, to Rocky 
 Springs, the " Eagles " skirmished, on the 12th, with 
 the enemy at Fourteen Mile Creek. Here Gen. Sher 
 man, frequently riding with his staff during the day in 
 their rear, and noticing the dash and skill of those 
 brave men driving the rebels with easy adroitness, after 
 wards paid them a high compliment, remarking, " You 
 are worthy to carry the American Eagle, and proud 
 must that bird be that is so honored." The next day, 
 entering Raymond, our Eagle witnessed another skir 
 mish, driving the enemy to Mississippi Springs; " and it 
 was fun," says a soldier, u to see how drolly he watched 
 the butternuts as they skedaddled into the tangled 
 brush." 
 
CHARGE OK JACKSON. 55 
 
 CHARGE OK JACKSOK. 
 
 On the 14th of May, 1863, Gen. Grant, with his gal 
 lant army, stood before Jackson, Mississippi, McPherson 
 at the head of the right wing, and Sherman the left in. 
 which, the Eagle was placed. A violent storm poured 
 out its vials of wrath upon friend and foe. Gazing at 
 the heavens, the eyes of the Eagle seemed as lightning; 
 and as the clouds pealed forth their fiery thunders, com 
 mingling with the roar of cannon, shell and musketry, 
 he was indeed the embodiment of a sublime fury. The 
 boys say, " the lightnings played upon his pinions," and 
 that when he stretched them forth and dashed the elec 
 tric drops of rain upon the soldiers, they were inspired 
 with an inexpressible enthusiasm. Swift as a mountain 
 avalanche, swifter, swiftest, was that " Forward !" the 
 "Eagles" led by the intrepid Col. Robbins until it 
 became the acceleration of Jupiter s bolts, hurling with 
 resistless weight against the enemy, bravely defending 
 his entrenchments. A creek was before the Federal 
 forces; unheeding, they plunged into it the Eagle 
 carried aloft on his standard and ploughed across, 
 backing the swelling current till it rose to the waist, 
 and, springing up the opposite bank by the aid of the 
 advance party, the last up pulling out his next neigh 
 bor, they formed again, and, in a wild " Eagle yell," 
 swept over a level tract like a dark, whirling tornado, 
 right on to the guns of the enemy in the woods. Noth 
 ing on earth could withstand that charge. The rebels 
 fired, fought like brave men well, but, quailing at last, 
 fled amazed. The " Eagles " with their screaming bird 
 were among the first to enter the city. Amid the wild 
 
56 OLD ABE. 
 
 huzzas of the victors, they flew through the streets, just 
 as Gen. Joe Johnston with 8,000 men retreated out in a 
 southernly direction; and, reaching the Capitol, in a mo 
 ment tore down the rebel flag and hoisted the " stars 
 and stripes " on the same staff, when cheer upon cheer r 
 louder, yet louder, "lifted the delivered city," says 
 one of the more enthusiastic, u a hundred feet into the 
 victorious air, when Old Abe showed those old sin 
 ners how to proclaim liberty throughout all the land." 
 The battle lulled to a repose, dread and pensive over the- 
 " slain of the daughter of my people;" and there, too r 
 hovered the Northern Eagle, conscious of a dearly pur 
 chased victory, perched on his starry shield just on the 
 steps in front of the Capitol where was quartered the 
 Union army. What a contrast of occupancy! what a 
 retribution in example qver to be remembered as a les 
 son to nations, that oppression reacts to destruction I 
 A gentleman from the North, visiting the ciiy of Jack 
 son, in 1860, just before the war broke out, and, standing 
 before that same State House, saw a large body of people 
 assembled in the Capitol Park, witnessing and partici 
 pating in the sale of slaves at auction, belonging to a 
 planter that had recently died: " As I stood there, an 
 intelligent, good looking negro, about twenty-two years 
 old, occupied a stone pedestal at the side of the front 
 steps of the Capitol, the auctioneer selling him off to 
 the highest bidder." One year, over two years of 
 bloodshed, and the sons of brave mothers from the 
 North possess that Capitol by force, every room and 
 chamber honored by Yankee Soldiers, the true flag 
 floating from the dome, the Eagle that our Revolution- 
 
APPEARANCE OF OLD ABE IX BATTLE. 57 
 
 ary Fathers chose for their and our national emblem, 
 flapping his wings and screaming his terrible war-cry of 
 victory from the very spot where three years before stood 
 that auctioneer selling a human being for gold! 
 
 APPEARANCE OF " OLD ABE" IN BATTLE. 
 
 Jackson evacuated and needlessly left almost a desola 
 tion, the elated army following up its conquest, Napo 
 leon-like, carried its victor Eagle clear through the ene 
 my s ranks at Black River Bridge and Champion Hills, on 
 the 16th, driving those outposts closer to the doomed 
 city. The constant excitement of march and battle, of 
 the hurrying and affrighted populace, roused all the na 
 tive fire and inspiration of our military bird. His ap 
 pearance was perfectly magnificent. To be seen in all 
 his glory was when the battle commenced. At the 
 sound of the regimental bugle, which, he had learned to 
 recognize, however engaged he might be, he would start 
 suddenly, dart up his head, and then bend it gracefully, 
 anticipating the coining shock; and, when conscious of 
 its reality, his eyes would flash with uncommon luster. 
 Then, with a. silent, excited, animation, he would survey 
 the moving squadrons, and, as they rushed into line, his 
 breast would tremble like the human heart, intensified 
 to warring action between hope and fear an undaunt 
 ed suspense a blending of caution and courage a 
 precipitancy of will, inspiring and sublime. Click 
 would go a thousand locks, and he would turn again, 
 curving that majestic neck, scrutinizing the ranks, and 
 dipping his brow forward to await the crash ; and when 
 it came, rolling fiery thunder over the plain, he would 
 
58 OLD ABE. 
 
 spring up and spread his pinions, uttering his startling 
 scream, heard, felt and gloried in by the desperate sol 
 diers. As the smoke enveloped him, he would appear 
 to be bewildered for a moment, but when it opened 
 again, folding up from the soldiers like a curtain, he 
 would look down intently, as if inquiring, " How goes 
 the battle, boys? What of that last charge? " 
 
 " As the engagement waxed hot," says the Washington Chroni 
 cle, " as the roar of the heavy guns shook the earth, and the rat 
 tle of small arms pierced the dim and sulphurous cloud that 
 hung about the line of battle the Eagle would flap his wings 
 and mingle his voice with the tumult in the fiercest and wildest 
 of his screams." 
 
 "When the battle is commenced," says a newspaper corre 
 spondent, "the Eagle, with spread pinions, jumps up and down 
 on his perch, uttering such wild, fearful screams as an eagle 
 alone can utter. The fiercer and louder the storm of battle, the 
 fiercer, wilder and louder the screams. What a grand history 
 he will have what a grand Eagle he will be a hundred years 
 hence! Pilgrims will come from all parts of the world to see 
 the Eagle that was borne through this, our second war for Inde 
 pendence!" 
 w v 
 
 " When the battle raged most fiercely," sa} r s Harpers Weekly , 
 
 " and the enthusiasm of the soldiers was at its highest, then it 
 was that Old Abe seemed to be in his own element. He flapped 
 his wings in the midst of the furious storm, and, with head 
 erect, faced the flying bullets and the crashing shells with no 
 no signs of fear. Old Abe triumphs with the triumph of the 
 flag, and seems in some measure conscious of his relationship 
 with the emblem of a victorious Republic." 
 
 Col. J. W. Jefferson, who led the gallant Eighth in 
 many of its battles, thus describes the war Eagle on 
 parade and in battle: 
 
 " Old Abe * was with the command in nearly every action. 
 
BEPEKTING AT SIGHT OF THE EAGLE. 59 
 
 He enjoyed the excitement ; and I am convinced, from his pe 
 culiar manner, he was well informed in regard to army move- 
 merits, dress parade and preparations for the march and battle. 
 Upon parade, after he had been a year in the service, he always 
 gave heed to attention! With his head obliquely to the front, 
 his right eye directly turned upon the parade commander, he 
 would listen and obey orders, noting time accurately. After 
 parade had been dismissed, and the ranks were being closed by 
 the sergeants, he would lay aside his soldierly manner, flap his 
 wings, and make himself generally at home. When there was 
 an order to form for battle, he and the colors were first upon the 
 line. His actions upon those occasions were uneasy, turning his 
 head anxiously from right to left, looking to see when the line 
 was completed. Soon as the regiment got ready, faced and put 
 in march, he would assume a steady and quiet demeanor. In 
 battle he was almost constantly flapping his wings, having his 
 mouth wide open, and many a time would scream with wild en- 
 tlmsiasm, This was particularly so at the hard-fought battle of 
 Corinth, when our regiment repulsed and charged, or, you 
 might say, made a counter-charge on Price s famous Missouri 
 brigade." 
 
 44 The Eagle seems," writes David McLane, "to have a dread, 
 like all old soldiers, of heavy musketry; but is in all his glory 
 when the roar of artillery commences. I have had him up to bat 
 teries when they were firing into the rebel ranks as fast as they 
 could load, and then he would scream, spread his wings at every 
 discharge, and revel in the smoke and roar of the big guns." 
 
 Nor was u Old Abe " indifferent to the casualties of 
 war. When a poor soldier was wounded and bleeding, 
 just fallen, he would often give attention and watch his 
 comrade till carried from the field. 
 
 HEPE^TING AT SIGHT OF THE EAGLE. 
 
 The effect of u Old Abe s " personal presence, about 
 this time, was peculiarly salutary. A correspondent of 
 
60 OLD ABE. 
 
 the Chicago Journal, writing from Lane, Illinois, thus 
 pictures a battle (fought May 16, 1863), aimed at a 
 closer encirclement of Yicksburg, that decided the fate 
 of the city: 
 
 "At Champion Hills a terrible struggle tlie gallant regi 
 ment was sorely pressed, and the iron hail poured down on the 
 heroes like a tempest, The Eagle took wing. Up up he 
 soared above the smoke of the battle, his screaming piercing 
 the roar of the strife and nerving each loyal arm with new 
 strength and weakening that of the foe. The latter saw and 
 heard, and recognized an augury of defeat." 
 
 As the Roman -eagle was venerated as an expiatory 
 sacrifice to the guilty soldier, or prisoner, who clasped 
 the lance of the standard bearer, and then was par 
 doned, for it signified repentance and fealty; so the 
 brave Southron, misguided, when standing in the pres 
 ence of our Eagle, felt the smiting of national con 
 science, and there and then the two enemies hailed 
 each other as brothers again. 
 
 Lieut. Lansing, in a letter dated at Aurora, 111., ad 
 dressed to the New York Ledger, gives the following 
 significant incident: 
 
 "The only time I ever saw the Eagle was at the rear of Vicks- 
 burg, just before it was carried on the field at Champion Hills, 
 during which engagement he was seen by thousands of soldier^ 
 both Federal and rebel. There are many stories circulating 
 among the soldiers relative to the sensations and sad, regretful 
 longings for loyalty and peace excited in the rebel soldier s 
 heart, on beholding the American Eagle hovering its avenging 
 army. To listen to them as told by the private soldier, while 
 sitting by his camp-fire, they are intensely interesting to the 
 loyal mind, and I wish I had the power to reproduce them with 
 equal effect; but my pen must acknowledge its weakness. 
 
ASSAULT OK VICKSBUKG. 61 
 
 There is one incident, however, that came under my own obser 
 vation. A large wooden building in the rear of the field at 
 4 Big Black Bridge was filled with rebel wounded, and after our 
 own soldiers wounds were dressed, I was sent thither for duty. 
 While extracting a ball from a rebel s leg, I was much surprised 
 to find it round, and a buck-shot imbedded in the flesh with it, an 
 indication of having come from rebel guns. It had entered at 
 the back part of the thigh, and made its appearance just beneath 
 the skin on the fore-side. As I cut on it and learned its nature, 
 I inquired of the man how he received it for I was impressed 
 with the belief that it was not discharged from a Yankee gun. 
 * Well, sir, said he, I have always been a great lover of French 
 and American history in which the eagle figures so extensively 
 as an emblem of freedom, and when I saw a live eagle floating 
 and fluttering over your soldiers, yesterday, just in front of my 
 regiment, all my old love of American freedom and loyalty re- 
 turned; and shortly after, when we were obliged to run, I be 
 lieved our cause was unjust, and so haunted was I with thoughts 
 of disloyalty, and being an enemy to, and fighting against that 
 eagle, that I determined to desert the rebel cause and come to 
 his protection! The first opportunity I saw was this morning, 
 when I made a rush for your lines, and was fired on by one of 
 
 our men. " 
 
 ASSAULT ON" VICKSBURG. 
 
 Having chained Vicksburg on all sides with batteries 
 by land and water, Gen. Grant ordered a combined 
 charge to commence at 10 o clock on the morning of 
 the 22d of May, 1863. At the very minute the gun 
 boats began their vengeful bombardment, McClernand 
 on the left, McPherson in the center, and Sherman on 
 the right with the Eagle, simultaneously moved on 
 their columns with fixed bayonets. It was " a time that 
 tried men s souls." The enemy burst upon the North 
 men in a general pandemonium of destruction; and 
 yet they advanced, climbing higher for the piles of the 
 
62 OLD ABE. 
 
 slain, treading upon their fallen companions, up furi 
 ously to " enter the lion s angry mouth." The frowning 
 fortifications streamed forth forked lightning, "blast after 
 blast, upon our uncovered ranks below. No enemy 
 was discernible ; only solid earth works, rolling sulphur 
 ous clouds, lurid fires, missiles of death, confronted 
 them. Must they not reach that volcano that crater 
 of fire, and smother it? One hour two hours 
 walking over heaps of the accumulating dead and dy 
 ing, and yet they struggle on; they reach the ditch; 
 they pass it; they scale the ramparts; they plant there 
 the Union flag; a shout goes up, but in an instant it is 
 hushed in the throttle of death, when fresh troops 
 come on to swell the slaughter, and yet the main works 
 of those Southrons, so worthy of our steel, yield not an 
 inch. 
 
 Meanwhile the Eagle clinched his claws fast to the 
 grooves of his perch, and, standing under the proud 
 colors, bent his head, soldier-like, on a listening angle, 
 his fierce eyes reflecting the glare of the battle, his 
 wings outstretched, his voice heard, as oft before, cheer 
 ing his compatriots to the shock for conquest. In the 
 general wildness and confusion, Homaston, rushing to 
 keep at the head of the company, central in the regi 
 ment, accidentally stepped on a slippery canebrake, and 
 fell; when, in an instant, the Eagle, shocked, doubtless, 
 by the concussion of a bullet that glanced with a quiv 
 ering pressure on his breast, mounted up with a desper 
 ate spring for a flight; but the Bearer held fast to the 
 perch, whilst "Abe," at the other end of the cord, hav 
 ing gained great speed, lifted him from the ground. 
 
ASSAULT ON YICKSBURG. 63 
 
 dragged him forward with such an impetus that it 
 brought him abreast against a rough log, jerking back 
 the bird and hurling them both together into the brush 
 on the other side. The blow stunned Homaston, and 
 " nearly knocked the breath from his body, 11 for he lay 
 there apparently dead, for a few moments. Whether 
 we call it providence or not, that Eagle s flight saved the 
 life of his Bearer. Had he not fallen at that instant, 
 the well aimed shot of the enemy at those conspicuous 
 standards, pouring right there in waves of fire, would 
 have killed Homaston, and thrown the company into 
 confusion. Lieut. Thomas B. Butler, gallantly com 
 manding, had in the outset given Serg. Adolph Pitch 
 special instruction to "watch the fate of Homaston," 
 and, if he got wounded or killed, to " be sure and secure 
 the Eagle. 1 Seeing him fall, and noting the few 
 moments of suspense, the Sergeant rushed toward him, 
 just as he revived, and, finding him not killed, returned 
 to his duty. Placing the Eagle upon his perch again, 
 Homaston hurried forward to his post on the left of the 
 regimental colors, borne then by Sergt. Myron Briggs, 
 and with him, Lieut. Butler and others, stood under a 
 large tree in front and in plain sight of the rebel bat 
 teries, not a hundred rods distant. Evidently espying 
 the Eagle and colors, the rebels poured a special fire of 
 grape upon the daring group, and sent a well aimed 
 shell, which, hitting the top of the tree, cut it off, 
 crashing to the ground, and burst with a horrid scat 
 tering, the pieces of which tore many holes in the flag, 
 and killed several, among whom were Lieut. W. D. 
 Chapman, of Company F, and Capt. Stephen Estee, of 
 
64: OLD ABE. 
 
