Our Morgan Horses, Out Of Rienza'a Glass Case, Back In Time

JPK Huson 1863

Brev. Brig. Gen'l
Joined
Feb 14, 2012
Location
Central Pennsylvania
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The famous, famously mysterious and famously iconic founder of a Civil War legacy, " Justin Morgan ", never to have his own name- but his original owner's.

Well, you sure cannot do a single thread, " Morgan Horses In The Civil War ". For one thing, there were too many , for another, boy, are there a few myths and for another- you'll see.

We tend to see how valuable they were considered across the board by gifts given to officers of Morgan horses. What seems so crazy is the idea these treasured animals would be ridden into battles and stood every chance of being killed.

We tend to like our war and era in the bullion cube presentation. You know. Condense the information, wrap it all up, and give it to us, quick. Disclaimer being a few here I can name whose understanding of History includes hours spent, fishing rod, hook and worm patiently immersed in Time's murky well.

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Papers all over the states, North and South, ran ads like this. ' Bloodlines ' mattered more than substance, these famous names added zeros to fees.
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Gen. Marsena Patrick seemed awfully happy to get his hands on one, wish we knew the name.

Horses? They're still down there. Bullion cube version on Morgans, for instance seems to be Vermont regiments galloped to glory, or death, or glorious death on these ridiculously marvelous animals, because they were Vermont animals. A few famously carried famous men, one so well he was stuffed for the honor and we get to look at him. Yep, yep, that's a Morgan, all right. Where's the stuffed general's head, next to him, in a glass case?

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Rienzi/Winchester, unstuffed, oops, seem to have lost the rider's head. Phil, someone or other......... Sounded important.

In all honor to horses of the war. ' The Morgan ' deserves something better than Rienze's, or Winchestor's ( renamed along the way ) awkwardly stuffed remains, telling their story. And please will someone go bury the old guy? Tolerating Sheridan for as long as he did should indicate something of a Morgan's famous, even temperament.

Vermont was one New England state understandably, justifiably proud of ' their ' breed. Historically, supposedly a man ( we all know this ) named Justin sold an astonishingly versatile horse, which for some reason retained his name- Morgan. No need to get into genesis, suffice to say that I'm not sure in 2018 we understand how huge a topic was The Horse. Morgans quickly became so popular and sought after, from Florida to Maine, prices rival numbers which would make you suck in your breath 200 years later.



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SO proud of the breed, when the 1st Vermont was famously mounted on Morgans, ' purists ' and breeders had a kind of snit. OH no, not real Morgans! Well, they were. Morgans were nothing if not horses whose first grandfather was a famous mongrel. Pretty funny. Note writers of this article were not hundreds of mile south, astride any horse at all, fighting a war.

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Posted these before. Valuable or no, getting one's prized Morgan from home to the war?

And no dock? Another creative solution- pitch them in the water, boats picked up ropes, leading them to shore.
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Published pre-ACW, a book on the breed extolled virtues by the score. This was one of them.


Personal opinion is a lucky chance crossed a draft/Arab stallion with a draft/Arab mare, solidifying benefits and genetics but that's opinion. Endurance came from both sets of genes, temperament, draft, and it's always seemed a no-brainer where on earth their looks originated. Could be some Welsh in there- but we'll never know. Horsemen, and women adored this breed, almost legendarily.
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Gen. Mitchell's horse is certainly depicted as whole, lot better looking than he- and is typical of the much prized attributes of the era Morgan. Flashy, sure but they really were ( and are ) kinda perfect.

Horrible accounts of young General Farnsworth's ' charge ' include the cavalry's horses lost by the dozen. Sent in to be butchered by Kill Calvary, you're just not clear on why anyone put Kill Cal in charge of a single horse, much less trooper. They were Morgans, and despite whining by those fat wallets at home. some of Vermont's best.

New Hampshire prided itself on sending men to war on Morgans. Hysterical articles in PA papers from 1861, bemoaning the camps around Philadelphia. PA regiments had no horses. None. Officers had to train by walking the maneuvers, no lie. Reporter speaks of the New Hampshire Morgans ridden nearby, and how shameful PA provided none. Ha!

