Honoring the War Horse-So many unknown though

[M E Wolf]

Dear List Members,

These are just a few known horses and their riders known that have made it out from the thousands of unnammed equines in documents linking to the Civil War and or their riders during the Civil War.


Pink - Col. Hammond’s Cavalry mount- 5th NY Cavalry (Morgan)

Mink - Maj. Eugene Hayward’s Cavalry mount - 5th NY Cavalry (Morgan)

Prince- Lt. Barker’s Cavalry mount - 5th NY Cavalry (Morgan)

Billy - Col. James Penfield (Morgan)

Black Hawk - Maj. General William Bate (Morgan)
(related to Winchester)

King Phillip - General Nathan Bedford Forrest (Morgan)
Roderick - General Nathan Bedford Forrest (Morgan)
Highland - General Nathan Bedford Forrest (Morgan)

Beauregard - Capt. W. I. Rasin

Old Fox - Col. E. G. Skinner - 1st Virginia Infantry

Virginia - General JEB Stuart (the mount who jumped a vast ditch saving Stuart’s life)
Highfly - General JEB Stuart

Sardanapalus - General? Jeff Thompson

Nellie - Brig. General Kenner Garrard

Boomerang - Col. John McArthur - 12th Illinois Reg.

Kentuck - General George McClellan
Burns aka Black Burns - General George McClellan’s black horse
Daniel Webster aka Dan - General George McClellan

Billy - General George H. “Rock of Chickamauga “ Thomas - bay horse

Old Jim - Lt. McMahon (owner/rider killed in action and is believed to be the last known Civil War Horse to die--died in 1894)

Moscow - Col. James K. Averill

Vic (Victory) - General George A. Custer (Thoroughbred)
Dandy - General George A. Custer (used on long marches and hunting)

Rienzi/Winchester - General Phil Sheridan
Alde baron - Col. Phil Sheridan to become General Phil Sheridan

Grey John - Capt. Nathan Boone (Tennessee Walker)

Cincinnati - General US Grant (Thoroughbred)
Jeff Davis - General US Grant (Morgan- black in color)
Jack - General US Grant (cream colored horse - raffled off for funds for Christian San. Commission)
Methuselah - Col. US Grant -later to become Lt. General US Grant, President - (white in Color)
Rondy - General US Grant.
Fox - General US Grant - roan
Kangaroo - General US Grant
Egypt - General US Grant

Frank - (rank unknown) Abe Conger - Co. A; 12th Ohio Cavalry

Tom - (rank unknown) William H. Harding (who will become President of the US after the Civil War)

Old Bob - President Abraham Lincoln

Lexington - General William T. Sherman
Sam - General William T. Sherman
Dolly - General William T. Sherman

Traveller - General Robert E. Lee
Lucy Long - General Robert E. Lee (purchased by Gen. JEB Stuart and given to Lee as a gift).
Grace Darling - General Robert E. Lee
Brown Roan - General Robert E. Lee
Ajax - General Robert E. Lee
Richmond - General Robert E. Lee

Old Sorrel aka Little Sorrel - General Thomas “Stonewall” Jackson

Baldy - General George G. Meade

Dixie - Maj. General Patrick R. Cleburne

Rifle - Lt. General Richard S. Ewell

Joe Smith - Brig. General Adam R. Johnson

Fire-eater - General Albert S. Johnston - (Thoroughbred Bay)

Nellie Gray - Maj. General Fitzhugh Lee

Hero - General James “Old Pete” Longstreet

Grey Eagle - Brig. General - Maj. General John Buford

Almond Eye - Maj. General Benjamin E. Butler

Lookout - Maj. General Joseph Hooker

Moscow - Maj. General Philip Kearny
Decatur - Maj. General Philip Kearny
Bayard - Maj. General Philip Kearny - (light brown)
Monmouth - Maj. General Philip Kearny - (grey)

Slasher - Maj. General John A. Logan

Charlemagne - Col./Brig. General Joshua Lawrence Chamberlain - white horse -

Blake - Rev. James McDowell - (Confederate Chaplin)


Respectfully submitted,
M. E. Wolf

[ole]

Always nice to have a specialist aboard, M.E.

ole

[M E Wolf]

Dear ole,

Major Eugene Hayward's father, was one of the largest breeders of Morgan Horses when the Civil War broke out.

