Lincoln Interesting incident with Lincoln

[wilber6150]

I ran across this incident that ocurred in the Black Hawk war, and thought it showed light on Lincolns character....

Lincoln, in fact, did discipline his men on occasion. Greene remembered that one day

an "old Indian Came to Camp & delivered himself up, showing us an old paper written by

[Secretary of War] Lewis Cass, Stating that the Indian was a good & true man." Many troops

declared "we have come out to fight the Indians and by God we intend to do so." Lincoln, "in

the goodness & kindness and humanity & justice of his nature stood – got between the Indian

and the outraged men – saying – 'Men this must not be done – he must not be shot and killed

by us.'" When some troops accused the Indian of being a spy, Lincoln continued standing

"between the Indian & the vengeance of the outraged soldiers – brave, good & true."

"This is cowardly on your part Lincoln," he was told.

He replied, "'if any man thinks I am a coward let him test it,' rising to an unusual

height."

One member of the regiment protested, saying, "Lincoln – you are larger & heavier

than we are."

"This you can guard against – Choose your weapons," Lincoln retorted "somewhat

sourly." This challenge "soon put to silence quickly all Charges of the Cowardice of

Lincoln."

http://www.knox.edu/documents/pdfs/LincolnStudies/Burlingame, Vol 1, Chap 3.pdf

 

[wilber6150]

Greene reported that this episode was "amongst the first times I ever saw Mr Lincoln

aroused. He was unusually kind, pleasant – good humored, taking any & all things. But this

was too much for Lincoln. This hushed up at once all disputes about Lincoln[']s courage. I

was through the Black Hawk war with Lincoln and can say no man was more Courageous,

truly & manly so. No man had more moral courage. He would do justice to all though the

heavens fell

 

[reading48]

Interesting Post.....Tks

 

[lakertaker]

That's an interesting story of Lincoln's empathy for Indians. Here's another one... In 1862, the U.S. government sentenced 303 Sioux warriors to hang for their roles in the Great Sioux Uprising of 1862. Many of the individual's trials lasted less than five minutes. Lincoln reviewed each trial record and commuted the hangings of 264 Sioux men. As it turned out, Lincoln had been becoming aware of the dubious interactions between the Indian people and crooked agents and stated that he would have to address this issue after the Civil War. Surprisingly, to this day, the Sioux people of Minnesota generally see Lincoln as a bad guy - much like Columbus, where in fact, he may have been one of their only true friends in the government. Nevertheless, 39 Sioux were hung in Mankato, Minnesota making it the largest mass hanging in U.S. history.

 

[diane]

Eli Parker was the first administrator of the Bureau of Indian Affairs - he was very progressive, which got him a lot of criticism from traditional and 'wild' Indians but he believed this was the way to survival for Indian people, both them and their cultures. As it turned out, he was dismissed for corruption - he was framed, it appears, by those who were making money off swindling the tribes and debauching them with liquor. Progress might spoil capital gains! But I wonder if Parker would have been appointed by Lincoln - Grant would have suggested him - and gotten further with his proposals if Lincoln had been behind him. I think Lincoln would have been. I've always thought US-Indian relations would have been much different with Lincoln as president, and possibly the history between the two at least a little less bloody.

 

[lakertaker]

I think you're right, Diane. Lincoln was politically criticized for preventing the hangings of 264 Sioux, but stated, "I cannot afford to hang people for the sake of votes."