Welcome to the American Story.

Stories about what it is that makes America beautiful

and worthy of our love.

This is Chris Flannery with the Claremont Institute.

I call this one beautiful goodness.

As Captain of Volunteers from Sangamon County, Illinois in the Black Hawk War.

The 23-year-old Abraham Lincoln managed in a desperate moment

to keep the Clary Grove boys and the other hard-bitten men who had elected him

and allegedly owed him obedience from committing murder.

But Lincoln could not turn these ruffians into angels or even mere philosophers, and he had no inclination to try.

It was all he could do at peril of his life to keep them from doing grave wrong.

There was no guarantee that he would succeed even at that.

They could no more slough off their prejudices, passions, and follies, than they could step out of the skin

they lived in. But such as they were, they had chosen Lincoln as their captain.

They had chosen him because he was the best man among them, the one most worthy of their

esteem.

Their esteem, as Lincoln well understood, was far from wisdom.

But in good light, it glimpsed at least a hint of wisdom in the distance.

Lincoln earned it in no small part by outrunning, outboxing, and out-running, out-boxing and out-restling them. But they knew when they listened to the better

angels of their natures, that there were much more important reasons to esteem him.

Of course it could sometimes require the prospect of a good thrashing to make them listen.

When his 30 days were up, writes Albert J Beveridge, Lincoln was easily the most popular man in the whole army.

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