The original "Morgan" was a mystery breed as it did not have qualities of any real entrenched stock so it may have been a 'mixed breed' to begin with however, in Colonial times; a poor school teacher named Justin Morgan bought this runt of a colt. Nobody really gave it a chance and the school teacher was a butt of many a joke. However, under this kind school master--this little colt blossomed into a stout and powerful horse. It is 'alleged' to be the foundation blood for the American Quarter Horse which was really bred to be a Quarter-mile race horse. It has been refined a lot and old stock is hard to find, as their rear sat up higher than the front and in a full gallop, would they become comfortable--rear legs over reaching the front and -bound. Horse version of the 'Funny car' stock car racing on wheels. The Saddlebred is also 'alleged' to have been from the foundation of the "Morgan." The Standardbred, is also 'alleged' to be rooted from the foundation of the "Morgan." Now, having driven Morgans and Standardbreds; its very likely that this is more fact than fiction. Since the Morgan had no 'breed history' it only started with this colt and Colonial horses did not always have pure lines, other than wealthy individuals. However, the trait is a horse that is always willing and more times not--eager to work and they do not require much feed.

The value of the Morgan horse was recognized all over so, though small and some rose to the heights of Thoroughbreds (e.g. 16.0 hands - a hand was the normal width of the knuckles, which ranged mostly 3 inches).

With clever use of balance --a single Morgan could pull as a draft horse and yet, didn't eat as much. I've pulled logs with a Morgan as well as with Belgium Draft Horses. So, I am not surprised by seeing Morgans in the Civil War and or cross-bred horses as well as pure bred horses.

What the sad part is of it all --with all of the horses lost in the Civil War, we're never going to know what 'blood lines' were lost.

I appreciate the compliment ole. I am so blessed to have had the experience with horses and other equines, restoring old horse drawn vehicles and taught, rode, judged, trained horses of all kinds at one time.
My equines were my true teachers.

Respectfully,

M.E. Wolf

[larry_cockerham]

This is far and away the best list I've ever seen. The few I knew are of course already on there, so I can't help at the moment. You list three of Forrest's mounts. Only 27 to go?

[Bobbie]

I've got a question concerning breeds of horses used in the CS army.
During the Stuart's raid to Pennsylvania, Confederates seized some Norman and Belgian draft horses, which were afterwards used to hauling guns and wagons. From what I've read, southern quartermasters didn't have collars large enough to fit the animals, thus the horses were usefull only because they had been impressed in harness.
So, were those breeds unknown in the South? From Calhoun's papers I see that it was the case in mid 1840s, was it also true of 1860s?

[ole]

Will leave that for M.E. to answer authoritatively, Bobbie. For my guess, I'd say that few in the south had use for draft horses. They are heavy haulers and eat copiously. They do not run much and are therefore useless for hauling cannon or riding. Militarily, they were mostly useless.

ole

[M E Wolf]

Dear Larry Cockerham,

Yes, General N. B. Forrest went through 32 mounts, all being shot from under him. The three listed were his favorites. Not all mounts had names and most Morgans were just referred to as 'Billy' or 'Billies.' Some would have around three horses killed from under them in one battle engagement. The orderly or quartermaster would have all the spare horses assigned to Generals and officers tacked up (saddled, ready for exchanges of mounts); when a General's horse got shot, a orderly, or sergeant lead the spare mount to the General and then remove the tack from the dead horse and take it back the the rear. Same with harnesses.
The surgeons often patched up humans and horses alike.

I am sorry I haven't found more names to go with General Forrest.

