\~^&-<JLKAJL The cjMorgan J£orse (^Magazine A BI-MONTHLY MAGAZINE Office of Publication WOODSTOCK, VERMONT VOL. I JULY-AUGUST 1942 NO. 6 No. AAA No. BBB CLARENCE E. BOSWORTH SEES MERIT MORGANS AS CAVALRY HORSES (Paper read by H. S. Wardner at the organization meeting of the Mor­ IN HALF-MORGAN BOOK gan Horse Club, This paper is from the files of tbe Morgan Horse The first issue of THE MORGAN HORSE MAGAZINE Club, and is dated September 23. 1909.) which I have seen reached me Friday and has contributed to At Piermont. New Hampshire, lives George Austin, now a most enjoyable weekend. One reason I like it is because seventy-three years of age, an admirer of the Morgan horse. there is enough of it, His knowledge of the breed is derived from an experience I was especially interested in the proposal of a Half- such as few men now living have shared. He was employed Morgan Register. If you are interested in the opinion of in 1861 by Quartermaster G. S. Blodgett, U. S. A., to assist an outsider, here's mine. I offer it because I do not see in the selection and purchase of one thousand horses for that it is covered in other comment, the First Vermont Cavalry. The horses were purchased The Arabian horses, great as they are, could not be all in the northeast section of Vermont with t few from the things to all men insofar as horses are concerned. There­ New Hampshire towns in the Connecticut River Valley. fore, they were used as part of the foundation stock to produce The Secretary of War, who knew the reputation of Vermont innumerable breeds that would have something in size, horses, was anxious that a Vermont cavalry regiment should shape, gaits or other characteristics which the Arabs lack. As immediately take the field, and in forty-two days from the these new breeds appeared and became established, they were date of the order for raising the regiment, the regiment was accepted and appreciated first because they carried Arab in camp at Burlington, the uniforms provided and the blood; second, because they showed that certain wanted horses on the ground. This was October 16, 1861. Mr. qualities bad been added. Austin says that the horses were all Morgans, that they Presumably, Arab blood flows with some freedom in the were the best cavalry mount in the entire Union Army and Morgans and when we see a Morgan with more than aver­ that they outworked and outlasted the horses of any other age characteristics in face, form or carriage, we point with regiment. As Mr. Austin was a soldier in that regiment appreciation to such presumed evidence of Arab ancestry. from its organization to the close of the war, he does not We do the same thing with other breeds all the way from speak from hearsay. Thoroughbreds to Percherons, Why.'' Because the Arab has been known as a superior Reports on the First Vermont horse since long before the crusades. This horse superiority, It is worthwhile to see what the records have to say of the plus the proved ability to transmit Arab qualities, has en­ first Vermont regiment—the first cavalry regiment to go abled the Arab to-continue as a prestige breed through the from the New England States in the War of 1861—and to centuries. And. the more Arab ancestry is evidenced in a see how far they support Mr. Austin s opinion of the char­ horse, the more quickly he finds a buyer at a premium price. acter of the mount. The New York dailies of December 16, 1861, in reporting the arrival of the First Vermont Insofar as I know, the only "Half-Arab" Register is the Cavalry in that city on the day before, had this to say: Anglo-Arab Register in Europe. Of course, this applies to The Evening Post: "The horses have been selected by only one Arab-blood combination, but Anglo-Arabs arc competent judges from the best stock in Vermont. The looked upon as something extra special. And, while I know regiment was the object of general interest and admiration of no register for them, the Morabs (Morgan-Arab cross in this city yesterday." pioneered by Mr. Hearst at his San Simeon Ranch) arc The World: "The regiment numbers 1.030 men and most highly regarded in the West. Basis for quick accept­ over 1.100 horses. The latter are nearly all of the Morgan ance of their quality, is knowledge of the prestige bloods breed, and make a much better appearance than many steeds they carry. are reported to make in Washington." Much the same is true of our Thoroughbreds. Pres­ The Tribune: "The personnel of this regiment is un­ tige -a deserved prestige. Therefore, an Anglo-Standard- surpassed by any in the service. The uniforms and