Cavalry Charger
Major
- Joined
- Jan 24, 2017
@lelliott19 has kindly shared an article with me re: Grant's unfortunate fall from a horse while visiting New Orleans in September 1863. He was there in order to undertake a review of the Thirteenth Corps, recently arrived from Vicksburg, which was due to be held in his honor. One of the interesting points raised in the article is whether the accident which confined Grant to his bed for several weeks, was in part responsible for the defeat of the Union army at Chickamauga. It is suggested Grant otherwise would have arrived in season to avert the disaster which overtook Union forces. It is the most descriptive article I've come across related to this event and interestingly it states Grant's horse, which was loaned to him by General Banks, had also suffered an injury at the battle of Cedar Mountain. I'm not sure riding a previously injured horse in a race was ideal and I will link another thread with some details where Grant describes the horse as difficult to handle. I'm also not sure what Grant was thinking, but by all accounts he paid of high price for this act of bravado.
Thanks to Laura for her input here once again!
Last edited by a moderator: