Horses used on the Escape Route

[BettyO]

Corbett was captured by Mosby's men on June 24, 1864 near Culpepper, Virginia. Corbett was taken prisoner and sent to Andersonville prison for five months, after which he was exchanged. Upon his return to service he was promoted to sergeant.

There is a good chance that Powell participated in this exchange.

The following is from the May 13, 1865 Harper's Weekly -

"...a detachment of the Sixteenth was sent to the vicinity of Culpepper, where they were hemmed in by MOSBY, and nearly all compelled to surrender except CORBETT, who stood out manfully, and fired his revolver and twelve shots from his breech-loading rifle at his assailants before surrendering, which he did after firing his last round of ammunition. MOSBY, in admiration of the bravery displayed by CORBETT, ordered his men not to shoot him, and received his surrender with other expressions of admiration.
He was taken to Lynchburg and thence to Andersonville, where he experienced, during five months of imprisonment, the same treatment as others have so numerously testified to. Out of fourteen members of his company, fellow-captives, but one besides himself returned. Upon one occasion he made his escape, but was tracked by blood-hounds and returned to captivity. When exchanged he was but a skeleton, and has not yet fully regained his health."

[Eva Elisabeth]

Thanks once more, Betty and Bill, for the fascinating info! I read that several American breeds are capable of more than the usual three gaits, like Iceland ponies. Is the Tennessee Walking horse's gentle gait comparable to the Iceland pony's "tölt"?

[BettyO]

Don't know about the Iceland ponies. Have never seen nor ridden one nor know of anyone who has. But it may be like a pacer, perhaps? Pacers are supposed to be an easy ride. Their legs move in a synchronized style. A Tennesee Walkers' gait is more or less a rocking trot. When I was a kid, a friend of my father owned one and I used to ride "Strawberry" (yes, he was a strawberry roan - i.e. roan with a red mane and tail as opposed to black) all the time. He was a huge horse, full 16-17 hands but extremely gentle and easy to ride.

Pacers are also faster than trotters on the average, though horses are raced at both gaits. Among Standardbred horses, pacers breed truer than trotters – that is, trotting sires have a higher proportion of pacers among their get than pacing sires do of trotters.

Here are the differences between trotting and pacing under saddle. Notice the legs on the pacer apart from that of the trotter.

The pacer in this photo is an Iceland pony.

   

Here is a trotting horse under saddle.

   

Powell's old one eyed nag was a pacer.

If you click on the following graphic you will see a pacer in motion. This an animated gif of a Muybridge motion picture taken of a pacer in the 1880s-1890s.

   

[RJNorton]

(03-12-2014 11:26 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Pacers are also faster than trotters on the average, though horses are raced at both gaits.

Occasionally I have been known to venture near a race track. Seeing the great Bret Hanover race is still etched in my brain. This was in the 1960's. Was he ever fast - he was a pacer. I was so fascinated with the horse that I bought his biography when it came out in 1969. The book is called Big Bum: The Story of Bret Hanover. I would recommend it to anyone who loves horses and or horse biographies. I just checked Amazon, and it's available for as little as $1.69.

[L Verge]

Betty - What type of horse is used in harness racing?

---

BTW: I believe that Prince George's County, Maryland, is considered the birthplace of American Thoroughbred racing?

[BettyO]

Standardbreds are the breed used in harness racing.

In the 17th century, the first trotting races were held in the Americas, usually in fields on horses under saddle. However, by the mid-18th century, trotting races were held on official courses, with the horses in harness. Breeds that have contributed foundation stock to the Standardbred breed included the Narragansett Pacer, Canadian Pacer, Thoroughbred, Norfolk Trotter, Hackney, and Morgan. (Wiki)

Roger's favorite Pacer was a Standardbred. Standardbreds are big horses. Remember when we used to have the Civil War reenactments at Surratt House years ago? One of our Union cavalrymen, Bob Agers, had a big bay gelding, Dragoon. Dragoon was purchased by Bob from a Standardbred Rescue.

[L Verge]

Dragoon was a magnificent horse - and the largest one I think I have ever seen. He and Bob were meant to be together; they personified the saying of man and horse were as one.

[BettyO]

That horse was Bob's child. He called him 'Son....' When Bob died, he left specifics in his will that Dragoon would be cared for and never sold.....

[Eva Elisabeth]

(03-12-2014 11:26 AM)BettyO Wrote:  Don't know about the Iceland ponies. Have never seen nor ridden one nor know of anyone who has. But it may be like a pacer, perhaps? Pacers are supposed to be an easy ride. Their legs move in a synchronized style. A Tennesee Walkers' gait is more or less a rocking trot. When I was a kid, a friend of my father owned one and I used to ride "Strawberry" (yes, he was a strawberry roan - i.e. roan with a red mane and tail as opposed to black) all the time. He was a huge horse, full 16-17 hands but extremely gentle and easy to ride.

Pacers are also faster than trotters on the average, though horses are raced at both gaits. Among Standardbred horses, pacers breed truer than trotters – that is, trotting sires have a higher proportion of pacers among their get than pacing sires do of trotters.

Here are the differences between trotting and pacing under saddle. Notice the legs on the pacer apart from that of the trotter.

The pacer in this photo is an Iceland pony.



Here is a trotting horse under saddle.



Powell's old one eyed nag was a pacer.

If you click on the following graphic you will see a pacer in motion. This an animated gif of a Muybridge motion picture taken of a pacer in the 1880s-1890s.

