Arizona weekly citizen., 1889-08-24
HOW HORSES ACT IN BATTLE.
sous Remarkable Instances of Equine In-
 4orIi

Some Remarkable Instances of Equine In-
 telligence-
 .sIt is remarkable how quickly horses adapt themselves to the mill Ssry service" said Capt. Cox to a re- porter. Every artillerylnan knows That they learn the bugle calls and the revolutions quicker than the men as a rule. For one thing they soon ac' quire a uniform gait. which IS about the same as the ''route step" or the us. ual marching step. If the horses did not acquire the same gait as the ln- fantry there would be varying distan- ces between the different arms of the service-that is, between the infantry nd the cavalry, artillery and the com manders and their escorts.
 ''In the drills in the artillery ser vice the horses will themselves pre- serve their alignment as well as the infantry. shall always remem- Der one illustration of this trait which I noticed at an exciting and critical period of "a battle. In order to save some of our infantry from being sur rounded and captured l quickly mounted the cannoneers on the guns and put the whole battery at dead gallop across a stretch of meadow about half a mile wide. l was quite accustomed to such sights, but when we were half way across the field l noticed the array, and for moment ] was lost in admiration of the magniti- cent picture. Every driver was plying whip and spur, the great guns were rocking and laundering over the ground, and every horse, rocking with foam and full of animation and excitement, was straining every mus cle as he galloped forward; yet it seemed to ms that a straight line drawn along in front would have touched tie heads of the lead horses ill front of the six guns. That was an artillery charge, one of the most thrill lingsights in the evolutions of war.
 ''it Is surprising how quickly they learn the bugle calls. After we had been in service some time my first ser geant once asked me what call that was, as the bugle blew some com mand. That's a pretty question for you to ask, l said How in thunder do you know how to marchP I don't hllOW, llc SSild, AOlSC hL@OhFo- Let the first note of the feed or water call be blown and there will be terri ble stamping, kicking and neighing. Once, in a terrible storm, our horses and those of several other batteries broke loose, and there was wild rush among the artiIlerymen to get horses in the morning. All was excitement and the horses were hard to get, but when ordered the bugler to mount 6 stump and blow the feed call the horses all made such mad rush fOl our battery that the men could hardly get out of the way quickly enough.
 "When it comes to battle horse seems to know everything that is go ing on, but he does his duty nobly and seems to be in his element. He enter into the spirit of the battle like hu man being. He shows no fear of death and it is singular that if his mate i shot down he will turn to look at hin and seem pleased. A horse in my bat tery was once struck by a piece O: shell, which split his skull so that ons side was loose. The driver turned hin loose, but he walked up by the side O the gun and watched the firing, anC when a shot was fired would lool away in the direction of the enemy a. if to see the effect of She shot. Wher ashell would burst near by he would calmly turn and look at it. When he SEW his own team going back for am. munition he ran to his own place ane galloped back to the caisson with the rest. When the lieutenant pushed him aside to put in another horse Inc looked at the other one sorrowfully while he was being harnessed up, and when he seemed to realize that there was no further use for him he lay down and died. The lieutenant strong ly asserted that he died of broken heart.
 ''At the time that Adams, Jackson's and Preston's brigades charged me al MUrfreesboro some officer was killed and the brigades were driven back. But the fallen officers horse had no, been taught to retreat and he did not. He just came at full speed through the battery, and I tell you he looked simply grand. He was a large, fine animal, his nostrils were extended wide, his eyes fairly blazed, and hs clutched the bit with his teeth as he came on. He came like the wind, and with his saddle flaps flying he looked as if he were flying himself instead of running. Everybody gave him wide berth, and I called to the infantry that I would give $1OO to the man who would catch him, but no one tried 1t, and he is running yet for all know of him. San Francisco Chronicle.
 Advice to a Young Man.