“Girl Cavalry” - this ambrotype is identified by period writing on the inside as the “Beauregard Cavalry”. The people in the image are all young women, except for the individual at the far right, who is identified as “J. Al Allen ... our Captain”. This is believed to be a group of young women from the Rhea County, Tennessee, area that formed their own “cavalry”. At one point, they were arrested by the Federal Army as spies, but were quickly released by General Stedman. An article about the Rhea County “girl cavalry unit” appeared in the April 11, 1909 issue of the magazine Confederate Veteran. (Courtesy of the Jeff Hargrove Collection)

A History of Gaited Horses In The Civil War

By Sue Sherman

America was not even 100 years old when the growing tensions between the Northern States and the Southern States resulted in the American Civil War that would test the resolve of the nation, the military commanders of both sides, as well as the horses who served with those officers. 

The who’s who list of leading Civil War commanders that rode into this nation’s history rode horses that became recognized for their endurance and performance during arduous campaigns, chaotic battles, with some who even came back to serve after having been wounded in battle by gunfire.  Courage, stamina, and calm under fire.  What more could an officer ask for from his war horse?  It seems the answer to that question was a saddle gait, judging from the horses that served the leading officers of that war.

 No less than the Generals Jackson, and Lee from the South, and the Generals Grant, Sheridan, and Sherman from the North all chose a gaited horse for their purposes during that war.  Each horse distinguished itself and became a legend unto itself within the framework of the service to their respective officers.  Some would in time, after their deaths, even be preserved due to the unwillingness of people to let go of them, even in death, they were that respected and beloved.

Historical Overview of Gaited Horses in America

American gaited equines are thought to have arrived in the colonies from the British Isles in the 1600’s and soon the Narragansett Pacer resulted.  The Narragansett Pacer became the prolific equine glue that held together the urban areas of the colonies as they became the hauling horses that connected the different areas of commerce.  The Narragansett Pacers were to the colonial era the equivalent of the railroads in terms of shipping and transport. They went everywhere working in the urban areas and were even sold by the thousands into the commercial trade areas of the Caribbean.  Some historians believe Paul Revere was riding a Narragansett Pacer the night of his historic ride

 When the English Thoroughbreds began to arrive and enter American breeding a horse that became known as the “American horse” emerged by the time of the American Revolution that had the size and athletic capability of the Thoroughbred, however kept the predisposition for gaiting.  It is thought these horses were a factor in the eventual defeat of the British forces. 

 After the American Revolution the north saw an equine revolution as the Morgan breed took over the work load from the Narragansett Pacer, phasing them out completely and pushing them into extinction.  Black Hawk, an influential sire of that era was thought to have been of Narragansett and Morgan breeding.  He was gaited and considered to have been a leading sire of gaited Morgans. 

 By comparison the Morgan was smaller and more compact than the American Horse that went on to become known as the Kentucky Saddler.  Civil War Generals thought having a tall horse made them more visible to those they commanded in the field so many of the officers’ “Morgan type” horses were larger than was typical for the breed, then and now.

Civil War Era Gaited Horses

By the time the Civil War began, the colonial era gaited “American horses” had become two distinct different types/breeds, the smaller, compact “roadsters” of the North, the Morgans, and the larger, and by comparison more for riding horses, the Kentucky Saddlers. The Kentucky Saddlers eventually would become the American Saddlebred in Kentucky, the Tennessee Walker, and the Missouri Fox Trotter.  Each area specialized in developing a particular gaiting action unique to their breed.  The Morgans were never known for any one specialized gaiting action in that era, however the! y were always thought of as having lots of leg action, both the trotting and the gaited Morgans.  

 The Morgans who had emerged from the New England states were renowned for their ability to have a great saddle gait in addition to having an ability to cover distances harnessed to some sort of wheeled transport.  Known to be thrifty keepers and have a willing disposition, their ability to be utilized for multiple tasks was not lost on the thrifty New Englanders.  This dual versatility was subsequently not lost on the Union officers who required having artillery hauled over all types of landscape and road conditions.  Fighting with obstinate mules was a time consuming luxury officers did not have and to their credit teams of willing Morgans were able to step in, shoulder the responsibility, and get the heavy equipment moving in the worst of conditions. 

 As the war progressed and horses were dying from bullets, fatigue, and illness, the armies including the generals frequently were forced to resupply themselves with whatever they could scavenge from the immediate area.  Mixed types of horses in the same units therefore became the order of the day as the war continued.

The General’s Horses

The officers on both sides required a horse that was far more than a parade horse, with bullets flying and canons booming, and long distance marches in all types of weather an average horse was not going to meet the needs of the officers who had to be both everywhere, and, sometimes nowhere (in sight)  once the fighting began.  Speed to reposition oneself and sure footedness were essential traits as off road riding was often the prerequisite for the officer’s day. 