Thanks, Betty. I found out that tölt is obviously similar to the rack of the American Saddlebred (which I've never seen, neither the horse nor the gait). However, it's different to the pace, where always two legs on the same side of the horse move forward together. In tölt, the legs move like this:
   
It can be as fast as gallop, but doesn't shake the rider, and both, horse and rider, can go over long distances in this gait.
http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=-7rWeWymJDw

[wsanto]

(03-10-2014 06:03 AM)BettyO Wrote:  

More than a few great pearls in this article--

As noted earlier, a very early recounting of Herold fleeing Seward's house, riding down 15th and onto Pennsylvania Ave (in front of Willard's) before retreating from Fletcher back up 14th to F Street.

A claim that Fletcher learned from an unidentified witness while riding up Capitol Hill toward bridge that Booth and Herold changed horses prior to crossing the bridge (presumably due to his broken leg). This implies Herold and Booth met prior to crossing bridge. If true this eliminates the horse-fall-broken-leg theory.

A fuller explanation for why Fletcher would be allowed to cross the bridge into Maryland (and therefor Booth and Herold) but not allowed to return to the city.

Thanks Betty

[L Verge]

(03-13-2014 09:14 AM)wsanto Wrote:  

(03-10-2014 06:03 AM)BettyO Wrote:  

More than a few great pearls in this article--

As noted earlier, a very early recounting of Herold fleeing Seward's house, riding down 15th and onto Pennsylvania Ave (in front of Willard's) before retreating from Fletcher back up 14th to F Street.

A claim that Fletcher learned from an unidentified witness while riding up Capitol Hill toward bridge that Booth and Herold changed horses prior to crossing the bridge (presumably due to his broken leg). This implies Herold and Booth met prior to crossing bridge. If true this eliminates the horse-fall-broken-leg theory.

A fuller explanation for why Fletcher would be allowed to cross the bridge into Maryland (and therefor Booth and Herold) but not allowed to return to the city.

Thanks Betty

I wondered if anyone else caught the change of horses while still in D.C.! The only reference that I know of about the fall being after Booth was in the Maryland countryside comes from David Herold.

[L Verge]

In an earlier posting, mention was made of horse faking - changing the appearance of a horse. Rick Smith and Bill Richter wrote on this in an article for the Surratt newsletter back in 2008:

They describe the technique as "the subtle art of altering the appearance of a horse, whether for good or evil," as "ancient as the horse itself. Stories of thieves altering a horse's appearance abound in the literature of antiquity and are the topic of modern day headlines.

"...in March of 2003, a Florida stable was raided by the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Department and found to contain stolen and altered show horses, one of which was valued at over $100,000. One horse, a well-known 16-hand Oldenburg, was disguised in an effort to prevent it from being recognized. A large, white blaze running from its forehead and down its muzzle, and a large, star-shaped scar on its shoulder had been sprayed with brown Rustoleum. Another animal's legs and hooves had been painted...."

This could possibly have been done to Booth's and Herold's horses in 1865 with the use of paint and dyes, filing teeth, painting hooves, and even changing the stance or gait of the horse via means that would render the animal temporarily lame.

Rick believes that the horses were not destroyed and that Booth and Herold actually moved around a bit while hiding in the pine thicket. He references a statement by James Owens to Col. Wells. Owens was a hired hand of a Mr. Adams in nearby Newport and gave an exact description of the fugitives' horses - swearing that two men rode into the village of Newport on them on Thursday night, April 20. "It was pretty late, nearly supper time, when two men came there on horseback [Booth and Herold?] accompanied by a white boy...[Samuel Cox, Jr.?].

Owens stated that they spent about twenty-four hours in the pines near Mr. Adams's tavern and even took meals there. "They stayed in the pines near the house until the next evening, which was Friday night [April 21] and were at the house on and off at different times; they did not lodge at Mr. Adams's, but only got meals there....They left in the evening after dark and went towards Pope's Creek where Thomas Jones lives...their horses came back this way [to Newport] in charge of the boy. If I were to try to find them [the horses] I would inquire of the people who saw them..."

[Jenny]

GREAT job of describing all of the horses, Betty, especially the gaits! I own two Tennessee Walking Horses (one is 14.3 h, the size of JWB's mare, which I love telling people. Ha!) and after years of riding Quarter Horses, I just love them.

I would like to think Booth and Herold's horses lived out their days on some farm...

[Wild Bill]

There seems to be some confusion as to my contribution to the articles listed in post #11 above. I want to make it clear that I had nothing to do with the articles appearing in the Courier on horse faking. They are all Rick Smith's doing and were well done indeed. Thank you!

[Rick Smith]

(03-14-2014 02:38 PM)Wild Bill Wrote:  There seems to be some confusion as to my contribution to the articles listed in post #11 above. I want to make it clear that I had nothing to do with the articles appearing in the Courier on horse faking. They are all Rick Smith's doing and were well done indeed. Thank you!

Bill,

You are a good and generous man, old friend. Whether mistaken or otherwise, there is no one I would rather share credit with than you.

Laurie,

Thanks for referencing the article. Much appreciated.

Regarding James Owens; going on a tangent here; he never did come out of the Old Capitol Prison alive. Tidwell, Hall & Gaddy reveal this in "Come Retribution."

Bill posits that the federals, in their frustration, not being able to extract what they want out of Owens by using "persuasive methods," beat him to death, figuring he knew more than he was telling. Bill describes this in LCH and it is very convincing.

I believe the feds' attitude toward Owens was, essentially, "We freed you and this is how you cooperate with us when we give you the opportunity of getting your own back on your former master & oppressor?" Owens was able to tell only what he knew. They freed him straight to Heaven.