Little Sorrel
| Little Sorrel | |
 Little Sorrel |
|
| Race: | Morgan |
| Father: | |
| Mother: | |
| Mother, father: | |
| Gender: | gelding |
| Year of birth: | 1850 |
| Year of death: | 1886 |
| Country: | United States |
| Colour: | Fox |
| Owner: | Thomas Jonathan Jackson |
| Equestrian: | Thomas Jonathan Jackson |
Little or Old Sorrel (* 1850 ; † March 16 or 17, 1886 in Lexington (Virginia) ) was a cavalry horse.
Life
Little Sorrel had an eventful life. He was selected as a cavalry horse for the Northern States and was to be transported to Washington. But at Harper's Ferry , the train he was on was captured in late April or early May 1861 by a Confederate troop led by Thomas Jonathan Jackson . "Stonewall" Jackson selected Little Sorrel for himself and bought him from his government, to which he had to hand over the war goods. At that point the horse was eleven years old.
Jackson had initially intended the relatively small and gentle horse for his wife and bought another, larger animal for himself, but soon made a decision. He gave the Morgan the name "Fancy", but it didn't catch on. The troops soon called the animal “Little” or “Old Sorrel” (= “fox”).
"Stonewall" Jackson rode the horse throughout the Civil War - with the exception of the battle at Maryville - until he was fatally wounded in the Battle of Chancellorsville on May 2, 1863. Little Sorrel was initially lost in this battle, but was soon afterwarded by General Stuart found again.
After Jackson's death, Little Sorrel was first transferred to his widow, who looked after him until 1883. He now lived in Lincoln County, North Carolina . It was later held at the Virginia Military Institute where his master had once taught. In 1885 it was exhibited in New Orleans and then given to a Civil War veteran to receive the bread of grace. In the meantime there were clear signs of old age; after all, he had to be kept on his feet by a noose pulled under his body. When this no longer held, the old horse fell, injured his back and died.
hide
The Taxidermist Frederic S. Webster , who was at Little Sorrels death in the city by chance, the horse immediately began to prepare. He used a novel process and did not use the bones to model the horse's body. The result of his work was initially in his workshop in Washington; he had modeled the horse in plaster of paris with its head raised and ears pricked up, and then stretched the hide over it. In 1935 the stuffed animal, which had been paid for by the Richmond City Fathers to be prepared and given to the Confederate Soldiers' Home and exhibited at Lee Camp, was bequeathed to the United Daughters of the Confederacy. After the last veteran's death, it was returned to the Virginia Military Institute in 1949 and was exhibited there. It is still there today, but is in poor condition as numerous visitors have plucked its hair. In addition to the stuffed horse, Jackson's raincoat is presented, in which the hole that caused the fatal bullet can still be seen.
skeleton
Little Sorrel's skeleton, which was part of Webster's fee, was also dissected and was taken to the Carnegie Museum of Natural History in Pittsburgh in 1903 . But now part of the horse was in the northern states, on the territory of the former enemies. After long negotiations, the horse's bones were also returned to the southern states in 1948 or 1949 and were also housed in the Virginia Military Institute, where they were, however, subjected to frequent vandalism. It was considered auspicious to carve his name into the bones that stood in a biology hall until 1989 and were then stored. So it was finally decided in 1997, 111 years after the horse's death, to burn the bones, to bury their ashes and to put a plaque on the grave. It is in close proximity to the Jackson Memorial at the Military Academy. The burial took place with military honors and the remains of the horse were buried in a walnut coffin. Little Sorrel did not have to do without spiritual support either; the pastor of Lexington Presbyterian Church gave him his blessing. Also speaking at the grave were James I. Robertson, author of a biography of Jackson, and Keith Gibson, director of the Museum of the Military Institute. Soil from every battlefield Jackson had been with Little Sorrel was ready for the mourners to put in Little Sorrel's grave, and the grave was decorated with horseshoes, apples, and carrots.
Web links
- BONES OF WARHORSE WILL BE INTERRED NEAR JACKSON By Martha Boltz - Report on the life and preparation of the horse ( Memento from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- Life, death and burial of the horse
- Peter Finn: Lexington, Va., Bids fond farewell to a war horse ( Memento from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- 1887 New York Times report
Individual evidence
- ↑ BONES OF WARHORSE WILL BE INTERRED NEAR JACKSON By Martha Boltz ( Memento from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Background information on the burial of Little Sorrel ( Memento from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ BONES OF WARHORSE WILL BE INTERRED NEAR JACKSON By Martha Boltz ( Memento from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Christina Nuckols: CONFEDERATE CHARGER BURIED A CENTURY LATER ( Memento from December 2, 2008 in the Internet Archive )
- ↑ Stonewall Jackson's Stuffed Horse , roadsideamerica.com
- ↑ Little Sorrel buried at VMI July 20, 1997 ( Memento from April 21, 2010 in the Internet Archive )