...."Man's best friend, the horse"......

SWMODave

Sergeant Major
Thread Medic
Joined
Jul 23, 2017
Location
Southwest Missouri
ColJamesPikeascivilian.jpg

Colonel James Pike (post war)
Not only have men been called upon to see hard service in this war, but an important part has been played by one of the lower animals of creation - "man's best friend, the horse," which is entitled to some notice.

Colonel Pike, of Sanbornton Bridge, late Colonel of the Sixteenth New Hampshire Regiment, had a mare that had seen some service, having been through the whole war. She was raised in Western Virginia, and saw hard service in the Rebel army, belonging to Ashby's Cavalry, but was captured and taken by Colonel Brodhead, of the First Michigan Cavalry, and gallantly bore him until the fatal day at Centreville, when the Colonel fell.

The Colonel's horse was sent to his friends in New York, who presented her to Colonel Pike, and she went out with him in the Banks' expedition to New Orleans, and passed through the campaign of Louisiana, and returned with the regiment at the expiration of their service, from Port Hudson, up the Mississippi, and with the mark of many a hard struggle and service in nineteen different States was taken by Colonel Pike, who values her very highly, to his home in New Hampshire.

The Portrait Monthly Vol 1

(I tried very hard to find a photo of this mare with no luck - nice ending to one heck of a tour of duty - served on both sides, both cavalry and infantry, and in both the eastern and western theatre)
 
lower animals of creation - "man's best friend, the horse," which is entitled to some notice.


Always amazing to read of horses making it all the way through so much war. Seems almost impossible between getting shot at and the amount of distance traveled doesn't it?

Not quibbling, but ' lower animal of creation ' may be open to debate. Have known horses who didn't have to wait in line to get past the proverbial gate into Heaven, higher creation humans who'll be in the waiting room for awhile. :angel:
 
Oh, my - just finished looking over the regimental history of the Sixteenth New Hampshire! Those poor guys really took a beating from Tom Green, and I don't know whose idea it was to take cold weather mountain people and stick them in a malarial swamp in the tropics! Pike was a civilian, not a military guy, so he didn't know what he was doing - but Banks should have! The horse was a fine steed indeed to have survived all this regiment went through - if she could only have talked!
 
A great story about a horse who survived the war. Not so many did survive the war. He earned his rest. Banks was not one of the great lights of the army. He had a lot of problems of his own.
 
Back
Top