 Company H. The Eagle sprung for a flight again, but 
 was held fast, and both he and his Bearer escaped un 
 harmed. Lowering the colors and Eagle, they lay 
 down under that shivered tree expecting annihilation, 
 but, resolving to die at the best price, continued to fire 
 upon the enemy, when an Adjutant rode briskly to the 
 spot and announced the order to u go forward into the 
 ravine^ and avoid the useless slaughter. 1 The regiment 
 recoiled over swaths of the slain; but Butler and his 
 company, in the dire confusion that followed, finding a 
 perfect jam of men intercepted a passage to the right, 
 swung over an abattis hugely piled up in sharp, threat 
 ening points; and on this they retreated a third of a 
 mile in full sight and range of the enemy in front, 
 firing incessantly at the dauntless boys who moved with 
 the utmost difficulty and peril, carrying their Eagle 
 with them safely to the ravine below. It was indeed 
 an eagle leap from a maelstrom of consuming fire. 
 
 As the crowd gathered in the ravine, a soldier, chuck 
 ling over his trophy and running with the rest in high 
 glee, brought in his hand a live rabbit which he caught 
 in the bushes, when the whole company, forgetful of 
 self, exclaimed "Let s have him for Abe!" "Here, 
 Abe!" said the sweating soldier, "you ve well earned 
 this fellow," and threw it to the perch, the Eagle catch 
 ing it in his claws, and there in the raging battle, as 
 shell and cannon were playing freely overhead, he de 
 voured his prey, heedless of noise and excitement. 
 How much like a soldier! His self-possessed demeanor 
 pleased the boys vastly, it was so brave and military. 
 
 Leaving the Eagle to enjoy his meal, his Bearer took 
 
SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 65 
 
 several canteens to fill with water at a spring directly 
 under the enemy s guns, and whilst busy at his duty, a 
 shell fell with its thundering crash near him; one of 
 the exploded pieces, hitting his canteen, dashed it to 
 pieces; but, paying no attention to it, he deliberately 
 filled the rest. " You take it cool, Ed," said a waiting 
 boy, standing by. " Yes, cool place, this, 1 replied Ed ; 
 u but run and see if Abe is hurt!" The pet bird was 
 still uninjured, gorging on his rabbit. So it was every 
 where; the soldiers forgot personal peril in love of the 
 Eagle; any day the whole regiment would have fought 
 for him. Sharing alike the dangers of march and 
 battle, the Eagle was companion and warrior, sign and 
 seal of victory. " Run and see if the Eagle is hurt," is 
 the earnest expression of a soldier s undying attach 
 ment and devotion to the liberty which the noble bird 
 so grandly emblemized. 
 
 On carefully examining " Old Abe," Homaston found 
 he was hit probably with a spent Minie ball, and natu 
 rally concluded it occurred when he lifted him up and 
 flung him against the log. The ball passed down his 
 neck and breast, cutting off the feathers in its track. 
 Had it glanced the other way, the proud bird would 
 have fallen ; but being shot in the direction of the lay 
 of the feathers, as he faced the foe, they saved his life. 
 Another ball passed through the web of his left wing, 
 making a round hole in it. He is a scarred veteran to 
 this day. 
 
 SURRENDER OF VICKSBURG. 
 
 Having foiled every strategy of the enemy to place 
 the besiegers between the fires of Pemberton and John- 
 5 
 
66 OLD ABE. 
 
 ston, our war-bird, ever as potent in battle as the ark of 
 Israel, flew with his peers to Young s Point, near Vicks- 
 burg. Here he was one of the " sharpshooters," under 
 the enemy s fire from the shore batteries. Many a poor 
 soldier fell ; but, though constantly exposed, no harm 
 touched the charmed Eagle. For forty-six days, the 
 boys had been without tents, subject to every possible 
 kind of hardship and peril, without change of clothing, 
 and many without shoes, being feet-blistered and bleed 
 ing ; and, for sixteen days, the average to a man per 
 day was but one cracker ; but not a word of complaint 
 was uttered by a single soldier in the command. 
 Young s Point being a malarious locality, a large pro 
 portion of the regiment was sick ; but, under the skill 
 ful management and fidelity of Surgeon Murta, and the 
 inspiriting influences of the Eagle, ever reminding 
 them of the holy cause for which they were suffering, 
 they conquered almost the pestilence. What but the 
 talismanic Eagle could beacon hope and triumphant 
 freedom amid destitution and sickness, when fiery bat 
 teries were also vomiting upon them their contents of 
 destruction? It was at this dangerous point that Pem- 
 berton s forces, in their mad precipitancy to escape from 
 Grant s coils, made their last attempt to cross the river 
 in flatboats ; but Eagle eyes were on them, and when 
 they pushed forth on that desperate alternative, that in 
 vulnerable brigade closed up the gaps with a destructive 
 front that drove the enemy back to his recluse. It was 
 like " Abe s " economical reserve of his prey for another 
 occasion of need ; and speedily did that occasion present 
 itself by a flag-of-truce from Pemberton, and a meeting 
 
TTHTEXED TO THE SEA. 67 
 
 with Grant under that memorable oak tree to stipulate 
 terms of surrender, followed the next day, by the entree 
 of our army, Gen. John A. Logan at the head, with 
 " stars and stripes," with streamers from the fleet, with 
 martial music, with booming cannon, with a huzza which 
 our Eagle heard and echoed in a war-scream from his 
 post of duty, as his regiment joined its cheer in that 
 grand jubilee which a nation at home celebrated with 
 Te Deums of thanksgiving. We are apt to credit great 
 victories to the Generals, but notice not the faithful 
 privates that win them. Let us do justice, even to an 
 Eagle. Though a private without pay, he inspired the 
 army to health amid pestilences ; and, by his prowess, 
 evoked unfaltering daring, that French impetuosity, 
 that shiver of patriotic nerve which delivered the city 
 to its rightful owners ; let our war-bird, then, be men 
 tioned in history as the inaugural of that eventful cele 
 bration 011 the 4th of July, 1863. 
 
 With an acumen characteristic of the American mind, 
 the Congress of the Southern Confederacy foresaw, that 
 a possession of the Lower Mississippi would be virtual 
 ly the establishment of a separate government; and 
 with a wonderful alacrity was a policy, aiming at this 
 result, executed early in the war by fortifying the high 
 bluffs of both shores at the most commanding and im 
 pregnable points to prevent northern navigation, and 
 by organizing a land force sufficient to baffle a Federal 
 attempt to break the blockade. When the Union army 
 entered upon its conquest, the Confederacy held the 
 
68 OLD ABE. 
 
 country from Columbus down to New Orleans. To 
 open the Mississippi was the problem. The rivals were 
 of equal bravery; the difference was in the righteousness 
 of the cause. Of the strategical movements it is need 
 less to speak here, save that, when the fleet of Farragut, 
 conquering the mouth of the river, reducing New Or 
 leans to order under Benj. F. Butler, combined with the 
 fleet of Foote, moving down the river from the North, 
 both backed by their " three hundred thousand more," 
 under the leadership of such men as Banks, Pope, Mc- 
 Clernand, McPherson, Logan, Stanley, Blair, Washburn, 
 Buell, Mitchell, and others of like calibre, when the 
 northern wing, after several experiments, at length 
 gained the rear of Vicksburg, under the command of 
 Maj. Gen. Grant, subduing the city by a deliberate 
 siege, necessarily followed by the surrender of Port 
 Hudson to Gen. Banks, only four days after, then the 
 " Father of Waters, 1 blockaded and chained by rebel 
 batteries for more than two years, " ran unvexed to the 
 sea; " then this u possession of America," that deprived 
 the enemy of sustenance from the west, became the 
 initial of Sherman s Great March to the Atlantic, which 
 bisected the Confederacy east and west, leaving the in 
 vincible Grant the honor of finishing the rebellion in 
 Richmond. Thus our emblem-warrior of the dark wing 
 " Old Abe " was a conspicuous actor in the most 
 gigantic aud far reaching strategy of generalship ever 
 known in military annals; and in it all, moving with 
 his column in every possible direction, unconscious of 
 this magnificent design, he was hailed as the swift mes 
 senger of justice by all that proud and victorious army. 
 
CHASTISING THE ILLINOIS SOLDIER. 69 
 
 The triumph of our arms was purchased at the cost of 
 41 the flower of the North," at the cost of brave hearts 
 in the sunny South though misguided till our mu 
 tual weeping rose to Heaven for mercy; but, as our la 
 mented Lincoln said on the battle-field of Gettysburg, 
 
 "From these honored dead take increased devotion to the 
 cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion, and 
 their high resolve, that the dead shall not have died in vain; that 
 the nation shall, under God, have a new birth of freedom, and 
 that the government of the people, by the people, and for the 
 people, shall not perish from the earth." 
 
 CHASTISING THE ILLINOIS SOLDIEE. 
 
 While " Old Abe s " regiment was stationed at Mes 
 sengers Ford, the latter part of July, there protecting 
 property and life against guerilla hordes, a squad of the 
 93d Illinois came one day purposely to see the Eagle. 
 Having heard of his dislike of strangers, one of them 
 was quite shy, careful not to approach within the length 
 of his cord; but the boys of the Eighth, ever on the alert 
 for fun, importuned him to throw up his cap and u see 
 how nice the Eagle will catch it." The plumaged pat 
 riot was then in a tree surveying his guests with severe 
 scrutiny. Up went the cap, when " Abe," catching it 
 with his claws, glanced down at the soldier with a 
 roguish whistle, and trampled it under his feet, hover 
 ing and rustling his wings, and then holding it there, 
 tore it up with his beak, flinging the shreds down with 
 a disdainful " How do you like to insult an Eagle, 
 sir?" Soon after this incident, while "Abe" was on 
 his perch surveying the trappings of war, a negro passed 
 under him very carelessly, when, quick as a dart, he 
 
70 OLD ABE. 
 
 reached down and snatched off the grimacing darkie s cap, 
 tore it up, chuckling over the ruins. He wished to 
 teach the negro, whom he came to emancipate, a 
 proper deference to superiors. 
 
 " TAKING A GLASS ! " 
 
 " Old Abe s " honor was not always at par. A few 
 days after, while the regiment was on picket guard at 
 Bear Creek, he followed the example of certain dignita 
 ries of the army got drunk ! A soldier, having 
 bought some peach brandy, poured out a saucerful, 
 left it a few moments on the ground, and turned to at 
 tend to some camp duty, when u Abe," always on the 
 watch for spoils, " took a glass," and, in a little while, 
 was intoxicated after the usual style of hard drinkers. 
 He lolled his head and tried to vomit, flapped his wings 
 heavily upon the ground, rolled over, and behaved in an 
 unbecoming manner for an Eagle ! 
 
 BED EIYER EXPEDITION. 
 
 In September, Mr. Homaston resigned his responsible 
 office, when the gallant Lieut. Butler, then command 
 ing, conferred the honor upon John Buckhardt, of Eau 
 Claire, who was initiated into the military art of bear 
 ing the Eagle in McPherson s and Logan s victorious 
 charge upon the enemy at Brownsville, October 14, 1863. 
 
 After various oscillating marches in every important 
 movement of the campaign, "Abe" was next seen 
 proudly marching with Gen. Sherman s army, on the 
 27th of February, 1864, into Central Mississippi, as the 
 Roman heraldry of success. Arriving at Canton, his regi- 
 
BED RIVER EXPEDITION. 71 
 
 ment was suddenly ordered back to Vicksburg to guard 
 it against its being retaken by the enemy. It was a 
 precipitate march on foot of one hundred and fourteen 
 miles, in seventy hours, with the swiftness of an Eagle 
 in pursuit of the hawk. Pestilence, fatigue, hunger, 
 battle, had depleted the ranks. The loyal bird missed 
 familiar companions at almost every adventure ; yet his 
 spirit was unconquerable like that of his compatriots. 
 At Vicksburg, fresh recruits awoke new vigor. It is 
 said " Old Abe " actually manifested a decided pleasure 
 while scanning the men on dress parade. Soldierly in 
 his instincts, he seemed to understand that the war was 
 to be carried to the bitter end to the last dying gasp 
 of an enslaving rebellion. 
 
 That army had conquered the Mississippi, but one of 
 its main arteries Red River remained blockaded by 
 the enemy. Should the " Eagles " advance, or have a 
 furlough to which they were entitled ? " Country 
 first!" said all; " every tributary even shall be re 
 stored ! " Such was " Old Abe s " vote, if there were 
 anything significant of consent in his warlike aspect. 
 Under command of Gen. A. J. Smith, they embarked 
 on transports, the 10th of March, 1861, with a force of 
 20,000, accompanied by Admiral Porter s fleet, down 
 the Mississippi, up the Red River, up the Atchafalaya, 
 to Simmsport, Louisiana, where a portion of the troops 
 landed, marching four miles to Fort Scurry, situated at 
 the junction of Yellow Bayou with Bayou de Glaise, 
 and struck an effectual blow at the enemy the Eighth 
 being in the advance with their invincible Eagle. Fol 
 lowing the Bayou de Glaise, on the 14th, they marched 
 
72 OLD ABE. 
 
 over a charming country and were greeted with joy l>y 
 the French or Creole people. As they displa} T ed white 
 flags and waved their handkerchiefs, " Old Abe," accus 
 tomed mainly to menacing or scornful attitudes from 
 the Southern populace, eyed their demonstrations with 
 his sharp eyes without a response, as if to say, " Who 
 knows whether you are loyal?" But, when his regi 
 ment cheered, he lustily flapped his wings. Advancing 
 to Fort de Russy on the Red River which the spring 
 before destroyed our fine iron-clad " Queen of the 
 West " they immediately invested it, on the 15th, and, 
 by assault, carried it in twenty minutes, with the Eagle- 
 scream heard upon the ramparts. Here, joined by the 
 fleet, they proceeded the next morning up the river, 
 fifty miles, to Alexandria, where a request was made by 
 several regimental officers and captains for company C 
 to transfer the Eagle to the regiment. u He is a nation 
 al bird," was the argument, " and should be regimental." 
 Quite an animated disputation ensued, ending in a writ 
 ten statement of the original claims of the company, 
 which was sent to Gen. Mower, who decided in favor of 
 the company as the lawful owner. 
 
 YANKEE TRICK. 
 
 While waiting the arrival of Gen. Banks at Alexan 
 dria, the "Eagles," in the second brigade under Gen. 
 Mower, " marched, on the 21st, along Bayou Rapide, 
 over very muddy roads, a distance of twenty miles, to 
 Henderson s Hill, where the enemy was discovered in 
 strong position, defended by artillery " (see Adj. Gay- 
 lord s Report for 1864, p. 36). Finding it impractical 
 
YANKEE TRICK. 73 
 
 to attack the enemy in front, the brigade made a detour 
 of fifteen miles, through cane swamps, where the enemy 
 supposed a passage could not be effected. It was then 
 midnight, and " dark as Erebus." Stealthily they moved. 
 Quick a single note of the Eagle s whistle it was a 
 sign, "Be on the guard !" What was it ? A step ap 
 proached. It was a courier from the rebel fort, bearing 
 dispatches from the commander to. Gen. Dick Taylor, 
 then only four miles distant with a force of 12,000 
 strong, asking for re enforcements to " repulse the Yan 
 kees in front." The man, supposing at first in the dark 
 ness that he was with Confederate soldiers, divulged the 
 rebel countersign. He was captured and forced to lead 
 the " Eagle army " into the fort by the talisman of that 
 countersign the very dark our Providence, when 
 three hundred and fifty strong, with four guns, four hun 
 dred horses, and a supply of ammunition and stores, were 
 captured. It was a descent of the American Eagle upon 
 his prey ; the rebels cursed and swore at the u Yankee 
 trick," as " Abe " screamed his war-cry of victory. 
 
