THE WAUPACA COUNTY POST

September 26, 1991

 

WHEN THEN WAS NOW

By Wayne A. Guyant

 

            The June 25, 1903 issue of the Waupaca Record wrote about this interesting account of “Old Abe,” the famous Wisconsin eagle.

            Chief Sky, a member of the Wisconsin Chippewas, was on a hunting tour in the spring of 1861 when he climbed on top of a ledge of rocks, and from this vantage point saw a large nest with two young eaglets in it.  The mother eagle was nowhere insight so he took the two eaglets home with him as pets for his papoose.  One of them died shortly afterwards and the other one turned out to become famous.

            In the fall of 1861 a group of soldiers stopped at the home of Chief Sky and made a trade with him; a bushel of corn for the young eagle.  Soon thereafter, they presented the young eagle to their regi-ment, which left for the Civil War.  The young eagle was placed in the charge of one soldier.  During the long marches this soldier often carried him on a shield fastened to a standard. Sometimes when he was tired of riding or needed some exercise, he would leave his perch and fly away.  If fresh meat for his meals became scarce, he would be gone for several days and would return with a lamb.

            He could distinguish between the blue and the grey.  Sometimes he went to the wrong regiment before he found the right one.  During the battle at Jackson, MS, Old Abe, as he had by then been named, flew intot he air and remained there from dawn to dusk.

            Old Abe was struck down several times by bullets during the war – once at Gettysburg’s Missionary Ridge – but he was soaring so high and his feathers were so thick that he suffered little harm.

            After the war was over he became the property of the State of Wisconsin and the basement of the Capitol at Madison became his home.  In the winter he roamed within the building and in the summer he occupied a cage on the grounds.  A live animal was always given him for his breakfast.  One day a white chicken was offered him for his breakfast, but whether it was from compassion or just longing to have a feathered friend to share his loneliness, he shared his corn with the chicken.  He allowed her toshare his perch at night and would shelter her with his big wing.

            In 1876 Old Abe was taken to the Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia.  Visitors came from all over the country to see him.  He seemed to feel that he was highly honored.  He appeared to be watching the sale of his pictures and the story of his life. Some of his quills sold for $5, the money going for charity.

            In the spring of 1881 Old Abe fell ill.  The doctors pronounced it a case of lung trouble.  Everything was done for him, but he soon died.  His body was preserved in a museum at Madison.

            After reading this article, I became interested in learning more about Old Abe.  I found a publica-tion “Old Abe the War Eagle.”  It has been documented to be a much more accurate and up-to-date account of Old Abe.

            O-ge-ma-we-ge-zhig (Charlie) Chief Sky killed the mother eagle and had to cut down a tall pine tree that contained the nest with the eaglets.  He was a member of the Falmbeau band of Chippewa Indians.

            Mrs. Dan McCann who lived near Jim Falls in Chippewa County, purchased the young eaglet for a bushel of corn.  They kept a large blue ribbon around its neck, clipped its wings and tied his feet.  Their two children were kept busy furnishing food for the growing bird.  They found rabbits, mice and partridges for his menu. Once he escaped for four days, but the large ribbon around his neck prevented him from flying very well.  He was growing day by day and becoming more and more a problem.

            Dan McCann took Abe to Chippewa Falls, which was forming a militia, and offered him to the soldiers for a mascot.  They rejected his offer, so he then went to Eau Claire and made them the same offer and they accepted.

            So now Abe was in the army.  The regiment from Eau Clair went to Camp Randall in Madison for training on September 4, 1861.

            Camp Randall was the training facility that transformed most of Wisconsin’s volunteers into soldiers.  When the Eau Clair company marched into Camp Randall to the tune of “Yankee Doodle,” Old Abe, aroused by the music, the trip and the attention of the citizens who had lined the streets, grasped the end of the company flag with his beak.  Flapping and stretching his wings, he created quite a sensation.

            The Madison State Journal described the event as a “majestic sight.”  Obviously the sound of a snappy tune turned Old Abe on, because when he was living in the Dan McCann household he enjoyed hearing Dan lay his violin.  When he heard the fast part of “Bonaparte’s Retreat” he would jump up and down and flutter his wings.

