Civil War Horses

A few Civil War horses and their riders:names were Lexington and Sam. Sherman rode
Traveller and Robert E. LeeLexington at Atlanta and in the Grand Review in
Confederate General Robert E. Lee came toWashington at the close of the war. Sam was injured
Richmond, Virginia in the spring of 1861. During this visit,several times during the Civil War. At Shiloh, three of
Lee was given a bay stallion named Richmond.Sherman's horses were killed during the battle. Two of
Richmond was a nervous horse, and provedthese three horses died as an orderly held their reigns.
unsatisfactory. When Richmond was near strangeCincinnati and Ulysses S. Grant
horses, he would tend to squeal. This was not a goodAs a young man, Ulysses S. Grant developed a love
thing for a Civil War horse to do. Lee took Richmondof horses when he worked at his father's farm. Grant
to West Virginia and purchased another horse calledbecame a skilled equestrian. While a cadet at West
The Roan or Brown-Roan. Unfortunately, The RoanPoint, Grant was an exceptional equestrian and he did
began to go blind during the Seven Days' Battle in Junenot stand out as having special talents in anything else
and July of 1862. The horse Richmond died afterwhile at West Point. Grant wanted a commission in the
Malvern Hill. After Second Bull Run, cavalryman Jebcavalry when he finished at West Point. Instead, he
Stuart got Lee a mare named Lucy Long. Also aroundwound up in the infantry because the cavalry had no
this time, Lee received a sorrel horse named Ajax.vacancies. The infantry assignment must have been a
When Lee rode to Appomattox Court House todisappointment for the horse-loving equestrian Ulysses
surrender on April 9, 1865, he was riding his favoriteS. Grant.
and most known horse. This gray colored horse wasGrant's favorite horse during the Civil War was
Traveller. After the Civil War, when Robert E. Lee wasCincinnati. An admirer gave Cincinnati to Grant after
president at Washington University (later renamed tothe Battle of Chattanooga. Cincinnati was seldom
Washington and Lee University), Lee's favorite oldridden by anyone other than Grant, one notable
war-horse Traveller was still with him. When Lee died,exception being President Abraham Lincoln when
the horse Traveller walked behind Lee's hearse in theLincoln last visited City Point, Virginia. Other horses
funeral procession. Traveller walked with his headGrant had in the Civil War were Jack, Fox, and
bowed and in a slow gait. Traveller is buried outside ofKangaroo. Kangaroo was left on the Shiloh battlefield
the Lee Chapel on the campus of Washington andby the Confederates. This horse was described as
Lee University. Robert E. Lee is interred in a cryptugly and raw-boned. Grant however, having an eye
beneath the Lee Chapel.for horses, knew that Kangaroo was a thoroughbred.
Lexington, Sam, and William Tecumseh ShermanAfter becoming a Yankee horse, Kangaroo got rest
William Tecumseh Sherman had two horses thatand care and became a fine horse.
were his favorites during the Civil War. These horse's