THE REAL "HORSE SOLDIERS"

Robert Gray

Sergeant Major
Joined
Jul 24, 2012
THE PHOTOGRAPHIC HISTORY OF THE CIVIL WAR IN TEN VOLUMES
Frances T. Miller - Editor in Chief - The Review of Reviews Co.
1911

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Seventeen hundred men who marched 600 miles in sixteen days, from Vicksburg to Baton Rouge. On April 17, 1863, Grant despatched Colonel Benjamin Grierson on a raid from LaGrange, Tennessee, southward as a means of diverting attention from his own movements against Vicksburg, and to disturb the Confederate line of supplies from the East. Grierson destroyed sixty miles of tracks and telegraph, numberless stores and munitions of war, and brought his command safely through to Baton Rouge. These two pictures by photographer Andrew D. Lytle, of Baton Rouge, form one of the most remarkable feats of wet-plate photography. The action continued as he moved his camera a trifle to the right, and the result is a veritable "moving picture." In the top photograph, only the first troop is dismounted and unsaddled. In the second photograph, two troops are already on foot. Note the officers in front of their troops. The photograph was evidently a long exposure, as is shown by the progress of the covered wagon which has driven into the picture on the left. It was at the conclusion of this remarkable raid that Grierson reported that "the Confederacy was a hollow shell." All of its population able to carry arms was on the line of defense. Captain John A. Wyeth, a veteran Confederate cavalryman, wrote when he saw these photographs: "I knew General Grierson personally, and have always had the highest regard for his skill and courage as shown more particularly in this raid than in anything else that he did."
 
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I had seen these images before, but I did not know the story behind them. I know about the raid, having a book about it. It was a remarkable feat of arms. Later in December 22 1864 he led 2 cavalry brigades in an expedition against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad that ended on January 5, 1865. It was also very successful. Thanks for posting.
 
I had seen these images before, but I did not know the story behind them. I know about the raid, having a book about it. It was a remarkable feat of arms. Later in December 22 1864 he led 2 cavalry brigades in an expedition against the Mobile and Ohio Railroad that ended on January 5, 1865. It was also very successful. Thanks for posting.

But unfortunately for him, in between the two raids he had the dubious distinction of commanding Samuel Sturgis' cavalry that in June, 1864 not-so-successfully encountered Nathan Bedford Forrest at Brice's Crossroads...
 
After the raid, Grierson's men camped on the grounds of the Magnolia Mound Plantaton in Baton Rouge. The pictures were apparently taken from the front porch of the house - I have been there, and if you ever have the opportunity to visit, compare these photos with the modern view. Even after more than 150 years, it is recognizably the same place.
 
It's nice to see this thread again. The restoration article is interesting and I previously missed @Booner's comment that his ancestor might be in the first picture. That's pretty cool!
 
Well, maybe he isn't in the picture, but maybe his horse is?
.He joined in the fall of '61 at 16, and was paid a little extra as he brought his personal horse. He was captured in Nov. of '64 and I wonder if he was ever reimbursed by the Government for the loss of that animal?
 
Well, maybe he isn't in the picture, but maybe his horse is?
.He joined in the fall of '61 at 16, and was paid a little extra as he brought his personal horse. He was captured in Nov. of '64 and I wonder if he was ever reimbursed by the Government for the loss of that animal?
I wish I knew how to research a question like that. I think the army kept pretty good records. If he was reimbursed, I'll bet there's a record of it somewhere.
 
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