Middlebury register. (Middlebury, Vt.) 1886-1937, 1898-05-27
HORSES IN BATTLE.
THEIR SURPRISING INTELLIGENCE
AND DISPLAY OF ENTHUSIASM.


Learned When in Battle the Horse APP
pears to Know Everything That is Going
Disturbances of Great Courage.
"It is remarkable how quickly horses
adapt themselves to the military SER
vice." said an old soldier. EVERY ar
tilleryman knows that they learn the
bugle calls and the evolutions quicker
than the men, as a rule. They soon ac-
quire a uniform gait. which is about
the same as what we call the route
step or the usual marching step. IL
the horses did not acquire the same
gait as the infantry there would be
varying distances between the different
arms of the service-that is, between
the infantry and the cavalry, artillery,
and the commanders and their escorts.
In the drills in the artillery service
the horses will preserve their align
ment as we'll as the infantry rank.
81 shall always remember one illus
tration of this trait which I noted at a
very exciting and critical moment of a
battle during our civil war. In order
to save some of our infantry from be-
ing surrounded and captured the COM
mander of one of our batteries quickly
mounted the cannoneers on the guns
and put the whole battery at a dead
gallop across a stretch of meadow
about half a mile wide. was quite ac-
customed to such sights; but when that
I dashing company was half way across
the field l noticed the inspiring array,
| and for a moment was lost in rapt ad-
miration of the magnificent picture.
Every driver was plying whip and spur
the great guns were rocking and thun-
dering over the ground, and every
horse, reeking with foam and full Of
animation and excitement, was strain
ing every muscle as he galloped for
ward, yet a straight line drawn along
in front would have touched the noses
Of the lead horses in front Of the six
guns, That was an artillery charge,
one of the most thrilling sights in the
evolutions of war.
1T is surprising how quickly horses
learn the bugle calls. Let the first
note of the feed or water call be sound
ed, and instantly there will be a stamp
ing kicking, and neighing among the
horses. Once, during a terrible night
storm in camp, our horses were seized
with such terror that those of nearly
every battery broke loose and scattered
about. The next morning there was a
wild rush among the artillerymen to
capture horses for use. All was ex-
element, and the horses refused to be
caught An officer ordered the bugler
to give the feed call. Horses from ev-
cry direction came dashing in to that
battery and the rush was so great that
it was with difficulty the men could get
out of the way of the eager horses.
When it comes to battle a horse
seems to know everything that is going
on and the reason for it all, and does
his duty nobly. He enters into the
spirit of a battle like a human being.
He shows no fear Of death, no sign of
being overcome by panic in all the
wild tumult of the battles roar. A
horse in one of our batteries during
the Murfreesboro fight was hit by a
piece Of shell, which split his skull,
so that one side was loosened. The
driver turned him loose, but he walked
up to the side of the gun and watched
the firing, and when shot was fired
would follow it with his gaze as if to
note its effect on the enemy. When a
shell would burst nearby he would turn
his head and look at it. When he saw
the team he had worked with being
driven back for ammunition, he ran to
his old place and galloped back with
the rest. When an officer pushed him
aside to have another horse put in
he gazed at the new one with a most
sorrowful expression in his eyes. Then
he seemed to realize that the glory of
battle was no more for him, and he
walked away and lay down and died.
The officer declared that it was a brok-
en- heart, not the wound, that killed
him.
During a fierce charge of Confed-
crate cavalry at Murfreesboro an Off
Ger was killed and the cavalry driven
back. The horse the officer had ridden
was magnificent animal, and he had
not been taught to retreat. Rideriess
he kept on his way, and as he dashed
through our battery the sight of him
was indescribably grand. His nostril;
were extended wide, his eyes fairly
blazed, and he clutched the bit deter.
minedly with his teeth as he came OF
like the wind, with his saddle flaps
flying until he looked as if he were him
selffying instead of wildly running. Ev
cry one gave him room as he dashed
toward us. An officer shouted tina
he would give 500 to any one whC
would capture that superb animal, blu
all seemed too much bound up in ad
miration of the noble beast to make tn,
effort, and he sped on and disappeared
in the blne distance"
The "BicycIisfs Nose"