Old Abe: The Magnificent War Eagle of the 8th Wisconsin

     In September of 1861, Captain John E. Perkins and the Eau Claire Badgers went into Camp Randall, in Madison Wisconsin with an unusual company mascot: a fledging bald eagle who they soon named Old Abe.

          Old Abe had been captured near the Flambeau River in Chippewa County, Wisconsin by Agemahmegezhig (Chief Sky), a member of the Chippewa tribe during sugar season in the spring of 1861.  “His captor cut down a large pine tree in which was the eagle’s nest and secured this one caught in spite of the screams and menaces of the parent birds,” Captain James H. Green of the 8th Wisconsin later wrote. Daniel McCann of Eagle Point, Wisconsin soon purchased this fledgling eagle by trading a bushel of corn with the Chippewa. Captain Perkins was then in Eau Claire organizing a company and it was there that McCann sold the eagle to Perkins’ company for $2.50. Perkins, who was later killed at the battle of Farmington, may have viewed the eagle simply as a recruiting gimmick, but the bird quickly became so popular that when the company traveled to Camp Randall, the yet-unnamed fledgling went with them. “The company left for Madison on the 8th of September and the fact that a company was coming with a live eagle brought a great crowd to the wharf,” recalled Mary Bolen. “A salute from the 1st Wisconsin Battery was fired, followed by cheers from the crowd and soldiers ‘The eagle! The eagle! Hurrah for the eagle!’

The eagle made a splash when he arrived at Camp Randall the next day. “The band was playing Yankee Doodle amidst great shouting from the 7th Wisconsin and part of the 8th, and as the company entered the gate the eagle, as if by instinct, spread his wings, took hold of one of the small flags attached to his perch in his beak and carried it in that position to the Colonel’s quarters,” Mary Bolen continued. “The excitement knew no bounds and shout after shout was heard from the crowd. Deep and strong was the conviction that the eagle had a charmed life.” Captain David G. Harvey of the 8th Wisconsin recalled that the eagle became “the observed of all observers. Thousands came to see him, but he would allow no one to touch him except his keeper and the company commander who could handle him like a pet chicken.”

Old Abe became the beloved mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Infantry. Brought to the regiment as a fledgling eaglet, Abe matured into a magnificent symbol of unit pride and in many respects became one of the boys. 


Captain Perkins decided to name the eagle “Old Abe,” in honor of President Abraham Lincoln and entrusted Old Abe to the care of Jim McGinnis, one of Perkins’ soldiers in Co. C. McGinnis lovingly took care of Old Abe for the remainder of the eagle’s Civil War service. Old Abe became so popular that the company elected to change its name to the Eau Claire Eagles and indeed, the 8th Wisconsin would become known as the Eagle Regiment. Old Abe was sworn into service by having red, white, and blue ribbons and a rosette of the same material placed around his neck.

          To keep Old Abe from flying off, McGinnis typically kept him chained to his perch with a small chain attached to his leg and a 20-foot section of thin cord. Abe would sometimes peck and claw at the cord to set himself free, much to the handler’s consternation. “His perch was a shield-shaped board painted with stars and stripes,” Henry Walker of the 47th Illinois recounted. “Raised about two inches above the shield was a round stick shaped to resemble a bundle of arrows about three inches in diameter and a foot or so in length on which he sat. The shield was about two feet long by one-and-a-half broad and lay nearly horizontal on the end of the staff by which it was carried.”

Old Abe got away in St. Louis shortly after the regiment’s arrival in October 1861, and after chasing some pigeons, he perched atop a bordello! “The eagle got away from us while we were marching through St. Louis on our way to the barracks,” wrote Corporal Charles H. Lee of the 8th Wisconsin. “I think it was on Morgan Street and after skirmishing around for a while, he alighted on a large brick house three or four stories high. The house was of such a character that the soldiers were ashamed to enter it, but some of the officers went in. The eagle did not come down, however, until one of the privates went foraging for a chicken and pulling the chicken’s neck to make it squawk, down came Old Abe for his dinner and was caught.”

