The Marietta journal. [volume] (Marietta, Ga.) 1866-1909, 1890-06-12
HORSES IN HISTORY.
How Certain Heroes Killed Their Horses
70 Inspire Their Men.

How Certain Heroes Killed Their Horse.
TO Inspire Their Men.
Among noted horses in history are
Roam Barbary, the famous steed of Rich.
ard the Second; 1.-The noble horse as white
as snow, which carried Henry the Fifth
on the great day of Agincourt; and the
horse ridden by Jeanne dare, which
was also white, as became her virgifal
purity. Then there are the gallant steeds
which belonged to the king maker, the
Earl of Warwick. Al Towtou. where the
White Rose triumphed mainly through
the earls gener;lship and courage, he
rode horse named Maleoh: and. at the
crisis of the battle, when the Lancas.
TRANS were gaining the upper hand, in
splred his men to renewed efforts by
killing his horse, to show that he would
rather die than retreat Here is Mon.
strelet's description Of the incident:
The earl. hearing that his uncle was
slain and his men defeated, cried on,
with tears, / pray to God that ne will
receive the souls Of all who die in this
battle;' then exclaimed, Dear Lord God
l have none other succor but thine il
this world now, who art my creator and
redeemer; l ask vengeance therefore al
thy hands" Then, drawing his sword
he kissed the cross at the handle, and
said to his men, Whoever chooses to re.
turn home may, for | shall live or die
this day with such as may like to remain
with me-. On saying this he dismounted
and killed his horse with his sword"
This exploit was frequently performed
by the medieval heroes; and Warwick
himself repeated it at Barnet, his last
field, when he rode his favorite black
destrier, Saladin. an animal Of great
size and beauty
He kissed the destrier on his frontal, :
says Lord Lytton, in his brilliant histor.
ical romance of The Last of the Bar.
ons, land Saladin, as if conscious of the
coming blow, bent his proud head hum
bly,, and licked his lords steel clad hand
So associated together had been horse
and horseman, that had it been hu
man sacrifice the bystanders could moi
have been more moved. And when
covering the chargers eyes with one
hand, the earls dagger descended, bright
and rapid, groan went through the
ranks. But the effect was unspeakable
The men knew at once that to them
and them alone, their lord entrusted hi.
fortunes and his life, and they were
moved to more than mortal daring
The favorite horse of Richard the
Third was called white Surrey" There
are other historical horses-if l may SC
call thenl-of which one would gladly
have learned something; as, for instance
the steed which fernando Cortez rode
On his great victory over the Aztecs
whom the Spanish chargers filed with
wild dismay; that of Gustave Adolphus
when he received his death wound a.
Luton; that of Sir Philip Sidney at Tut
phen; and of John Hampden, as he rod,
away, MORALLY wounded, from Chal
grove field, through the green glades
| and under the shadow of the beech trees
| that of Sobieska, when he led his Polisl
warriors to the deliverance of Vienna
that of Marlborough, when he crushe,
the armies Of France and Bohemia a
Blenheim. William the Third was rid
ing his favorite horse Sorrel, in the par
of Hampton court, when he met with hi
fatal accident. He urged his horse,
says Macaulay, ito strike into a gallo
just at the spot where mole had bee
at work. Sorrel stumbled on the mol
hill, and went down on his knees. TIL
king fell off, and broke his collar bone.
The Jacobites celebrated Sorrel in man,
bitter pasquinade, as if the poor hors
had been the willing agent of his roya
masters death. At the battle Of tn
Alma-if Mr.. Kinglake may be trustee
Lord Raglan and his horse turned tn,
tide of victory in favor of the allies, b,
ascending knoll right within the mids
of the Russian position, and thus impress
ing the enemy with a sense of defeat
The knoll stood out bold and plain. L
was clear that even from afar the enemy
would make out that it was crowned b,
a group of plumed officers; and, Lore
Raglan's imagination being SO true, ant
SO swift, as to gift him with the faculty
of knowing how, in given circumstances
other men must be thinking and feeling
it hardly cost him moment to infer
that this apparition of few horsemer
on the spur of hill was likely to govern
the enemy's fate. All the Year Round
Answered Roll Call.