One day during the Black Hawk War a poor old Indian came into the camp
with a paper of safe conduct from General Lewis Cass in his possession.
The members of Lincoln’s company were greatly exasperated by late Indian
barbarities, among them the horrible murder of a number of women and
children, and were about to kill him; they said the safe-conduct paper
was a forgery, and approached the old savage with muskets cocked to
shoot him.
Lincoln rushed forward, struck up the weapons with his hands, and
standing in front of the victim, declared to the Indian that he should
not be killed. It was with great difficulty that the men could be kept
from their purpose, but the courage and firmness of Lincoln thwarted
them.
Lincoln was physically one of the bravest of men, as his company
discovered.