Loose Horse!

[Peace Society]

7 Days Battle
During the night there was what was called a "loose horse." This sometimes happens when a horse is under great excitement, and may be from either side, when the combatants are at close quarters. At the instant the horse is sighted, the words "loose horse" are heard and will be repeated by hundreds of voices along the line, although the animal may pass directly through the camp to the rear, the whole encampment has been notified. In this instance the horse passed quartering through camp and about fifty yards to the rear of where I had been sleeping. I know of no words that will bring the sleeping soldiers to their feet as quickly as "loose horse," for everyone feels the necessity of clearing the track. The word "whoa" is a very popular one as the horse is passing through, but the users know it will have no effect on the distracted animal and would be about as much heeded as if directed at a whizzing cannon ball.
William A Fletcher
Rebel Private: Front and Rear: Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier
1908, self-published; now available from Meridian (Penguin) NY, 1997, p. 26

 

[lupaglupa]

Those poor animals must have been so stressed - no surprise that they would freak out at times.

 

[bankerpapaw]

Someone sitting on my back yelling, screaming and shooting would freak me out too.

 

[gunny]

These are two stampedes that were mentioned by men in the Sixteenth Tennessee. The first at Mumfordsville in 1862 and the other was in September 1863 just before the Battle of Chickamauga.

That night, as Donelson's Brigade was arriving in line on the field, the rear guard of a leading brigade opened fire on Donelson and his staff as they rode ahead to determine their position on the field. Captain W. E. Lowe , A.I.G. for Donelson, was struck and killed by the volley. General Donelson's horse, as well as two or three other horses, was struck by the gunfire as well. That didn't end the excitement for the night however, as a sort of stampede took place throughout the army that night. Apparently, a team of horses got spooked pulling a wagon or caisson of some sort. Without a driver, the frightened horses ran headlong down the line of troops.​

Everyone was asleep, I suppose, and such running and scrambling I never saw. I remember that I was so scared that I left my gun lying in the road and everybody seemed to be hunting a tree to get behind. I think a Yankee corporal's guard could have captured the whole outfit. I understood at the time that the panic ran through the whole army.
​

At 8 a.m. on September 8th, the regiment marched thirteen miles in the direction of Rome, Georgia to Chickamauga Creek. That night while waiting for an obstacle in the road to be moved, another infamous stampede took place. A wagon team got spooked and tore full speed down the road. This sent the boys running in every direction. One of the Sixteenth implied that war itself was less frightening than a stampede.​

 

[John Winn]

I guess that's the landlubber's equivalent of a loose cannon.

 

[Mrs. V]

Oh man, 1000 pounds of scared animal, with hooves and teeth. Yeah, that's a hazard to say the least..and if you are smart, you'd be scared, because they don't listen to reason at all!

 

[bdtex]

7 Days Battle
During the night there was what was called a "loose horse." This sometimes happens when a horse is under great excitement, and may be from either side, when the combatants are at close quarters. At the instant the horse is sighted, the words "loose horse" are heard and will be repeated by hundreds of voices along the line, although the animal may pass directly through the camp to the rear, the whole encampment has been notified. In this instance the horse passed quartering through camp and about fifty yards to the rear of where I had been sleeping. I know of no words that will bring the sleeping soldiers to their feet as quickly as "loose horse," for everyone feels the necessity of clearing the track. The word "whoa" is a very popular one as the horse is passing through, but the users know it will have no effect on the distracted animal and would be about as much heeded as if directed at a whizzing cannon ball.
William A Fletcher
Rebel Private: Front and Rear: Memoirs of a Confederate Soldier
1908, self-published; now available from Meridian (Penguin) NY, 1997, p. 26

Thanks for posting this. It's been 7-8 years since I read that book. Really good.

 

[Tom Elmore]

A drummer boy who tried to ride an officer's horse to safety at Gettysburg was thrown off by the frightened animal, which plunged forward to where the 14th Connecticut lay behind a stone wall. Captain James B. Coit of Company K was struck in the face and breast by the horse, "bruising his face and totally closing his eyes for a time." After several days Coit's face and vision returned to normal, but he had lost some of his teeth. At the same moment Coit "pierced the neck of the infuriated animal with his sword, whereby the animal's direction was turned, and [the horse] fell in a dying condition a few yards away."

In the same battle Lieutenant Thomas Clark of Company H, 7th New Jersey was injured in the knee and foot by a runaway horse. In addition, Brigadier General Charles K. Graham's wounded horse pitched him over his head, which dazed the general and resulted in his being captured by Barksdale's men at the Peach Orchard.