-- Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson
Southern States Secede
Secession
fever hit the South after Abraham Lincoln was elected president. The
South considered Lincoln's Republican party victory in the 1860
presidential election as a sign that the North was now going to end the
"peculiar institution" of slavery. For the South, the time of talk and
compromise had ended. In December, 1860 South Carolina became the first
state to secede from the Union. Secession of the rest of the states that
would make up the Confederate States of America occurred in two waves.
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Horses
Some Civil War Horses and their Riders:
| Barnes&Noble: Confederate Cavalrymen of the Civil War |
Traveller and Robert E. Lee
Confederate General Robert E. Lee came to Richmond, Virginia in the spring of 1861. During this visit, Lee was given a bay stallion named Richmond. Richmond was a nervous horse, and proved unsatisfactory. When Richmond was near strange horses, he would tend to squeal. This was not a good thing for a Civil War horse to do. Lee took Richmond to West Virginia and purchased another horse called The Roan or Brown-Roan. Unfortunately, The Roan began to go blind during the Seven Days’ Battle in June and July of 1862. The horse Richmond died after Malvern Hill. After Second Bull Run, cavalryman Jeb Stuart got Lee a mare named Lucy Long. Also around this time, Lee received a sorrel horse named Ajax. |
When Lee rode to Appomattox Court House to surrender on April 9, 1865, he was riding his favorite and most known horse. This gray colored horse was Traveller. After the Civil War, when Robert E. Lee was president at Washington University (later renamed to Washington and Lee University), Lee’s favorite old war-horse Traveller was still with him. When Lee died, the horse Traveller walked behind Lee’s hearse in the funeral procession. Traveller walked with his head bowed and in a slow gait. Traveller is buried outside of the Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington and Lee University. Robert E. Lee is interred in a crypt beneath the Lee Chapel.
Lexington, Sam, and William Tecumseh Sherman
William Tecumseh Sherman had two horses that were his favorites during the Civil War. These horse’s names were Lexington and Sam. Sherman rode Lexington at Atlanta and in the Grand Review in Washington at the close of the war. Sam was injured several times during the Civil War. At Shiloh, three of Sherman’s horses were killed during the battle. Two of these three horses died as an orderly held their reigns.
| Cincinnati and Ulysses S. Grant As a young man, Ulysses S. Grant developed a love of horses when he worked at a farm his father owned. Grant became a skilled equestrian. While a cadet at West Point, Grant was an exceptional equestrian and he did not stand out as having exceptional talents in anything else while at West Point. Grant wanted a commission in the cavalry when he finished at West Point. Instead, Grant wound up in the infantry because the cavalry had no vacancies. The infantry assignment must have been a disappointment for the equestrian Ulysses S. Grant. |
Barnes&Noble: Horses of Gettysburg Civil War Minutes |
Grant’s favorite horse during the Civil War was Cincinnati. An admirer gave Cincinnati to Grant after the Battle of Chattanooga. Cincinnati was seldom ridden by anyone other than Grant, one notable exception being President Abraham Lincoln when Lincoln last visited City Point, Virginia. Other horses Grant had in the Civil War were Jack, Fox, and Kangaroo. Kangaroo was left on the Shiloh battlefield by the Confederates. This horse was described as ugly and raw-boned. Grant however, having an eye for horses, knew that Kangaroo was a thoroughbred. After becoming a Yankee horse, Kangaroo got rest and care and became a fine horse.
Old Sorrel and Stonewall Jackson
Old Sorrel was Confederate General Thomas Jonathan "Stonewall" Jackson’s horse. Stonewall was riding this horse when he was shot by friendly fire at Chancellorsville. Old Sorrel became Jackson’s horse in May of 1861 at Harpers Ferry. The horse was about eleven-years-old at this time.
That Devil Dan and George B. McClellan
Union General George B. McClellan’s favorite war-horse was named Daniel Webster. Members of General McClellan’s staff began to call this horse "that devil Dan" because Daniel Webster was a speedy horse. The horses of McClellan’s staff members had trouble keeping up with "that devil Dan." Daniel Webster was with McClellan at Antietam. This horse was described as being a dark bay, about seventeen hands high, a pure bred, handsome, and he seldom showed signs of fatigue. Daniel Webster was a fine example of a horse. When McClellan retired from military service, the horse Daniel Webster went with him. The horse nicknamed "that devil Dan" became the family horse of the McClellan family.
Suggested Posts to Learn More...
- Civil War Mules
- Traveller
- Ulysses S. Grant Notes and Facts
- Virginia Ordinance of Secession
- William Tecumseh Sherman
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