 Returning the next day to Alexandria, the " Eagles " 
 were in motion again on the 26th, traveling thirty-three 
 miles on Red River to Cotile, where they made a junction 
 with Gen. Banks army, and, on the 2d of April, embark 
 ing on transports, found the enemy, eighty miles farther 
 up, in force at Grand Ecore. Here another question of 
 dispute arose as to what company should carry the Eagle, 
 for company C was assigned the post of Provost Guard 
 at Division Head Quarters. It was finally tendered 
 Company I, with the regimental colors the only in 
 stance when he was out of the hands of company C 
 
74 OLD ABE. 
 
 during tlie whole war and carried by Mr. Buckhardt 
 through all the rest of that expedition. 
 
 COVERING THE RETREAT. 
 
 It is a remarkable fact, that even in retreat, when 
 hard pressed by the enemy, that part of the army in 
 which the Eagle fought with his braves by his screams 
 and furious wings, was also irresistible in a contesting 
 battle. At Grand Ecore, Gen. Banks army commenced 
 its more vigorous operations. Detachments of the 
 Eighth were deployed as skirmishers, the rebels retiring 
 with slight show of resistance, as if to lead into their 
 jaws of destruction. 
 
 "At this time the river was rapidly falling, endangering their 
 communications, and Gen. Banks army having passed on in 
 advance towards Pleasant Hill and Mansfield, for Shreveport, 
 Gen. Smith s forces [Eagle Corps] marched in -the same direc 
 tion, on the morning of the 7th, and having toiled upwards of 
 thirty miles through rain and over horrible roads, arrived on 
 the following day at Pleasant Hill. During the early part of the 
 day, a portion of Gen. Banks army had been defeated at Sabiue 
 Cross Roads, and driven back in the direction of Pleasant Hill; 
 when Gen. Smith s army was at once placed in position to rally 
 our retreating forces, and check the advance of the enemy, who 
 attacked our lines vigorously, on the 9th, and after a severe con 
 test, lasting four hours, was repulsed at all points, and driven 
 from the field. The Eighth, having been posted to prevent a 
 flank movement of the enemy, was double-quicked to the front, 
 and joined in the pursuit. After the battle, a retreat was ordered, 
 and the army returned, on the llth, to Grand Ecore." Adju 
 tant General s Report, 1864." 
 
 " If we must retreat, let it be a victory," seemed to 
 be " Old Abe s" motto; and "No surrender!" was his 
 
COVERING THE EETREAT. 75 
 
 watchword; and well did lie illustrate it during the 
 remainder of the retreat. As his compatriots fired back, 
 now on a rush, now on the deliberate aim, now flying 
 to gain a shelter of defense, our Eagle, furious and on 
 fire, scanned friend and foe through the chinks of the 
 curling smoke, cheering his own with the splendor 
 of his example. It was but to look at that Eagle, 
 raised aloft, with wings flapping, with eyes of lightning, 
 with voice like the Indian warwhoop, and know that the 
 augury was hopeful and their cause was just. This 
 rendered them unconquerable even in disaster. Cover 
 ing the retreat for a distance of eighty miles, they held 
 a bridge against the enemy, on the 24th, at Nachi- 
 toches; in the evening of the same day they fought 
 him at Clouterville, driving him back in confusion, as 
 the army made further advance in that retreat. Day 
 and night, our Eagle was on the march and battle, the 
 inspiriting and unfaltering messenger of the invincible 
 Eighth, that saved Gen. Banks 1 army from utter rout, 
 till safely arrived at Alexandria, 011 the 26th, sub 
 sisting on short rations, weary, repulsed in the main, 
 but not disheartened. The evacuation of Red River 
 being now determined upon, the "Eagle-wing of the 
 Army," under Gen. Smith, moved up Bayou Rapide, 
 u Old Abe " on his heraldic post, to check the enemy 
 during the construction of the celebrated dam, by 
 which, through the engineering skill of Col. Bailey, of 
 the 4th Wisconsin, our fleet was saved. On the 3d of 
 May, the Eagle was with his skirmishers, covering the 
 front of the army from Bayou Roberts to Bayou La 
 Moore, constantly under fire till the 13th, when the 
 
76 OLD ABE. 
 
 retreat of our whole army was resumed. On the left 
 of the retreating column could be seen our Northern 
 Eagle of tireless wing, turning, backward wheeling, 
 advancing, almost shooting the enemy with those 
 war-lit eyes; and, as his braves fought on, over all those 
 weary miles, back to Fort de Russy, resting only two 
 hours there, on to the battle of Maysville, to the battle 
 of Mansura, to the battle at Calhoun s Plantation, to 
 the battle at Bayou de Glaise, to the battle at Atcha- 
 falaya, he was indeed a veteran soldier in example of 
 fortitude and daring, ever the sign above the heads of 
 the moving columns of the eventual triumph of our 
 arms. Crossing the Atchafalaya, pressing to the mouth 
 of that river, on the 21st, our uncoiiquered Eagle was 
 at last safe with the surviving members of his regiment 
 on board a transport, landing at Vicksburg, on the 24th. 
 Learning that the enemy, inflated at their seeming suc 
 cess, was attempting to blockade the Mississippi again, 
 the regiment and " Old Abe " rushed with other forces 
 to Lake Chicot, and, on the 6th of June, blasted the 
 design, and left the river in its " free course to run and 
 be glorified." The gallant Col. J. W. Jefferson said, in 
 his report to Gov. Lewis, of this continuous battle of 
 twenty-seven days: 
 
 " Half the time my men have been on short rations, and 
 no opportunity of getting clothing for them in the past 
 three months. My noble soldiers are barefooted and in rags, 
 nevertheless the health and efficiency of the men were never 
 better. The campaign is a failure, but in every instance that 
 our army (Smith s) has had occasion to right the enemy, we 
 have whipped him and driven him in disorder. The regiment 
 has been first to the front and last to leave it" 
 
CENTENNIAL BIRD OF STATE. 77 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CENTENNIAL BIRD OF STATE. 
 
 With malice toward none, with charity for all, with firmness in the 
 rieht, as God gives us to see the right, let us strive on to finish the work we 
 are in, to bind up the nation s wounds, and care for him who shall have 
 borne the battle, and for his widow and his orphans ; to do all which may 
 achieve and cherish a just and lasting peace among ourselves and with nil 
 nations." ABRAHAM LINCOLN S INAUGURAL OP 1865. 
 
 YEARS of war three of them oh, how terrible to 
 endure! and yet the Union was not saved; there was a 
 more urgent call than ever for recruits, and not in vain 
 was the call for re-enlistment. They were patriots. 
 They would blush with shame to delay the segis of 
 peace. Noble soldiers! Up to June, 1864, six hundred 
 and thirty-one were able to do duty. About three hun 
 dred of these re-enlisted, each having a furlough of thir 
 ty days. By battles and diseases, two hundred had gone 
 down to patriot graves. But what joy in the hearts of 
 those living veterans as they thought of home what 
 joy admixed with sorrow as they contemplated their 
 country s redemption from tyranny, purchased at so dear 
 a price ! 
 
 On the 19th of June, 1864, those war-scarred veter 
 ans, with their renowned Eagle, left Memphis and ar 
 rived at Chicago on the 21st, welcomed at the Soldiers 1 
 Rest. 
 
78 OLD ABE. 
 
 " The ramparts are all filled with men and women, 
 With peaceful men and women, that send onwards 
 Kisses and welcoming upon the air 
 Which they make breezy with aiFectionate gestures. 
 From all the joyous towers ring out the merry bells, 
 The joyous vespers of a bloody day. 
 O happy man! O fortunate! for whom 
 The well-known door, the faithful arms are open, 
 The faithful, tender arms, with mute embracing." 
 
 The State authorities in Madison received a telegram 
 from Chicago, stating that the Eighth Wisconsin Vet 
 erans, numbering two hundred and forty strong, would 
 arrive at that city on the 22d. They were received with 
 a most cordial welcome. The Madison State Journal, 
 of the 23d, thus sums up the imposing scene: 
 
 u The reenlisted veterans of the 8th Wisconsin regiment arrived 
 on the afternoon train, Tuesday, and after a good dinner prepared 
 for them at Mosher s Railroad House, marched up town to the 
 Capitol Park, where the reception took place a little after six 
 o clock. A large concourse of citizens had assembled to witness 
 the spectacle. Flags were displayed along the streets, the bells 
 of the city rung, and a national salute fired. 
 
 " The live Eagle, Old Abe, and the tattered and riddled colors 
 of the regiment attracted all eyes. Since we first saw him at 
 Camp Randall, in 1861, Old Abe has grown considerably, and 
 has acquired dignity and ease of bearing. He sits on his perch 
 undisturbedxby any noise or tumult, the impersonation of 
 haughty defiance. He has shared all the long marches of this 
 regiment, including Sherman s great raid and the compaign up 
 Red River, and passed through a great number of battles, in 
 which he has once or twice had some of his feathers shot away, 
 but has never received a scratch from a rebel bullet sufficient to 
 draw blood. He is the pet of the whole regiment." 
 
 After the regiment had been drawn up in the Park, 
 Gov. Lewis being then absent, the soldiers were elo- 
 
RETURN TO EAU CLAIRE. 79 
 
 quently addressed by Gen. Lucius Fairchild, Hon. 3. 
 H. Carpenter, Hon. Chauncey Abbott and Adj. Gen. Au 
 gustus Gaylord. 
 
 Nor was our Eagle forgotten in the general hilarity. 
 An object of majestic interest, well had he fulfilled the 
 augury of victory, three years before heralded in that 
 city: 
 
 " We welcome your Eagle, that National emblem, whose fame 
 has been widely spread and become historic through pen and 
 song. I have often wondered what sensations must have filled 
 the mind of rebels as you have borne him proudly with your 
 regiment, and while they remember the present attitude they 
 maintain toward our government, one would think that the very 
 sight would cause them to hide their heads in shame. Bear him 
 ever aloft with your advancing shout, and let the rebels remem 
 ber yes, teach them that 
 
 Ne er shall the rage of the conflict be o er, 
 
 And ne er shall the warm blood of life cease to flow, 
 And still mid the smoke of the battle shall soar, 
 
 Our Eagle till scattered and fled be the foe. 11 
 
 " At the conclusion of Gen. Fail-child s remarks, Col. Jefferson 
 briefly responded, returning the thanks of the regiment for the 
 cordial welcome that had been extended to them, and proposed 
 thne cheers and a big Eagle for the Union, the President of 
 the United States, and the State officers of Wisconsin. 
 cheers were given with great enthusiasm by the boys of the 
 Eighth, the Eagle evidently understanding his pa rt, and at the 
 third hurrah, stretching himself to his full height, and expand- 
 ing his wings to the utmost." 
 
 RETURN" TO EAU CLAIRE. 
 
 Early on the morning of Sunday, June 26, a remnant 
 of company C with " Old Abe 1 arrived at Eau Claire, 
 and was greeted with booming cannon, martial music, 
 patriotic songs, and an abundant feast. It was a greet- 
 
80 OLD ABE. 
 
 ing of civilian and soldier, a welcome of gratitude, a 
 kindling of the memories of the heroic dead, a rejuve 
 nation of hope to our bleeding country. The Eagle, 
 assigned a spacious yard under a shading oak, received 
 his old acquaintances with his usual dignity so much 
 dignity, that scarcely anyone dared. to touch even a 
 kingly feather. How had he honored his native State ! 
 How proud were the Eau Clairians of that monarch 
 bird ! The Eau Claire Free Press thus speaks of those 
 soldiers and their Eagle : 
 
 " It will be remembered, that nearly three years ago, a band of 
 the stalwart sons of Wisconsin, numbering one hundred strong, 
 under command of Capt. J. E. Perkins who fell while gal 
 lantly leading his men in the battle of Farmington, Miss. left 
 their homes in the Chippewa Valley, and all that was dear to 
 them, and joined the Eighth regiment at Madison, to defend our 
 nation from the grasp of rebellion. A coufch upon the tented 
 field, the hardship and dangers of battle, the diseases incident to 
 camp life, were willingly accepted for the sake of country. 
 They swore that they would defend our national banner to the 
 last drop of their blood ; and they have kept that oath. 
 
 " The company has been filled up several times, and now only 
 fifty-six are left of the gallant band. Excepting the few dis 
 charged, the rest are numbered with the honored dead. Thirty 
 have reenlisted, thinking their services are as much needed now 
 as when the rebellion first broke out. All honor is due them for 
 their patriotism. They bring with them the Eagle, whence the 
 regiment derives its name. 
 
 * * rpjjg Drave O i3 Eighth has withstood the repeated 
 charges of rebel infantry, the daring clashes of their cavalry, the 
 galling fire of their musketry never flinching. The Eagle is 
 returned to us unharmed. Well may Eau Claire be proud 
 proud that she has a representative company in the Eagle Regi 
 ment proud that the Eagle, so famous, is a native of the Chip 
 pewa Valley." 
 
CELEBRATION AT CHIPPEWA FALLS. 81 
 
 CELEBRATION AT CHIPPEWA FALLS. 
 
 In a few days " Old Abe " visited his own county 
 Chippewa where he heard again the mellow flow 
 of the waters that kiss the ferns of his wild home, caught 
 with fiery glances the sunlight that dusts with gold the 
 lakes where " Chief Sky " snatched from his eyrie our 
 plumaged hero and gave him to the " pale-face," as 
 if to indicate an equal claim to a protective freedom 
 thus emblemized to his " sable brother." On the 
 4th of July, 1864, the Union people celebrated our Day 
 of Independence at Chippewa Falls. Several soldiers 
 with " Old Abe " were present. A huge wigwam was 
 constructed, in which was served a great feast, the pro 
 ceeds being for our suffering soldiers. Headed by a 
 band of music and the Eagle on his old perch, followed 
 by his compatriots in arms, the enthusiastic procession 
 marched through the streets; it was inspiring. A cor 
 respondent, writing about it, says: 
 
 " The boys of the Eighth, with their pet bird, honored the 
 stand. The dignified and noble looking creature remained quiet 
 until Mr. Barrett addressed the veterans and their Eagle, when he, 
 (the Eagle), turned his head with admirable grace, and with a 
 most intelligent expression in his eyes, listened attentively to the 
 peroration, and, when it was finished, with his beak he smoothed 
 down the feathers of his breast, manifesting great pride at the 
 attention bestowed upon him. At the close of the speech, three 
 cheers were given for the old starry flag, three for the brave 
 boys of the Eighth, and three for the War-Eagle, and instantly 
 that Eagle, catching the enthusiasm, rose upon his perch, 
 flapped his wings, and with a look expressive of delight, uttered a 
 sharp, shrill cry, calling forth the applause of the excited mul 
 titude." 
 
82 OLD ABE. 
 
 "OLD ABE" A GENTLEMAN PASSENGER. 
 
 Furlough days having expired, the regiment on differ 
 ent routes hurried back to Memphis, about the first of 
 August. It will be remembered that about that time a 
 Union patriot did not calculate courtesy to our coun 
 try s enemy against principle; that the bravery of a 
 soldier rose to audacity, when the occasion warranted it. 
 Confident of " Old Abe s " rights, Mr. Buckhardt took 
 him on board a passenger car of the Illinois Central Rail 
 road, amid the stare and cheer of hundreds. The con 
 ductor soon appeared, and seeing the bird occupying 
 half a seat, demanded double fare. The Bearer refusing 
 to pay only for himself, high words ensued with con 
 siderable swearing. 
 
 " Pay for that thing, or I ll put you out! " again mut 
 tered the enraged conductor, placing his hand with 
 heavy force upon the Bearer s shoulder. 
 
 " Te Eakel is von free pirdt free Merigan Eakel; 
 he ride free." 
 
 Matters grew squally; the conductor seized him by 
 the collar, when, with a rush and a menace, several 
 soldiers circled around John and his Eagle, demanding 
 " fair play for Old Abe. r Seeing this unlocked for 
 motion, and realizing the fact that nearly all the pas 
 sengers sympathized with the German, the conductor, 
 showed his valor by sliding backwards with an adroit 
 expertness out into another car. 
 
 " Copperhead ! " shouted the boys with a laugh ; 
 "might as well fight such sneaks as rebs, John, eh?" 
 The result was the soldier-bird rode the entire route 
 
BALD-HEADED VETERAN". 83 
 
 as a u gentlemen passenger," much to the satisfaction 
 and amusement of the Union friends on board. 
 
 BALD HEADED VETERAN. 
 