          Old Abe saw his first action in October 1861 when the regiment took part in the Battle of Fredericktown, Missouri. “Old Abe sat on his perch as composed as an old veteran, but when the battle commenced, he seemed to take in the situation, left his perch, flapped his wings, squalled like a demon, and seemed to realize he had a part to play,” remembered Private Sylvester G. Parker of the 33rd Illinois. At Farmington in May 1862, the regiment had been ordered to lie down and Old Abe took his place in the ranks. “He could not be kept on his perch and down he went on the ground and remained there until they were ordered to arise when with outstretched wings, he assumed his place and remained there until the close of the battle,” Mary Bolen recalled.

          Old Abe matured from a fledgling to a fully grown bald eagle. “He measured six feet from tip to tip and was gray with a brownish tinge on the back and upper part of his head, but quite light on the lower part of his breast,” noted Private Henry P. Walker of the 47th Illinois. “He had a fierce expression of countenance and a very piercing brownish-yellow eye.” Captain Green remembered that Old Abe when fully grown weighed nearly 11 pounds. “His beak measured two-and-three-quarter inches and bent into a semicircle, having its edges cut sharp and clean to the point where it was hard as steel and as sharp as a needle and of a beautiful flint color. His neck was short and thick, the body large and symmetrical, the general color of his plumage brown with a golden twinge and his head and neck milky white.”

Old Abe poses atop a cannon captured by the 14th Wisconsin during the Battle of Shiloh. Abe missed Shiloh, being busy with his regiment on the Mississippi River reducing New Madrid and Island No. 10. 


“The regiment very seldom went into battle without the eagle being with the colors, although in one or two instances when the regiment double-quicked into action as at Iuka, Mississippi, the bearer of the eagle could not keep up owing to the encumbrance of the shield and bird and had to fall out,” recalled Captain William D. Britton of the 8th Wisconsin. “When the regiment is engaged in battle, Old Abe manifests the fiercest delight,” one observer stated. “At such time he will always be found in his appropriate place at the head of Co. C. To be seen in all his glory, he should be seen when the regiment is enveloped in the smoke of battle. Then the eagle with spread pinions jumps up and down on his perch uttering such wild fearful screams as an eagle alone can utter. The fiercer, wilder, and louder the storm of battle, the fiercer, wilder, and louder the scream of the eagle. Twice Old Abe has been hit by secession bullets; one shot carried away a third part of his tail feathers.”

          “Old Abe is a very intelligent bird and understands himself,” one observer noted. “When at liberty to go where he pleases, the sutler’s tent is a favorite resort. If any live chickens are to be found, he is sure to pounce on one, seizing it with one claw and hobbling off on the other with the aid of his wings. Old Abe, we are sorry to say, is quite a thief. There is one favorite dog in the regiment with which the eagle keeps on good terms. They will both eat together at the beginning of the meal, but towards the close as provisions get scarce, the Eagle will pitch into the dog and drive him off. If a horse comes within reach, Mr. Eagle is sure to exhibit his superiority over the nag by inserting his talons in no very complimentary manner.”

Jim McGinnis would carry Old Abe into battle atop his perch near the regiment's colors; the louder the battle, the more Abe would squawk and scream. Occasionally, Abe would peck at his cord, set himself free, and fly high above the battle, screeching like a demon one soldier remembered. 


The 8th Wisconsin’s other mascot, a white pointer dog with red ears named Frank was also the delight of the brigade. “A perfect beauty of a dog, very intelligent and the pet of the regiment as well as of the whole brigade,” Henry Walker recalled. “He kept close by the eagle, a kind of volunteer color guard as it were.” Frank had also joined the regiment at Camp Randall and “has followed the fortunes of the regiment ever since,” Private George W. Driggs wrote in late 1863. “He has pursued his peaceful avocation of hunting birds and rabbits and he has had a wide field to labor in. He attaches himself to no individual in particular, but to a company for a time. He possesses a peaceful and quiet disposition and will take the grossest insult from a larger animal without retaliation unless there are a sufficient number of the boys present to back him; then he will show fight and succeed in vanquishing his antagonist. On several occasions, he has followed us unconsciously to the battlefield where the leaden missiles possess no charm for him.”

