Some Civil War horses and their riders:

Traveler and Robert E. Lee

Confederate General Robert E. Lee arrived in Richmond, Virginia in the spring of 1861. During this visit, Lee received a bay stallion named Richmond. Richmond was a nervous horse and it proved unsatisfactory. When Richmond was around strange horses, he used to scream. This was not good for a Civil War horse. Lee took Richmond to West Virginia and bought another horse named The Roan or Brown-Roan. Unfortunately, The Roan began to go blind during the Battle of the Seven Days in June and July 1862. The Richmond horse died after Malvern Hill. After Second Bull Run, jockey Jeb Stuart got Lee a mare named Lucy Long. Also around this time, Lee received a sorrel horse named Ajax.

When Lee headed to Appomattox Court House to surrender on April 9, 1865, he was riding his favorite and best-known horse. This gray horse was Traveler. After the Civil War, when Robert E. Lee was president of the University of Washington (later renamed the University of Washington and Lee), Lee’s old favorite warhorse Traveler was still with him. When Lee died, the Traveler horse walked behind Lee’s hearse in the funeral procession. Traveler walked with his head bowed and with a slow step. Traveler is buried outside Lee Chapel on the campus of the University of Washington and Lee. Robert E. Lee is buried in a crypt below Lee Chapel.

Lexington, Sam and William Tecumseh Sherman

William Tecumseh Sherman had two horses that were his favorites during the Civil War. The names of these horses were Lexington and Sam. Sherman rode Lexington in Atlanta and in the Grand Review in Washington at the end of the war. Sam was injured several times during the Civil War. At Shiloh, three of Sherman’s horses died during the battle. Two of these three horses died while an orderly held their reins.

Cincinnati and Ulysses S. Grant

As a young man, Ulysses S. Grant developed a love for horses when he worked on his father’s farm. Grant became a skilled equestrian. While a cadet at West Point, Grant was an exceptional equestrian and did not stand out for having special talents in anything else while at West Point. Grant wanted a position in the cavalry when he finished at West Point. Instead, he ended up in the infantry because the cavalry had no vacancies. The infantry assignment must have been a disappointment to horse-loving equestrian Ulysses S. Grant.

Grant’s favorite horse during the Civil War was Cincinnati. Cincinnati was given to Grant by a fan after the Battle of Chattanooga. Cincinnati was rarely ridden by anyone other than Grant, a notable exception being President Abraham Lincoln when Lincoln last visited City Point, Virginia. Other horses Grant had in the Civil War were Jack, Fox, and Kangaroo. Kangaroo was left on the Shiloh battlefield by the Confederates. This horse was described as ugly and raw boned. However, Grant, who had a good eye for horses, knew that Kangaroo was a thoroughbred. After becoming a Yankee horse, Kangaroo rested and cared for himself and became a good horse.

Old Sorrel and Stonewall Jackson

Old Sorrel was the horse of Confederate General Thomas Jonathan “Stonewall” Jackson. Stonewall was riding this horse when it was shot by friendly fire at Chancellorsville. Old Sorrel became Jackson’s horse in May 1861 at Harpers Ferry. The horse was about eleven years old at the time.

That Devil Dan and George B. McClellan

Union General George B. McClellan’s favorite warhorse was named Daniel Webster. General McClellan’s staff members began calling this horse “that devil Dan” because Daniel Webster was a swift horse. McClellan’s staff member’s horses had trouble keeping up with “that devil Dan.” Daniel Webster was with McClellan at Antietam. This horse was described as a dark chestnut, about seventeen hands tall, purebred, handsome, and rarely showed signs of fatigue. Daniel Webster was a good example of a horse. When McClellan retired from military service, horse Daniel Webster accompanied him. The horse nicknamed “That Devil Dan” became the McClellan family horse.