The Eagle That Went to War by Walter Oleksy

The Eagle That Went to War

It's not every eagle that marches off to war. And gets wounded twice in battle, is decorated for bravery, and becomes a national hero. But then Old Abe wasn't just any kind of eagle....

The eaglet was just a fledgling, barely able to fly, nesting in an emerald pine tree in northwest Wisconsin one mild spring morning in 1861. From his perch atop Flambeau Hill, he could look out over the rolling farm country.

An occasional rifle shot he heard was from a hunter, not Civil War gunfire.

Walking through the woods that morning came Chief Sky, an Indian of the Lac du Flambeau band of Chippewa. Even a chief seldom took a chance raiding an eagle's nest. But since there was just one fledgling and no full-grown birds in sight, he climbed the tree. The eagle nipped his finger, but the chief managed to slip a small sack over the bird's head. Taking his prize, he climbed down from the tree, ran to his canoe, and paddled swiftly off up the Chippewa river.

Two days later, Chief Sky came to a farm owned by Daniel McCann, hoping  to sell him the eaglet. The farmer was out working in his field, but his wife thought she'd like to keep the bird as a pet. She traded the chief a bag of corn and took the eaglet.

When Mr. McCann came home and saw the eaglet, he said the bird would have to go. It would be too much trouble to keep. The next day, he took the bird to the town of Eau Claire and showed him to some young Wisconsin recruits on their way to Camp Randall at Madison. One of them, a young man named Johnny Hill, took a special liking to the bird.

"We need a mascot in this war we're going to," Johnny told his comrades. "Let's buy him and take him along with us."

"How much?" the other recruits asked.

Mr. McCann decided that he wanted to be rid of the eaglet more than he wanted to make a lot of money, especially off of recruits going to war.

"Two dollars and a half?" he asked.

Johnny and his companions dug into their pockets and between them came up with the money. The sale was made and the eaglet now found himself going off to war. Johnny christened him Old Abe, after President Abraham Lincoln, and they took the eaglet in as a full fledged recruit in the Union Army.

A few days later, they marched into Camp Randall with Old Abe. They were a little afraid they might get their mascot killed and themselves courtmartialed for bringing a wild eagle into the army.

But the commander, knowing the importance of morale to a unit, thought an eagle for a mascot was a fine idea. A perch was made for Old Abe in the form of a shield on which the stars and stripes were painted along with the inscription, "Eighth Regiment, Wisconsin Volunteers."

The metal perch was mounted on a five-foot pole. A bearer, by setting the staff in a belt-socket, held up Old Abe at a station assigned him at the center of the line of march, behind the Union flag.

A short time later, the commander nicknamed the regiment "The Eagles," and Old Abe was formally sworn into the United States Army and bedecked in red, white and blue ribbons.

His fame already had begun to spread, and a businessman in St. Louis offered to buy Old Abe for $500.00 but he wasn't for sale.

Old Abe went with the Wisconsin Eagles on their mission to war. After he overcame initial surprise at the sound of enemy gunfire, he would scream fiercely, especially when the company advanced. He would jabber raucously and often soar overhead as if scouting, then return to his perch and call noisily, as if uring the men to action.

Everywhere it marched the regiment became famous, not only because of its mascot, but because of its bravery.  Old Abe was always there, in the thick of 36 battles and skirmishes, a symbol of courage to Johnny Hill and every other soldier.

One Confederate general remarked that he would rather capture "that sky buzzard" than a whole brigade of soldiers.

Old Abe suffered two minor battle wounds, at Corinth and Vicksburg, Mississippi, before the war ended.

When the Wisconsin Eagles returned to Madison, the soldiers marched through the streets carrying Old Abe bobbing on his perch, hale and hearty as ever. Crowds cheered him as a real hero, and he flapped his wings as a sign of recognition.

With the war over, Old Abe was presented to the State of Wisconsin and given a room in the basement of the Capitol, where a soldier comrade became his private caretaker. Johnny Hill, who also had survived the war, visited him often.

Thousands of people from all over the country came to see the famous war eagle that had survived so many battles and spurred so many soldiers on to victory. His moulted feathers sold for $5.00 a piece, and the famous circus owner P.T. Barnum offered $20,000 to feature him as a circus performer. But other work was in store for Old Abe.

By special act of the Wisconsin legislature in 1876, and with the governor's approval, Old Abe was exhibited at the United States Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.

His chaperone was none other than his old army buddy, Johnny Hill.

Returning from Philadelphia, Old Abe went on tours of the country. He helped raise thousands of dollars for war relief charity and became a national hero all over again.

Old Abe was almost twenty years old when he died. A granite statue of the valiant eagle stands over the arched entrance to Old Camp  Randall in Madison.

When you are in the Midwest on vacation, you can stop in and pay your respects to Old Abe. And next time you see a little brass eagle mounted atop a flag pole in a parade, remember Old Abe, the real live eagle that went to war.