With General Custer, towards the General's famed life--he had eight horses but that is not the Civil War, so I'm just focused on Civil War right now.

Sincerely,

M. E. Wolf

[M E Wolf]

Dear Bobbie;

Norman and Belgium Draft horses as a breed, are rather small Draft horses compared to the Clydesdale (Budwiser hitch) and the Percherons which are bigger than Clydesdales. Pennsylvania was inhabited by a good many German, Dutch and what we know as Amish, along with other English speaking citizens. The collars for Draft horses would probably be leather stuffed with sawdust and or pulp that cushions the shoulders of the horses from the hames which is the functional part of the harness. Minus the collar, the hames can be adjusted as they are like { } and two leather straps that are heavy buckled can be adjusted. This would allow the horse to pull but, I know this would have hurt the draft horses without the collars. Hames are rather thin and metal reenforced so the would is supported. It was this period when hames became metal--as wood broke under the strain of weathering and load weight and torque.

Now for the South. The South used more ox power as far as hauling heavy loads and slaves to fill those loads. Mules were also preferred as they did not easily cooperate nor demonstrated much speed. Something slaves really couldn't use to escape with, whereas the Draft horse would be more cooperative and haul wagons at a faster pace.

In addition, Virginia was the capitol of racing horses and plantation horses, which the Tennessee Walking horse would be used by owners and overseers to oversee the slaves. They walk faster than any other breed and average when it came to trotting and cantering/galloping. Standardbred trotting horses were also big in Virginia as well --racing stock.

Farmers were the ones who relied heavily on draft horses and mules. So, when these fast Standardbred horses and such fell in the Civil War, there weren't really any horses left in the South.

The only hardy horse they had was the American Quarter Horse -then known as the American Quarter Mile Race horse.

So, I believe that you're correct--that the population of draft horses in the South was limited. Whereas, in Maryland, Pennsylvania --it was more likely to find Draft horses in farming communities rather than saddle horses and or fine carriage horses.

Just some thoughts.

Sincerely,
M.E. Wolf

[timewalker]

A wonderful and interesting list and explanation. Keep up the good work.

[M E Wolf]

Bobbie,

I forgot to add --That the USA didn't have many of the Draft horses imported into the USA until after the Civil War.

Most I've found, is that the Norman (which was smaller than todays Percheron) was imported to the USA around 1839.

The other breed imported pre-Civil War was the Clydesdale, in 1850.

From what I gather, The Shire wasn't imported into the USA until 1880.
The Belgian wasn't imported until 1866--a year after the end of the Civil War; The Suffolk wasn't imported into the USA until 1880.

Now... this above information is just 'pure bred' stock. That does not mean cross breeding took place that created 'Draft horses' of a mix of pure and light horses, like Thoroughbreds, Morgans, Quarter Mile Racing Horses (American Quarter Horse), Plantation walkers, Tennessee Walking horses, Standardbreds and the like. Mutts of the equine world.

For a horse to mature, its roughly 3 years for light horses and 4 years for a heavy horse and or draft horse. Mares rarely had but one foul per year; and rarely came into season as to breed again until 9 months later, when the foal stops nursing fully and is eating more grass and or grain.

I would 'assume' if there was no loss in foals from one mare, the maximum she would have had was 26 foals if she was immediately bred with one of the Norman/Percheron horses in 1839. And a mare who was immediately bred with the Clydesdale imported in 1850, she would have had 15 foals.
If these mares had foals right after one another--which isn't often the case. Some do die in the womb, some mares can't handle yearly pregnancy and abort, some mares have foals that just don't live long.

Frankly, I don't think the Draft Horse had a stong toe-hold in the USA until after the Civil War.

Thus, harnesses would be hard to find and had to be custom made.

Then, there is the factor of who could afford price wise, to breed these mares to pure bred stock Draft Horses.

Just some thoughts.

Respectfully,
M.E. Wolf