            Old Abe now received a new perch to replace the old one.  The regimental quartermaster, Francis L. Billings, a 30-year-old-Oshkosh merchant, constructed a shield-shaped wooden plate above which a crosspiece was placed for Old Abe to perch on.  The shield was painted with stars and strips, with three wooden arrows along each side of the roost, and attached the device to a five-foot pole. At the base of the shield was inscribed “8^th Reg. W.V.”

            Men from the 8^th came from all over Wisconsin. They represented many different skills from mechanics, carpenters, lumberjacks, farmers and blacksmiths to name only a few.  It took nearly 100 men in several companies to form a regiment.  Company A were men from Waupaca, Portage and Waushara counties.  Company C came from the Eau Claire area.

            Old Abe stayed with Company C as its mascot. Six different members of Company C served as bearers during the Civil War.  James McGinnis, an Eau Claire farmer, carried the eagle until May 1862, when he died of some disease in Mississippi.  Thomas J. Hill of Eau Claire became Abe’s next bearer until August of 1862.  David McLain, a carpenter and farmer from Buffalo County, became Old Abe’s best-remembered bearer.  He carried the eagle during the fiercely fought battle that lasted for two days at Corinth, in October 1862.  Edwin Homaston, an Eau Claire blacksmith, became Old Abe’s closes human associate.  He carried him through the Vicksburg Campaign. Jacob Burkhardt, a German immigrant from Eau Claire, bore the eagle to 1864, John F. Hill, the 16-year-old brother of Thomas Hill, who was wounded at Corinth, carried Old Abe back to Madison and was mustered out in September 1864.

            Old Abe was home at last, free from the sounds and horrors of war.  He now became the property of the State of Wisconsin, and was now classified along with the battle flags that were returned by the state regiments, as a “War Relic.”  He was no longer a member of the 8^th Wisconsin Infantry, but the eagle mascot now became a Civil War Curiosity.  As the years passed Old Abe’s fame grew.

            In the State Capitol, Old Abe had access to a specially constructed bathtub, was fed fresh rabbits daily, and had several sawhorses to roost upon.  The “Eagle Department” never lacked for visitors.

            Wisconsin’s War Eagle was not destined to spend his remaining years relaxing in his pen at the Capitol.  After January 1865, Old Abe made many journeys through Wisconsin and many other states.  All of this can be found in detail in the publication “Old Abe The War Eagle,” by Richard H. Zeitlin, and copyrighted by the State Historical Society of Wisconsin in 1986.

            The bitter cold winter of 1880-1881 proved to be disastrous for Old Abe.  In February 1881, a small fire broke out in the basement of the State Capitol in a storage area containing paints and oils.  The fire was quickly brought under control, but an enormous amount of smoke filled the War Eagle’s quarters.

            On March 20,1881, Old Abe refused to eat and continually lost strength.  On Friday, March 25, the bird went into spasms, appearing to be suffering from lung difficulties.  Old Abe died in George Gile’s arms the following afternoon.  Immediately the question arose as to what should be done with the eagle’s remains.  Having the bird mounted won out over the burial in Union Rest at Madison’s Forest Hill Cemetery.  It seems as if the taxidermist did a poor job on Old Abe, as he did not look very natural.

            In May a dispute arose over where and how the stuffed eagle would be displayed. On September 17, 1881, Old Abe went on display in the rotunda of the State Capitol.  Four years later the eagle was removed to the War Museum which was a part of the State Historical Society of Wisconsin’s room in the Capitol.  The eagle was placed in an octagonal black walnut and glass case which stood near the rows of tattered flags that had survived the Civil War.

            Old Abe, even after death, traveled in his eight-sided black walnut case to be viewed at fairs and expositions around the country.

            In 1900, when the State Historical Society moved into its new location on the University campus, Old Abe went along.  Pressure from veterans’ groups convinced Governor Robert M. LaFollette to have the eagle and the war flags returned to the Capitol.  As it turned out that was a grave mistake.

            In the spring of 1903, the encased Old Abe became part of the exhibits at the G.A.R. Memorial Hall in the Capitol.  Old Abe did not even spend an entire year in the G.A.R. Memorial Hall, because in February of 1904, a fire broke out in the Capitol once more.  Despite all efforts, the fire consumed Old Abe in his beautiful case.

            I hope that you enjoyed reading this article as much as I did in putting it together.  Be sure to read the full account of Old Abe in “Old Abe the War Eagle.”