 Although there were countless officers who served with distinction on both sides, in the interests of presenting this article the author is choosing to recognize five officers who were considered to have been most influential in the overall management of the war.  These Generals whose names are synonymous with the Civil War,  and who no doubt not coincidentally all chose to ride gaited horses, were Grant, Sheridan, and Sherman of the Union Army and Lee and Jackson of the Confederacy. 

General Grant

Two gaited equines during the Civil War served with General Grant.  A pony named “Jeff Davis” was taken from Joe Davis’ stock during the siege of Vicksburg.  Joe Davis was the brother of President Jefferson Davis.  General Grant, suffering from back trouble, immediately appreciated the easy gait of the pony the first time he rode Jeff, who  became an essential lasting weapon in the General’s overall arsenal, riding the pony frequently to get relief.  The other horse most associated with General Grant had been a gift and was named Cincinnatti, who was considered to have been an Kentucky Saddler type.  Although General Grant had many horses during the course of the war, these two he kept until their deaths, many years after the end of the war. 

General Sheridan

A Morgan type gaited horse, first named Rienzi, then renamed Winchester, was to serve with General Sheridan with distinction.  Next to Lee’s Traveller, this horse is perhaps the second most legendary horse of the Civil War.  He was presented by officers to General Sheridan in 1862 and was known to have been of the gaited Morgan Black Hawk lineage.  At 17 hands he was pure power on hooves and subsequently proved himself when he flew over the ground to deliver General Sheridan to his troops who were fighting on October 19, 1864.  General Sheridan was not present when the fighting began, having attended a war  conference and the sight of General Sheridan and Rienzi rallied the troops, turned the tide in the battle, and subsequently inspired poetry, sculptors, and artists.  Sheridan’s escort was unable to keep pace with Rienzi and Sheridan arrived by himself.  Winchester would live out his days until 1878 with General Sheridan who gave his remains to the Museum at Governors Island, New York. 

General Sherman

General Sherman, the American general who is perhaps equated with distance marches more than any other general, rode two horses as he methodically devastated the South’s supply line.  More is known and recorded of Lexington, who is considered to have been a Kentucky Saddler type, than the other horse named Sam, who is thought to have put in more hours overall under saddle than Lexington.  Both were described as having extraordinary “action” and therefore thought to have been gaited by that era’s application of that term.  Sam was repeatedly wounded by fire, yet returned to serve remaining always calm in battle.  He made the historic march from Vicksburg to Washington, through Atlanta, Savannah, Columbia, and Richmond.  He was retired to a farm in Illinois by the general to live out his days after the war.

General Stonewall Jackson

A captured Union supply train supplied General Stonewall Jackson with his favorite mount of the war.  From May 9, 1861 to his death at Chancelorville, Little Sorrel was the mount that took General Jackson into history.  Upon Little Sorrel’s death, the pony was sent to a taxidermist and then to the Soldier’s Home in Richmond, Virginia.  Little Sorrel’s short stature was atypical of the tall, charger type horses of the other generals.  It was the pony’s gait however that won the general’s favor.

General Lee

Traveller was the horse who is considered to be the all time, quintessential officer’s horse in America.  Lee was as loyal to Traveller as Traveller was to General Lee.  Indeed, Traveller escorted General Lee’s body during his funeral parade, then died a short time after General Lee.  Traveller was known to have had a gliding rack and would have been typical of the American/Kentucky Saddlers of Virginia and Kentucky of that era.  The two were virtually inseparable from the day General Lee first went to see Traveller to acquire him at age five. 

Conclusion

The selection of gaited horses by these leading Civil War generals with extensive experience in the saddle provides a great insight into the how Americans who were acquainted with the horses of that era considered what they would depend on, with their very lives.  

 The interesting fact is this, all the political considerations and issues of that war, all the fire power the North could manufacture, all the naval blockading imposed, all the battle strategies,  all these factors came down to the generals on both sides, and their abilities to manage their sections of the war.  After the raids of Mosby and Stuart against the Northern railroads, and the methodical destruction by Sherman in the South of their railroads, both armies were forced at times to revert to horse power to move troops, weapons, and supplies.  All was under the direction of generals mounted on horses.  The indisputable truth is, the very future of this nation for several years, was being decided by five determined generals in the field, all who independently chose to be on the backs of gaited horses. 

References

Website, American Morgan Horse Breeders Website,

American Saddlebred Breeders

The American Heritage New History of the Civil War, James M. McPherson, Viking, 1996

Battles and Leaders of the Civil War, University of Illinois Press, 2002

The Photographic History of the Civil War, Portland House, 1997