It is important to keep in mind that during the American Civil War horses and mules were the main means of transport for both the Union Army 1 and the Confederate Army 2. At the Battle of Gettysburg on 1-3 July, 1863, the Union Army had more than 20,000 horses and 10,000 mules. The Confederates had more than 16,000 horses and mules.
While the common rank and file soldiers were obliged to march on foot, most officers of the rank of captain and above in both armies were mounted. Generals often had several horses which they would alternate so that their favourites would not become too fatigued.
Some generals and their horses became so intertwined in legend that one cannot imagine one without the other. Such was the case at the Battle of Gettysburg where the commanding generals each had one of the most famous horses of the war.
The South
Perhaps the most famous horse in American history is Confederate General Robert E. Lee's faithful mount 'Traveller'.
Lee purchased Traveller from one of his subordinates in February 1862 for $200. The horse was grey with legs black from the knees and hocks down and a long black mane and tail. He was 16 hands3 high at the shoulder. The general and his horse were inseparable for the rest of Lee's life.
After his defeat at Gettysburg, Lee sat atop Traveller as his men marched past, telling them 'All this has been my fault. It is I that have lost this fight'. A statue of Lee atop Traveller was the first Confederate monument to the Southern cause at Gettysburg4.
Lee and Traveller survived the war without being wounded by enemy fire and they retired together to Washington College5 in Lexington, Virginia. When Lee died in 1870, his faithful mount walked behind the hearse. Traveller died a year later.
After its death, Traveller's skeleton was put on display in the college chapel. Its remains were finally buried on the school grounds in the 1970s.
The North
Union General George C Meade's horse is one of the most famous in the federal army. Meade purchased his horse from one of his subordinates in September 1861 for $150. He named his mount 'Old Baldy' because of the horse's white face.
Both the general and his horse were wounded at the Battle of Antietam in 1862 - the general was struck by a spent round, bruising his thigh and the horse was shot through the neck. Both quickly recovered.
Old Baldy was wounded at least five times during the Civil War6. During the Battle of Gettysburg, he was hit in the stomach by a bullet and refused to continue any further. Apparently, this was the first time the horse ever refused to advance into battle.
In 1864, Old Baldy was struck in the ribs by a shell near Petersburg, Virginia. After this wound, Meade, out of mercy, retired the horse to a farm near Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Old Baldy was only called upon for one last military duty: Meade's funeral, in 1872.
The horse lived for another decade and was eventually euthanised and buried. However, two of Meade's former soldiers exhumed Old Baldy's remains a week later and chopped off his head. The head was taken to a taxidermist and mounted on a special plaque.
The head is still on display in a glass case in the Meade Room of the Civil War Library and Museum in Philadelphia.
Related h2g2 entries
Check out some of the other h2g2 entries relating to the American Civil War Battle of Gettysburg:
1 Northerners
2 Southerners
3 One hand is 4 inches. Adult horses can range in size from 5 hands to over 18 hands.
4 The Virginia State Memorial was dedicated in 1917 and the sculptor studied the skeleton of the famous horse before starting his work.
5 The school was renamed Washington and Lee University in 1871.
6 Some accounts say he was hit as many as 14 times!
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