General Sheridan's Horse "Winchester" AKA "Rienzi"
date: label: associated date
content: 1861-1865
name: label: user
content: Sheridan, Philip H.
notes: label: Description
content: This horse was presented to General Philip Sheridan by the officers of the Second Michigan Cavalry in 1862. He was three years old, was jet black with three white fetlocks, and stood 16 hands high. Originally called "Rienzi" after the town of Rienzi, Mississippi, his name was changed to "Winchester" by Sheridan after he carried Sheridan on his famous ride from Winchester, Virginia, to Cedar Creek, Virginia on October 19, 1864, in time to rally his troops and turn almost certain defeat into victory. While Cedar Creek was his most famous engagement, Winchester and Sheridan were actually together for more than forty others. Winchester was even present at Appomattox Courthouse in April 1865 for the official surrender of the Confederate Army.
label: Description
content: Despite being wounded in battle several times, Winchester lived to be almost 20 years old. After his death in October 1878, he was preserved and mounted; in 1879, Sheridan presented him to the Military Museum at Governors Island, New York. Winchester was exhibited there until a fire in 1922 forced the museum to transfer him to the Smithsonian Institution; a military escort accompanied him to his new home amid much fanfare. He was put on display in the National Museum until 1964, when he moved to the newly opened National Museum of American History.
label: Description
content: Horse and man have forever been immortalized and commemorated in poetry, song, sculpture, museum exhibits and battlefield recollections. Portraits, sketches and poems all immortalized Sheridan’s famous ride atop Winchester. The most famous of these poems was written by Thomas Buchanan Read, a painter; the poem, entitled "Sheridan's Ride", became an instant sensation and was even thought to have helped Lincoln get reelected. Read followed up the poem in 1865 with a painting of the same title.
place: label: associated place
content: United States: Mississippi
label: associated place
content: United States: Virginia, Winchester
topic: label: Subject
content: Horses
label: related event
content: Civil War
label: related event
content: Civil War and Reconstruction
setName: label: See more items in
content: Military and Society: Armed Forces History, Military
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content: Civil War
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content: Military
label: Exhibition
content: Price of Freedom
label: Exhibition Location
content: National Museum of American History
dataSource: label: Data Source
content: National Museum of American History
identifier: label: ID Number
content: AF.32870
label: catalog number
content: 32870
label: accession number
content: 69413
objectType: label: Object Name
content: horse
physicalDescription: label: Physical Description
content: skin (overall material)
label: Physical Description
content: hair (overall material)
label: Measurements
content: overall: 64 in; 162.56 cm