Sandburg's Lincoln

As a young boy growing up in Galesburg, Illinois, Carl Sandburg often listened to the stories of old-timers who had known Abraham Lincoln. Carl would regularly take a shortcut across the Knox College campus in Galesburg and read the bronze plaque that marked the location where Abraham Lincoln and Stephen A. Douglas had met for the fifth joint debate in their famous Senatorial contest on October 7, 1858.

At age twenty in 1898 Sandburg served in the 6th Illinois Volunteers in Puerto Rico during the Spanish American War.

Carl was assigned to General Nelson A. Miles, who was a Brigadier General for the Army of

the Potomac in some of the bloodiest battles in the Civil War in 1864. Sandburg wore the same light blue trousers and dark blue jacket with brass buttons as worn by these troops.

During his travels as a soldier, Sandburg swam in the salt water of Charleston Harbor just across the water from Fort Sumpter, the sight of the first battle of the Civil War.

These experiences and the Lincoln lore that was prevalent during Sandburg's formative years sparked his curiosity and interest in the person of Abraham Lincoln.

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