New Lincoln Documents from the Black Hawk War Emerge
By Samuel P. Wheeler | November 10, 2011
“Captain” Abraham Lincoln? Yes, remember he served in the Black Hawk War and once said that his election to captain was one of the proudest moments of his life.
Despite his personal statement that his wartime experience made an impact on his life, many people today overlook it. Perhaps it receives scant attention because his military experience was, after all, limited. Lincoln himself once joked that the only blood he saw in the war was drawn by a mosquitto. But also, I think, his wartime experience is overlooked because very few documents relating to his wartime service exist.
However, a few new documents have recently emerged.
David Gerleman, a colleague of mine with the Papers of Abraham Lincoln, has found two Certificates of Discharge at the National Archives in Washington, D.C. Both documents were written and signed by Lincoln, who prepared such documents for soldiers as they were discharged from his company. These certificates were important: not only did they prove a soldier had served served in the Black Hawk War, but the soldier could also use the document later to claim bounty land for his service.
In addition to these documents, Gerleman also found an affidavit, signed by Lincoln in 1855, attesting that a fellow soldier had indeed served in the war and was entitled to make a land claim.
While such documents by themselves do not necessarily lead us to re-evaluate everything we know about Lincoln’s service in the Black Hawk War, they are nonetheless significant. At the very least, they remind us that Lincoln’s wartime service was important to him and his contemporaries. Perhaps too, as Veterans Day approaches, it is important for us to remember that Lincoln, like so many of our friends, family, and neighbors answered the call to duty.
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Obama More Maligned than Lincoln?
By Samuel P. Wheeler | August 25, 2011
For the past several years, I have been chronicling President Barack Obama’s apparent obsession with Abraham Lincoln. From announcing his candidacy for president on the steps of the building where Lincoln delivered his famous “House Divided” Speech, to his Inaugural that seemed to evoke the sixteenth president’s memory at every turn, Obama has repeatedly used the Lincoln image, often to great effect.
Well, he has done it again, though this time I think he has missed the mark by a wide margin.
I hope President Obama was simply trying his hand at hyperbole. Surely he doesn’t really think he stands shoulder to shoulder with the most maligned president in American history, which Lincoln–during his lifetime–certainly was. Lincoln endured tremendous criticism, not simply by folks in the Confederacy who were waging bloody war against his administration, but also by a wide array of Northerners of all political and social temperaments. (See Larry Tagg’s recent book The Unpopular Mr. Lincoln: The Story of America’s Most Reviled President)
Yet through it all, Lincoln did not give in to his critics, nor did he often bemoan the harsh, unfair treatment. Instead, he had a knack for putting criticism–both fair and unfair–in its proper perspective.
For instance, during the Civil War, President Lincoln sent a warm letter to James H. Hackett, in which he complimented the actor’s ability and gave his unsolicited appraisal of several of Shakespeare’s most well-known plays. (CW, 6:392-93) When the overjoyed actor had the president’s letter printed as a broadside, the president’s enemies used the letter to ridicule the president’s theatrical taste, among other things.
Obviously mortified, Hackett promptly wrote to Lincoln and apologized for publicizing the private letter and for exposing him to yet another round of vitriol from his political critics.
Lincoln’s response to the actor reveals his enlightened philosophy toward criticism:
“My note to you I certainly did not expect to see in print; yet I have not been much shocked by the newspaper comments upon it. Those comments constitute a fair specimen of what has occurred to me through life. I have endured a great deal of ridicule without much malice; and I have received a great deal of kindness, not quite free from ridicule. I am used to it.” (CW, 6:559)
While President Obama certainly has his critics and I don’t doubt that their criticism stings, especially when it seems as if it is leveled unfairly, he is not in Lincoln’s league when it comes to being maligned. No president was attacked in the popular press more often or more harshly than Lincoln, but I would also wager than no president had a better perspective on dealing with the criticism. Thick skin seems to be a prerequisite for presidential greatness.
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Slavery In Washington, D.C.
By Samuel P. Wheeler | February 25, 2011
The New York Times ran a very good piece today by Adam Goodheart on slavery in the nation’s capitol.
Among other things, Goodheart tells readers about a curious auction that took place on the day of Lincoln’s first inauguration. Human beings were being auctioned off just five miles from where he took the oath of office; however, this was no slave auction–it was a “sale of free negroes.” The sheriff in Alexandria auctioned off the labor of free blacks who failed to pay the “head tax” that Virginia required of all free African Americans. What a chilling reminder of the distance between us and the mid-nineteenth century.
I encourage you to give “A Capital under Slavery’s Shadow” a read.
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Fugitive Slave Act
By Samuel P. Wheeler | February 23, 2011
Many thanks to the students and teachers at Iles Elementary school in Springfield, Illinois, where I spoke about the Fugitive Slave Act this afternoon. What a nice group of students!
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Abraham Lincoln and Religion: Nov. 8th
By Samuel P. Wheeler | October 28, 2010
Several big things are on the horizon over the next few weeks. I wanted to pass along this speaking engagement:
On November 8th, I will be speaking at Concordia University in Seward, Nebraska. The title of my talk is “Christianizing Lincoln: Historical Memory and the Religious Views of Abraham Lincoln.” Click HERE for more details.
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Two LincolnStudies.com Contributors to be Published in the JALA
By Samuel P. Wheeler | June 3, 2010
Two LincolnStudies.com contributors will be published in upcoming editions of The Journal of the Abraham Lincoln Association.
