Egypt

Roanoke

Cadet
Joined
Jun 1, 2006
another of General Ulysses S. Grant's Civil War horses

According to Grant's oldest son, Fredrick Dent Grant,"...About the time of January,1864, some people in Illinois found a horse in the southern part of that state, which they thought was remarkably beautiful . They purchased him and sent him as a present to my father. This horse was known as "Egypt" as he was raised, or at least came from southern Illinois, a district known in the state as "Egypt" (or Little Egypt)"

Grant was a remarkable horseman. At West Point in the early 1840s at the out-door graduation of the senior class, the guests saw a strange six foot barrier. A lone rider wheeled his horse into view and easily jumped the wall. The graduation guests were treated to a demonstration by the best rider at the military academy of that time. The rider was young cadet Ulysses S. Grant.

During the war with Mexico a few years later. Grant was a junior officier when his company was in a hard fight and was running out of ammunition. Grant rode for ammunition by hanging from a stirrup and using the horse's body to shelter him from heavy enemy fire. Grant received a brevet promotion for gallantry in the face of the enemy.

By July of 1863 General Grant, commanding armies, had forced the surrender of two seperate Confederate armies.(at Fort Donnelson and Vicksburg) When Grant's detractors complained to President Lincoln about his drinking and tried to have him removed from command Lincoln said, "If I can find out what brand of whiskey he drinks, I will sent a case to each of my other generals."

When if was reported that Grant was a heavy cigar smoker, people sent him barrels of his favorite brand.

It is not surprising that people gave Egypt to General Grant. Grant's favorite horse, Cincinnati (an earlier post on this web site), also came to him as a gift. In early 1864 Grant went to St. Louis. He there received a message from a man named S.S. Grant asking the General to come to his hotel room. The man told the General that he had the best horse in the country and had heard that he was a fine horseman and loved horses. He was very sick, knew that he would not ride again, and wanted General Grant to have his horse. The only condition was that Grant would always treat the horse well and would never permit anyone else to mistreat him. Grant accepted the gift with the conditions, sight unseen. The horse turned out to be a magnificent thoroughbred. He was a son and half brother of racing champians and he almost equaled his racing brother's U.S. record for four miles. General Grant turned down $10.000 in gold for Cincinnati. Grant keep Cincinati through the war, brought him to the White House when he was elected President keeping him at the White House stable, and kept him until the horse's death in 1878.
Partially to keep his promise to S S. Grant, General Grant never allowed anyone else to ride Cincinnati. He made only two exceptions. He allowed Admiral Daniel Ammens to ride him. Ammens saved Grant from drowning while a school-boy.
As the terrible civil war drew to a close, President Lincoln visited the front lines at Petersburg. To honor his commander-in-chief, Grant offered him the use of Cincinnati. What a grand sight it must have been to see the two great Union commanders riding side by side along the Union trench lines. A few days later the Confederate lines were broken and the war was soon over.

See my other Grant horse postings: Rondy Jack
 
another of General Ulysses S. Grant's Civil War horses

According to Grant's oldest son, Fredrick Dent Grant,"...About the time of January,1864, some people in Illinois found a horse in the southern part of that state, which they thought was remarkably beautiful . They purchased him and sent him as a present to my father. This horse was known as "Egypt" as he was raised, or at least came from southern Illinois, a district known in the state as "Egypt" (or Little Egypt)"

Grant was a remarkable horseman. At West Point in the early 1840s at the out-door graduation of the senior class, the guests saw a strange six foot barrier. A lone rider wheeled his horse into view and easily jumped the wall. The graduation guests were treated to a demonstration by the best rider at the military academy of that time. The rider was young cadet Ulysses S. Grant.

During the war with Mexico a few years later. Grant was a junior officier when his company was in a hard fight and was running out of ammunition. Grant rode for ammunition by hanging from a stirrup and using the horse's body to shelter him from heavy enemy fire. Grant received a brevet promotion for gallantry in the face of the enemy.

By July of 1863 General Grant, commanding armies, had forced the surrender of two seperate Confederate armies.(at Fort Donnelson and Vicksburg) When Grant's detractors complained to President Lincoln about his drinking and tried to have him removed from command Lincoln said, "If I can find out what brand of whiskey he drinks, I will sent a case to each of my other generals."

When if was reported that Grant was a heavy cigar smoker, people sent him barrels of his favorite brand.

It is not surprising that people gave Egypt to General Grant. Grant's favorite horse, Cincinnati (an earlier post on this web site), also came to him as a gift. In early 1864 Grant went to St. Louis. He there received a message from a man named S.S. Grant asking the General to come to his hotel room. The man told the General that he had the best horse in the country and had heard that he was a fine horseman and loved horses. He was very sick, knew that he would not ride again, and wanted General Grant to have his horse. The only condition was that Grant would always treat the horse well and would never permit anyone else to mistreat him. Grant accepted the gift with the conditions, sight unseen. The horse turned out to be a magnificent thoroughbred. He was a son and half brother of racing champians and he almost equaled his racing brother's U.S. record for four miles. General Grant turned down $10.000 in gold for Cincinnati. Grant keep Cincinati through the war, brought him to the White House when he was elected President keeping him at the White House stable, and kept him until the horse's death in 1878.
Partially to keep his promise to S S. Grant, General Grant never allowed anyone else to ride Cincinnati. He made only two exceptions. He allowed Admiral Daniel Ammens to ride him. Ammens saved Grant from drowning while a school-boy.
As the terrible civil war drew to a close, President Lincoln visited the front lines at Petersburg. To honor his commander-in-chief, Grant offered him the use of Cincinnati. What a grand sight it must have been to see the two great Union commanders riding side by side along the Union trench lines. A few days later the Confederate lines were broken and the war was soon over.

See my other Grant horse postings: Rondy Jack
Brilliant report
 
Thank you Roanoke and thank you SamGrant for the enunciation lesson. I knew about Kay-ro, but not about My-Lan. Did you know about Fer-Sale (Versailles) or May-die-na (Medina)?
 
The town of Cairo is located in that area of Illinois (Pronounced KAY-RO, kind of like another town not too far south of there: Milan, Tennessee, pronounced MY-LAN)
You left out another grand mispronunciation for a town in "Little Eqypt"--Vi Anna.
I'm Southern Illinois born and bred and suspect, being the suspicious types Southern Illinoisan are, they use these odd pronunciations to be able to tell friend from foe--"Ve Anna" was always a dead giveaway, like "Ki Row".
 
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