n made a speech in Congress
in which he referred to his services in the Black Hawk War with
characteristic humor:

"By the way, Mr. Speaker," he said, "did you know that I am a military
hero? Yes, sir. In the days of the Black Hawk War I fought, bled, and
came away. Speaking of General Cass's career reminds me of my own. I was
not at Stillman's defeat, but I was about as near it as Cass was to
Hull's surrender, and, like him, I saw the place very soon afterwards.
It is quite certain that I did not break my sword, for I had none to
break. But I bent my musket pretty badly on one occasion. If Cass broke
his sword the idea is that he broke it in desperation. I bent my musket
by accident. If General Cass went ahead of me in picking whortleberries,
I guess I surpassed him in charges upon the wild onions. If he saw any
live fighting Indians, it is more than I did, but I had a good many
bloody struggles with the mosquitos, and although I never fainted from
loss of blood I can truly say that I was often very hungry. Mr. Speaker,
if I should ever conclude to doff whatever our Democratic friends may
suppose there is in me of black-cockade Federalism, and thereupon they
shall take me up as their candidate for the Presidency, I protest they
shall not make fun of me as they have of General Cass by attempting to
write me into a military hero."

Lincoln's popularity among his comrades in the field was so great that
at the close of his military service, which had lasted three months, he
was nominated as a candidate for the State Legislature. "His first
appearance on the stump in the course of the canvass was at Pappsville,
about eleven miles west of Springfield, upon the occasion of a public
sale. The sale over, speech-making was about to begin, when Lincoln
observed some strong symptoms of inattention in his audience which had
taken that particular moment to engage in a a general fight. Lincoln saw
that one of his friends was suffering more than he liked, and stepping
into the crowd he shouldered them sternly away from his man until he met
a fellow who refused to fall back. Him he seized by the nape of the neck
and the seat of his breeches, and tossed him 'ten or twelve feet
easily.' After this episode--as characteristic of him as of the
times--he mounted the platform and delivered with awkward modesty the
following speech: 'Gentlemen and Fellow-Citizens, I presume you all know
who I am. I am humble Abraham Lincoln. I have been solic