Probably the first budget crisis. We're good at those, here in PA.

There's a lot, lot on ' Morgans in the ACW '. Really, to get some small idea of the whole, delving into how incredibly important was The Horse, as a strut, societally, is helpful. How many social norms, vanished today, revolved around The Horse doesn't seem to have been investigated. Or what giant, beautifully imaged holes have been left, since their departure from our every day lives.

Yes, famous Morgans have their place- unfortunately one in a glass box, as a kind of macabre honor. Of the 6 million horses and mules perishing, beginning in 1861, we'll never know how many Morgans were lost. Perhaps it is better not to know.

From better days, when, North and South, horsemen bought this book. 1859. Just to worship, like horsemen did, Justin Morgan's accidental horse.
morg4 ewo.jpg



PS, please no one post poor Rienza's photo? We've all seen him, in mid prance for 150 years. He needs a rest.
 

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Thank you @JPK Huson 1863 for this! Morgans are such kind horses and their gait is amazing! .I spotted a beautiful black, looked like a Morgan, down the street from my son's house in a changing to a cul-de-sac (new developers-God-how I hate them!) area always standing behind a fence looking forlorn. I couldn't stand it anymore one day and pulled in. She was SO receptive to me and looked thin and starving and the pasture she was in was nothing but noxious weeds so I went and got a friend of mine who rescues area horses and the next day we literally "broke in " to this basically abandoned barn ((my friend was SO impressed with my agility to throw myself over a half door on a hill (bank barn) with the only open window)) and saw no stored hay!!!
As timing would have it, just like in a movie, the "jerk" who worked down the street (Waste Removal Co BFI owned the property and barn) who actually called her "his" horse happened to show up with his wife and daughter!!!!Didn't care...this horse NEEDED our attention! Call the cops A$*hole! We told him WHY we came as his daughter mechanically pulled out a brush from her pocket and brushed the poor young horse's tail with LONG teeth that hadn't been floated in YEARS! I said we'd take her and give her a new home and he said I could get X amount of $ for her meat! I immediately called around and raised that X amount of $ from my "horse" friends and gave that sad piece of "s#@& cash to take her! Here she had registered Morgan horse papers he reluctantly gave us and her nick name was "Brandy" and the name on the papers it was based upon escapes me.
We had found a rescue place to take her days before. Took us an HOUR to load her and she was SO scared and totally soaked in sweat when we finally got her in and she steamed up all of the horse trailer windows! Let her out in her new home in a pasture and she gracefully "gaited" about like she was in Heaven! Only days later the rescue farm found a man who wanted to give her a wonderful home and PAID them so he could maybe breed her with his Arabians. Those horses are called "Morabs" The rest is history!!!! I still have photos of how skinny she was and will never forget her or that day I met her and rescued her days later! I swear some people have NO soul especially regarding innocent animals ! Just like those heartless people mentioned above!
I'm sure my friend @Equestriangirl93 will like this story too!
 
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In my youth I taught horseback riding to kids at a YMCA camp that had a Morgan named Cocoa. Fun to ride and strong as an ox. And always hungry for sweet feed. Broke many a bridle or hitching post (or both) when he decided it was time to eat.
 
