In 1832 Lincoln served as a captain in the Black Hawk War, a short-lived Indian skirmish that lasted but a few weeks and in which he did not hear a shot fired in anger. In short, there seemed to be virtually nothing in this experience that might contribute to the burgeoning political career of a man whose law partner of 17 years said, ”Ambition was a little engine inside him that knew no rest.”
Lincoln had a way of dealing with the pretense of those who, like himself, had virtually no combat experience to bolster their political careers: he showed how they and he were pretty much on the same footing. In short, their pretense brought out his sarcasm.
There is little that can stand the assault of biting humor like the following: “By the way, do you know 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 Stallman's defeat, but I was about as near to it as Cass to Hull's surrender; and like him I saw the place very soon afterwards. It is quite certain 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 picking whortleberries, I guess I surpassed him in charging upon the wild onion. If he saw any live, fighting Indians, it was more than I did, but I had a good many bloody struggles with the mosquitoes, and although I never fainted from loss of blood, I can truly say that I was often very hungry.”
A salutary warning indeed for any fellow politician attempting to extract 20-mile political career from a 2-inch military background.
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