Old Abe
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Old Abe (Unknown — March 28, 1881), a bald eagle, was the mascot of the 8th Wisconsin Volunteer Infantry Regiment in the American Civil War and is the eagle currently depicted on the insignia of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.
Old Abe was captured in 1861 by a Chippewa Indian near the Flambeau River in Chippewa County, Wisconsin. He was subsequently traded to local farmer Dan McCann for a bushel of corn, who in turn sold him to the 8th Wisconsin's Company C for $2.50.
Company C named the eagle after Abraham Lincoln, and designed a special perch on which they carried the bird into battle. Old Abe participated in the Second Battle of Corinth (in which the 8th Wisconsin lost half of its men) and the Siege of Vicksburg, among other battles. In battle, Old Abe quickly became legendary, screaming and spreading his wings at the enemy. Confederate troops called him the "Yankee Buzzard" and made several attempts to capture him, but never succeeded. Several times he lost feathers to bullets and some of his handlers were shot out from under him. When passing by, Generals Ulysses S. Grant, William T. Sherman, and William Rosecrans were known to doff their hats at the eagle.
In 1864, Old Abe returned to Wisconsin with several veterans who did not reenlist. Nevertheless, he remained famous, and was invited to, among other events, the 1880 Grand Army of the Republic National Convention, the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia. When not at public events, his caretaker kept him in the Wisconsin State Capitol.
After the eagle's death in 1881, he was mounted and remained a centerpiece of the capitol. The mount, along with most of the capitol building, was destroyed by fire in 1904.
The insignia of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division is a depiction of Old Abe. The design is based on one of the Civil War traditions of the state of Wisconsin, which was the territory of the original 101st Division after World War I. The black shield recalls the Iron Brigade, the famous Civil War unit composed of western regiments (although not the 8th Wisconsin).[1]