Thank you @JPK Huson 1863 for this! Morgans are such kind horses and their gait is amazing! .I spotted a beautiful black, looked like a Morgan, down the street from my son's house in a changing to a cul-de-sac (new developers-God-how I hate them!) area always standing behind a fence looking forlorn. I couldn't stand it anymore one day and pulled in. She was SO receptive to me and looked thin and starving and the pasture she was in was nothing but noxious weeds so I went and got a friend of mine who rescues area horses and the next day we literally "broke in " to this basically abandoned barn ((my friend was SO impressed with my agility to throw myself over a half door on a hill (bank barn) with the only open window)) and saw no stored hay!!!
As timing would have it, just like in a movie, the "jerk" who worked down the street (Waste Removal Co BFI owned the property and barn) who actually called her "his" horse happened to show up with his wife and daughter!!!!Didn't care...this horse NEEDED our attention! Call the cops A$*hole! We told him WHY we came as his daughter mechanically pulled out a brush from her pocket and brushed the poor young horse's tail with LONG teeth that hadn't been floated in YEARS! I said we'd take her and give her a new home and he said I could get X amount of $ for her meat! I immediately called around and raised that X amount of $ from my "horse" friends and gave that sad piece of "s#@& cash to take her! Here she had registered Morgan horse papers he reluctantly gave us and her nick name was "Brandy" and the name on the papers it was based upon escapes me.
We had found a rescue place to take her days before. Took us an HOUR to load her and she was SO scared and totally soaked in sweat when we finally got her in and she steamed up all of the horse trailer windows! Let her out in her new home in a pasture and she gracefully "gaited" about like she was in Heaven! Only days later the rescue farm found a man who wanted to give her a wonderful home and PAID them so he could maybe breed her with his Arabians. Those horses are called "Morabs" The rest is history!!!! I still have photos of how skinny she was and will never forget her or that day I met her and rescued her days later! I swear some people have NO soul especially regarding innocent animals ! Just like those heartless people mentioned above!
I'm sure my friend @Equestriangirl93 will like this story too!

OMG what a story!! So glad you rescued her. I would have done the same thing. I hate when people abuse animals like that!!
 
What beautiful horses!! What a pity, so many died in the War.


Yes, nice to see interest any time someone posts a horse thread. You have to push this stuff to the back of your mind sometimes. It was such a blood soaked war, seems ridiculous mourning the animals, not men- but you find there's sure emotion left over. 6 million horses and mules. I started to compile numbers, for each battle but quit. Too awful.
 
Thank you @JPK Huson 1863 for this! Morgans are such kind horses and their gait is amazing! .I spotted a beautiful black, looked like a Morgan, down the street from my son's house in a changing to a cul-de-sac (new developers-God-how I hate them!) area always standing behind a fence looking forlorn. I couldn't stand it anymore one day and pulled in. She was SO receptive to me and looked thin and starving and the pasture she was in was nothing but noxious weeds so I went and got a friend of mine who rescues area horses and the next day we literally "broke in " to this basically abandoned barn ((my friend was SO impressed with my agility to throw myself over a half door on a hill (bank barn) with the only open window)) and saw no stored hay!!!
As timing would have it, just like in a movie, the "jerk" who worked down the street (Waste Removal Co BFI owned the property and barn) who actually called her "his" horse happened to show up with his wife and daughter!!!!Didn't care...this horse NEEDED our attention! Call the cops A$*hole! We told him WHY we came as his daughter mechanically pulled out a brush from her pocket and brushed the poor young horse's tail with LONG teeth that hadn't been floated in YEARS! I said we'd take her and give her a new home and he said I could get X amount of $ for her meat! I immediately called around and raised that X amount of $ from my "horse" friends and gave that sad piece of "s#@& cash to take her! Here she had registered Morgan horse papers he reluctantly gave us and her nick name was "Brandy" and the name on the papers it was based upon escapes me.
We had found a rescue place to take her days before. Took us an HOUR to load her and she was SO scared and totally soaked in sweat when we finally got her in and she steamed up all of the horse trailer windows! Let her out in her new home in a pasture and she gracefully "gaited" about like she was in Heaven! Only days later the rescue farm found a man who wanted to give her a wonderful home and PAID them so he could maybe breed her with his Arabians. Those horses are called "Morabs" The rest is history!!!! I still have photos of how skinny she was and will never forget her or that day I met her and rescued her days later! I swear some people have NO soul especially regarding innocent animals ! Just like those heartless people mentioned above!
I'm sure my friend @Equestriangirl93 will like this story too!


That's a heckishly awful story, thanks for stepping up! One thing our area seems awfully good at is just that- saving abused horses. Don't have a lot of experience with Morgans- once did quite a few years worth of lessons for someone who owned several and it made me a fan in a big hurry. Talk about bomb proof, right? Nicest, most unflappable animals I ever worked with, except for a draft, occasionally.

