Rensselaer Semi-Weekly Republican, Volume 40, Number 44, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 7 February 1908 — An Anecdote of Lincoln. [ARTICLE]

An Anecdote of Lincoln.

At one period during the rebellion then were no less than seventy-four major generals and 276 brigadiers On the rolls,

which was far more than there was any use for. President Lincoln recognized this mistake before anybody else, but he consoled himself by joking about it. It is recalled that on one occasion, when one of these superfluous generals was captured by the enemy, with a number of men and horses, somebody undertook to condole with the President on the subject, remarking that the loss of the captured general’s services was a great misfortune to the government. “Pooh!” replied Lincoln, “it’s the horses I’m thinking about. I can make another brigadier general in two minutes, bat horses are scarce, and cost S2OO apiece.”—Kansas City Journal.