Captain Lincoln is said to have then stepped forward, and with much greater ease swung the barrel to his lips and taken his drink, thereby besting Strode in his boast.
An addition was made to the story in later years by having Strode exclaim, “Well, I thought you said you never drank any whisky, Captain Lincoln!”
“I don’t drink whisky, Colonel Strode,” replied Captain Lincoln, and forthwith he spat the whisky upon the ground.
At the mouth of the Rock River the company was sworn into the United States service by Gen. Henry Atkinson. It is but recently that the author has been able to determine that much disputed point, and it must be admitted that the discovery was made with pain. From the days of his earliest boyhood, he had believed that Jefferson Davis was the mustering officer and that there the two men who later became so conspicuous, yet divergent, in the eyes of the world, met for the first time, the one asking the other if he would support the constitution of the United States and fight for the flag.
For generations that tradition has obtained. It has been repeated by the highest authorities, even by President Lincoln himself, if we may believe Ben. Perley Poore and others who have claimed the distinction of hearing him so state. The point was generally fixed at Dixon’s Ferry, the birthplace of the author, and for that reason, steeped with the tradition from his earliest boyhood, it must be admitted that the discovery of the truth was made with profound grief. There can be no mistake about the truthfulness of that discovery. Major Nathaniel Buckmaster was second in command of the army. He was a careful and conscientious officer. He wrote the fact in a letter to his wife on the following day, and that letter is herewith reproduced as evidence. It may be said that General Atkinson might have sworn in the general officers, while a minor officer like Lieutenant Davis might have administered the oath to the captains and men, but it is not conceivable why more than one officer should be employed for so small a body of men, and it cannot be imagined why the captains would be separated from the few officers of the general staff. In fact, if General Atkinson were to have made a specialty of or distinction, it seems fair to presume that he would have included the captains with the officers sworn in.
On the 9th General Atkinson issued orders to the troops to march on the morning of the 10th, which they did, reaching the Prophet’s town in the afternoon, where camp was established for the night.
The following day, instead of remaining at that point, Reynolds pushed up the river twelve miles and again camped.
On the morning of the 12th the baggage was abandoned and a forced march made to Dixon’s Ferry. There Captain Lincoln remained the 12th, 13th and 14th, at which last-named date Stillman was defeated and his men returned to Dixon’s pell-mell during all hours of the night.
On the 15th he went up the river, reaching the battlefield just before dark. After the burial of the dead he camped and next day returned to Dixon’s, where he remained until the 19th, when he pushed up the river in pursuit of the Indians. Twelve miles out he camped until the 20th, when he again marched to Stillman’s battlefield, at which point Captain Goodan was placed under arrest for some breach of duty, demonstrating that Captain Lincoln was not the only officer of that rank to suffer punishment.
On the 21st the army moved over to a point on Rock River, where it camped until the 22d, moving then over to the Kishwaukee and up the same about ten miles from its mouth, where camp was established and the army rested until the following morning.