A Young Abraham Lincoln Pens an Appointment During His Black Hawk War Service

Near Rushville, Illinois, 30 April 1832. One page autograph document, entirely in the hand of Abraham Lincoln, then a Captain in the Illinois State Militia, appointing William Carpenter as Pay Master, signing on behalf of Col. Samuel M. Thompson. Creasing from old folds; paper loss along bottom margin; scattered light soiling. 4 1/4 x 7 1/2 in. (114 x 190 mm). Basler, First Supplement p. 1

"I do hereby certify that William Carpenter is duly appointed Pay Master in the fourth regiment on the detachment of mounted volunteers called into the service of the United States he is therefore required diligently and carefully to discharge the duties of said office--given under my hand this 30 day of April 1832 Samuel M. Thompson Col. 4th Reg. Vols."

Thompson resigned on April 30, the day this letter was written, which is likely why Lincoln signed on his behalf.

A very rare Black Hawk War-era document, entirely in the hand of 23-year-old Abraham Lincoln, Captain in the 4th Regiment of the Illinois Mounted Volunteers, one of the earliest extant documents in his hand.

Black Hawk (1767-1838) was a Sauk war chief and leader of the "British Band", a conglomerate of mid-western Indigenous nations (Meskwaki, Fox, Kickapoo, Potawatomi, Ho-Chunk, and Ottawa) who sided with the British during the War of 1812. In April of 1832, possibly with the hopes of resettling lands lost in the 1804 Treaty of St. Louis, the band crossed the Mississippi River into American territory. U.S. officials, convinced the Indians were hostile, mobilized a frontier militia. The four-month conflict, which consisted mostly of skirmishes, became known as the Black Hawk War.

When the government called for volunteers, Abraham Lincoln was working at a general store in New Salem, Illinois, and had recently launched his first political campaign, running for the State House of Representatives. He cut the campaign short to enlist in the local militia, and it wasn't long before he was elected Captain of the regiment by his fellow men. Those he served with described him as a natural and calm leader, even though the regiment saw no direct combat. They were present in the aftermath of two of the war's bloodiest battles (Kellogg's Grove, and Stillman's Run), assisting with the burial of the dead, many of whom were scalped. The carnage no doubt had a lasting effect on the young Lincoln, who was already aware of the brutality in conflicts between settlers and Native Americans. Lincoln's grandfather, and namesake, Captain Abraham Lincoln (1744-1786) had been killed by Native Americans in Kentucky, a story told time and again to him by his father, Thomas Lincoln, and Uncle Mordecai. Abraham later said that the story of his grandfather's murder was "more strongly than all others imprinted on my mind and memory..." (Lincoln, Speech and Writings, Letter to Jessie Lincoln, 1 April 1854).

Lincoln would be mustered in and out of service three times over the summer of 1832, before returning to New Salem at the end of July. Despite the echoes of his family trauma, the three-month experience provided Lincoln with a nuanced perspective on Native Americans and human nature in general. William G. Greene, who served in Lincoln's regiment, told in an 1865 interview, that one day, an "old Indian Came to Camp & delivered himself up, showing us an old paper written by Lewis Cass [Secretary of War], 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...got between the Indian and the outraged men–saying–Men this must not be done...When some troops accused the Indian of being a spy, Lincoln continued standing...This is cowardly on your part Lincoln, he was told. He replied, if any man thinks I am a coward let him test it..." Greene said in the same interview, "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." (Burlingame, pp. 63-64).

In addition to the personal growth and wartime leadership experience Lincoln gained from his service, more tangible benefits included 160 acres of frontier land and the cultivation of state political connections, with men such as John Todd Stuart, John J. Hardin, Edward D. Baker, and Joseph Gillespie. Within two years of the end of the Black Hawk War, Lincoln would be elected to the Illinois State House of Representatives, serving four terms from 1834 to 1842.

We have not been able to trace any other Lincoln autograph manuscript dating from his military service in the available auction record.

Provenance:

George Carpenter, Esq. (Son of appointee, William Carpenter).

James T. Hickey, historian and collector of Lincolniana, Elkhart, Illinois

Louise Taper, Beverly Hills, California