There are several stories about the origin of the battle cry. One of these is a mythical story published in 1959 in the Auburn Plainsman, conceived by its then editorial page editor, Jim Phillips. This myth is detailed below under "War Eagle I". Another mythical story is told about an Auburn student who returns to the University after the war with an eagle who was wounded on the battlefield with him but he nursed back to health. The eagle soared above the field in 1892 as Auburn scored the winning touchdown as the crowd chanted "War Eagle!" Just then, the eagle fell to the ground dead from age but was to live on as the Auburn football battle cry for generations to come.