'a pig's tail' - Abe Lincoln's lesson about 'duty'

 

In his Personal Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln (1928), Smith Stimmel – a member of the Union Light Guard that served as the President’s personal escort – related an incident on the grounds of the Old Soldiers’ Home [**] in the summer of 1864.

Apparently, while strolling the grounds one evening, the President was spotted by one of the soldiers in his escort unit. Emboldened by Lincoln’s kindly manner, the young man decided to approach Lincoln on behalf of the rest of the Union Light Guard unit, “stating in substance that the men felt that they were not needed where they were, and that there was greater need of their services at the front.”

The President listened patiently to all the man had to say, and then with a twinkle in his eye said, ‘Well, my boy, that reminds me of an old farmer friend of mine in Illinois, who used to say he ever could understand why the Lord put a curl in a pig’s tail; it did not seem to him to be either useful or ornamental, but he guessed the Lord knew what he was doing when he put it there. I do not myself,’ he said, ‘see the necessity of having soldiers traipsing around after me wherever I go, but Stanton – referring to Secretary of War Stanton – ‘who knows a great deal more about such things than I do, seems to think it is necessary, and he may be right; and if it is necessary to have soldiers here, it might as well be you as some one else. If you were sent to the front, some one would have to come from the front to take your place.’

Then in a tone of mild rebuke, he added, ‘It is a soldier’s duty to obey orders without question, and in doing that you can serve your country as faithfully here as at the front, and,’ said he, with another smile, ‘I reckon it is not quite as dangerous here as it is there.’ With a gentle wave of his hand, he walked on.

According to Stimmel, the other men in his unit had a good laugh at Lincoln’s story, and they admired the way the President handled the brashness of their comrade. However, Stimmel went on, “you can rest assured that no other member of that Company ever ventured to carry any further complaints to the President about their service.”

Humble, kind, funny – and when he found it necessary – tough. Another of the many facets of our Sixteenth President.

This was another tale from Abe Lincoln, storyteller.

Mac

Works Cited

[**] The Old Soldiers’ Home (now the Armed Forces Retirement Home) in Washington D.C. has quite a history. First of all, it was founded in 1851- a decade before the Civil War – by the combined efforts General Robert Anderson (of Fort Sumter fame), General Winfield Scott, and, ironically, Senator Jefferson Davis of Mississippi, as a retirement home for Mexican-American war veterans. The home has remained in continuous use since its founding!

Situated on a hilltop overlooking the U.S. Capitol and just three miles from the White House, the 250-acre wooded grounds included several two-story “cottages” [the red-roofed building to the left of the Old Soldiers’ Home in the postcard], one of which also served as the site of President Lincoln’s “Summer White House“. The Lincoln family used the cottage as a get-away from the sweltering heat of the summer. The peaceful wooded surroundings offered refreshing breezes and a relief from office seekers and White House protocol. Adjacent is the Soldiers’ Home National Cemetery – the first federal military cemetery in the United States. (Yes, it predates Arlington National Cemetery).

~ Information on The Old Soldiers’ Home is from President Lincoln’s Cottage website

[1] Stimmel, Smith (1928). Personal Reminiscences of Abraham Lincoln. Minneapolis, MN: William H.M. Adams. pp. 25-27.