 Soldiers left at Memphis could scarcely recognize 
 " Old Abe," he had changed so by his northern trip. 
 In fact he had become white headed ; so they called him 
 " Bald Headed Veteran." Indian traders say the head 
 and neck feathers of this species of eagle, for the first 
 three and four years, are dark, after which they gradu 
 ally turn to white. This agrees with the fact stated of 
 " Old Abe," for at the time of his furlough, he was be 
 tween three and four years old. 
 
 Maria S. Cummings, in the October number of "Our 
 Young Folks," for 1866, giving an outline of " Old Abe s" 
 career, draws the following beautiful moral about what 
 she styles " Our Bald Headed Representative : " 
 
 " He belongs to the Bald-Heacl, or more correctly the White- 
 Headed famil3 r , a species that in some respects are all young vet- 
 terans, inasmuch as, at three or four years old, their head-feathers 
 which were originally brown, have become snowy white, giving 
 them a dignified and venerable appearance. The other name of 
 Bald-Head is derived from a spot between the beak and eyes, 
 which is almost wholly destitute of feathers, so that the Bald 
 Eagle, which is the emblem of America, assumes in his youth 
 the honors which belong to a bald head and a hoary crown, 
 although one would think he might afford to wait longer for 
 them, as the eagle is a very long-lived bird, instances having 
 been known of his living to be a hundred years old. 
 
 " And so with the country of which the Bald-Head is the rep 
 resentative. Although America is a young nation, she has had 
 so much experience, and has progressed so much faster than the 
 nations of the Old World, that, if she could see herself in the 
 mirror of history, she would appear with a fresh, ruddy face, and 
 
84: OLD ABE. 
 
 a strong frame, but a little wrinkled and bald about the temples, 
 and with hair which care and anxiety have turned prematurely 
 gray. But long life to her, and a high place among the nations! 
 and if she too has become a veteran in her youth, may it be with 
 her as with our Eagle, only the courage, strength, and wisdom 
 which she has acquired on her many hard-fought fields that enti 
 tle her to the name." 
 
 " OLD ABE ? S " LAST BATTLE. 
 
 Rallying again around the flag and the Eagle, in Gen. 
 A. J. Smith s division, there was a rush, August 13th, 
 1864, after Forrest and his hosts. Crossing the Talla- 
 hatchie River, and skirmishing near Abbeville "Old 
 Abe," on his war-shield, carried by Mr. Buckhardt 
 the Union army met the enemy at Hurricane Creek, 
 Miss. Having two batteries on a distant eminence, to 
 back his advance, Gen. Joseph Mower, who had so long 
 distinguished himself, led his faithful brigade within 
 a mile of the hill that peered up a hundred feet above 
 the open field. The batteries of the rival forces played 
 upon each other until night, when, under its cover, our 
 cavalry by an expert movement, flanked the rebel lines 
 on both sides, leaving the front open for a charge. On 
 the} rushed, intercepted by a muddy creek, and thick 
 clump of alders, but forming on the other side, the steady 
 columns moved like a tornado, the " Eagles," wheeling 
 to the back of the hill, when " Old Abe," again in all 
 his glory, with eye of lightning, with head and neck 
 elongated to swiftest dash, with a whistle quick and 
 startling to nerve and pluck, charged with them up, up 
 the ramparts, flinging the enemy off as with the sweep 
 of an Eagle s wing, frightened, dismayed, broken, nar 
 rowly escaping at a fearful loss. As the dead and 
 
OLD ABE S LAST BATTLE. 85 
 
 wounded lay side by side brothers there, as by right 
 they should be, at the portal of death the very ground 
 trembled for the shout of the victors, while the scream 
 of the war-bird was heard clear and distinct amid the 
 general carnival of groans and rejoicings. 
 
 This was " Old Abe s" last battle in the Great Rebel 
 lion. It was the seal of his perpetual conquests. He 
 was the hero of about twenty-five great battles, and as 
 many skirmishes. To what agency must we attribute 
 his " charmed life," when the story must be told again 
 and again by patriot sires to their worthy sons, that, 
 though in the fiercest fights, not a Bearer of the colors 
 or of the Eagle ever conspicuous marks for the enemy 
 was shot down. The Eagle seemed as protective to 
 these Bearers as was the standard of the cross in the bat 
 tles of Constantine. In the great battle against Lucini- 
 us, which gave Constantine the undivided mastery of 
 the Roman world, one man, who, in terror, transferred 
 the standard to another, was immediately pierced by a 
 spear, while the Bearer of it passed on unhurt amid a 
 shower of javelins, and not a man in its immediate 
 neighborhood was even wounded. If the Eagle could 
 dodge bullets, as the soldiers declare he did, not so the 
 Bearers. Many a sharpshooter fired at these boys, but 
 failed to kill one of them. In the bloodiest carnage, 
 they and their living standard were unharmed. Did 
 it not portend the preservation of the Union? a Prov 
 idence, holding death at bay, as with our Washington, 
 when British soldiers singled him out, to prove that the 
 American Eagle of Justice can never fall at the hands 
 of an enemy? 
 
86 OLD ABE. 
 
 BATTLES AND SKIRMISHES. 
 
 Fredericktown, Mo., - Oct. 21, 1861 
 
 Siege of New Madrid and Island No 10, Mo., M h and Ap, 1862 
 
 Point Pleasant, Mo., - - - M ch 20, 1862 
 
 Farrnington, Miss., .... May 9, 1862 
 
 Before Corinth, Miss., - - May 28, 1862 
 
 luka, Miss., - - - - Sept. 12, 1862 
 
 Burnsville, Miss., .... Sept. 13, 1862 
 
 luka, Miss., Sept. 16, 18, 1862 
 
 Corinth, Miss., .... Oct. 3, 4, 1862 
 
 Tallahatchie, Miss., .... Dec. 2, 1862 
 
 Mississippi Springs, Miss., - - May 13, 1863 
 
 Jackson, Miss., - - - May 14, 1863 
 
 Assault on Vicksburg, Miss., - - May 22, 1863 
 
 Mechanicsburg, Miss., ... June 4, 1863 
 
 Richmond, La., .... June 15, 1863 
 
 Vicksburg, Miss., - - - June 24, 1863 
 
 Surrender of Vicksburg, Miss., - - July 4, 1863 
 
 Brownsville, Miss., .... Oct. 14, 1863 
 
 Fort Scurry, La., .... M ch 13, 1864 
 
 Fort de Hussy , La., .... M ch 15, 1864 
 
 Henderson s Hill, La., . . - M ch 15, 1864 
 
 Grand Ecore, La., - - - Apr. 2, 1864 
 
 Pleasant Hill, La., . . . Apr. 8,9, 1864 
 
 Nachitoches, La., - - - Apr. 20, 1864 
 
 Kane River, La., .... Apr. 22, 1864 
 
 Clouterville and Crane Hill, La., - - Apr. 23, 1864 
 
 Bayou Rapide, La., - . . May 2, 1864 
 
 Bayou La Moore, La., . . - May 3, 1864 
 
 Bayou Roberts, La., . . - May 4-6, 1864 
 
 Moore s Plantation, La., . . - May 8-12,1864 
 
 Mansura, La., . . May 16, 1864 
 
 Maysville, La., - ... May 17, 1864 
 
 Calhoun s Plantation, La., . . May 18, 1864 
 
 Bayou de Glaise, La., - . - May 18, 1864 
 
 Lake Chicot, La., .... June 6, 1864 
 
 Hurricane Creek, La., . . - Aug. 13, 1864 
 
MUSTERED OUT. 87 
 
 WAR BEARERS OF THE EAGLE. 
 
 1. James McGenuis, of Eau Claire, from Sept. 1, 1861, to May 
 
 30, 1862. 
 
 2. Thos. J. Hill, of Eau Claire, from May 30, 1862, to Aug. 18, 1862. 
 
 3. David McLane, of Meiiomonie, from Aug. 18, 1862, to Oct. , 
 
 1862. 
 
 4. Edward Homaston, of Eau Claire, from Oct. , 1862, to Sept. 
 
 , 1863. 
 
 5. John Buckhardt, of Eau Claire, from Sept. , 1863, to Sept. 
 
 , 1864. 
 
 5. John F. Hill, during transit from Chicago to Madison, Sept., 
 , 1864. 
 
 MUSTERED OUT. 
 
 Returning to Memphis, 011 the 29th, in pursuit of 
 Forrest, who was then fighting the patriotic Gen. C. 
 C. Washburn, " Old Abe" parted with the regiment for 
 the last time. Having served the three years enlist 
 ment, a portion of Company C was to be mustered out. 
 Now the serious question arose, " What shall be done 
 with the Soldier-Bird? " A discussion followed. Some 
 were in favor of giving him to the County of Eau 
 Claire, others to the National Government at Washing 
 ton, others to the State of Wisconsin. All things con 
 sidered, the latter motion prevailed, and was finally 
 voted unanimously. It was an affectionate adieu to 
 their " companion in arms." The main body of that 
 veteran regiment remained till the close of the war, 
 fighting other battles, under gallant officers whose 
 record is unsullied, campaigning in eleven states, travel 
 ing by rail, river, and on foot, 15,179 miles, and was 
 mustered out at Demopolis, Ala., Sept. 5, 1865, crowned 
 with palms of victory, blessed by a grateful country. 
 
88 OLD ABE. 
 
 Twenty-six of Company C took their precious 
 charge "Old Abe" and wended their way north, 
 reaching Chicago, Sept. 21, 1864, where Buckhardt re 
 signed his " Eagle Commission" to John F. Hill, 
 brother of Thomas. Being disabled from a wound 
 received at Corinth, he was obliged to rest occasionally 
 at the corners of the streets, where knots of citizens 
 gathered to learn of the career of the Eagle. He was 
 returning from the war with the proudest and most 
 famous bird that ever fanned the breeze of heaven. 
 The " Eagle- Veteran " of the Great Rebellion, with eye 
 unblanched, with fearless and untiring wing, with 
 talons still grasping the lightnings of battle, comes 
 home to rest, crowned with honors. Oft had he by ex 
 ample cheered the desponding, roused ambition, and 
 encouraged sacrifices. He had enlivened the dull hours 
 of camp life, and stood aloft with unfurled pinions, and 
 with wild, terrible shriek, led the deadly charge to vic 
 tory. Under the war-flag, tattered and torn, yet blaz 
 ing with the stars he loved, this "Bird of the Union n 
 had taught by his spirit the true art of conquest, and 
 evoked a purpose, a daring, a martyr spirit, that can be 
 felt only in like hearts that love liberty better than life r 
 that gives us the cross and the future the crown. 
 
 TRANSFERRED TO THE STATE. 
 
 Arriving at Madison, on the 22d of Sept., 1864, those 
 war-scarred soldiers were paid for their services; and 
 now the Eagle must have attention. The hero-bird, on 
 his old perch, was taken across the shady park and 
 thence into the aisle of the Capitol, where Capt. Wolf 
 
MUSTERED OUT. 89 
 
 and Mr. Hill, with a few other soldiers, were met by 
 Quarter Master Gen. N". F. Lund, who immediately en 
 tered the Executive Department and informed Gov. 
 Lewis that " Old Abe " was in waiting. The Madison 
 State Journal thus described the event: 
 
 "An interesting presentation was made at 3 o clock yesterday 
 (the 26tli) afternoon, in the Governor s room. This was nothing 
 less than the presentation of the celebrated Eagle of the 8th 
 Regiment to the State of Wisconsin. Capt, "Wolf, of Company 
 C, the color company, and the one having the care of the Eagle, 
 presented it to Gov. Lewis, stating how it was valued by the 
 regiment; how it had been in their midst, between their flags in 
 many a victorious conflict with the enemy, and how it had 
 cheered and kept up their spirits by its bright eye and dauntless 
 mien during weary marches and the tedium of camp life. It 
 had been with them for three years; and when the time of the 
 men of the company expired, and they were about to leave the 
 service, they and the veterans voted that the Eagle should be 
 presented to the State, to be kept as an honored and inspiring 
 memento of the 8th Regiment, and the times in which it had 
 fought the battles of the nation with the true and strong men 
 who rallied around the flag. 
 
 " Gov. Lewis, on the part of the State, had pleasure in accept 
 ing the famous Eagle of the 8th regiment, and assured the Cap 
 tain, that it would be well cared for at the Capitol, where it 
 would remain to invoke inspiring memories of the brave boys 
 who had carried it with such honor to themselves and the State. 
 
 " The Governor then handed the Eagle on its perch to Quarter 
 master General Lund, who said he would see that it was suita 
 bly kept. 
 
 " The Eagle never looked better than at present, its plumage 
 being full and glossy and its eye piercingly bright. It will be 
 an honored curiosity at the Capitol, and the many tales connected 
 with its service in the field with the gallant 8th, will often be 
 told and re-told to the admiring crowds that perhaps for years 
 and years will come to see the Badger Eagle." 
 
90 OLD ABE. 
 
 The following is a copy of the receipt of the Eagle 
 from Gov. Lewis to Gen. Lund : 
 
 " MADISON, Sept. 26, 1864. 
 
 " Received from the Governor, the live Eagle, Old Abe of 
 the Eighth Reg t Wis. Vol. Infantry. 
 
 " The Eagle was formally presented to the Governor, in his 
 office, to-day at 3 o clock, by Capt. Victor Wolf, of company C, 
 in behalf of the company and the regiment, the above named 
 company having brought the Eagle into Canip Randall, in Sep. 
 tember, 1861, from Eau Claire, and carried him through all the 
 marches and battles of the regiment since that time. This hav 
 ing been the color company, the Eagle has been borne by them 
 beside the colors of the regiment. The majority of the com 
 pany had within the past three days been paid off and mustered 
 out of service. They arrived here on the 22d inst. In present- 
 ing the Eagle to the Governor,. Capt. Wolf said he had been a 
 good soldier, and never had flinched in battle or march; that he 
 had been well cared for by company C, and he hoped he would 
 be as well taken care of by the State. In reply, the Governor 
 assured the Captain that the Eagle should be well and carefully 
 taken care of, and as safely kept as possible, as long as he lived." 
 
 Gen. Lund and Adj t Gen. Gaylord, in their annual 
 reports for 1864, speaking of the old flags of the regi 
 ments returned to the State "torn and shattered by 
 shot and shell, often all that remained of them being a 
 few honorable rags " classifies "Old Abe" with the 
 War Relics. (Adj t Gen. Report, pp. 146, 422.) 
 
 The State authorities and citizens of Madison at large, 
 are much attached to " Old Abe," and often inquire how 
 he fares. Like any other illustrious veteran, he is 
 brought out and paraded on occasions of public milita 
 ry exercises or review, and is always sure to excite at 
 tention and enthusiasm. Even now, at his quiet home 
 in Madison, under the shadow of the Capitol, this brave 
 
OLD ABE^S FIGHT WITH ANDY JOHNSON". 91 
 
 bird is much excited by the report of firearms, flapping 
 his wings and otherwise manifesting his familiarity 
 with their use. At present he has a pleasant and well- 
 lighted room in the basement of the Capitol, in which 
 is a permanent roost ; he also has the freedom of an 
 adjoining room, and, in the summer, the Capitol Park 
 is his, under the care of his attendant. 
 
 "OLD ABE S" FIGHT WITH "ANDY JOHNSON." 
 
 A few years ago r " Abe " had an eagle-mate from the 
 Rocky Mountains, that came into the possession of the 
 49th Wisconsin Regiment, near the close of the war, 
 and subsequently was given to the State. This " vicious 
 bird," as he was called, bore the honored name of u Phil 
 Sheridan," but it was afterwards changed to "Andy 
 Johnson." Whenever these eagles met, there was sure 
 to be a terrible battle of wings, beaks and claws, " hold 
 ing on like bull dogs," each intent on the mastery. It 
 was always necessary to part the " Chippewa and Rocky 
 Mountain Eagles," to prevent their injuring each other 
 in those desperate fights. One day, " Old Abe " being 
 somewhat unwell, was fairly whipped by his antagonist. 
 Laying up a store of vengeance, subsequently u Abe," 
 with a cunning instinct flew upon the top of the open 
 door, and when, at last, " Andy " appeared, he descend 
 ed upon him with a loud scream, and fastened his claws 
 in the neck of his enemy and completely vanquished 
 him. " Andy " soon after pined, and died in the spring 
 of 1874 doubtless from the effects of " Abe s " talons - 
 when his skin was properly stuffed and is kept, as a 
 relic of the war, in the Historical Rooms. The victo- 
 
92 OLD ABE. 
 
 rious Cliippewa Eagle showed no whimpering over the 
 demise, but seemed to glory in at last being sole mon 
 arch of the "Eagle Department of State." 
 