“In camp or on the march, Old Abe would have his bath,” Captain Harvey stated. “On the march when we came to a stream, away would go Abe for his bath. The column was halted until he completed his toilet, when he would hop again onto his perch ready to take his place with the colors.” Once, Old Abe got free and the regiment halted its march for an hour while the soldiers scrambled throughout the nearby woods trying to recapture their beloved mascot.

Unidentified soldier belonging to the 8th Wisconsin Infantry. The Badgers saw extensive service in the western end of the western theater, primarily along the Mississippi River and beyond. The 8th Wisconsin's first engagement was at Fredericktown, Missouri in October 1861; they would later take part in engagements at New Madrid, Island No. 10, Iuka, Corinth, Vicksburg, and the Red River campaign. Old Abe accompanied the regiment wherever the fortunes of battle led them. 


Captain Green wrote that Old Abe “had a frolicsome time in camp, learning a great deal that was both mischievous and amusing; running at large, catching bugs with his claws, fishing in creeks, catching bullets rolled upon the ground, running off with the ball when the boys were playing baseball, tipping over water pails, visiting the tents, and tearing up soldiers’ clothes. He always went swimming with the boys.” Private George Ames of the 8th Wisconsin remembered Old Abe “was the joy of the camp and every man would have died rather than have permitted him to be captured.” Another wrote that “Old Abe manifests his appreciation of oratory in a very unique manner. When a distinguished officer comes along and addresses the troops, he joins with the soldiers in their cheers. His method of cheering is to spread his pinions to the utmost extent and then jump up and down on his perch. This mode of applause adopted by the eagle is said to be very inspiring to the orator.”

          “Old Abe’s favorite diet was a tender chicken or a rabbit, but he would eat any kind of fresh meat and generally got the best that could be had,” Captain David Harvey noted. “A favorite excuse to the Colonel of the men who had reported for foraging was that they were trying to get a chicken for Old Abe.” But the bird also showed a fondness for beer as Captain Green recalled. “He drank after the manner of other birds, but when no better chance availed itself, he would throw back his head, open his mouth, and permit his bearer to pour water down his thrown from a canteen. He could never be induced to drink whiskey, but he had a liking for beer and would guzzle it down whenever offered. Once, and only once, he got drunk on that beverage and behaved as nearly like a drunken man as can be imagined- staggering, screaming, strutting, then lying on his side vomiting and completely played out.”

          “If it were not for his attachment, Old Abe would excel the best of us in jay hawking,” Private George W. Driggs wrote. “He is very discreet, judicious, and somewhat dainty in the selection of his food, preferring all small animals alive such as squirrels, birds, rabbits, etc., thus discarding all the modern inventions of cookery. He is very rapacious, greedily eying birds in their flight or domestic fowls in pursuit of rations beyond his reach.”

          In October 1863, Old Abe’s fame became national when Frank Leslie’s Illustrated Magazine published a carte-de-visit and biography of the famous bird. “His friends will excuse him if his coat does look a little rough for, he has seen over two years of service,” one member of the regiment averred. “After the war, Old Abe was presented to the state of Wisconsin and the Governor had a house built for him in the State House grounds and employed an old soldier (George Gilles)  to take care of him,” Captain Green continued. “He was in great demand at all the great gatherings in the country including the Pittsburgh Convention, the Soldiers’ Fair in Milwaukee, the Centennial Exhibition in Philadelphia. His feathers as they fell off occasionally were bought as great treasures and preserved $5-25 being paid for them. On a cold day in the winter of 1881, a fire broke out in some paint pots and rubbish in a room near his house and he screamed so loudly that people rushed to the spot. As soon as his door was opened, he rushed out but was never well afterward. In March following, he pined away, refused food, and died in his attendant’s arms. A taxidermist took his body and mounted it where it now occupies a place in the flag room of the State Capitol, sitting beneath the tattered and bullet-torn banners which, like him, had been through the fire of battle.”

