Many years afterward—­in fact, while Lincoln was President—­he referred to those early scenes in a way that illustrates his wonderful memory and his power of recalling the minutest incidents of his past life.  Meeting an old Illinois friend, he naturally fell to talking of Illinois, and related several stories of his early life in that region.  Particularly he remembered his share in the Black Hawk War.  He referred to his part of the campaign lightly, and said that he saw but very little fighting.  But he remembered coming on a camp of white scouts one morning just as the sun was rising.  The Indians had surprised the camp and killed and scalped every man.  “I remember just how those men looked,” said Lincoln, “as we rode up the little hill where their camp was.  The red light of the morning sun was streaming upon them as they lay, heads toward us, on the ground, and every man had a round red spot on the top of his head, about as big as a dollar, where the redskins had taken his scalp.  It was frightful, but it was grotesque, and the red sunlight seemed to paint everything all over.”  Lincoln paused as if recalling the vivid picture, and added, somewhat irrelevantly, “I remember that one man had buckskin breeches on.”

Lincoln also told a good story of his first experience in drilling raw troops during the Black Hawk War.  He was crossing a field with a front of twenty men when he came to a gate through which it was necessary to pass.  In describing the incident he said:  “I could not, for the life of me, remember the proper word of command for getting my company endwise, so that it could pass through the gate.  So, as we came near the gate, I shouted, ’Halt! this company is dismissed for two minutes, when it will fall in again on the other side of the gate.’” The manoeuvre was successfully executed.

During this campaign an incident occurred which well serves to show Lincoln’s keen sense of justice, his great common sense, and his resoluteness when aroused.  One day there came to the camp an old Indian, footsore and hungry.  He was provided with a letter of safe-conduct from General Cass; but there was a feeling of great irritation against the Indians, and the men objected strongly to receiving him.  They pronounced him a spy and his passport a forgery, and were rushing upon the defenseless Indian to kill him, when the tall figure of their captain, Lincoln, suddenly appeared between them and their victim.  His men had never seen him so aroused, and they cowed before him.  “Men,” said he, “this must not be done!  He must not be killed by us!” His voice and manner produced an effect on the mob.  They paused, listened, fell back, and sullenly obeyed him, although there were still some murmurs of disappointed rage.  At length one man, probably thinking he spoke for the crowd, cried out:  “This is cowardly on your part, Lincoln!” Lincoln only gazed with contempt on the men who would have murdered one unarmed Indian but who quailed before his single