 Since the war " Old Abe " has had many to care for 
 him. First, John H. McFarland, State Armorer, suc- 
 ceeeded by Capt. A. R. McDonald, during Gov. Fair- 
 child s, Washburn s and part of Taylor s administra 
 tion; subsequently by Capt. John Stock and E. G. Lin- 
 derman, present State Armorer. Being a military char 
 acter and public property, he belongs in the Depart 
 ment of the Adjutant General, now filled by Gen. Geo. 
 A. Hanaford, who takes a great pride in the war-bird. 
 Win. J. Jones, Hugh Lewis, Eugene Bowen, Geo. W. 
 Baker each of whom has the honor of an "armless 
 sleeve " Harry W. Lovejoy, another " scarred veteran," 
 Thomas Welch and I. E. Troan have had more or less 
 charge over him. 
 
 Bearers and attendants have invariably cherished a 
 strong affection for " Old Abe." There is that about 
 him which always engenders a deep and lasting friend 
 ship. So intelligent and grateful for fidelity to his 
 needs, so keenly just, he is indeed the most winning 
 warrior that ever fought a battle. Capt. McDonald, 
 who was uncommonly successful in managing his " Ea 
 gle Highness," had him so well trained that if any one 
 entered the " Eagle Department " whom the Captain did 
 not want there, a look and word to " Old- Abe " were 
 sufficient hints for him to drive such out with a furious 
 onslaught. The bird knew even his master s step, and 
 
COMPANIONSHIP OF OLD ABE. 93 
 
 would cheer and chuckle before he opened the door. 
 He is good company all the live-long day. Occasion 
 ally, when the Captain put a gun in a vice to repair it, 
 41 Abe " would hop on to the other end, intently watch 
 ing the process, and if his master dropped his hammer, 
 down would jump the Eagle, pick it up and run off with 
 it for a mutual frolic. When specially invited, he 
 would carefully walk up the Captain s arm, and, stand 
 ing upon his shoulder, affectionately rub his white head 
 against his master s face and comb his beard with his 
 beak, ever whistling a merry appreciation of such confi 
 dence and companionable attention. 
 
 Though a bird of prey, of merciless reputation, he 
 has sometimes exhibited wonderful forbearance and 
 even friendship for his victim. After the Avar, a beauti 
 ful red rooster was given to him for a dinner, and not 
 only did he spare the creature s life, but became his fast 
 friend, both playing and roosting together on the same 
 perch. 
 
 His memory is as keen as his friendship. After the 
 war, Edward Homaston chanced to see the Eagle in a 
 crowd at the depot in Madison. He knew his bird, but 
 feigning otherwise, he exclaimed, " Why, here is an 
 Eagle!" and instantly put out his hand to pat him on 
 the head, when his attendant checked him, saying, 
 " Take care, there, the Eagle will hurt you! " " Hurt 
 me?" said Homaston, almost embracing " Old Abe." 
 " See here, man! " It was a beautiful sight, indeed; the 
 Eagle extended his wings, screeched and cooed, over 
 joyed at once more greeting his old Bearer. A similar 
 recognition occurred sometime in the year of 1867, in 
 
94: OLD ABE. 
 
 the Eagle s apartment in the Capitol, as related hy Mrs. 
 Ole Bull. This lady, and some friends, were visiting 
 " Old Abe, 1 careful not to approach too near, when a 
 gentleman, whom they afterwards learned was one of 
 the Bearers while in active service, entered the room, 
 and instantly " Abe " screamed aloud and flew to him 
 the ladies, alarmed, thinking it meant fight and 
 alighted upon his shoulder, pressing his bald head 
 against his cheek with a familiar "How do you do, 
 my old friend of battle times?" 
 
 NORTHWEST SANITARY FAIR. 
 
 As a civilian, our Eagle has made himself very use 
 ful. The patriotic reader will remember how earnest 
 and munificent were the people in ministering to the 
 needs of soldiers in the field, and especially to the sick 
 and wounded. Every possible art was used to procure 
 food, clothing, money, books and everything to make 
 them comfortable. As " Abe " had become famous, he 
 was often on exhibition. In the winter of 1864, a 
 grand movement was projected by influential ladies of 
 the West to have a great Fair in Chicago. The follow 
 ing letter, dictated by Gov. James T. Lewis to his Pri 
 vate Secretary, explains a cooperative work : 
 
 " STATE OP WISCONSIN, EXECUTIVE DEPARTMENT, 
 
 MADISON, Jan. 24, 1865. 
 
 " J. O. BARRETT, ESQ. Sir : Tours of the 17th is received. 
 The Governor directs me to say, in reply, that he cordially ap 
 proves of your idea of writing a History of the Eagle of the 8th 
 Wisconsin, and feels confident that, in doing so in the way pro 
 posed, you may greatly benefit our suffering soldiers. The Gov 
 ernor has no objection to your taking the Eagle to the Fair of 
 
NORTHWEST SANITAKY FAIR. 
 
 the Northwest Sanitary Commission, to be held in Chicago next 
 spring, as suggested, and will see that your wishes in this respect 
 are carried out at the proper time. Respectfully, 
 
 K H. FIKMIN, Gov. Pr. Serfy." 
 
 The history, referred to by the Governor, consisted of 
 detatched sketches of the Eagle, gleaned from such 
 sources as were then available to the author, and sold at 
 the Fair, by A. L. Sewall, netting, with his pictures, 
 $16,000, appropriated for the benefit of the sick and 
 wounded soldiers. Synoptical facts of it appeared 
 in popular magazines and school books, and subse 
 quently were published in E. B. Quiner s "Military 
 History of Wisconsin" (p. 539), Wm. DeLoss Love s 
 "Wisconsin in the War of the Rebellion 1 (pp. 519 and 
 769), Clias. R. Tuttle s " Illustrated History of the State 
 of Wisconsin" (p. 458), Mrs. A. H. Hoge s u Boys in 
 Blue "(p. 431). 
 
 The Eagle was taken to the Chicago Fair opened 
 May 30th, with military ceremonies under the 
 auspices of the State, together with the flags and other 
 relics and trophies, entrusted to the superintendence of 
 J. H. McFarland, State Armorer, and to John F. Hill r 
 as assistant. His place was in the " Eagle Department," 
 central amid the paraphernalia of war from all parts of 
 the country amid the vast specimens of agricultural, 
 mineral, commercial and artistic wealth of the nation 
 amid a world of beauty, intellect and patriotism. Every 
 body went to see this famous bird. Prices for his quills 
 or feathers rose as high as five dollars each, but the de 
 mand could seldom be supplied. Not a feather was al 
 lowed to be plucked from his beautiful plumage not 
 
96 OLD ABE. 
 
 for any price. A rich capitalist remarked that he would 
 " give $10,000 for that Eagle ; " and Mr. Wood, of the 
 Chicago Museum, was authorized by P. T. Barnum to 
 give $20,000 ; but, of course, the proposition to Gov. 
 Lewis was only laughed at. Statesmen, poets, editors, 
 warriors, men and women of all professions paid him 
 their compliments, and, among them, Generals Grant 
 and Sherman, who remarked that they had seen " Old 
 Abe" at different times and places while connected 
 with their armies, mentioning specially "Mississippi 
 Rock and Raymond, Miss., where we had a brush with 
 the enemy." 
 
 "OLD ABE S" KEPKOOF TO GEN. SHERMAN. 
 
 While Gen. Sherman was addressing the people, one 
 day, in the main room of the Exposition Building, fired 
 to enthusiasm over the victory of our arms, mentioning 
 the emblems of the nation around him, and among 
 them the Eagle, he precipitately put out his hand to 
 stroke the plumage of our hero, when he wheeled upon 
 his perch with a savage screech at the General, his white 
 feathers ruffled, trying to fight him for such presump 
 tion. The vast audience roared with laughter, when 
 the orator blushingly remarked "Beat this time!" 
 " Old Abe " would have even victor generals understand, 
 that the plumage of the American Eagle is too sacred 
 to be touched with careless hands. 
 
 ARTISTIC TRIBUTE TO OUR WAR-BIRD. 
 
 Regarding him as a true American specimen, a Chi 
 cago sculptor, Mr. Yolk, took a bust of " Old Abe," to 
 
HOME FAIB. 97 
 
 crown soldiers monuments. The following, first pub 
 lished in the Inter-Ocean, of March 25, is explanatory: 
 
 " CHICAGO, March 23, 1876. 
 
 " J. O. BARKETT, ESQ. Dear Sir: In June, 1805,, Abe was brought to 
 my studio, and posed 1 on his perch for a model in clay, full size, of his 
 eagleship. Think I took six or eight sittings. I produced from it a model in 
 plaster, with wings partly spread, and arranged to surmount a monumental 
 shaft or column, holding a flag in its beak, the flag drooping down and cov 
 ering part of the column. Two of these were made in marble for monu 
 ments one ordered by the cadets of West Point for a monument to a de 
 ceased comrade, erected at Macomb, in this State; the other for a soldiers 
 monument I forget where it was erected. The model was burnt up in the 
 great fire. When at work on the model of Old Abe I had to keep a sharp 
 lookout for his beak and claws. When I applied the callipers to measure 
 him, and would steal up to him in front, rear or flank as silently as possible, 
 when he appeared asleep, instantly his keen eyes would open with a flash; 
 sometimes he would snatch the callipers with his claws from my hands and 
 drop them to the floor. Occasionally he would give me a dig with his sharp 
 claws and take a piece of skin from my hand with his needle-pointed beak. 
 Sometimes with a shrill screech he would try and break away from his fasten 
 ings, floundering about with his powerful wings, which would of course 
 raise a dust and knock things about the studio generally, especially during 
 the absence of his keeper. I think he was heartily glad when the sittings 
 terminated, as he did not appear to relish the confinement, nor did he evince 
 a very high resrard for spread-eagle art. But he was a splendid old bird, and 
 behaved himself quite as well as some other two-legged sitters who have 
 honored my studio. I may add that his great namesake sat to me for his 
 bust in 1860. Very respectfully yours, LEONAKD W. VOLK." 
 
 In the Chicago Tribune of June 2, 1865, B. F. Taylor thus 
 word-paints " Old Abe " in the alcove: 
 
 " And there, the bird of our banner holds grand levee from day to day, his 
 white crest like the snowy plume of Henry of Navarre, that eye upon you 
 that can look undazzled on the sun. The Eagle of Chippevva the children 
 have plucked the bird out of the old flag and have set him living at the head 
 of their legions. We bare our brow to him, the grandest contributor to the 
 Fair, and we leave the strangely assorted group to the reader: the tattered, 
 bloody colors yonder, and then the little shoe-maker that has a heart in it, 
 and the Eagle that ought to have a soul to be saved harmonious workers 
 in mercy s sweet rivalry." 
 
 MILWAUKEE SOLDIERS 1 HOME FAIB. 
 
 Milwaukee had been a home for the sick and 
 7 
 
98 OLD ABE. 
 
 wounded soldiers; during the year ending Apr. 15, 1865, 
 in one single building on West Water St. were enter 
 tained 8,000 soldiers, representing different parts of the 
 country; having a reputation for patriotism and charity, 
 and the object being so noble, to venture was to succeed 
 in building a permanent "Soldiers Home." Every 
 branch of business in the State and country at large was 
 represented. There in magnificent profusion were our 
 fine arts in conspicuous display, our educational interests, 
 relics of all the wars of the nation and of by-gone 
 times of men and deeds now historic, specimens illus 
 trative of geological and natural history, our State and 
 National literature and patriotism. But a short time 
 prior, Lincoln had been martyred, and anything associ 
 ated with his memory was of peculiar attraction, even 
 to the "assassination flags" the one that caught 
 Booth s spur and the one the President seized when 
 shot. As the Wisconsin War-Eagle bore his u Yankee 
 Name," and was renowned for his military exploits, he 
 was, as ever before, the central figure in that vast array 
 of wealth and grandeur. His position was outside the 
 massive main building, on Huron St., in a large tent, 
 entitled " Tangled Feature," superintended by Mr. Mc- 
 Cracken, but placed under the special charge of John F. 
 Hill, who brought him from Chicago. In the center of 
 this tent were extensive evergreen rings, rising one 
 above another, and at the topmost was a pretty circular 
 platform whereon the Eagle sat, " monarch of all I sur 
 vey," for below him were mud-turtles, peacocks, Devon 
 cows, sheep, cranes, hawks, owls, rabbits, foxes, badgers, 
 doves, a bloodhound, a bear, a coon which the 12th Wis. 
 
OLD ABE S PICTURES. 99 
 
 Battery had in the war, and afterwards gave to the 
 State, and "four other eagles, on their several perches, of 
 different species," said the Sentinel of June 30, " called 
 respectively Old Abe, the famous battle Eagle of the 
 8th Wis., Gen. Grant, Phil. Sheridan and Gen. 
 McClellan. " But "Abe " had the uppermost seat of 
 honor. The Home Fair Journal thus describes this 
 of twenty-five battles: 
 
 " Beneath a canopy of green, sits the Veteran Eagle, * Old Abe, 
 the bird that for three long years was the companion of the gal 
 lant boys of the Eighth Wisconsin Regiment, marching and 
 camping and going into battle with them; and when the battle 
 grew hot, and threatened death to all, leaving his perch, and 
 soaring aloft with a scream that rose above the roar of battle, 
 he cheered his companions to victory. With an eye that seems 
 as if it would pierce you through, he calmly and with the pro- 
 foundest dignity, surveys the visitors, as if he were looking 
 down in pity upon them. There is something grand in his 
 presence, and, as you look upon him, you cannot but feel that 
 you are looking upon an important personage; and verily you 
 are, for has he not been in the service of his country? and has 
 he not contributed thousands of dollars to the relief of his com 
 panions in arms? Looking upon the splendid bird, we did not 
 wonder that the eagle was chosen by the war-like and all-con- 
 quering Romans a* their emblem, nor, that he was chosen by 
 the liberty -loving patriots of the Revolution as the emblem of 
 the new Republic." 
 
 "OLD ABE S" PICTURES, AND THEIR PROFITS. 
 
