Lee General Lee's horses

gentlemanrob

Major
Joined
Apr 11, 2016
Location
Upcountry South Carolina
So we all know General Lee's most famous horse was traveller and we all know Traveller is buried at Washington and Lee University. But what was the names, breeds of his other horses and what happened to them?
 
"Although Traveller was General Lee’s favorite horse, Lee did use other horses during the course of the Civil War. When Lee purchased Traveller, his stable already contained two horses, Richmond and Brown-Roan:

Richmond, a bay stallion, was acquired by General Lee in early 1861. The General rode Richmond when he inspected the Richmond defenses. Richmond died in 1862 after the battle of Malvern Hill.

Brown-Roan was purchased by Lee in West Virginia during the first summer of the war. Also referred to as “The Roan,” the horse went blind in 1862 and had to be retired. He was left with a farmer.

Two other horses, Lucy Long and Ajax, joined Lee’s stable after he purchased Traveller:

Lucy Long, a mare, served as the primary backup horse to Traveller. Lucy Long remained with the Lee family after the war. Outliving General Lee, she died when she was thirty-three years old.

Ajax, a sorrel horse, was used infrequently because he was too large for Lee to ride comfortably. Ajax also remained with the Lees after the war. He killed himself in the mid-1860s by accidently running into an iron gate-latch prong."
 
I just published a book, General Robert E. Lee's Warhorses, Newman Springs publisher, Red Bank NJ. Its on Amazon, brick and mortar stores, and will soon be available in e format by early April 2020..

It traces Lee's love for all animals, especially horses and chronologically tracts his horse ownership starting with the Mexican War, through the civil war, his constant battle to supply and maintain horses to the army and his post war rides through Virginia on Traveller.
I hope you will consider buying it. It took five years research and covers areas I never considered in my 60 years of historical research.
 
Thanks for the information. I will find a copy.
Amazingly enough most historians either don’t realize or don’t give the role of horses enough documented coverage. For instance, during my research I discovered that Lee’s cavalry was reduced to 25% after ‘63 because the south couldn’t supply enough horses.
Thanks agsin
Dennis
 
Back
Top