Lexington gazette. [volume] (Lexington, Va.) 1871-1962, 1901-01-23
LEES WAR HOR Sc.
"Travel, I" Came OF A Famous Wi
son County (Tenn.) Stock.
From tue Nashville Banl er.

From tue Nashville Banl er.
Captain f. II. Harri', of tbs city
has received letter from I homi l
Brown, Of Clare to-, w. Va, glyinI
an interesting Story Of old Tr. veil l
Gen raj Ro ert f. Lees said hoy c
wbicn he ro,e Trough tue war IRON
1861 0 1864. Alerres nttion Of th
horse, though not at al a good on'
appea,s on the monument erectei ii
bouo. of tn" distinguished General #
Richmond, Va.
The crest Captain HoiriS evinces
in the oil hor is due 10 tue fact tia
h. 81 WIS a Wilson cou ty Tenn. }
h re, Traveller vas s re 10y Gray
Eagle, knoan As Motley's Ar b, u d
owned by Samuel l.. Calhoun OF Y lson
c)u'ty, The VOL on coun y Arabs
were he very best saddle horses to be
fou d IN the State, and to own one was
the pride OF every Wilson county gen
tleman of the antebelium days.
Tn lis letter to Captain HAIRS Mr..
Brown inclose1 the FLOWING account
OF the al hone which was published
in the Richmond Dispa ch in 1886, and
which viii prove Of in O. est to all who
remember the great Chieftain's faith
fdl equine servant:
Gle was raised by Mr.. Johnson,
near Blue Sulphur Springs, in Cir en-
biior county, Va, now West Virginia;
was OF the Gray Eagle stock, and as a
colt look the first premium under the
name Of jeff Davis at the Lewisburg
ia rs for each of the years 1859 and
1860. He was four years old IN the
spring of 1861,
"Nhen the Wise Legion YVES en-
clmped on Sewell Mountain, opposing
the advance of the Federal army under
Genera RoSecrans in the fall OF 1861,
I was major 10 the Third Regiment Of |
lufantry in that leg and my brother,
Captain Joseph Nj. Brown, was quarter
master to the same regiment. author
lied my brother to purchase gcod
horse of the best Greenbrier
stock for our use duling the war
After much inquiry and search he came
across the horse mentioned, and I pur-
chased him for SITS, gold value, in the
all OF 1861 of Captain James W. |
Johnson, son sof MIR. johnson first
lbove mentioned.
"When the Wise Legion was en-
ann ed about Meadow Bluff and the |
Big Sewtll Mountain, [ rode this horse,
which was then greatly admired in
nmp for his rapid, springy walk, his
Ugh spilit, bold carriage end musculfr
tiength. He nee led neither whip nor
pur and would walk his FIVE or six
niles an hour over the rough noun &
an roads OF Western Virginia, with
is rider sitting firmly in the saddle
nd holding. him in check by tight +
in, such vim and eagerness did he Z
lanifest to so right ahead so soon as 4
g was mounted.
"When General Lee took command
the Wise Legion and Floyd Brigade
lat were encamped at or near Big A
ewell Noun ain in the fall Of 1861 he p,
st saw Lis horse AMI took a great
1cy to it, He called it his colt, and >
i'd lie would need it before the war
as over. Whenever the General saw L
y brother on this horse he had some
ing pleasant 10 say to him about 5
~ colt as he designated this horse.
GAS the winter approached the eli Z
ate in the West Virginia mountains D
used Rosecrans' army to abandon its
sition on Biz Sswell and retreat B
stward. General Lee was theleup
derea to South Carolina. The Third
'giment of tho Wise Legion was
detached from the army
Western Virginia and ordered to the
nth Carolina coast, where it was
own IS the Sixtieth Virginia Regi- VI
mt, under Colonel Starke. 81
upon seeing my brother on this 9 o
rse near Pocotalgo, in South Caro- oil
q, Gen raj Lee at once recognized 81
horse, and again inquired of him
asantly about lis colt. My brother RI
m offered him fhe horce nc n orift