Saddle

Object Name:

Saddle

Object ID:

1958.088

Date:

1861-1862

Description:

Cavalry Saddle. Leather. McClellan-type saddle. Plain black skirts and hooded stirrups, heavy girth and stirrup straps with rectangular brass buckles. Leather girth. Seat and tree covering of yellow parchment-like leather, cracked and brittle, torn away from stitching on tree. Brass rings and hooks for fastening on gear. Copper pommel shield with embossed lettering: "11 INCH / SEAT".

Material:

Leather
Vellum
Iron
Brass

Dimensions:

W-11 inches

Provenance:

Used by Col. Fletcher Webster (1813-1862), son of Daniel Webster. Col. Webster was killed at the second Battle of Bull Run, August 30, 1862, when he was shot through the right arm and chest. He was commander of the 12th Regiment Massachusetts Volunteer Infantry. It can be seen where a second bullet struck the edge of the saddle. On the morning before the battle, Col. Webster wrote to his wife, Caroline, "If a fight comes off, it will be today or to-morrow & will be a most dreadful & decisive one. This may be my last letter, dear love, for I shall not spare myself..."

Credit Line:

Gift of John B. Rogers

People:

Webster, Fletcher (1813-1862)

Subjects:

Civil War, Saddles