 One of the practical methods to raise money at the 
 Milwaukee Soldiers Home Fair was, by the sale of " Old 
 Abe s" pictures. In the years to come, after he has 
 " gone to glory," these will be of peculiar interest to 
 new generations that read and ponder over our late war 
 
100 OLD ABE. 
 
 of rival civilizations. Appreciating this fact, a gentle 
 man in Kockford, 111., lias carefully preserved a copy 
 and the history of every picture thus far taken of the 
 bird; and has arranged them in a " Pictorial Chart of 
 Old Abe." His description of them is interesting : 
 
 " 1. Childhood picture, photographed by A. J. Devor, in Eau 
 Claire, summer of 1861, certified to as a correct likeness by 
 Capt. V. Wolf; heraldic and serenely prophetic in look and 
 attitude. 2. The bird wearied from unaccustomed excitement; 
 taken by J. S. Fuller, in Madison, when the regiment was 
 sworn into service, Sept., 1861. 3. The Cropped Eagle, taken 
 by an artist in the South. 4. Lithograph of same for Dunlop, 
 Sewall and Spalding, of Chicago ; the original photograph of 
 this * Soldier picture is thus referred to by a correspondent of 
 the Milwaukee Sentinel, signing himself Tompher, dating his 
 letter at Big Black River, Miss., Oct. 15, 1863: Old Abe, our 
 Eagle, has recently, like everybody else, and because it is a fash 
 ion, had his cart de msite taken, which, with his biography, will 
 shortly appear in Frank Leslie s Illustrated ; his friends will, of 
 course, excuse him if his coat does look a little rough, for he 
 has seen over two years of hard service. The picture includes 
 also the regimental colors with the color guard in position 
 around them; the flags are sadly torn and soiled, and show the 
 marks of the affection of our misguided Southern brethren in 
 every told. 5. Sanitary picture, photographed by J. F. Boclt- 
 ker, in Madison, Apr., 1865 ; he had Old Abe carried up to 
 the roof of his gallery to obtain a quick light; just as the 
 sun-picture was taking, the free-born Eagle, feeling the inspira 
 tions of mountain heights, spread his wings and vaulted into the 
 sky ; but the sudden check to the flight by means of his cord, 
 cast perch and bird over the battlement, when, by great presence 
 of mind and superhuman eifort, just on the edge of the building, 
 sixty or seventy feet high, the attendant fortunately saved him 
 self and Eagle from a sudden death; carried thence into the 
 gallery rooms, the artist succeeded ; about 2,300 of these were 
 
THE OLDEN LEGEND VERIFIED. 101 
 
 gold at the Chicago and Milwaukee Fairs. 6. Lithograph of 
 this was made, same spring, by W. D. Baker, of Chicago, for 
 A. L. Sewall s Eagle Army; used also to illustrate J. O. Bar 
 rett s pamphlet sketch of Old Abe; many thousands sold in a 
 few months over all the country and at the Chicago Sanitary Fair, 
 for the benefit of disabled soldiers. 7. Three photographs by 
 E. R Curtis, in Madison, 1865, representing Old Abe on a 
 cannon captured by the 14th Wis. from the enemy at the battle 
 of Pittsburg Landing, the starry flag for a back ground; about 
 2,500 of these were sold by Mrs. H. C. Crocker for the Soldiers 
 Home in Milwaukee. 8. L. Lipman, of Milwaukee, litho 
 graphed one of these, and about 3,000 of them were sold by the 
 same lady. 9. Large lithograph for S. W. Martin, giving a 
 synoptical history of the bird. 10. Eagle-Bearer picture, pho 
 tographed by J. Carbutt, while John F. Hill had his bird at the 
 great Sanitary Fair in Chicago; standing on his war-perch with 
 Mr. Hill patronly guarding Old Abe. 11. In August, 1875, the 
 Wisconsin View Company, of Portage, photographed one, rep 
 resenting the bird on a cannon with perch and flags. 12. Cen 
 tennial photographs, taken by J. M. Fowler, in Madison, Feb. 7, 
 1876, representing Old Abe standing wkh dignity upon his 
 beautiful x Centennial Perch lately constructed ; are sharp and 
 well executed; the Governor of Wisconsin, H. Ludington, certi 
 fies that this picture is a correct likeness of Old Abe, the live 
 War-Eagle. " 
 
 THE OLDEN" LEGEND VERIFIED. 
 
 The Eagle s feathers and quills " precious as locks 
 of hair " have been in as great demand as his pictures. 
 People from England, Scotland and France, many Con 
 federate soldiers and ladies of the South, and patriots in 
 all parts of the Union, having them, seem to think the 
 olden legend is true, that " they condem all other quills 
 which lie near them." Here is a clipping from a pri 
 vate letter of a soldier to his sister, signing himself " A. 
 
102 OLD ABE. 
 
 T.," dating it " Hamburg, four miles above Pittsburg 
 Landing, Tenn., April 16, 1863." After mentioning sev 
 eral relics of the war for preservation, he says: 
 
 " In my miniature case you will find some Confederate scrip ; 
 there is also a quill from our Eagle, which Capt. Perkins gave 
 me last evening ; the Eagle is flourishing finely." 
 
 During the Milwaukee Fair, some reserved feathers 
 and quills of the Eagle were presented to a few person 
 ages of note. The Superintendent of " Tangled Fea 
 ture," having a quill from his wing, presented it to Mrs. 
 G. P. Hewitt, then President of the "Home, 1 with the 
 happy remark, ; You are deserving of this." This 
 lady cherishes it as very precious, as it ever recalls those 
 days of sacrifice, and like a magic wand " opens the 
 wounds we seem reluctant to heal." Another was offi 
 cially presented by the ladies to Gen. B. F. Butler, 
 (subsequently a trustee of the " Home " after its transfer 
 to the United States) with this pleasantry of address, " as 
 it is from the wing of the Wisconsin War-Eagle, it will 
 remind you of our esteem for your patriotic services in a 
 perilous hour of our nation." If there be a reckoning- 
 day for this life s stewardship in the world to come, 
 " Old Abe " for he has a soul will be largely credit 
 ed on sales of pictures, biographies, feathers and tickets 
 of admission to his kingly presence, in that net gain of 
 of $105,000 at this Fair, given to the " Branch Home of 
 the National Asylum for Volunteer Soldiers, established 
 at Milwaukee," munificently endowed by the United 
 States Government, and by Wisconsin to the amount of 
 $5,000. 
 
DEFENDING HIS FEATHERS. 103 
 
 DEFENDING HIS FEATHERS. 
 
 In certain moods " Abe " would even fight the man who 
 presumed to carry off one of his feathers. W. W. Bar 
 rett thus describes an experience in Madison, during 
 one of his visits to the bird: 
 
 " In company with Geo. W. Baker, then the Eagle s attendant 
 (1875), I called to see Old Abe. He was engaged in eating his 
 breakiast, which consisted of a rabbit fresh from the woods. 
 When we made our appearance, the considerate bird suspended 
 operations and gave his attention to Mr. Baker s salutation of 
 Good Morning, Abe, which he answered with a peculiar shrill 
 voice. Presently my attention was drawn to a white downy 
 feather falling from the body of the Eagle, about six feet distant. 
 Wishing to preserve it for my cabinet of curiosities, I proceeded 
 to pick it up ; but Old Abe was ready to protect his own prop 
 erty, even to the least feather, and, with flashing eyes and angry 
 look, he instantly flew at me with perfect fury, striking hard with 
 his strong, powerful wings, making an effort to disentangle his 
 claws from their fastenings in the rabbit, whose weight, fortu 
 nately for me, brought the Eagle to the floor, and I escaped the 
 dangerous charge. Then the enfuriated fellow mounted a tall 
 saw-horse, and there with fierce grips he jumped and leaped 
 about, bristling up his feathers, throwing out his wings, and ex 
 pressing his anger by frequent and loud screechiugs. Thus he 
 continned for sometime, indicating he was ready for battle with 
 any foe. We stood at a respectful distance, for, Mr. Baker said, 
 his grips are painful and hard to remove when he has taken 
 hold of the flesh." Finally, at the suggestion of Mr. Baker, I 
 seized a broom near at hand, when his attendant ordered him in 
 to his own room, but he was defiant and screamed, determined to 
 disobey. Seeing me armed, and Mr. Baker resolute, he reluct 
 antly walked into his own apartment, mounted his perch, and 
 was locked in a prisoner of war. " 
 
 But u Old Abe " is generous when his mood inspires it. 
 
104: OLD ABE. 
 
 Mr. and Mrs. J. 0. Culver, of Madison, relate an incident 
 of their innocent little boys that is peculiarly beautiful. 
 Willie and Paul, then eight and four years old, were 
 one day, in the summer of 1869, looking at the bird 
 while in the Capitol Park, when Paul picked up a 
 feather of his lying on the ground, and Willie, noticing 
 its shining luster, exclaimed, " I wish Old Abe would 
 give me a feather." Curious as it may seem, the intel 
 ligent bird whether by accident or design, let the 
 reader say instantly pulled out a feather from his 
 breast with his beak, and away it sped, waving and 
 dancing on the wind, intently watched by the boys, 
 who at last secured it as it fell on the other side of the 
 Park. 
 
 SOLDIEKS A^D SAILORS CONVE^TIOl* AT PITTSBURGH 
 
 Our famous bird has also been " round the circle," on 
 great occasions of public interest relating to the gov 
 ernment, especially at military reviews and conventions. 
 It will be recollected, that immediately following the 
 surrender of the Confederate army in 1865, new and in 
 tricate perils menaced the country on every hand, most 
 difficult to adjust to the satisfaction of North and 
 South. Indeed it was the darkest hour of the Rebel 
 lion; for President Andy Johnson and Congress were 
 antagonistic as to measures of reconstruction. Under 
 these national troubles, a mass gathering of the patri 
 otic people, entitled the " Soldiers and Sailors Conven 
 tion," was called to meet in the city of Pittsburg, Pa., 
 on the 25th and 26th of September, 1866, with a view 
 to " sustain the measures adopted by Congress for the 
 
CONTENTION" AT PITTSBURG. 105 
 
 restoration of the Union. 1 It was one of the most 
 magnificent outbursts of popular feeling ever mani 
 fested in the history of our country, and combined the 
 most versatile array of talent and military prestige. 
 There were representatives from all the Northern States 
 and some of the Southern the Great West preponder 
 ating in numbers and among them were Gens. Cox, 
 Willich, Schenck, Leggett and Garfield, of Ohio; Gens. 
 Butler and Banks, of Mass.; Gens. Allen and Bintliff, 
 Cols. Bartlett, Butterick and Goodwin, and Capt. Lang- 
 worthy, of Wis.; Col. A. D. Straight, of Indiana, of An 
 derson ville Prison renown; Gens. Gerry and Negley, 
 and Gov. Curtin, of Pa.; Gen. Sigel, of Maryland; Gen. 
 Sprague,of R. L; Gen. Farnsworth, of 111.; Gens. Coch- 
 rane, Barnum, Barlow, Hawkins, Gregg and Martindale, 
 of New York; Gens. Terry and Hawley, of Conn. ; Gens. 
 Baxter and Allen, of Mich.; and, sitting side by side 
 with them on the platform, to indicate the demo 
 cratic spirit of the convention^ were such privates as 
 L. Edwin Dudley, " the patriotic clerk of Washington;" 
 Robert Hendershott, " the Drummer Boy of the Rappa- 
 hannock;" John Burns, "the heroic volunteer of Get 
 tysburg, who fought in defense of his own home," and 
 Serg. Geo. Robinson, of Maine, who saved the life of 
 Secretary Seward on the night of the assassination of 
 President Lincoln. * 
 
 It was also fitting that our War-Eagle should repre 
 sent Wisconsin at that convention. Under the escort 
 of his favorite friend, Capt. McDonald, he had a con 
 stant ovation on the way thither, arriving at his desti 
 nation on the eve of the 24th. In that crowded city, 
 
106 OLD ABE. 
 
 the celebrated Eagle had safe quarters in a parlor of the 
 St. Charles Hotel, with sixty or more " other soldiers of 
 the war, 1 paying extra, of course, for the special honor 
 of such a room. The city was gorgeous, the excitement 
 intense, the feeling resolute to defend the attitude of 
 Congress. The City Hall, in which the convention was 
 held, was decorated with evergreens, flowers and flags; 
 between the windows hung badges of twenty-five army 
 corps, and on the platform were the emblems of war 
 and of peace, in the form of white flags and sheaves of 
 wheat. Over the door of entrance was this motto 
 41 There can be no lasting j)eace while the flag of the Union 
 cannot wave unmolested over the graves of our fallen com 
 rades." 
 
 The hall was densely packed; in one of the aisles 
 stood delegates from a neighborhood sixty strong, 
 every one of whom had been wounded in the service, 
 and had their colors riddled. The jam of people was 
 so great at the door, Capt. McDonald found it impossi 
 ble to advance with his Eagle; but just as Gen. B. F. 
 Butler commenced speaking on his own resolution, at 
 this first session of the convention, the chairman, Gen. 
 J. D. Cox, interrupting, requested him to pause a mo 
 ment, shouting with a loud voice " Here comes 4 Old 
 Abe, the veteran War-Eagle of Wisconsin; please open 
 the way, gentlemen, that he may come forward." The 
 crowd defiled right and left, and as the captain walked 
 up the aisle with that monarch bird so majestic on his 
 perch, the vast audience spontaneously rose and cheered 
 him once, twice, thrice with a ring that jarred the 
 very roof, when the Eagle flapped his wings and screamed 
 
TORCH-LIGHT PROCESSION . 107 
 
 aloud his war-cry of battle. On motion of Gen. Ham 
 lin, of Maine, " Old Abe," was assigned a position of 
 honor on the platform. The Wisconsin State Journal 
 of September 27, speaks of the incident, by a reporter: 
 
 The moment quiet had been restored, an event occurred that 
 seemed to set all wild. The Old Abe Eagle which the 8th 
 Wisconsin carried through its service, was brought up the aisle, 
 perched on the top of a staff; the body rose and cheered him; 
 the band played, and the kingly bird flapped his wings lustily as 
 if he recognized the old music, the old cheers, and the old 
 flags. Abe was then seated near the chairman on his perch 
 amid the emblems of peace, fully alive to the scene, responding 
 to nearly all the cheers, as Gen. Butler harangued the people, by 
 flapping his wings." 
 
 TORCH-LIGHT PROCESSION". 
 
 That evening of the 25th was improved by a torch 
 light procession cf five miles long, Gen. Negley chief 
 marshal, fifteen thousand persons moving in it, the sol 
 diers carrying torch-lights, others insignia of war and 
 peace." "The streets, 1 said the Wisconsin Journal 
 of the 27th, " were ablaze and filled for miles with 
 people. Such popular enthusiasm has seldom been 
 equalled. The city was one glorious illumination of 
 blazing banners and sentiments steeped in fire. There 
 was an unsurpassed display of beautiful designs, and 
 models in brilliant lights in moving lines." First came 
 the " Boys in Blue," next the Fire Department, next 
 the Undine Boat Club, with the motto, " We will pull 
 together," and then " the Wisconsin War-Eagle," with 
 his Bearer and other dignitaries, seated on his perch 
 encircled with ribbons of red, white and blue, in an 
 
108 OLD ABE. 
 
 open carriage drawn by four white horses; as he passed 
 along through the thronged avenues of Pittsburg, there 
 was a continuous tempest of cheers and shouts, and ex 
 clamations " Here he comes! " when showers of flow 
 ers would be thrown into his carriage literally loading 
 it down, while he, unspoiled by such adulations, kept his 
 grave dignity like a white-headed sire of the Revolution, 
 amid a profusion of patriotic mottoes, and the devoirs 
 of the enraptured multitude. 
 
 SOLDIERS MOJTUMENT, PEORIA, ILL. 
 
 . It was dedicated October 11, 1866. Thirty to forty 
 thousand persons were present, largely represented by 
 veterans of the war. The Peoria Daily Transcript, of 
 October 12, says: 
 
 "The dedication of the Soldiers Monument, yesterday, drew 
 together by far the largest crowd that Peoria ever saw within 
 her limits. The day was beautiful ; a soft haze overspread the 
 sky, and a mellow tint of summer veiled the sun, putting the at 
 mosphere in that peculiar condition in which the greatest sound 
 is transmitted. * * In the forenoon, the streets about 
 the Court House Square began to fill, and before long the Peoria 
 House was surrounded by an excited throng hurrahing for But 
 ler and Logan. " Old Abe," the veteran Eagle of the 8th Wis 
 consin regiment, was brought out to the balcony, and was greeted 
 by the audience and many of his old companions in arms with 
 vociferous cheers. The noble bird was under the care of Capt. 
 A. R. McDonald, State Armorer of Wisconsin, and Capt. A. G. 
 Weissert, of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteers." 
 
 The procession, with u Old Abe " for high honors, 
 was most imposing. The monument, with names of 
 the heroic dead thus perpetuated, was covered with 
 evergreens, wreaths and flowers up the white shaft and 
 
BUILDING AN ORPHANS HOME. 109 
 
 over the eagle crowning its top. " Old Abe " was car 
 ried to the speakers 1 stand within those now sacred 
 grounds, where he was greeted by long continued cheer 
 ing. The speeches of Generals B. F. Butler, John A. 
 Logan and R. G. Ingersoll, were the more electrifying 
 for the presence of the veteran Eagle, that reminded 
 them of times now historic, as described by Henry 
 Howard Brownell, Lieut. U. S. Navy, in his "War- 
 Lyrics," wherein he rapturously pictures the magnifi 
 cence of "The Eagle at Corinth" : 
 
 " Tis many a stormy day 
 
 Since, out of the cold, bleak North, 
 Our great War-Eagle sailed forth 
 To swoop o er battle and fray. 
 Many and many a day 
 
 O er charge and storm hath he wheeled, 
 Foray and foughten field, 
 
 Tramp, and volley and rattle! 
 Over crimson trench and turf, 
 Over climbing clouds of surf, 
 Through tempest and cannon-rack, 
 Have his terrible pinions whirled 
 (A thousand fields of battle 1 
 A million leagues of foam!) 
 But our Bird shall yet come back, 
 
 He shall soar to his Eyrie-Home 
 And his thunderous wing be furled, 
 In the gaze of a gladdened world, 
 On the Nation s loftiest Dome! " 
 
 BUILDING AN ORPHANS HOME. 
 
