The Dickinson press., 1890-08-02
HORSES IN HISTORY.
How Certain Heroes Killed Their Horses
to Inspire Their Men.

How Certain Heroes Killed Their Horses
to Inspire Their Men.
Among noted horses in history are
Roam Barbary, the famous steed of Rich
ard the Second; "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 virginal
purity. Then there are the gallant steeds
which belonged to the king maker, the
Earl of Warwick. AT Towton, where the
White Rose triumphed mainly through
the earls generalship and courage, he
rode horse named Maleoh; and, at the
crisis of the battle, when the Lancas-
trians were gaining the upper hand, in
spired 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 incidents
'"The earl, hearing that his uncle was
slain and his men defeated, cried out
with tears, 4 pray to God that he will
receive tho souls of all who die In this
battie;' then exclaimed, Dear Lord God,
l have none other succor but thine in
this world now, who art my creator and
redeemer; ask vengeance therefore at
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 disnounted
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, i'll his brilliant histor-
ical romance Of 1.-The Last of the Bar
ons, "and 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 q hu-
man sacrifice the bystanders could not
have been more moved. And when,
covering the chargers eyes with one
hand, tho earls dagger descended bright
and rapid, n groan went through tho
ranks. But the effect was unspeakable.
The men knew at once that to them,
and them alone, their lord entrusted his
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 SO
call them-of which ono 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 filled with
wild dismay; that of Gustave Adolphus,
when he received his death wound at
Luton; that of Sir Philip Sidney at Zut-
phen; and of John Hampden, as he rode
away, mortally wounded, from Chal-
grove field, through the green glades,
and under the shadow of the beech trees;
that of Sobieska, when he led his Polish
warriors to the deliverance of Vienna;
that Of Marlborough, when he crushed
the armies OF France and Bohemia at
Blenheim. William the Third was rid
ing his favorite horse Sorrel, in the park
of Hampton court, when he met with his
fatal accident. "He urged his horse" ("
says Macaulay, "to strike into gallop
| just at the spot where a mole had been
at work. Sorrel stumbled on the mole
hill, and went down OH his knees The
king fell off, and broke his collar bone" "
Tho Jacobites celebrated Sorrcl in many
u bitter pasquinadc, as if the poor horse
had been the willing agent of his royal
masters death. At the battle of the
Alma-if Mr.. Kinglake may be trusted
Lord Raglan and his horse turned the
tide of victory in favor of the allies, by
ascending a knoll right within the midst
of the Russian position, and thus impress
ing the enemy with a sense of defeat.
1.-THE knoll stood out bold and plain. 1t
was clear that even from afar the enemy
would make out that it was crowned by
a group Of plumed officers; and, Lord
Raglan's imagination being SO true, and
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 horsemen
on the spur of a hill was likely to govern
the enemys fate. AL the Year Round.