John Lincoln Clem changed his own middle name from Joseph to Lincoln sometime before he tried to enlist in the Union Army at the outbreak of the Civil War when he was 9. On his application for entry into the army, he listed, “Lincoln” as his middle name. During the war, he was assigned to Company D of the 7th Minnesota Light Artillery which was commanded by Captain George S. Orton who had a young son named Lincoln. After being rejected by another unit, he made it into the 22nd Michigan Volunteer Infantry and sawed down the musket he later used to kill a Confederate officer who demanded his surrender. He was promoted to sergeant and became a national hero before being discharged in 1864. He returned in 1871 and rose to major general before retiring in 1915.
