second term. The Senate then comprised thirteen members, and the House
twenty-five." In 1827 he was elected major in the command of Colonel
T. McNeal, intending to fight the Winnebagoes, but no fighting
occurred. In the Black Hawk War of 1832, after his term as a private
in Captain Dawson's company had expired, he was elected captain of a
new company of independent rangers. In this company Lincoln reenlisted
as a private. Major Iles lived at Springfield all his life. He died
September 4, 1883.]

There was no time to waste. The volunteers were ordered to be at
Beardstown, nearly forty miles from New Salem, on April 22d. Horses,
rifles, saddles, blankets were to be secured, a company formed. It was
work of which the settlers were not ignorant. Under the laws of
the State every able-bodied male inhabitant between eighteen and
forty-five was obliged to drill twice a year or pay a fine of one
dollar. "As a dollar was hard to raise," says one of the old settlers,
"everybody drilled."


LINCOLN A CAPTAIN.

Preparations were quickly made, and by April 22d the men were at
Beardstown. Here each company elected its own officers, and Lincoln
became a candidate for the captaincy of the company from Sangamon to
which he belonged.

His friend Greene gave another reason than ambition to explain his
desire for the captaincy. One of the "odd jobs" which Lincoln had
taken since coming into Illinois was working in a saw-mill for a man
named Kirkpatrick. In hiring Lincoln, Kirkpatrick had promised to