Unfortunately, Old Abe’s remains were burnt up in a 1904 fire that destroyed the Grand Amy of the Republic’s Memorial Hall in Madison. But Old Abe’s combative spirit lives on in the form of the patch of the 101st Airborne Division, the Screaming Eagles.

 

According to Captain Green, Old Abe participated in the following battles and skirmishes during his tenure with the 8th Wisconsin during the Civil War:

 

Fredericktown, Missouri                                         October 21, 1861

Siege of New Madrid and Island No. 10, Missouri     March-April 1862

Farmington, Mississippi                                          May 9, 1862

Corinth, Mississippi                                                May 28, 1862

Iuka, Mississippi                                                     September 12, 1862

Burnsville, Mississippi                                             September 13, 1862

Corinth, Mississippi                                                October 3-4, 1862

Tallahatchie, Mississippi                                         December 2, 1862

Mississippi Springs, Mississippi                                May 14, 1863

Jackson, Mississippi                                                May 14, 1863

Champion Hills, Mississippi                                    May 16, 1863

Assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi                            May 22, 1863

Mechanicsburg, Mississippi                                     June 4, 1863

Richmond, Louisiana                                             June 15, 1863

Vicksburg, Mississippi                                            June 24, 1863

Surrender of Vicksburg, Mississippi                         July 4, 1863

Brownsville, Mississippi                                          October 14, 1863

Fort Scurry, Louisiana                                            March 13, 1864

Fort DeRussy, Louisiana                                         March 15, 1864

Henderson Hill, Louisiana                                      March 21, 1864

Grand Ecore, Louisiana                                          April 2, 1864

Pleasant Hill, Louisiana                                           April 8-9, 1864

Natchitoches, Louisiana                                         April 22, 1864

Kane River, Louisiana                                            April 22, 1864

Clouterville and Crane Hill, Louisiana                      April 23, 1864

Bayou Rapids, Louisiana                                         May 2, 1864

Bayou Roberts, Louisiana                                       May 4 and 6, 1864

Moore’s Plantation, Louisiana                                 May 8-12, 1864

Mansura, Louisiana                                                May 16, 1864

Maysville, Louisiana                                               May 17, 1864

Calhoun’s Plantation, Louisiana                              May 18, 1864

Bayou de Glaise, Louisiana                                     May 18, 1864

Lake Chicat, Louisiana                                            June 6, 1864

Hurricane Creek, Louisiana                                     August 13, 1864

 

Sources:

“The Eagle of the 8th Wis.,” Cedar Falls Gazette (Iowa), April 15, 1864, pg. 2

“Recollections of Old Abe,” Sylvester G. Parker, National Tribune, March 29, 1883, pg. 7; also May 3, 1883, pg. 7

“Old Abe: The Fair Stories About the 8th Wisconsin’s Pet Eagle,” George R. Ames, National Tribune, April 19, 1883, pg. 3

“Old Abe: Some Conclusive Letters in Regard to the 8th Wisconsin’s Eagle,” Sylvester G. Parker, William D. Britton, and Charles H. Lee, National Tribune, May 3, 1883, pg. 7

“The 8th Wisconsin’s Eagle,” Henry P. Walker, National Tribune, November 29, 1883, pg. 7

“Old Abe: An Authentic Sketch of the Proud Bird of the 8th Wisconsin,” Mary Bolen, National Tribune, June 16, 1887, pg. 3

“Old Abe: The War Eagle which the 8th Wisconsin Carried Through the War,” James H. Green, National Tribune, January 12, 1888, pg. 8

“Old Abe: An Officer’s Recollections of the Famous War Eagle,” David G. Harvey, National Tribune, August 7, 1902, pg. 3

Letter from Private George W. Driggs, Co. E, 8th Wisconsin, Quiner Scrapbooks, State Historical Society of Wisconsin

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