Monday, December 19, 2011

The Myth of the Black Horse Cavalry--Pt. 1

One image that comes up again and again in my reading about First Bull Run and the New York Fire Zouaves is that they--the Zouaves--were routed by "Stuart's Black Horse Cavalry."

I did some digging, and found out much more about this literally mythical group of horsemen.

Well, maybe not entirely mythical, but certainly different than portrayed in several sources, including letters and diaries of the Fire Zouaves themselves.

The Black Horse was initially formed in Faucquier County, VA, in 1859. It was an idependent volunteer cavalry company--a mounted militia.

It was made up of young (and probably some not-so-young) men from the oldest, richest, most established families in the county, which is in the heart of Virginia's horse country. These knights gained their equestrian skills while fox hunting, and participating in actual "jousting tournaments" held in Faucquier Springs.

The Black Horse was mustered into the service of the Commonwealth of Virginia in May, of 1861. Therein, it became Company H of the 4th Virginia Cavalry. The 4th Virginia was an elite group, made up of companies from Prince William, Chesterfield, Madison, Culpepper, Powhatan, Goochland, Hanover, Warren, and Buckingham counties--tidewater counties all, and wealthy enough to support these fine sons of Virginia in style.


3 comments:

  1. Incredible! I'm truly enjoying the style and design of your website. Are you using a custom made template or is this freely available to all individuals? If you don't want
    to say the name of it out in the public, please be sure to email me at:
    alejandrinawoodbury@gmail.com. I'd love to get my hands on this theme! Appreciate it.

    Also visit my homepage - concrete driveway
    Also visit my homepage ; photos

    ReplyDelete
  2. Whoa! This blog looks exactly like my old one! It's on a totally different topic but it has pretty much the same layout and design. Outstanding choice of colors!

    Here is my blog; Merriam Webster
    Check out my web-site : driveways

    ReplyDelete
  3. Howdy I am so thrilled I found your web site, I really
    found you by error, while I was browsing on Digg for something else,
    Anyhow I am here now and would just like to say thanks for a remarkable post and a all round entertaining blog (I also love the theme/design), I
    don’t have time to look over it all at the minute but I have saved it and also
    included your RSS feeds, so when I have time I will be back to read a great deal more, Please do keep up the awesome
    jo.

    Also visit my web blog :: hummock
    My blog post :: glittering

    ReplyDelete