Militiaman Lincoln

Militiaman Lincoln. Looking for Lincoln. The frontier militia spirit is depicted in this 1940 calendar art rendering of Lincoln, the Soldier by artist Fletcher Ransom. When Chief Black Hawk in 1832 led Sac and Fox warriors on roads to recover their traditional grounds. Illinois militia companies rendezvoused in the rain and knee-deep mud three miles east of Rushville. Lincoln was the captain of a company that one observer described as "the hardest set of men [I] ever saw." On April 30, the army moved out - but only made seven miles in the mud before stopping that night four miles north of Rushville. Lincoln's company was discharged five weeks later without fighting, but Lincoln reenlisted as a private., Abraham Lincoln's defeat in a wrestling match is one of the most celebrated stories from his service in the Black Hawk Indian War. When Lincoln's Black Hawk Indian War. When Lincoln's militia company got into a dispute with a company from St. Clair County over a desirable campsite east of Rushville, someone suggested a wrestling match to settle the matter. Dow Thompson was champion for the St. Clair boys; Lincoln was for his company. Lincoln's reputation as an unbeatable wrestler caused his men to bet heavily. The match was best two-out-of-three. They began with the "side hold" - Thompson's favorite. Thompson was not large, but compact and muscular. When they started, Lincoln knew instantly that he faced no common opponent. After a severe struggle, Thompson threw Lincoln. All were amazed. On the second try, the contestants used Lincoln's favorite hold - the "Indian hug." Lincoln dug his chin into Thompson's shoulder and squeezed hard; but try as he might, he couldn't throw Thompson. Ultimately, Lincoln lost a second time. His soldiers protested, "dog fall" (tie), but Lincoln shook his head: "Why, gentlemen, that man could throw a grizzly bear.", Black Hawk slept in an adjoining berth to William A. Scripps as the two traveled by boat from Buffalo to Detroit in July 1833. The Indian chief complained of the dreadful heat and "got out of bed two or three times, and was half inclined to dispense with his mattress," William recorded. He considered the defeated warrior a "respectable old gentlemen." Black Hawk had just been released from federal prison. William was traveling from London to America to visit his brothers, the Rev. John Scripps and George H. Scripps, who became two of Rushville's most prominent citizens and early supporters of Lincoln and the Republican party. The Scripps family later started a newspaper chain, and Rushville's Edward W. Scripps began the United Press Association.