and entered the warpath in northern Illinois and southern Wisconsin.
The governor called for soldiers, and Lincoln volunteered with the
rest.

The election of captain of the company was according to an original
method. The two candidates were placed a short distance apart and the
men were invited to line up with one or the other according to their
preference. When this had been done it was seen that Lincoln had about
three quarters of the men. This testimony to his popularity was
gratifying. After he became president of the United States he declared
that no success that ever came to him gave him so much solid
satisfaction.

Lincoln saw almost nothing of the war. His only casualty came after its
close. He had been mustered out and his horse was stolen so that he was
compelled to walk most of the way home. After the expiration of his
term of enlistment he reenlisted as a private. As he saw no fighting
the war was to him almost literally a picnic. But in 1848, when he was
in congress, the friends of General Cass were trying to make political
capital out of his alleged military services. This brought from Lincoln
a speech which showed that he had not lost the power of satire which he
possessed while a lad in Indiana.

"Did you know, Mr. Speaker, I am a military hero? In the days of the
Black Hawk war I fought, bled, and--came away. I was not at Stillman's
defeat, but I was about as near it as General Cass was 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 bad on one occasion. If General Cass went in
advance of me picking whortleberries, I guess I surpassed him in