 Through the long and praiseworthy efforts of Mrs. C. 
 A- P. Harvey, wife of the lamented Governor who was 
 drowned while on a mission of mercy, a Soldiers Or- 
 
110 OLD ABE. 
 
 phans Home was established at Madison, designed for 
 the orphans of fallen soldiers ; and " Old Abe," of 
 course, as in other benevolent enterprises, must help 
 build it. At the State Fair, held in Janesville, Sept. 
 25, 1865, a tent was erected in which " Old Abe," borne 
 by Wm. J. Jones, was exhibited under the management 
 of Mrs. Harvey, earning, with other aids, $427. Up to 
 this date, this " Eagle-Benefactor " had gained about 
 $25,000 for soldiers and their orphans. 
 
 SOLDIERS AND SAILORS 1 CONVENTIOIS AT CHICAGO. 
 
 On the 19th of May, 1868, a " Soldiers and Sailors 7 
 Convention " was held in Chicago, represented by all 
 the States of the North and some of the South, Gen. 
 Lucius Fairchild, of Wisconsin, chairman; followed 
 the next day by the National Republican Convention, 
 with Carl Schurz for chairman, which nominated U. S. 
 Grant for President of the United States. The Wiscon 
 sin State Journal, of May 20, says: 
 
 "The Soldiers and Sailors Convention was largely attended. 
 Formed procession at 11 A. M., and marched to Turner Hall. 
 The procession was headed by the Wisconsin delegation, who 
 carried Old Abe, the War-Eagle, in the van. The flags of the 
 Wisconsin delegation were borne to the front by Gen. J. M. Rusk 
 and Hon. M. H. Sessions. The procession was three-quarters of 
 a mile in length and four soldiers deep. The streets along the 
 entire route were thronged with people. The march was full 
 of life and incident; the line joining in singing their old battle- 
 songs as in the Southern marches. Upon entering the hall, the 
 s*.!ene was one of wildest enthusiasm, cheer on cheer being given 
 for the portrait of Grant which hung over the platform, the bust 
 of Lincoln which stood upon the rostrum, and for Old Abe, 
 the War-Eagle, who was fastened upon his perch in front of the 
 platform." 
 
Ill 
 
 A reporter of a Chicago paper, speaking of the same 
 convention, says : 
 
 * * "And when the resolution proposing Gen. U. S. Grant 
 as candidate for the Presidency was passed, as the vast multi 
 tude rose and cheered, and the band struck up Hail to the 
 Chief, Old Abe, as if understanding it all, stretched high his 
 proud form and repeatedly flapped his wings in approbation of 
 the nomination." 
 
 SOLDIERS REUNIONS. 
 
 " Old Abe s " presence at all western military gather 
 ings is as essential as the old flag. The soldiers of Wis 
 consin met in Milwaukee, Sept. 27th and 28th, 1870, 
 Gov. Fairchild presiding over the convention, liberally 
 represented by " veterans who bore the battle flags they 
 fought under, many of them torn into shreds by the 
 storms of lead through which they had passed, but 
 esteemed more highly on that account." 
 
 " Gen. H. E. Paine " [in whose valiant army " Old Abe " at 
 one time served], says the Milwaukee Sentinel of the 2Gth, 
 "was introduced, and, in very eloquent words, welcomed his old 
 comrades, all soldiers of Wisconsin and other States, who fought 
 so nobly in the late war against rebellion. Gov. Fairchild was 
 called for, and spoke a cordial word to his old comrades. Gen. 
 Hobart then addressed the meeting; but before doing so. he 
 introduced one of the most distinguished personages of the late 
 war Old Abe. The Eagle was then brought out, amid great 
 applause." 
 
 A poem was read by Col. Chas. H. Clark, one verse of 
 which, alluding to "Abe," is as follows: 
 
 "Our Eagle s high behest 
 To crown our banner s crest 
 Our standard true 
 
112 OLD ABE. 
 
 Unfurl it to the breeze 
 From mast bead on seas 
 Guard of our liberties 
 Red, white and blue." 
 
 "At the close of this reading," says the Milwaukee 
 Sentinel of the 28th, " Old Abe, 1 the War-Eagle, was 
 brought upon the stage by Capt. McDonald, and was 
 received with rapturous applause." One of the grand 
 est military demonstrations ever known in the State, 
 was given the next day on the fair grounds; address 
 by Hon. Matt. H. Carpenter. The Eagle, acting his 
 part of heraldry, was there, the admired of thirty thous 
 and people. 
 
 At a subsequent Reunion in Milwaukee (1875), after 
 hours of military parade through the streets, in a cold 
 rain, the feathers almost freezing, "Abe" got chilled 
 and had to abandon the post of honor. Immediately 
 carried home to Madison, he was soon restored to health. 
 In the spring prior to this event, he was so sick he 
 could not stand up, but rolled over and drooped, as if 
 about to enter the paradise in store for all patriotic 
 eagles. Hugh Lewis, his attendant, took him into the 
 office of the Superintendent of Public Property, blan 
 keted him, poured medicated water down his throat, 
 nursed him with devoted vigilance, and, in three days, he 
 was on his perch again as good as new. The longevity 
 of an eagle is remarkable, sometimes living, it is said, a 
 hundred years. If "Abe" could be more free in his 
 selection of food and toughened to storms and tempests, 
 he might live when empires rise and fall. Warring 
 against the enemies of his country is his best regimen 
 
SOLDIERS REinaoxs. 113 
 
 of health. Wilson, the Ornithologist, speaking of the 
 longevity of an eagle, draws this happy moral: 
 
 " It has not, like men, invented rich wines, ardent spirits and a 
 thousand artificial poisons, in the form of soups, sauces and 
 sweetmeats. Its food is simple, indulges freely, uses great exer 
 cise, breathes the purest air, is healthy, vigorous and long lived. 
 The lords of creation themselves might derive some useful hints 
 from these facts, were they not already, in general, too wise, or 
 too proud, to learn from their inferiors, the fowls of the air and 
 the beaflts of the field." 
 
 Again, to keep alive the spirit of 61, "Old Abe," 
 borne by Capt. McDonald, was carried to Soldiers Re 
 unions in such Wisconsin cities as Fond du Lac, Bur 
 lington, Elkhorn, Evansville and La Crosse. The Army 
 of the Tennessee " Old Abe "fought in that, when 
 that now consecrated river was made the "Pass of 
 Thermopylae." Its sixth annual Reunion was held in 
 Madison, July 3d and 4th, 1870. Among the notabilities 
 of the 20,000 people there gathered, were Generals Pope, 
 Sheridan, Atwood, Washburn, Slack, of Indiana, Noyes, 
 of Ohio, and Gen. " Old Abe, 1 of Wisconsin, with 
 
 "The colors, ragg d in a hundred fights, 
 And the dusty Frocks of Blue." 
 
 At a Reunion of company K, in Racine, August 31, 
 1871, he greeted his old " soldier boys " again, with a 
 special recognition to Col. James 0. Bartlett, who led 
 the gallant Eighth in some of its hardest battles. He 
 was in Neillsville, Oct. 9, 1871, where were represented 
 fifty-two military organizations, himself the personation 
 of valorous dignity, " as the American bird ought to be 
 on such occasions," says the Clark County Republican, 
 8 
 
114 OLD ABE. 
 
 " watched with the greatest interest and curiosity by 
 the immense crowd." " Old Abe " was also an invited 
 guest at a Reunion of the valiant 1st Wisconsin, in 
 Madison, February 22, 1872, Gen. Starkweather at the 
 head as in the conflict of arms. He was perched in the 
 arched doorway between the rooms (in Park Hotel), 
 keeping a grave silence during the reading of Hon. A. 
 M. Thomson s felicitous poem and speech of Gen. 
 Fairchild. But while Hon. James Ross was making a 
 ringing response to the toast, " The Federal Union 
 may wisdom- cement what valor saved," he joined in 
 the patriotic sentiment vociferously. The words of L. 
 J. Bates, in the song entitled " * Old Abe, 1 the Battle 
 Eagle," music by T. Martin Towne, seemed to sing of 
 themselves at such gatherings, in remembrance of the 
 fallen and the surviving of the victor soldiers: 
 
 " They come, but the ranks are shrunken and thin; 
 Oh! large be the welcome that gathers them in! 
 They come with the flags in the glad sunlight, 
 A cloud of peace, that is feathery white; 
 And still o er the standards they bear on high, 
 There hovers the Eagle of Victory 
 Hurrah for the Eagle, our bold battle-Eagle! 
 The terror of traitors and king of the sky ! " 
 
 GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 
 
 Since the war, one of the most enthusiastic demon 
 strations of popular patriotism ever known in our coun 
 try, occurred in Chicago, at the " Reunion of the Grand 
 Army of the Republic," commencing on May 12th and 
 ending May 14, 1875. It was represented by such per 
 sonages as Gov. Hartranft, of Pennsylvania, Gov. Pinch- 
 
GRAND ARMY OF THE REPUBLIC. 115 
 
 back, of Louisiana, Gen. Phil. Sheridan, Gen. W. T. 
 Sherman, Gov. Beveridge, of Illinois, Gen. Harlow, Sec 
 retary of State, Hon. Thos. S. Bidgeway, State Treas 
 urer, of Illinois; and, of the Wisconsin delegation, were 
 Capt. F. W. Oakley, U. S. Marshal, and Cols. Thomas 
 Reynolds and B. Hancock; gentlemen and ladies of all 
 professions were there, indicating the deep gratitude 
 the people cherish toward the deliverers of our country 
 from the thraldom of oppressive law and institution. 
 
 The Grand Pacific Hotel was the headquarters of the 
 " Army of the Republic," " Old Abe," borne by Hugh 
 Lewis, occupying the office with the rest. H. M. Page, 
 reporting for the Madison State Journal, of May 14th, 
 says: 
 
 " Nothing evoked so much enthusiasm as Wisconsin s bird of 
 freedom. He has been the center of attraction at the Pacific 
 Hotel, where his perch was flanked by the United States and 
 State flags, and where veterans from different parts of the coun 
 try, from Wisconsin, Iowa, Minnesota, Illinois, Michigan, Indi 
 ana, Missouri, West Virginia, and we know not how many more 
 States, who had known the bird in the army, rallied around him 
 and recalled the many fields on which they had seen him with 
 the Eighth Wisconsin." 
 
 On the 13th, a procession was formed, and it was esti 
 mated 150,000 people were packed together along the 
 line of march, to say nothing of the large numbers who 
 witnessed it from the windows. The Chicago Times, of 
 May 14th, thus describes this pageantry of arms: 
 
 " The fifth division rested on West Washington street. In this 
 part of the line marched the Grand Army Posts, Gen. H. Hil- 
 liard, the State Commander of the Order, heading the procession, 
 as marshal, with a staff of ten. The Great Western Light Guard 
 
116 OLD ABE. 
 
 Band furnished the music. The Sterling City Guards, com 
 nianded by Capt. J. W. R. Stanbough, preceded the several Posts 
 of the Grand Army. They were followed by a carriage, con- 
 taining Old Abe, the Veteran War-Eagle of the Eighth Wis 
 consin, and his escort consisting of Capt. F. W. Oakley, U. S. 
 Marshal, Dr. A. J. Ward and Hugh Lewis, of the Iron Brigade, 
 Capt. A. R. McDonald and Ex-Mayor Leitch, of Madison, Wis. 
 4 Abe was perched upon a shield, held aloft by one of his 
 guards of honor, and he was loudly cheered wherever the 
 crowd caught sight of him. He frequently flapped his wings 
 and looked majestic." 
 
 The Chicago Tribune, of the 14th, mentioning the 
 " grizzly rain " that fell in the afternoon- of the second 
 day s proceedings, says: 
 
 " The greatest feature of the procession, aside from the Vete 
 ran organization, composed of men who know what it is to be a 
 soldier, and whose tattered regimental flags indicated the ser 
 vices they had done, was the War-Eagle, Old Abe, a noted 
 leader of the Eighth Wisconsin; he was the chief lion of the 
 day, sitting upon his perch with immense dignity, flapping his 
 wings and screaming like a mortal bird of freedom on the now 
 obsolete twenty-dollar gold piece." 
 
 As the procession approached the Exposition Build 
 ing, where the reception was to be given Gov. Beveridge 
 by a presentation of national colors, the enthusiasm was 
 intensified; old veterans, seeing the War Eagle in his 
 splended barouche with his escort, threw their hats into 
 it and high into the air, loudly cheering, others loading 
 it with flowers, while several ladies, flying to the car 
 riage, presented the Bearer a large wreath of beautiful 
 roses set in evergreens, in the form of a massive hoop 
 which was immediately put around the perch, the Eagle 
 sitting within it, scanning the balcony on which were 
 
TABLEAU OF OLD ABE. 117 
 
 assembled the civil and military officers, surrounded by 
 flags and festoons that covered the pillars and hung in 
 graceful folds from the cornices; and, as the vast mul 
 titude cheered and cheered, u Old Abe " responded by 
 his majestic art of speech, as if really conscious of per 
 sonating the liberty for which he and his comrades 
 fought. 
 
 The idea was unique. Under the leadership of Mrs. 
 J. G. Thorp, President of the " Women s State Centen 
 nial Executive," a representative meeting of the Centen 
 nial Clubs of the State was called to the capital to re 
 kindle the fires of patriotism by a historic celebration 
 of Independence Day, on the evening of July 5, 1875. 
 Her daughter, Mrs. Ole Bull, wife of the celebrated 
 musician, was the art designer of this beau ideal in exhi 
 bition. " It was an ovation, 1 * says the State Journal, 
 " of which we might be proud to speak. The Speaker s 
 desk in the Assembly Room of the Capitol had been 
 transformed by artistic hands into a niche with the 
 State Insignia, before which hung a mysterious curtain. 
 On the opposite side of the hall, a mossy grotto, en 
 shrining the flower nymphs, added its own charms to the 
 scene." 
 
 " The Day we Celebrate," the personation of King 
 George s time by Gen. Geo. B. Smith, the floral exuber 
 ance, the elegant addresses of Hon. E. G. Ryan, and 
 Col. W. B. Slaughter, the representative Gen. Washing 
 ton, making his " first visit to the fair young widow, Mrs. 
 Custis, who with her two children playing at her feet is 
 surprised at his entrance," the proffer of the services of 
 
118 OLD ABE. 
 
 Gren. LaFayette to Washington to help fight the battles 
 of American liberty, were indeed a life-drama of the Rev 
 olution, seldom surpassed in beauty of personation; but 
 another scene eclipsed it all. When the curtain rose, 
 there stood the famous War-Eagle on his perch, sur 
 rounded by State and National flags and stands of arms, 
 as the living ideal of our prowess a hundred years ago. 
 Maj. C. G. Mayers, in costume of Paul Jones, which re 
 newed his youth, recited in a very spirited manner the 
 following poem, by Lizzie Doten, entitled: 
 
 THE EAGLE OF FBEEDOM. 
 
 " O, land of our glory, our boast and our pride. 
 Where the brave and the fearless for freedom have died- 
 How clear is the lustre that beams from thy name ! 
 How bright on thy brow are the laurels of fame ! 
 The stars of thy Union still burn in the sky, 
 And the scream of thine Eagle is heard from on high! 
 His eyrie is built where no foe can invade, 
 Nor traitors prevail with the brand and the blade! 
 
 CH. The Eagle of Freedom, in danger and night, 
 
 Keeps watch o er our flag from his star-circled heigi-4, 
 From mountain and valley, from hill-top and sea, 
 Three cheers for the Eagle, the Bird of the Free ! 
 
 Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
 Hurrah for the Eagle, the Bird of the Free ! 
 
 Mount up, O thou Eagle! and rend in thy flight 
 
 The war-cloud that hides our broad banner from sight! 
 
 Guard, guard it from danger, though war-rent and worn, 
 
 And see that no star from its azure is torn! 
 
 Keep thy breast to the storm, and thine eye on the sun, 
 
 Till, true to our motto, THE MANY ABE ONE! 
 
 Till the red rage of war with its tunnit shall cease, 
 
 And the dove shall return with the olive of peace. 
 
 CHORUS. 
 
