Captain Lincoln was magnetic and his men were drawn toward him from admiration, and not alone because they knew he was a man of courage and strength. That magnetism drew not only his immediate acquaintances at New Salem, but his superior officers, and as he advanced in life, it drew about him the men of influence and power who later made a new and powerful political party. It attracted John T. Stuart to invite him to his office to read law; it attracted the voters of his district to beat Peter Cartwright, then the best-known man in Illinois probably, for the legislature. That discipline kept Captain Lincoln vigilant until the mouth of Rock River was reached, and even the affair there was not one of commission.
During the night of May 9th one Royal P. Green, of the company of Capt. Thomas McDow of Greene county, entered the officers’ quarters and, with the assistance of a tomahawk, four buckets and some of Lincoln’s command, secured enough liquor to enjoy a comfortable lark and place a large number of Captain Lincoln’s men hors de combat. On the morning of the 10th, the date fixed to begin the march up Rock River, few were able to answer the roll call and few indeed were able to take up the march for the Prophet’s town. For this offense, which had been committed without the knowledge of the Captain, and to his great surprise and mortification, that officer was again reprimanded and ignobly compelled to wear for two days the wooden sword. This he did “for the boys” with grim humor. As the men sobered up and gradually straggled into camp that night, they realized what their disgraceful behavior had brought to their captain. Remorse, or some equally powerful agency, made Captain Lincoln’s company a model one from that hour.
To claim that sports were not a feature of camp life and that Captain Lincoln did not participate in them, were ridiculous. Nine-tenths of that army were Kentuckians or Tennesseeans, every man of which loved a horse. There were close upon two thousand horses in camp; some better, some worse, and when off duty no time was allowed to lapse without a horse race, a foot race or a wrestling match. Into those contests Captain Lincoln did not obtrude himself, but he was always counted on as “being ready” and on the spot. His men knew his prowess and were proud of it, as was Offutt when he got the Captain into the Armstrong affair. They were alert to advertise that prowess at all times and willing to stake their last earthly possession on his success. Such is human nature to-day. The best foot runner, quoit pitcher, boxer or wrestler in a body of men has followers constantly boasting the prowess of their favorite and getting him into business, and many times into troubles. So Captain Lincoln, to oblige his men, and likely his own inclination, took on wrestling matches and vanquished his antagonists one after another to the end of his service as a soldier.
The story of the match with Thompson, the wrestler, is no doubt true, though difficult to locate. Some authorities have asserted that Thompson came from Union County,[[289]] but as Union County supplied but one company, that of Captain B.B. Craig, in which no person named Thompson can be found, the Union County portion of it must be eliminated. This is unfortunate when attempting to locate the situs. Had Thompson been from Union County his company never could have met either of the three companies with which Lincoln was connected, because it did not reach the main army until Lincoln had been discharged and was on his way home.
The story contains, with all its variations, the reference to his position as captain, and no loss of prestige with his men; therefore the event must have occurred at Beardstown, Rushville, Yellow Banks, Dixon’s Ferry, Ottawa or some one of the camps along that route, and prior to May 27th, the date of his muster out. At any rate the story is as follows:
Thompson, a man of burly form, champion of his section, was tendered to Captain Lincoln for a match in a way that to decline it would have disgraced his men and his friends. Captain Lincoln was not given to separating himself from a responsibility at any time, and without formality accepted the challenge. Up to that date there had been no pay-day and it is safe to assume that the entire company could not inventory five dollars in money; but the men had knives, souvenirs, watches and knickknacks, the last one of which was staked on the issue of the match. The combatants grappled and it soon became evident that Thompson was qualified to bear championship laurels. The tussle was long and uncertain and keyed all the men up to a high tension, as each contestant was being cheered to a victory; but Thompson, after a hard battle, secured the first fall. Lincoln could recognize a worthy antagonist and before taking on the second bout said to his friends: “This is the most powerful man I ever had hold of. He will throw me and you will lose your all unless I act on the defensive.” Accordingly, when the men came together again, Captain Lincoln played for a “crotch holt,” which Thompson was able to avoid. Then, as the struggle progressed, the trick of “sliding away,” was tried. In this Captain Lincoln was more successful, for in the scramble for advantage both men went to the ground in a heap, which, according to the ethics of frontier wrestling, is denominated a “dog fall,” hence a draw. Armstrong claimed a victory, at which a storm of protest went up from Captain Lincoln’s backers, and a free fight was imminent. Believing that trouble was imminent, Captain Lincoln came forward, and in a voice which compelled attention, exclaimed, “Boys, the man actually threw me once fair, broadly so, and the second time, this very fall, he threw me fairly, though not apparently so,”[[290]] and that settled the question for all time, though “dog fall” was frequently repeated during the remainder of the campaign by the Captain’s partisans. That defeat and the acknowledgment of it in no sense diminished the influence or standing of Captain Lincoln with his men or those who were beginning to know and like him.
In later years men took advantage of his prominence to claim many untrue familiarities in the Black Hawk war. For instance: William L. Wilson, who was a private in Capt. M.G. Wilson’s company, wrote, under date of February 3d, 1882: “I have during that time had much fun with the afterwards President of the United States, Abraham Lincoln. I remember one time of wrestling with him, two best in three, and ditched him. He was not satisfied and tried it in a foot race, for a five-dollar bill. I won the money and ’tis spent long ago. And many more reminiscences could I give, but I am of the Quaker persuasion and not much given to writing.” There are some other qualities belonging to the Quaker persuasion which might have been regarded with advantage in the manufacture of that story.
A story for which there is no warrant of authority, except constant repetition, is the one of the drinking contest. At first the scene was located at Beardstown, but afterward Colonel Strode, having heard it, appropriated the glory of the contest to himself, at least one-half of it, and located the same at Dixon’s Ferry. The question of strength having arisen, Captain Lincoln was quoted as being the strongest man in the army. Strode challenged the statement by offering to bet that he and nobody else could raise a barrel of whisky and drink from its bunghole. The partisans of Captain Lincoln accepted the challenge, produced the whisky and their favorite, and Colonel Strode made his boast good by raising the barrel and taking his drink from the bunghole. The feat seemed impossible, but having been witnessed by a reputable crowd of men, could not be gainsaid.