The proverb "don’t change horses in midstream" is credited to which person?

"Don’t change horses in midstream" means don’t alter your course of action, plan, or leader in the middle of a project, don’t change your mind at an inopportune moment. A related phrase is "don’t swap horses in midstream".

The proverb is credited to Abraham Lincoln, the sixteenth president of the United States. Abraham Lincoln used this phrase when talking about the presidential election during the Civil War, as well as talking about replacing his generals.

It is assumed that the term "don’t change horses in midstream" is derived from a popular joke published in 1840, in which a man crossing a stream with his horse and colt falls into the water. He grabs the colt’s tail and lets it drag him from the water, but before making it to the other side of the water the colt grows tired. When bystanders advise him to grab the mare’s tail instead, the man says, “This is no time to swap horses.”