Wrestling, jumping, and lifting was a pastime in camp, and Captain Lincoln excelled every man in the regiment in these feats. His company declared that there was not a man in the whole army who was his equal as a wrestler; and they boastfully pitted him against the "whole field." This challenge brought out a man from another regiment, by the name of Thompson, who offered to wrestle with Lincoln. The latter's company at once staked money, weapons, and outfit, believing that their captain would lay the great Western wrestler," as he was called, on his back.

Captain Lincoln had tussled with Thompson but a few minutes when he remarked to his friends, "This is the most powerful man I ever had hold of. He will throw me, and you will lose."

The company urged him on, believing he was more than a match for Thompson; but they were sadly disappointed when the latter threw their champion flat on his back. As, according to the custom, it required two out of three falls to settle the contest, they were soon struggling again, when both of them came to the ground, Thompson on top. In their great disappointment, Lincoln's men claimed that Thompson was thrown as really as their captain, the second time, and refused to give up their property staked. This brought on a collision with Thompson's friends, and they were about to proceed to blows, when Captain Lincoln magnanimously stepped in and prevented further trouble. Addressing his men, he said,

"Boys, Thompson actually threw me once fair, broadly so; and the second time he threw me fairly,

though not apparently so." And he counselled them to be honest and accept the inevitable. This was a very remarkable example of magnanimity, and served to exalt Lincoln still higher, if possible, in the estimation of all.

Another incident we will give in the language of William Green: "One other word in reference to Lincoln's care for the health and welfare of his men, and justice to them. Some officers of the United States had claimed that the regular army had a preference in the rations and pay. Captain Lincoln was ordered to do some act which he deemed unauthorized. He, however, obeyed, but went to the officer and said to him, 'Sir, you forget that we are not under the rules and regulations of the War Department at Washington; are only volunteers under the orders and regulations of Illinois. Keep in your own. sphere, and there will be no difficulty; but resistance will hereafter be made to your unjust orders; and, further, my men must be equal in all particulars, in rations, arms, camps, etc., to the regular army.' man saw that Lincoln was right, and determined to have justice done. Afterwards we were treated equally well, and just as the regular army was, in every particular. This brave, just, and humane act in behalf of the volunteers at once attached officers and rank to him, as with hooks of steel."

The

Mr. Irwin pays the following deserved tribute to Lincoln in the army: "During the campaign Lincoln himself was always ready for an emergency. He endured hardships like a good soldier; he never complained, nor did he fear danger. When fighting was

expected, or danger apprehended, Lincoln was the first to say 'Let's go.' He had the confidence of every man of his company, and they obeyed his orders at a word. His company was mostly young men, and full of sport."

The Black Hawk war was not much of a war after all, and our hero did not engage directly with the enemy face to face. Yet two officers in that war, Colonel Zachary Taylor and Captain Abraham Lincoln, subsequently became Presidents of the United States.

One of the most humorous speeches Abraham Lincoln ever made in Congress had reference to this war. General Cass was the Democratic candidate for President, and certain congressional orators made capital out of the General's connection with the Black Hawk

war.

Lincoln rose in his seat, and said, among other things, "By the way, Mr. Speaker, do you know that I am a military hero? Yes, sir, in the days of the Black Hawk war, I fought, bled, and came away. Speaking of General Cass's career reminds me of my own. I was not at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass to Hull's surrender; and like him I saw the place very soon afterward. It is quite certain that I did not break my sword, for I had none to break; but I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion.

*

. If General Cass went in advance of me in picking whortleberries, I guess I surpassed him in charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a good many *Lincoln re-enlisted as private, so that he did not carry a sword after the term of his company's enlistment expired.

bloody struggles with the mosquitoes; and, although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say I was often very hungry. If I should ever turn

Democrat, and be taken up as a candidate for the Presidency by the Democratic party, I hope they will not make fun of me by attempting to make me out a military hero."

CHAPTER XIX.

UNSOUGHT HONORS.

N his return from the Black Hawk war,
Lincoln took up his abode in the family of
J. R. Herndon. The people of New Salem

gave him a hearty welcome, and delighted to call him "Captain Lincoln." The Herndon family were soon more strongly attached to him than ever. "He had one of Herndon's children around with him nearly all the time," says an eye-witness. "He was at home wherever he went, and made himself wonderfully agreeable to the people he lived with, or happened to be visiting," says Mr. Herndon. That his kind and benevolent disposition did not suffer by his service in the army is quite evident from a remark of Mr. Herndon, "He was kind to the widow and orphan, and chopped their wood."

He was casting about for some employment, whereby to earn a livelihood. For some reason, to us unknown, the blacksmith's trade attracted his attention.

"What do you think of my learning the blacksmith's trade?" he said to his friend, William Green, one day.