Old Abe

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Old Abe depicted on a 1919 postcard.

Old Abe (1861 – 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 depicted on the insignia of the U.S. Army's 101st Airborne Division.

Old Abe was captured in 1861 by Chief Sky near the Chippewa River, near the town of Jim Falls, 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 President 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 saw his handlers get 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, and the 1876 Centennial Exposition in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. 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]

Old Abe was adopted as the trademark of the J. I. Case agricultural equipment manufacturing company in 1865. The trademark was retired in 1969.

Old Abe is also the mascot of Memorial High School (Eau Claire, Wisconsin), whose athletic teams are known as the "Old Abes".

Old Abe on the 101st Airborne Division shoulder patch.

A statue of Old Abe presides over the Wisconsin State Assembly Chamber.

Old Abe on the Wisconsin Memorial, Vicksburg National Military Park.

[edit] Battles

Old Abe attended numerous battles and lesser engagements during the war:^[2]

Fredericktown, Missouri - 21 October 1861
New Madrid and * Island #10 - March & April 1862 Union General John Pope captures Point Pleasant, Missouri, and provokes Confederates to evacuate New Madrid. The Confederates abandon arms and provisions, valued at one million dollars, during their escape across the Mississippi River to the eastern bank and to Island No. 10^[3].
Point Pleasant, Missouri - 20 March 1862
Farmington, Mississippi. - 9 May 1862
Corinth, Mississippi. - 28 May 1862
Iuka, Mississippi. - 12 September 1862
Burnsville, Mississippi. - 13 September 1862
Iuka, Mississippi. - 16-18 September 1862
Corinth, Mississippi. - 3-4 October 1862
Tallehatchie, Mississippi. - 2 December 1862
Mississippi Springs, Mississippi. - 13 May 1863
Jackson, Mississippi. - 14 May 1863
Assault on Vicksburg, Mississippi. - 22 May 1863
Mechanicsburg, Mississippi. - 4 June 1863
Richmond, Louisiana. - 15 June 1863
Vicksburg, Mississippi. - 24 June 1863
Surrender of Vicksburg- 4 July 1863
Brownsville, Mississippi. - 14 October 1863
Fort Scurry, Louisiana. - 13 March 1864
Fort De Russey, Louisiana. - 15 March 1864
Henderson's Hill, Louisiana. - 21 March 1864
Grand Ecore, Louisiana. - 2 April 1864
Pleasant Hill, Louisiana. - 8-9 April 1864
Natchitoches, Louisiana. - 20 April 1864
Kane River, Louisiana. - 22 April 1864
Clouterville and Crane Hill, Louisiana. - 23 April 1864
Bayou Rapids, Louisiana. - 2 May 1864
Bayou La Monre, Louisiana. - 3 May 1864
Bayou Roberts, Louisiana. - 4-6 May 1864
Moore's Plantation, Louisiana. - 8-12 May 1864
Mansura, Louisiana. - 16 May 1864
Battle of Maysville, Louisiana. - 17 May 1864
Calhoun's Plantation, Louisiana. - 18 May 1864
Bayou De Glaise, Louisiana. - 18 May 1864
Lake Chicot, Arkansas. - 6 June 1864
Hurricane Creek, Mississippi. - 13 August 1864