The Bennington banner. [volume] (Bennington, Vt.) 1858-1894, 1891-01-15
JUSTIN MORGAN,
Famous Vermont stallion of . Gem
tury Ago.


seizing and carrying all its inhabitants
into captivity, left abandoned his tired
out horse that he had ridden through
the wilderness, taking horse of the
captives in his stsad, for his use ON the
return trip; and that this abandoned
British horse recuperating after the
prisoners were ransOmed, peace declared
and new settlers came in, and the region
round about Royalton again prospered,
begOt the colt called Justin Morgan. The
other tradition is, that during the revo-
lutiOnary war stallion was stolen OF
captured in the State of Connecticut by
a Yankee soldier, and that that stolen
horse was the sire of Justin Morgan.
who, while colt, was taken to Vermont.
The opportunity to steal horse from an
officer of the enemy would probably not
occur, and the chance of capture when
there was no British officer in the State
of Connecticut was remote.
The tr itOr Benedict Arnold sacked
and burned New London, Conn. but hc
came in ships and, his devilish work
performed, departed in ships. The of
ticer who surrendered the small garrison
was bTutally murdered with his owl
sword by the Britain to whom he sun.
rendered. That does not seem to have
been very favorable time to either steal
or capture horse.
After Washington compelled the Brit.
ish to evacuate Boston there was no Brit.
ish army in New England, and hence nc
British officer to lose horse, except al
the New London massacre,
asked the Rev. DIR. James d. Butler
himself born VermOnter, my New
England University professor, the most
learned of all men in traditions and gen
ealogies, who has travelled around the
world, lived in many countries, aud so
journed in all climes, who has gathered
thousands of p,rsUnll histories, relics
and works OF art for Wisconsin great
historical society's collections, who ha,
talked Greek with the pope, Latin in
the tomb of Pharaoh, looked i'm the crater
OF NeSuvius and ut the ice mountains il
Iceland, who has crossed the desert on a
camel and ridden over the Pyrenees on q
mule, but who never owned horse, Oh
thought OF any except for temporary use
| asked him to solve the two traditions
and give me his conclusions. In twenty.
four hours he came to my office, his
kindly face radiant with smile, like I'm.
to that of 10 years ago, when | had sue,
ccssiully wrestled with Greek root OF
Latin conjunction, and he said: "Tht
Indian marauders led by British Off
Ger from Canada, went in canoes along
Lake Champlain to the mouth of the
Onion river, near where the city of Bur.
lingtOn now stands. There they hid
their canoes and started on their raid
over the Green Mountains for Ruvllton,
pAsGillU tlie nGi.np'g -. u
along the shore of the lake coming Ia the
lake from the settlements about Mon.
treal, and If so, it would add to the miles
travelled, the fatigues of which made him
a played-out horse. But the probability
is there was no horse on this foray,"
The ROyaltOn prisoners were taken to
the place where the canoes had been hid.
den, whence they embarked in the canoes
finally reaching Montreal via the lake
and the st. Johns river. 4 rcscuing
party from Hanover. n. H., pursued the
raiders, and when the pursuit was close
the British officer let the one prisoner 90
back to the pursucrs with the threat that
If longer pressed he would have every
prisoner, man, woman and child, killed,
and by his advice the pursuit was aban-
doned. Besides the people the raiders
drove oil the stock of the clptiyos, both
horses and cattle. After the prisoners
were put in the canoes they saw naught
of the stock, but 1t would probably be
driven along the lake into Canada.
There is possibility in this tradition of
the origin of the'hOrse you are interested
in, but not probability.
This white man, who led the Indians
on this 'raZZar,h called by our New
England fathers British officer. was
probably renegade white man of the
style of "Comanchee Bill" freebooter
and no commissioned officer in govern
ment service. He was after plumber and
the captive's ransom. He lived with the
Indians, and rs an Indian, and in racing
parlance ut is dollars to centsn he had
no horse until after the town was cap
-ured.
But, General, you blundered, Git is not
often that men who belonged TO the
lrny of the Tennessee, who marched
with Sherman from Cairo via. Vicksburg,
Atlanta and Savannah to the Potomac.
10 so mistake), for the opportunity to
10Th steal and capture horses from the
British in Massachusetts and Connecti-
nut in the days of the revolution not
'nly existed, but was by the Yankee en-
,raced.
In III Burgoyne, in an endcavor to
each Clinton in New York from Lake
found himself confronted bv
iates, the two armies being encamped
III either side of the Fish creek, east of
he Hudson. Some horses OF the British
we're seen feeding in the meadows front
ng their camp, whereupon Yankee
older swan the creek and catching a |
Orse mounted him and swan him back
o his command. After little he said: |
1T was too bad for a private 20 have u |
Orse and the captain go ON foot" |
'hereupon he again swan the stream, |
aptured another horse and again swan |
he stream amid the bullets of the Brit |
III and the shouts of his comrades. (see
.Ossings Field Book of the Revolution. |
The British army under Burgoyne
ere surrendered to Gates, and by the
rms of the surrender the British Off
9rs retained all their personal effects,
their horses: these captured
ritish troops, guarded by Col. Gioyer's
Massachusetts, regiment, was marched
ON Saratoga, n. Y, to Boston, Mass,
two columns. The Hessians were
ken on a route north of the route over
hich BuTgOync and his regulars were
ken, the latter going by way of Spring
I'D and Worcester. Many Hessiins es-
ped, not to the British or the Dutch,
1t to the homes of their captOrs: they ,
ing impressed soldiers, had no heart in
c war, and it is said they were encour- {
ed rather than prevented in their es ,
pes by their guards. These troops. the
'wer OF the British army, were quar- S
red the next winter near Boston, and S
g next spring again marched under
ard along the southern line of Massa-
usetts, and into northern Connecticut.
rough York state and PENNSYLVANIA
10 Virginia, where after more than
o years of captivity they were finally
changed.
Burgoyne was dashing officer. he
mt young into the army; made n runa-
y match with the daughter of the
RI of Derby: was in command at Gil
lltar, and went from there to Canada
1915, commanding the picked troops
the British army. His officers were
red at Tangier, n city in Morocco
'oss the Mediterranean sea, opposite
braltar, and also British possession,
ngier being the city where the first
'al Dragons and the Queens Own reg
ent were originally formed.
)ne of these Burgoyne Arab horses
S jayhawked by Yankee near Spring
ID, Mass, in ITS, ran across the line
o Connecticut, and IL years later
ioolmaster named Justin Morgan, took
tallion colt that True Britain (the
ne of the jayhawked horse) had be-
ten, from Connecticut to Vermont,
1 this colt named after the school
ster was the progenitOr Of the Nor
, 60 Of Al