OLD ABE Itf A DANCE. 119 
 
 O, sons of the mighty, the true and the brave, 
 
 The souls of your heroes rest not in their grave ; 
 
 The holy libation to Liberty poured, 
 
 Hath streamed, not in vain, from the blood-crimsoned sword. 
 
 Henceforth with your Star Spangled Banner unfurled, 
 
 Your might shall be felt to the ends of the world, 
 
 And rising Republics, like nebulae gleam, 
 
 Wherever the stars of your nation shall beam. 
 
 CH. The Eagle of Freedom, sublime in his flight, 
 
 Shall rest on your banner, encircled with light; 
 
 And then shall the chorus, in unison be, 
 
 Three cheers for the Eagle, the Bird of the Free! 
 
 Hurrah ! Hurrah ! 
 Hurrah for the Eagle, the Bird of the Free! " 
 
 " Old Abe " modestly listened to the recital of this 
 poem, as if conscious of the scrutiny of that refined 
 audience. This uncommon mood of the bird is thus 
 described by two lady Secretaries of the Centennial, 
 Mrs. J. D. Butler .and Mrs. B. W. Jones, in their 
 authorized report of the Exhibition, as given in the 
 Slate Journal of July 7: 
 
 "Our grand Old Abe, the winged veteran of many a battle 
 field, mounted on his perch, stood in the most dignified manner 
 during Col. C. G. Mayers poetical address; and, though he 
 could gaze at the sun and brave the roar of the cannon, he 
 drooped his head as if scarcely worthy of the Colonel s eulogy." 
 
 " OLD ABE " IN A DANCE ! 
 
 Why not ? He is a United States citizen, and so en 
 titled to all its social amenities. Under the auspices of 
 the " Women s Centennial," " Mr. Eagle," of the Eighth 
 Wisconsin, received a card of invitation to attend a 
 "Legislative Leap Year Party," in the Assembly Cham- 
 
120 OLD ABE. 
 
 bers, on the eve of February 17, 1876. The Terpsi- 
 diorean drama opened with the Marseillaise Hymn, by 
 Mrs. H. M. Page, who, attired in appropriate costume, 
 appeared as the " Daughter of the Regiment," admira 
 bly singing and tapping her drum, with accompani 
 ments from Bach s Band. The war-bird, on his " Cen 
 tennial Perch," stood one side, a little in front of the 
 vivandiere, listening with a noticeable dignity, animated 
 most at the sound of the drum that recalled the reveille 
 of other days, and when she closed singing the u Star 
 Spangled Banner," feeling the deep inspiration of the 
 audience, he encored with clapping of wings. Not be 
 ing specially trained to dance, he was excused further 
 military attentions, and retired to the " Eagle Depart 
 ment." 
 
 History, song, art the legacy of our laureate Eagle. 
 The last crowning excellence is a medallion for the 
 Women s Department of the Wisconsin Centennial, the 
 voluntary contribution of Mrs. Culver, of Madisn. 
 The following letter from the gifted artist, is explana 
 tory of the beautiful design: 
 
 " MADISON, March 23, 1876. 
 
 "J. O. BARRETT, Esq. Dear Sir: In answer to your in- 
 quiries concerning the portrait of the 8th Wis. Eagle, which is 
 to be painted for the Centennial Exposition, I would say that it 
 is to be something less than half life-size, on a gilt medallion, 
 to be framed in carved ebony and placed upon the top of an 
 ebony cabinet. This State Cabinet is to contain the books and 
 music written by the women of Wisconsin, also choice orna 
 ments and specimens of art. The panels in the sides and doors 
 
ADVENTURE OF AN EAGLE-BEARER. 121 
 
 of the lower part are to be decorated with flowers, grasses and 
 vines, done in oil. The upper part is open, the shelves are 
 irregular, after the Japanese style, and are surrounded by ele 
 gant hand-carving, executed by Mr. G. Haug, of Milwaukee. 
 On Wednesday, the 15th of March, Old Abe honored me with 
 a sitting; he was attended by his keeper, to whom he seems 
 greatly attached. I was astonished at the color and expression, 
 of his eye, which forcibly reminded me of the description given 
 by a countryman, who said : The Eagle has a shrill eye ! and 
 at the size and cruel strength of his beak, which had the appear 
 ance of yellow ivory. The sharp look of inquiry he gave me 
 seemed to ask, what is all this bother about, anyway? Fortu 
 nately, for my peace of mind, the niahl-stick seemed to make 
 this king of birds quail. He stood upon his standard with tho 
 the United States shield beneath him, gazing over the waters of 
 Mendota with a far-off look, but a tap of my brush on the easel 
 would recall his thoughts, and cause him to turn his head 
 quickly in the desired position. It was in one of these momenta 
 of surprise, that I caught the expression of his shrill eye. 
 When nearly through with the sitting, the flag was draped in 
 his talons over the standard ; the sight of the stars and stripes 
 seemed to arouse old memories, and he uttered several screams 
 which I thought might mean a declaration of war. His keeper 
 assured me, however, that it was only a feeling of joy that ani 
 mated him ; but as he began to tear the bunting with his great 
 beak in a very decided manner, and as his meal time was ap 
 proaching, he having fasted two or three days as is his custom, 
 this part of the picture was rapidly executed, and he went oft to 
 his dinner of rabbit, which I hope he enjoyed as fully as I did 
 my morning with Old Abe. 
 
 " Very Respectfully, 
 
 " MINNIE B. CULVER." 
 
 ADVENTURE OF AN EAGLE BEARER. 
 
 Among the "Chippewa Eagle Boys" is John F. Hill, brother 
 of Thomas, both of Company C; their father was killed in the 
 
122 OLD ABE. 
 
 battle of Petersburg. John enlisted when he was sixteen. In 
 the battle of Corinth, Hill was standing beside the Eagle, near Mc- 
 Lane; had fired six times, and was just putting on a cap for an 
 other discharge, when a Miuie ball struck his right arm at the 
 joint of the elbow and glanced off into his side, passing clear 
 through him. He fell instantly. Seeing this favorite boy lying 
 there, a soldier ran to Capt. vVolt declaring, "Johny Hill is 
 killed ! " " Never mind," replied the Captain, " we cannot attend 
 to dead men now." Soon after this, the Captain himself passed 
 the spot, looked at him, rolled him over, and pronounced him 
 dead; then with his sword he hacked the bark of a tree near by, 
 that he might be more readily found after the battle. Our army 
 fell back; the rebels advanced, passing our wounded soldier. 
 Four hours he lay there weltering in his blood, the pulse of life 
 feebly beating. Coming to his consciousness about dark, he 
 rose to his feet, and, with a staggering gait started for the Union 
 camp, but had not gone far when he was taken prisoner, and 
 turned back, fainting at intervals on the way. By midnight he 
 had walked four miles to the rebel hospital, where he was 
 obliged to lie out all that rainy night under a tree. Some time 
 during the darkness, after the rebel wounded were cared for, 
 John respectfully entreated the Surgeon to dress his wound. 
 
 "Dress your wound?" replied the "Southern gentlemen," 
 "what s the use? You wont live till morning! " 
 
 O, the painful hours how slowly they dragged the night! 
 Three o clock four o clock six o clock morning! and yet 
 he lives, uupitied, untouched, save by the sweet heavens that 
 wept over him. In due time the Surgeon went the rounds 
 among his patients, inquiring after their condition, and finding 
 John steaming in the wet, shouted : " Hello, Yank, you are alive 
 yet, ar n t ye ? " 
 
 u Guess I am," faintly answered the resolute boy. 
 
 " Well, you ll fag out to-day it s going to be hot! Eat 
 
 that if you want," said the good hearted Surgeon, throwing him. 
 some parched corn. 
 
 About 12 M., the rebels began to retreat, when a cavalry man 
 
ADVENTURE OF AN EAGLE-BEARER. 123 
 
 rushed into the hospital, saying: "All that are able to walk, 
 come with rne the Yanks are driving us! " 
 
 Just as the word was spoken, and a portion had left, John stag 
 gered to the same Surgeon, and asked him if he had any objec 
 tion to his going to Corinth. 
 
 "No! you can t go a rod from where you are standing," an 
 swered the rebel, with an oath. 
 
 John now began his snail-like journey to his friends, the blood 
 from his side frothing out at every motion. Tluvt morning 
 Thomas (the brother) procured a spade and picaxe, and a head 
 board on which he had recorded the sad epitaph, and, thus 
 equipped, hurried to find the tree marked by Capt. Wolf, there 
 expecting to bury the body of his dead brother. Thus the two 
 boys were approaching each other, but by different routes, not 
 far apart, however. At a distance, John saw Thomas, and spoke 
 as loud as he could "Thomas ! " 
 
 Tims interrogated, Thomas looked here and there, and at last 
 discerned a straggler, but did not at first recognize him. Again 
 John called, "Thomas, it s me! " 
 
 Thomas approached, and, when within a few rods, recognized 
 his brother, and chokingly articulated: " You, John? John!" 
 
 Imagine the happy meeting the dead alive again! John 
 leaned upon his brother s arm, and thus was helped into Corinth, 
 where he was tenderly cared for by our Surgeon. When his 
 wound was dressed, he fainted, but soon revived. That night 
 the Surgeon gave orders to watch John, stating he would prob 
 ably die before morning. It is hard to kill a soldier. He re 
 covered, and is now able to do light work as a worthy citizen. 
 He remained in the service another year, at one time faithfully 
 fulfilling the duties of the Adjutant s Orderly. As already men 
 tioned, John handsomely bore " Old Abe," for a while during 
 "the soldier time," and at the great Sanitary Fairs of Chicago 
 and Milwaukee, in 1805. By appointment of Gov. Ludington 
 he now lias the honor of bearing the proud bird to the Centen 
 nial, as 
 
 " A type of the eons of Liberty." 
 
124 OLD ABE. 
 
 1876! 
 
 The Centennial of America, the test of democratic 
 government for a hundred years; what a convocation of 
 peoples from all the earth; what a reminiscence of valor; 
 what a pledge of National faith! The war is over; 
 brothers that fought each other meet again, hand to 
 hand, unarmed, heart in the hand, and a grand cheer 
 for freedom. Our tears commingle over the graves of 
 the " Blue and the Gray;" our spears cross there in sol 
 emn oath to defend the old "stars and stripes; 1 we 
 swear before the God of our Fathers, presiding over 
 the destinies of America that no enemy, within or 
 without, shall sever the " Union of States. 1 
 
 " Honest Old Abe " fell with the last gasp of the Re 
 bellion; his enemies, even, bowed their heads in grief 
 over the martyr; the generous of their brave natures 
 was too great to repress, when he rose like a Christ 
 amid the glory of an emancipated race; but the Eagle 
 of the country for which men fought and died, the his 
 toric " Old Abe, 17 still lives as the seal of good-will be 
 tween rivals in the tournament of war, and may live 
 till a new century dawns in a brighter age. His head 
 is a beautiful ivhite; it is peace in emblem the pure 
 of j ustice wreathing the sun-lighted eyes of liberty, that 
 speak so much of battle and honor. This " Bird of 
 Lincoln " has seen the ending of the dreadful war in 
 which he was engaged, the North and South united 
 again in closer bonds than ever brothers now the 
 National Constitution reconstructed to protect each 
 race and sex, and the resurrection of this Republic to a 
 
1876. 125 
 
 higher civilization that preludes a Continental Union, 
 by and by, bounded only by oceans, under one common 
 flag. 
 
 The Wisconsin Legislature of 1876, by joint resolu 
 tion of the Assembly and Senate, authorized Gov. H. 
 Ludington to have t/% Old Abe " borne by some veteran 
 soldier, on exhibition at Philadelphia, where first such 
 a bird was placed in our Constellation of States; where 
 he is to demonstrate by his military personnel how hap 
 pily chosen was the emblem, and how much the u War- 
 Eagle of Wisconsin," that never lost a battle, is a " De 
 claration of Independence," by the grandeur of his 
 mien and the keenness of his justice. 
 
 To the royal visitors who may there gaze upon this 
 famous bird, he teaches, by the unquenchable fire of his 
 patriotism, the lessons of ages to them as to ourselves, 
 that injustice even to one human being is so much 
 governmental fealty lost, that compromise with oppres 
 sion breeds the giant of rebellion, that war comes as a 
 painful necessity when we neglect to protect the in 
 alienable rights of man; and, while the superior 
 strength and- durability of a republican form of gov 
 ernment in maintaining itself against external and 
 internal enemies, and thence the evolution of the great 
 est possible progress in wealth, intelligence, individual 
 sovereignty and domestic virtue, is unmistakably demon 
 strated to the nations of the earth for a hundred years 
 that, to ensure such progress for the future, nationally 
 needs to be nurtured simply as a component of uni 
 versal brotherhood; then will our Eagle be no longer 
 fettered to the march of armies, but free in his native 
 
126 
 
 OLD ABE. 
 
 skies the hovering cherubim of a cosmopolitan citi 
 zenship, of a Representative Congress of Nations in 
 prudent council to settle all local difficulties without 
 the arbitrament of the sword free in commerce, inter 
 national in science, eclectic in religion. 
 
 " And then we ll raise, on Liberty s broad base, 
 A structure of wise government, and show, 
 In our new world, a glorious spectacle 
 By reason swayed, self-governed, self-improved, 
 And the electric chain of public good 
 Twined round the public happiness of each; 
 And every heart thrilled by the pariot chord 
 That sounds the glory of America." 
 
"UNDER ARMS, ONCE MORE!" 
 
 [There is a "random- in the death of Patriots, when it opens a Nation to 
 the life and liirlit of our Katherland in the Heavens. \\ here is our Lincol 
 Where the heroes that went down with him, pale, brave, trustlul, to the 
 brink of the river, and crowed it under convov of fleets manned by the im 
 mortals of the -Ancient of Days? 1 Henry Howard Biownell, author 
 " War-Lvrics " answers the question in his inimitable poem, entitled A bra; 
 ham Lincoln, 11 as with a prophet s vision, he beholds the " Eagle Armies, 
 giving heed to the " Forward, March! "] 
 
 Tents on the Infinite Shore! 
 
 Flags in the azuline sky, 
 Sails on the seas once more! 
 
 To-day, in the heaven on high, 
 All under arms once more! 
 The troops are all in their lines, 
 
 The guidons flutter and play; 
 But every bayonet shines, 
 
 For all must march to-day. 
 
 What lofty pennons flaunt? 
 What mighty echoes haunt, 
 
 As of great guns, o er the main? 
 
 Hark to the sound again 
 The Congress is all a-taunt! 
 
 The Cumberland s manned again! 
 
 All the ships and their men 
 
 Are in line of battle to-day, 
 All at quarters, as when 
 
 Their last roll thundered away, 
 All at their guns, as then, 
 
 For the Fleet salutes to-day. 
 
 The armies have broken camp 
 
 On the vast and sunny plain, 
 
 The drums are rolling again; 
 With steady, measured tramp, 
 
 They re marching all again. 
 
 With alignment firm and solemn, 
 Once again they form 
 
128 OLD ABE. 
 
 In mighty square and column, 
 But never for charge and storm. 
 
 The Old Flag they died under 
 Floats above them on the shore, 
 
 And on the great ships yonder 
 The ensigns dip once more 
 
 And once again the thunder 
 Of the thirty guns and four! 
 
 In solid platoons of steel, 
 Under heaven s triumphal arch, 
 
 The long lines break and wheel 
 And the word is, " Forward, march! " 
 
 The Colors ripple o erhead, 
 The drums roll up to the sky, 
 
 And with martial time and tread 
 The regiments all pass by 
 
 The ranks of our faithful Dead, 
 Meeting their President s eye. 
 
 With a soldier s quiet pride 
 
 They smile o er the perished pain, 
 For their anguish was not vain 
 
 For thee, O Father, we died ! 
 And we did not die in vain. 
 
 March on, your last brave mile! 
 
 Salute him, Star and Lace, 
 Form round him, rank and file, 
 
 And look on the kind, rough face; 
 But the quaint and homely smile 
 
 Has a glory and a grace 
 It never had known erewhile 
 
 .Never, in time and space. 
 
 Close round him, hearts of pride! 
 Press near him, side by side, 
 
 Our Father is not alone! 
 For the Holy Right ye died, 
 Ind Christ, the Crucified, 
 
 Waits to welcome his own. 
 

 ^D 21-100m-ll, 49(B7