equip­ bred, Anglo-Morgan or Anglo-anything-else. is presumed ments of the men are of a superior order and no expense to be a better horse than it would be if it lacked the ./feglo seems to have been spared by the State in fitting the regiment element in its breeding; that is. better horse tor some pur­ out for the branch of the service in which it is to be engaged poses. Most of the horses are of the celebrated Morgan stock—- (Cantinueil no ruwe 111) thev have been well cared for and are pretty well drilled." The Herald: "The regiment is a sturdy one. and the ma­ MORGAN HORSES terials, both as to men, horses and equipment, of just the character furnished by Vermont in this contest, when she By HOWARD R. MERRITT has manfully undertaken to furnish the national govern­ In The American Field of July 20, 1940. ment with the supplies and sinews of war. In this respect the Green Mountain State may be fully said to have done Head poised high and proud; small ears perked, alert; nobly, and her page in the future history of this unholy re­ large, soft brown eyes aglow: mane and tail flowing, the bellion will be replete with patriotism and the recounting Morgan horse, America's own and greatest breed, prancing of deeds of valor at the hands of her hardy and chivalrous down through the pages of history to be almost obscured in sons." Speaking particularly of the horses, it said: "These the whirling age of motorization, is prancing back with the animals are all of the Morgan breed, and embrace hundreds same fire and zest to serve and delight the present and com­ of splendid specimens of the equine race." ing generations as he so courageously and loyally served the The Times: "The regiment . is in all respects the fin­ pioneers. est one raised in any of the States." Almost a century and a half have slipped into the bot­ The Newark (New Jersey) Advertiser of December 17, tomless abyss of time since a little bay stallion, born to 1861, in describing the march of the First Vermont Cavalry found a breed destined for supremacy, sent his challenging through Newark on the way to Washington, said: "The neigh echoing among the hills of Vermont; an echo that has Green Mountain boys arrived about four o'clock and reverberated down through the generations, faint during the marched up Market Street amid the liveliest tokens of en­ past three decades, but still plainly audible in the world of thusiasm. The horses are small, compact and sinewy horse lovers. and evidently capable of great endurance. It was the general The little bay stallion, Justin Morgan, whom destiny had remark that so splendid a body of animals had never been marked for yeoman service and immortality, not only seen together in this city." founded a superior breed, but laid the foundation for other breeds, exercising an influence in American horse breeding "The Best Cavalry Mount" that will not perish as long as there are those whose love for a fine horse persists. The rapid and keen revival of in­ The regiment reached Washington December 20, and the terest in Morgans by studious breeders, North, South, East Washington correspondent of the Boston Journal reported and West, is being hailed with joyous acclaim by all who to his paper that it was "The best cavalry mount that has know them and their return to saddle horse stables, paddocks been seen at the Capitol." and pastures of the country is welcomed with encouraging General Stoneman, in complimenting Colonel Piatt on enthusiasm. the raising of the regiment wrote: "Allow me to express Their striking beauty, their surprising strength, their in­ the wish that your success in raising, mounting and bring­ telligence; their unbelievable stamina; their indomitable ing into service one of the very best regiments of cavalry spirit, coupled with docility, are among the characteristics that has been brought to my notice." that mark them and set them apart, endearing them to the The regiment lived up to its fine appearance, fn seventy- hearts of all. five battles and skirmishes, among them some of the great A product of Vermont, where it originated from a single and bloody battles of the war, the regiment was engaged fountain head, the Morgan horse became so closely inter­ and often with conspicuous distinction. It was at Gettys­ woven with the building of New England, New York, and burg, Cedar Creel,. Cold Harbor, in the Wilderness Cam­ the Northeast, that it must ever be an integral part of the paign, in the Shenandoah Valley and finally at Appo­ history of America from shortly after the Revolutionary mattox Court House.