The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine (May 1913): Vol. LXXXVI. New Series: Vol. LXIV. May to October, 1913Various
History
The Century Illustrated Monthly Magazine (May 1913): Vol. LXXXVI. New Series: Vol. LXIV. May to October, 1913
Various
Periodicals
When Colonel Washington accompanied General Braddock as aide-de-camp in
the Virginia campaign against the French and their Indian allies, he
took with him three war-horses. Of these his favorite was “Greenway,” a
fiery steed of great speed and endurance. In the disastrous battle of
July 9, 1755, Braddock was mortally wounded, after having five horses
killed under him, a record, so far as the writer is aware, unequaled
in the annals of war. Washington lost two horses. One of these was
replaced by the dying general, who presented to him his best charger,
which had escaped the carnage. A week later the young colonel wrote of
the engagement to his brother John:
By the all powerful dispensation of Providence, I have been
protected beyond all human probability or expectation: for I have
had four bullets through my coat, and two horses shot under me, yet
escaped unhurt, although death was on every side of me.
After the capture of Canada and the close of the war, Washington
frequently followed the foxhounds mounted on “Braddock,” as he named
that soldier’s powerful dark bay, or on “Greenway,” which was a dark
gray, and it was seldom that the Virginian was not in the lead.
On June 20, 1775, Colonel Washington received his commission as
Commander-in-Chief of the American Army, and on the following morning,
accompanied by Generals Charles Lee and Philip Schuyler, he set out for
Cambridge, Massachusetts. He took with him five horses, his favorite
being a spirited stallion called “Douglas,” on which Washington first
appeared before the army at Cambridge, charming all beholders with
his manly grace and military bearing. Jefferson called him “the best
horseman of his age.” Before the close of the Revolutionary War the
general acquired by gift or purchase seven additional chargers. His
bay horse “Fairfax” was so badly wounded at the battle of Trenton that
he was left behind. At the battle of Monmouth, Washington rode a white
steed presented to him by William Livingston, Governor of New Jersey.
Such was the excessive heat on that June day, as well as the deep and
sandy nature of the soil, that the spirited charger sank under the
general, dying on the spot. His portrait is preserved in Trumbull’s
full-length painting of Washington, in the City Hall of New York. He
then mounted a high-bred chestnut mare with long, flowing mane and tail
named “Dolly.” Lafayette said of her and her rider:
At Monmouth I commanded a division, and it may be supposed I
was pretty well occupied; still, I took time, amid the roar and
confusion of the conflict, to admire our beloved chief, who,
mounted on a splendid charger, rode along the ranks amid the shouts
of the soldiers, cheering them by his voice and example, and
restoring to our standard the fortunes of the fight. I thought I
had never seen so superb a man.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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