Ever since the 130th Illinois regiment left Port Gibson on May 3rd, they had been moving in a northerly direction as part of General A. J. Smith's Division of the Thirteenth Corps. Willow Springs, Rocky Springs, Cayuga and Mount Auburn were some of the towns they passed through and occupied.
The division halted at Cayuga for a day or two. It was dry and dusty, with no nearby streams. The only water available was dipped from stagnant ponds. But first they had to push aside the green scum covering the ponds.
Charles Johnson retold this story about an event here.
While here, towards the middle of a hot sultry day, a division marched by on the dusty road, near which Smith's Division was encamped. Among the moving troops was a Wisconsin regiment which had a pet eagle. A perch was made for him upon a thin board cut in the form of a shield; to this he was chained, and all was borne upon the shoulder of a soldier.
As before said, the day was hot, the roads were dusty, and the eagle, with drooping feathers and a general crestfallen appearance, looked anything but the "Proud Bird" he is supposed to be. Wonderful stories concerning the eagle were, however, in circulation. Among other things it was said that in time of battle, when he was always loosened, he would soar above the men, flap his wings, hover about and scream with delight. The Wisconsin regiment that had this "emblem of its country" became noted as the "Eagle Regiment,"While at Auburn the regiment received word of Union General Hooker's defeat at Chancellorsville the previous week.
