Certificate of Discharge for David Rutledge, 30 August 18321
I CERTIFY, ThatDavid Rutledgevolunteered and servedas a private in the Company of Mounted Volunteers under my command, in the Regiment commanded by Col.[Colonel] Samuel M. Thompson, in the Brigade under the command of Generals S. Whiteside and H. Atkinson, called into the
service of the United States by the Commander-in-Ch[i]ef of the Militia of the State, for the protection
of the North Western Frontier against an Invasion of the British Band of Sac and other tribes of
Indians,—that he was enrolled on the21stday ofApril1832, and was HONORABLY DISCHARGED on
the7thday ofJunethereafter, having served48 days2
Given under my hand, this30day ofAugust1832.A. Lincoln Capt.[Captain]2At the outbreak of the Black Hawk War, Lincoln volunteered for the Illinois state militia. On April 21, 1832, Lincoln and other men from the New Salem area were mustered into a company in the 4th Regiment of Illinois Mounted Volunteers, and the members of the company elected Lincoln as their captain. When his month
of service ended, Lincoln re-enlisted twice, for twenty and thirty days respectively,
serving as a private both times. He was discharged finally on July 10, 1832.
Muster Roll of Abraham Lincoln’s Company of Mounted Volunteers; Muster Roll of Captain Elijah Iles’ Company of Mounted Volunteers; Muster Roll of Captain Jacob M. Early’s Company of Mounted Volunteers; Ellen M. Whitney, comp., The Black Hawk War, 1831-1832: Illinois Volunteers, vol. 35 of Collections of the Illinois State Historical Library (Springfield: Illinois State Historical Library, 1970), 1:176-78, 227-30, 544-46.
Partially Printed Document Signed, 1 page(s), Lincoln Manuscripts, Indiana University (Bloomington, IN).