Lincoln was averse to being put up as a military hero.
When General Cass was a candidate for the Presidency his friends sought to endow him with a military reputation.
Lincoln, at that time a representative in Congress, delivered a speech before the House, which, in its allusion to Mr. Cass, was exquisitely sarcastic and irresistibly humorous:
“By the way, Mr. Speaker,” said Lincoln, “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 Stillman’s defeat, but I was about as near 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.”