Karen Holt, Historic Americans
Examiner January 12, 2012
When textbooks are written about the great battles of
various wars and those who lead them, the names of generals and other officers
normally head the list – Washington, Greene,
Grant, Lee, Sherman, Eisenhower, Patton and many more.
Digging a little deeper reveals the names of those with less
rank and popularity whose contributions were also important. However, there are
other truly great heroes who tend to be missing from the majority of historic
conversations - heroes with names like: ‘Traveller’, ‘Cincinnati,’
‘Winchester,’ and ‘Old Baldy’. These heroes were many times the favorite
targets of the enemy and had no say-so in whether they went to war or not.
Dating back as far as 5,000 years ago, horses have played a
vital role in warfare. Battles in Eurasia between 4000 and 3000 BC were many
times fought on horseback. The type and size of the horse used was determined
by the style of warfare in which the animal participated. Was the horse being
ridden or driven? Would the task involve raiding, communication, cavalry charge
or reconnaissance?
Once gunpowder became a staple of warfare, stronger horses
were needed to pull the wagons loaded with the heavy artillery. Lighter
artillery was pulled by upwards of six horses, where as ‘9-pounders’ required
eight and the heaviest of artillery called for a team of 12.
Another function of the horse was to carry the ranking
officers into battle. Generals normally rode on horseback rather than walking
so they were at a higher level than the troops – making it easier for the
troops to see them and for the officer to spot danger further ahead.
Being on horseback may have helped the commanding officer to
see and be seen better by his troops, but he was also more easily spotted by
the enemy, and many times the officer was not the first target shot. Life
expectancy for a horse used in war was about six months. At one point during
the opening days of the Civil War, horses were dying at a faster rate than were
the soldiers.
General Nathan Bedford Forest is named as the soldier that
lost the most horses. It is said a minimum of 39 horses were killed while he
was astride them in battle.
On the flip side, however, sometimes the horse fared better.
Four Guillet brothers rode the same horse into battle on different occasions.
Each of the brothers sustained a fatal wound, but the horse lived on to fight
another day.
As with warriors, there are horses whose names are hallowed
in the chronicles of history. The Civil War alone is replete with a number of
them: http://www.examiner.com/historic-americans-in-national/unsung-equestrian-heroes-of-the-civil-war
20120112 HoltEx Unsung
equestrian heroes Civil War
Unsung equestrian heroes of the Civil War by Karen Holt, Historic Americans Examiner January 12, 2012
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