St. Landry democrat., 1886-01-30
FAMOUS HORSES.
Chargers That Seemed as Fond of Battle
as Their Riders.

Chargers That Seemed as Fond of Battle
as Their Riders.
Several horses became famous in the
war of the rebellion from their associa~
ton with famous commanders. Per-
haps the only survivor of them all is
"Old Sorrel," Stonewall Jackson's
charger. General Jackson rode him in
all the battles in which he took part,
and was on his back when he received
the wound from which he died. After
passing through various hands, Old
Sorrel was sent to Mrs. Jackson, who
afterward gave him to the Military In
stitute at Lexington, Va. He is about
thirty-six years old, and his name, tail
and fetlocks have nearly all disappeared,
one hair at a time, through the persist
ence of relic hunters The horse is still
spirited although stiff in his joints. He
is a general favorite and is greatly
petted at the military institute.
In the Ordnance Museum on Gov
ernor's Island is the stuffed and mounted
skin of the celebrated charger that bore
General Sheridan to Winchester 'twen-
ty miles away He was foaled in
the fall of 1859 at Grand Rapids,
Mich, and died on October 2,
1873. He was taken into the army by
an officer in the Second Michigan Cav
alrv, of which Sheridan was Colonel,
and was presented to Sheridan by Cap
tain Campbell in the name of the officers
of the regiment. General Sheridan was
on his back in nearly every battle which
ho fo,,orhf from, tho hnOtn nj u n tn the ann
of the war. He was never wounded and
| had no superiors as field horse.
Among other color marks he had three
white feet, which are supposed by super
stitious people to bring ill-luck to the
rider This superstition will have to
be changed slightly in view of the for
tune of Sheridan's horse; three white
feet must now be construed to mean ILL
luck to the enemy. Sheridan's horse
| was dark-not in the sense of Presi-
dental candidate-and in the heat OF
battle his hair turned to brilliant black,
doubtless owing to perspiration.
Dick favorate war horse, died
in Oswego, N. Y, in January. 1884.
He was born in 1852 in Mexico, that
| little village whose old academy has
sent many noted men out into the
world-inventors, scholars, statesmen,
| poets and scientists. Dick was as
carefully trained as the child of a fond
| parent When, in 1861, the war broke
out and the gallant Twenty-fourth New
| York was organized, Oswego County
| citizens looked around for a horse to
send with Adjutant Robert Oliver, Jr..
to the front. Colonel James Doyle and
William B. Phelps selected Dick. When
the regiment had proceeded as far as Ell
mira, Colonel Doyle overlook it and had
the satisfaction of seeing Dick mounted
by Adjutant Oliver. Dick went to the
front with the boys, who petted him as
they might favorite dog The horse
speedily acquired an understanding
of the dangerous and important work
assigned to him. He showed himself
an Intelligent, well-disposed animal,
sharing the rations and almost drink
| ing out of the same canteen with the
soldiers. When his human friends suf-
fered he seemed to know it and to
| svmpathize with them Great battles
| came on in their turn. The fields OF
carnage found Dick and his master at
the fore The streams of blood, the
flight of shells, the rain of balls,
had no terrors for him. With flash
ing eyes and skin covered with
foam he dashed through the
horrors of battle fearless of the roar of
artillery and of all the terrible sights
and sounds around him. He fought,
figuratively speaking, at the second Bull
Run, Chancellorville, South Mountain,
Falmouth, Antietam. Rappahannock
Crossing and Fredericksburg. Al
though Dick was wounded at times he
never fiinched. Robert Oliver, Jr., re-
turned to Oswego aLieutenant-Co
He died in 1871 and Dick was left as a
legacy to Robert Oliver, his father.
Every comfort that horse might enjoy
has been gratefully rendered to Dick.
On every Fourth of July following the
war he was brought out and mounted
by Mr.. Oliver as Marshal of the day to
receive the plaudits and cheers of thou
sands On such occasions the old horse
seemed to regain all his former fire. The
martial music, the war flags and the
CLEAN of arms seemed to bring back the
past to him: He was war-horse to the
last, and died suddenly and as pleasant
ly as if he had been stricken down by a
bullet through the heart.-N T. 1rs6-
u,se.
tin the mountains above Chico, J"
says the Tombstone CA, To Epitapte,
1.-The residents along lumber hume have