The Saline County journal. [volume] (Salina, Kan.) 1871-1893, 1889-08-15
cavALnYuKu AND HoRsEs.

country nAu Wt1er nSi0 iOr the
study Of the horse than Gen. Pleas
anton had during the war. asked
him about the comparative en-
durance Of men aud horses In the
army. He said that infsntrymen, u
properly fed and clothed, would
march further In q week than
cavalry and that he belIsyed than
human endurance Was greater than
! that Of any animal, II such q COM
I parison can be made. Half the
trouble with horses IL that they are
not properly cared for. They
would often endure thrice Ss much
n people knew how to manage them.
IL infantTymen are on the march
q CAREFUL captain will see that his
men, when q halt II made, are made
TO rest. Their accOutrements are
removed, and IL possible they are
urged to wash their feet In cold
water. Coffee IL made, aud when
they start OF again they are rs new
men. Horses, on the contrary, are
generally made to stand with saddles
and brides on, and very frequently
a heavy man on top. or course,
there can he no comparison between
q caValrymAn and an infantryman.
The former has much the harder
life. He 10 scouting when the in
fautry 10 resting, and at night, when
| the march IL over, the idfantTyman
makes his coffee, broils his pork,
eats heartily, spreads his blanket,
aud in two minutes 10 gathering
flowers with his sweetheart in the
meadows at home. The cavalryman,
on the other hand, Is In all prOba-
biiIty gathering forage for his poor
horse. He has to feed his nag, him
self, and he has to take care OF his
equipments, and TO battle the poor
beasts back and rub down his tired
legs-perhaps fix a bit or sew q
broken girth. But did not start TO
write on this subject.
"Cien. PIeasanton," said "Uf all
the officers In the army whom you
knew. which one had the best
horse ."
81 had" he answered, quickly.
al bought him, a chestnut stallion
from Prince de JOinville. He was
the finest horse in the Army OF the
Potomac. The Prince paid 5000
for him, and bought him when the
Prince WIS going away for 500.
oh, but he Was q beauty! He was
a. gentle n q lamb, with the courage
Of the devil and the speed Of the
wind. Then he had bottom. He
could go without eating or drinking
and was as pretty ~ q woman. He
was q thoroughbred, and had been
most carefully broken. He would
1 lump fences aud bitches or anything
before him. left him In charge OF
n bugleT Que day, and that was the
last ever saw Of either the bugler
or the horse. never knew what
became Of them, but u was general
| ~ thought that the bugler hal run
away with the horse or the horse
had run away with the buglsr and
they. had gone over to the enemy"
''ls a stallion, a geldinE, sr a mare
the best Tar horse, General 49, "Oh,
a stallion IL the hest. He has more
courage and more endurance. Why.
I remember la the old army, long
before the war, when II was not
thought TO Ice the decent thing for
an army officer Ia ride n mare. II
was formerly the practice OF all war
like nations Ia mount their cavalry
on stations, but In later days II they
cant get = stallion, they will
iIidv u mule MrNHu - tull 81
s''"d h"i a. uuG III tell you
wI"Ir to, Nr,UsH- :"i th-m. You
know that n-arl, all the tI-Urh
| army 10 Nl.IrTS Ma -Cui tu MrVIT"
&" .usIIin HaIainr aud NaNImiiliAn.
and 'avalry was IL" prInripal ARA.
Every man WaS mounted on n tine
stallion. Well, when MHNimilIian
collapsed Through Gems. sherman,
Grant, sheridan, and some others
I'll tell you about u some day and
the French troops were ordered back
to France, Il would not have paid TO
take the horses along, and 30 they
were sold for what they would fetch,
and the breed Of horses In Mexico 10
from Algerian stations"
How about France and England?
DO they use stations now?" No:
they mount what they can get. We
are sending horses TO England and
France all the time. But England
has some grand horses. But to
come back" said he, turning sud-
denly "to the question OF horses in
the army; do you remember the
horse Custer rode at the great review
here at the close Of the war? No?
Well, sir, he was q grand horse.
His name was Don Juan"
"Do you really think he ran away
with Custer on that occasion, or was
Il one Of Clusters tricks" 81 don't
know anything about that, hut /
know there never was better horse
under knight or lady than Don
Juan. He was . thoroughbred bay
from Kentucky, think, aud had
been trained for the turf. I don't
know what became Of him."
How many horses did you own at
q time during the war;" "Oh,
sometimes I hsd five or six or seven
at the liveliest period. Seu see,
when We were making those long
scouts We would wear out horse.
Custer, for instance. While On aide
de-camp on my staff he sometimes
rode the same horse hundred miles
in 30 or IS hours. For q week the
horse would not he 1T to use. oh.
yes, in answer TO q question: we
could stand Il better than the poor
beasts. That's where human enduF-
ance comes In. But | tell you we
had some pretty rough times
How was CUSTER" "He WAS O
splendid leader, aud when he was
upon ny staff he did some wonder
fully brilliant things. The trouble
Win Y uHtCE NaH tuht nc NOuiu lOt
see that his whole force was avail
able. He would rush In and lead .
regiment In Q charge aud let whole
brigade look at him."
"what was he on your STAFF"
"He was captain A. ID. C., but I had
him promoted to brigadieT general.
He wOulI have licked the Indians
on the Little Big Horn II he had
kept his command together"
remember that In the Army Of
the Potomac, where I served ne q
file closer ia the rear rank until
knocked over with q piece OF shell at
Antietam. den. Pleasanton was re-
garded a. the best horseDlan In the
army. Why should he not have
been" When the war broke out he
was colonel OF the Second Dragons,
4 graduate Of West Point, and had
been an officer In the Mexican war.
At that time, ~ he IL yet, he was
light, 1.-THE, aud graceful. He Nas
about - years old, aud had scarcely
been Off horse since he left West |
Point with Hancock In 1874. How
ever, there was no harm In the ques-
ton, 50 asked him who Of the |
Generals was the best rider In the |
army.
well" said he, "I hardly know.
Custer was q splendid horsemen-
fearless, graceful, and dashiug.
Gen. FarnswnTth, OF Illinois, was q |
good rider. He would ride any
thing, aud without fear. He was
Al