6-11-21 Win, Place, Show

Status
Not open for further replies.

Trivia Master

The Keeper of Knowledge
Forum Host
Joined
Mar 21, 2012
Gambling on the prowess of his favorite horse, this US Colonel won several horses from his competitors at the races during the 1863 St. Patrick's Day Celebrations in Virginia.

1) Who was the lucky colonel?
2) What was the name of his victorious horse?

credit: @sarladaise
 
Gambling on the prowess of his favorite horse, this US Colonel won several horses from his competitors at the races during the 1863 St. Patrick's Day Celebrations in Virginia.

1) Who was the lucky colonel?
2) What was the name of his victorious horse?

credit: @sarladaise
Sources differ about many of the details of this day's festivities, including the actual location, the number and names of the competing horses, the names of the winning owner, winning rider, and winning horse.
Source: Gene C. Armistead, Horses and Mules in the Civil War.... (Jefferson, NC: McFarland & Co., 1947), pp. 93-94, 109, 140, 152, 156, 184, 242. This source seems the most complete, presenting the different accounts available.
That said, the only source I found that names a winning "Colonel" who won "more than eleven additional horses" that day:
1. Colonel William Kirkwood (1835-1863), 63rd Pennsylvania Volunteer Infantry;
2. Archy.
Source: Jack Trammell, "Off and Running: America's Growing Passion for Horse Racing Stayed Strong During the War", HistoryNet. https://www.historynet.com/off-running-americas-passion-horse-racing.htm
 
Not sure about this one, as I can find no reference to any wagers that resulted in a colonel winning several horses. However, I did find the names of two colonels whose horses participated in the races. One of those colonels was Von Schack, but he wound up being injured during the race, so it doesn't seem as though he would have come out a big winner. So I'm going to pick the other one, who was Colonel Nugent. His horse's name was Harry.

Edit - I remember finding the article cited as the source for the official answer. Unfortunately, though the article began with an account of the St. Patrick's Day celebration, after a while it appeared to be going off in other directions, so I quit reading it and started looking for another source. The part about Col. Kirkwood appears more than halfway through the article, past the point at which I had quit reading.

hoosier
 
Last edited:
Colonel William Kirkwood
Archy

https://www.historynet.com/off-running-americas-passion-horse-racing.htm

Edit - A good number of players got the desired answer, so I will let this question stand.

I note, however, that although the article says Kirkwood won more than eleven additional horses as a result of Archy's racing prowess, it does not say how many, if any of those were won at the St. Patrick's Day celebration.

hoosier
 
Last edited by a moderator:
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top