Readers of LincolnStudies.com are familiar with Lewis Gannett. Back in April 2008, he contributed an insightful article on the “Tripp Thesis” that inspired spirited discussion here. Since then, Gannett has been busy! His extended article on Ann Rutledge will be published by the JALA this summer. It is familiar ground for Gannett. Back in 2005, his article “Overwhelming Evidence of Lincoln-Ann Rutledge Romance? Rexamining Rutledge Family Reminiscences” appeared in the JALA. His new piece promises to delve deeper into both the primary evidence and secondary literature.
Another LincolnStudies.com reader and commenter is in the news. The Carmi Times is reporting that Rob Wick’s article on the War Department’s rewards for the caputre of assassin John Wilkes Booth will be published by the JALA next summer. The article appears to be an outgrowth of Wick’s interest in Everton J. Conger, the man who led the manhunt for Lincoln’s assassin.
Congratulations to both Lewis and Rob!
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Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter?
By Samuel P. Wheeler | June 2, 2010
Books about Abraham Lincoln have traditionally sold well. In recent times, a number of television shows, movies, and books about vampires have popped up. Perhaps it was inevitable. Best-selling author Seth Grahame-Smith’s new book, Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, has certainly garnered a lot of publicity in recent months.
The marketing campaign behind the book has been particularly intriguing. Several readers have forwarded me this advertisment/trailer for the book. If you haven’t seen it yet, click on the link below. Be warned though, the clip is a bit graphic.
The book has generally received good reviews. Both Time Magazine and Enertainment Weekly recommended the book.
But how have Lincoln scholars reacted? This article, which followed Graham-Smith on a recent book signing tour in Springfield, weighs in on the issue. It looks like Doris Kearns Goodwin and Harold Holzer praised the imaginative author, while Richard Norton Smith, the former director of the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Library and Museum, condemned the concept as a “bastardization of the Lincoln story.”
I haven’t read the book yet, so I can’t weigh in on the book’s literary merits. However, I don’t necessarily object to Lincoln’s appearance in works of fiction. In this case, I assume the majority of people who will read this book will do so because they like the vampire genre. In the process of rooting for Lincoln as he kills vampires, they might actually be drawn to the historical Lincoln. Maybe this book will encourage some readers to pick up a non-fiction book on the sixteenth president or the Civil War Era.
What do you think about the book? Has anyone read it?
By the way, there are rumblings that famed director Tim Burton is interested in bringing the book to the big screen. Do you think Johnny Depp could portray a vampire killing Abraham Lincoln?
Click Here to read an excerpt of Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter, courtesy of NPR.
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New Items on Display at Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum
By Samuel P. Wheeler | June 1, 2010
It was the best-selling novel of the 19th Century. Published in 1852, more than 300,000 copies of Harriet Beecher Stowe’s anti-slavery novel Uncle Tom’s Cabin were sold in the United States. As the decade progressed and tension over slavery intensified, sales of the book continued to climb. By 1862, more than two million copies were in circulation. The novel also sold well overseas. During the first year of publication, more than 200,000 copies were sold in England. The book was also translated into at least twenty different languages.
According to a story in this morning’s Decatur Tribune, several rare copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin–including first edition copies printed in foreign languages–will be among the new items on display at the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum in Springfield.
The temporary exhibit will be located just outside the theatre where the “Ghosts of the Library” presentation takes place.
In addition to the copies of Uncle Tom’s Cabin, a number of other items will be be featured in the temporary exhibit:
- Copy of Civil War photographer Alexander Gardner’s Photographic Sketch Book of War showing a photograph of the McLean House at Appomattox
- Cartes-de-viste images of two escaped slaves: Wilson Chinn and “Gordon”
- 1704 map of the “newly discovered” North American continent
- 1818 map of Illinois, printed just before statehood
- 1854 map of Illinois
- 1768 broadside printed in Switzerland that shows bison roaming free in the “Illinois Country”
For more information on the temporary exhibit or the museum, visit the Abraham Lincoln Presidential Museum’s website.
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1844 Handwritten Legal Document on Ebay
By Samuel P. Wheeler | April 25, 2010
Topics: Law Career | No Comments »
John Y. Simon Day and Ulysses S. Grant Lecture
By Samuel P. Wheeler | September 28, 2009
I’m am so happy to pass along this announcement to you!
John Y. Simon Day and Ulysses S. Grant Lecture
Saturday, October 10, 2009, 10 am
at the Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site in St. Louis, MO
Featured speakers include:
Dr. John F. Marszalek, the editor and executive director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association, and Mississippi State University Giles Distinguished Professor Emeritus of History. He will speak on “Ulysses S. Grant and William T. Sherman, A Decisive Friendship.”
Frank J. Williams, retired Chief Justice of the State of Rhode Island and Presidnet of the Board for the Ulysses S. Grant Association. He will speak about Dr. John Y. Simon’s legacy, both in Grant scholarship and documentary editing.
Dr. Simon was the editor of the Ulysses S. Grant Papers and Executive Director of the Ulysses S. Grant Association from 1962 until his death in 2008. He edited and published 28 annotated volumes of Grant’s letters and papers. He also edited Julia Dent Grant’s memoirs and was the author of over 100 articles. His scholarship on Grant was indispensible to Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site. This event will honor Dr. Simon and his life’s work.
For more information, check the USG National Historic Site and the promotional flier.
For reservations, contact:
Pam Sanfilippo
Ulysses S. Grant National Historic Site Historian
(314) 842-3298 extension 224
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Topics: Historiography, Upcoming Events | 1 Comment »
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