You know this so do not mean to preach to the proverbial choir- that win over selling to the ' glue factory ' had this awful result. Too many horses around, too cheap. Anyone with a half acre and a shed bought a horse. You just know it was shocking to them, they're not hamsters and need a ton of care. I think because puppy mills have been busted around here, we have animal volunteers and resources all over. There's also a lot of Amish. We don't see quite the degree your pretty girl was exposed to.

Feel free to post her photo! That's a hint.
 
That's a heckishly awful story, thanks for stepping up! One thing our area seems awfully good at is just that- saving abused horses. Don't have a lot of experience with Morgans- once did quite a few years worth of lessons for someone who owned several and it made me a fan in a big hurry. Talk about bomb proof, right? Nicest, most unflappable animals I ever worked with, except for a draft, occasionally.

You know this so do not mean to preach to the proverbial choir- that win over selling to the ' glue factory ' had this awful result. Too many horses around, too cheap. Anyone with a half acre and a shed bought a horse. You just know it was shocking to them, they're not hamsters and need a ton of care. I think because puppy mills have been busted around here, we have animal volunteers and resources all over. There's also a lot of Amish. We don't see quite the degree your pretty girl was exposed to.

Feel free to post her photo! That's a hint.
I'm going to need to dig it up for you!
 
Thank you @JPK Huson 1863 for this! Morgans are such kind horses and their gait is amazing! .I spotted a beautiful black, looked like a Morgan, down the street from my son's house in a changing to a cul-de-sac (new developers-God-how I hate them!) area always standing behind a fence looking forlorn. I couldn't stand it anymore one day and pulled in. She was SO receptive to me and looked thin and starving and the pasture she was in was nothing but noxious weeds so I went and got a friend of mine who rescues area horses and the next day we literally "broke in " to this basically abandoned barn ((my friend was SO impressed with my agility to throw myself over a half door on a hill (bank barn) with the only open window)) and saw no stored hay!!!
As timing would have it, just like in a movie, the "jerk" who worked down the street (Waste Removal Co BFI owned the property and barn) who actually called her "his" horse happened to show up with his wife and daughter!!!!Didn't care...this horse NEEDED our attention! Call the cops A$*hole! We told him WHY we came as his daughter mechanically pulled out a brush from her pocket and brushed the poor young horse's tail with LONG teeth that hadn't been floated in YEARS! I said we'd take her and give her a new home and he said I could get X amount of $ for her meat! I immediately called around and raised that X amount of $ from my "horse" friends and gave that sad piece of "s#@& cash to take her! Here she had registered Morgan horse papers he reluctantly gave us and her nick name was "Brandy" and the name on the papers it was based upon escapes me.
We had found a rescue place to take her days before. Took us an HOUR to load her and she was SO scared and totally soaked in sweat when we finally got her in and she steamed up all of the horse trailer windows! Let her out in her new home in a pasture and she gracefully "gaited" about like she was in Heaven! Only days later the rescue farm found a man who wanted to give her a wonderful home and PAID them so he could maybe breed her with his Arabians. Those horses are called "Morabs" The rest is history!!!! I still have photos of how skinny she was and will never forget her or that day I met her and rescued her days later! I swear some people have NO soul especially regarding innocent animals ! Just like those heartless people mentioned above!
I'm sure my friend @Equestriangirl93 will like this story too!

I FINALLY FOUND THE PICS of her the day we rescued her!!! @JPK Huson 1863
Rescue Morgan Brandy (2).jpg
Rescue Mogan Brandy me (2).jpg


Rescue Morgan Brandy (2).jpg


Rescue Mogan Brandy me (2).jpg
 
Just ran across this reference to the First Vermont Cavalry's use of Morgans and thought the quote belongs in this thread:

"The First Vermont Cavalry was mounted exclusively on Morgans. A Southerner who was captured by this cavalry exclaimed: 'It was your hawses that done licked us.'"

~From "Let Me Show You Vermont," by Charles Edward Crane, 1937.
 
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