(ieee el Web One BoU Lilie lel N i 
In Oct. 1861, the Eagle Regiment left for the front. A man had been 
assigned to care for Old Abe, and on a perch adorned with a shield of the 
Stars and Stripes and the regimental emblem, the regal bird rode off to war. 
During four years of savage fighting, ‘“Abe’”’ had four handlers. The charmed 
life that he led also applied to these men, inasmuch as not one was even 
nicked by a bullet. 
The eagle soon learned the language of the bugle. On hot, dusty marches, 
he liked to take a drink from his soldier-keeper by throwing his head back 
while the soldier poured water from his canteen down the bird’s throat. Old 
Abe developed great affection for each of his handlers. It is said that after 
the war, when one of these men would visit him, he would demonstrate his 
affection by making a cooing sound while rubbing his head against the man’s 
face. 
The legends are many about this bird. One was that he developed a vo- 
cabulary for every occasion—during battle or at rest in camp. With his 
sounds, he had the faculty of inspiring, comforting or showing affection. His 
alertness and his warning signal in one instance caused the capture of an 
enemy courier. 
Old Abe’s uncanny ability to do the right thing at the right moment is 
shown in a story related by Hosea Rood, a Wisconsin historian. Mr. Rood re- 
counted: “‘I saw Old Abe but once during the war. Early in December, 1862, 
my regiment, the Twelfth Wisconsin, was marching toward the front in a 
skirmish near Waterford, Mississippi. The Eighth was in line along the road. 
As we came near, one of our boys said: ‘This is the Eighth Wisconsin, and 
there is their eagle close by the flag.’ 
“As we approached, Old Abe was standing quietly on his perch, but when 
our flag came before him, he rose to his full height, spread his broad wings 
and flapped them three or four times, after which he settled down and watched 
us go by. It was a real pleasure to me now, 58 years later, to have seen Old 
Abe thus salute Old Glory that day down in Mississippi.” 
Of the many battles in which the eagle participated, the battle of Cornith, 
in May, 1862, was probably the most outstanding as far as his performance 
was concerned. A shot came so close that it cut his tether. Immediately, Old 
Abe rose above the fury of the fighting, and, in the spirit of the symbol that 
he was he soared and hovered over the battle lines, until finally he plummeted 
down to the Union side and his perch. 
Vicksburg proved to be an ordeal for the Federal forces. Disease, as well 
as hunger, was rampant. During the seige, Old Abe’s presence proved in- 
valuable as a morale builder. After the capture of Vicksburg, when the blue 
lines marched into the fallen city, the great feathered warrior, in recognition 
of the unique part he had played, rode in with the colors beside General Logan. 
Old Abe’s fame had become so well known throughout the Confederate 
forces that he was coveted by them. General Sterling Price was heard to say: 
“I'd rather capture Old Abe than a whole brigade.”’ 
In September 1864, when peace finally came, and the frightful civil con- 
fliet was over, Old Abe returned home with his comrades. Great sums of 
money were offered for the splendid bird, but they were spurned by the men 
of the Eagle Regiment, who offered him to their state. He was formally ac- 
_ cepted by the Governor of Wisconsin, and was placed in comfortable quarters 
