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The Blackhawk War BY HENRY LITTLE, 1875
ORGANIZATION OF THE PRAIRIE BATTALION.
But the curtain immediately arose again, and revealed to our astonished vision Mr. 0. W., who rose up and said that he was an orderly sergeant. As there was not any military organization whatever in this part of the territory it was a query with me from whom he had received his appointment and warrant. But it was no time to be nice about trifles when our whole country was about to be annihilated by millions of savages. He began issuing his orders to the men, and commanded them to come forward and to form themselves into a line. The most of them obeyed the command, but while some refused he informed them that in that trying emergency, in that hour of our country's great peril, no one would be excused except on the ground of positive physical inability. We then discovered that with that high and mighty magnate was the seat of absolute power. Whether that power was inherent in himself, or whether he was blazing forth the borrowed authority of some foreign potentate it was not our privilege to inquire. He had suddenly become more dignified in his bearings, and he stood more erect than formerly; us corporeal dimensions had expanded some fifteen or sixteen degrees. I was really astounded to behold what an immense mass of human greatness one
pair of legs could sustain and carry about, and how it was possible to crowd so much knowledge into one cranium was past my comprehension.
Michigan
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