In Spring of 1862, While pursuing Stonewall Jackson through the Shenandoah Valley, Col. Gordon found himself the proud new owner of a splendid new mount, courtesy of Turner Ashby's cavalry. In his memoirs, Gordon's praises of the horse assumed the form of a rhapsody: "I have never known such a horse; I never expect to know one like him. Every moment a manifestation of power and gameness, fearless in his sweeping gallop, unmoved by the din of battle, his mettle inspired courage. He seemed to invite the thunders of war, and he never shrunk from the sound."Gordon seemed to derive a great deal of pleasure in contrasting the horse's attributes to those of the plug his aide rode. "My horse would take a six-rail fence beautifully. After bounding over I often turned to look back, and call out, 'Come along, don't stop for that!' at which my aid[e]'s big farm plough-horse would come up, run square into the fence, bump his knees, sneeze, turn around, and stand, firmly courting death rather than attempt the fence." At Gordon's order, two of the four rails of the fence were taken down and the Captain retreated to get a fair start at the obstacle. "Down came the Captain with a pace growing slower and slower, until he reached the fence; whenthe horse halted, gravely counted the rails, quietly raised himself on end, put his fore-feet over, gave himself an unearthly hitch with his hind legs, and landed on the other side."
The Colonel's horse had speed to match his jumping skills. While galloping to Gen. Banks's headquarters one night, he heard the sound of hoofbeats behind him attempting to overtake. He could hear the oaths of his pursuer. When he finally pulled up he found that he had been racing an orderly of a New York cavalry regiment carrying dispatches to the commanding general. "It was very amusing to see his look of astonishment and hear his delicate apology as he found he had been chasing a colonel of infantry in the dark."
Less amusing was the theft of the horse in the aftermath of the Union defeat at Winchester in May of 1862. Gordon's servant had left the animal tied to a fence at Williamsport near a house occupied by members of a New York cavalry regiment, who, not surprisingly, denied having seen any such horse. For two days afterwards, Gordon was "what I should call insane," reported his cousin (and aide), Henry Bruce Scott. "No one could come near him. He snapped and bit in a terrible way."
For his part, Gordon was convinced that the animal had not wandered off "nor had he committed suicide in the river." In an attempt to appease Gordon, who was by this time a Brigadier General, Gen. Hatch invited him to attend a cavalry review to see if his horse was somewhere in the ranks. After failing to spot his stolen horse, Gordon was greeted with three cheers by the troopers.
By and by Scott received word from Lt. George Browning, who was in charge of the Provost Guard, that Gordon's horse had at last been found--in the possession of a captain in the 5th NY Cavalry (or the "5th NY Horse-Thieves" as Chaplain Alonzo Quint called the regiment). When Scott appeared to claim the animal, the Captain acquiesced without protest. "I told him...'I want you to come along, too, and explain this matter to General Gordon.' 'No,' he said, he wouldn't do it. If the horse was Gen. Gordon's 'all right, take him along,' but he wasn't going."
Faced with the threat of arrest, the Captain agreed to appear before Gordon...but only after going to put on his best uniform. In the meantime, Scott sent the horse, along with the poor private actually caught with the goods, up to Gordon, who at first refused to believe that this horse--"with ragged mane and tail, a gaunt, dejected animal, upon whose flank was stamped or branded the letter, 'A,' thus denoting a public animal belonging to Company A of a cavalry regiment," was his beloved mount. Finally convinced by his groom that it was indeed his horse, Gordon sent the private off under arrest "after seeing the letter A, of appropriate dimensions, cut out of a shock of the hair of the private." When he finally appeared, the cavalry Captain was also arrested, and under Gordon's tender care, his horse soon recaptured its former glory.
In September, 1861, Lt. Fletcher Abbott was almost killed when Dr. Sargent's spirited horse jumped into a farmer's wagon and sent him head-over-heels into the team of horses in front of the wagon. As they rushed forward to his aid, Sargent and Lt. Jim Francis though he must be dead. Abbott, however, escaped unscathed, "though I thought when I was in the air that I was a gone sucker."
Horse racing was a favorite pastime in the Army of the Potomac. One such race took place between Captains Daniel Oakey and Tom Robeson. Oakey was riding a nifty little horse he had acquired from Dr. Heath called "Little Mac." Robeson's horse, according to Capt. Henry Scott, was an "old nag" named "Burnside," but those comrades backing him in the contest entertained great hopes "that his skill in riding & jockey tricks would make up for any deficiencies in his horse." The race took place on a grass field near the camp. "After one or two false starts nicely managed by Robeson, Oakey got off alone & ran the hole course without Robeson. So Oakey was prevailed upon to try it again & this time the race was failry won by Oakey."In another race, Capt. Robert Gould Shaw was pitted against Capt. Charlie Mudge. Shaw ruefully described the event. "I got myself up in the foxiest possible jockey style; was beaten badly in two straight one-mile heats, and had my pretty clothes all covered with mud, from my collar down, besides getting my hair, eyes, nose, and mouth, full of the same article, from the heels of the winning horse, ridden by Mudge. He came in perfectly clean, and his horse as fresh as a lark."
Capt. Henry Bruce Scott fondly recalled his horse as a "good natured, stupid, slow old beast" that paled in comparison to almost anything else with four legs. "The first time I appeared on him in public I desired to pass the regiment at a gallop. The beast couldn't be entreated out of a walk. In vain I dug my spurs into him. A trot that sent me a foot from the saddle at every jolt was his only response, causing derisive laughter. And when almost at the head of the regiment, the old beast bumped into the drum major and nearly knocked him down."
There wasn't much to do in Tullahoma, TN, except to visit a cascade some five miles from town. Lt. Col. Morse took in the sight one day in the company of Maj. Jim Francis and Capt. James Grafton. Morse was not riding his usual mount, and on the way home, he jumped the horse over a fallen tree. "The ground was soft, the horses hind legs were weak or something was the matter, at any rate his knees struck the log and he came down on his head and I on mine." Morse instinctively tried to roll away clear, but the struggling beast kicked him in the ribs. Fortunately, nothing was broken. After three years of war, Morse had yet to get a scratch. "I can't seem to get hurt any way."
On January 16th, 1865, while in the vincinity of Savannah, GA, the horse of John Fox (a bay-colored Morgan) somehow managed to find itself mixed in with some captured Confderate nags. By the time Fox found his mount, it had been branded as being property of the United States. Having discovered the perpetrators (four NY blacksmiths), Fox compelled them to sign a confession--drafted and signed by Capt. Robert Brown and the 20th Corps AAG--owning up to their deed. Fox's only consolation, apart from getting his horse back, was that the initials were branded upside down and the "U" was very faint. [Thanks to Jeffrey Staines for this anecdote]
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