. The photographic history of the Civil War : in ten volumes . towns took rather to commercial and indoor pursuits;in the South, the sports of a country life appealed to youngand middle-aged alike, and the rifle and the saddle furnishedparticular attractions to a large majority. So it happenedthat the Confederates (their President an erstwhile dragoon)had only to mobilize the cavalry companies of the militia scat-tered through the seceding States, and muster, arm, and equipthe thousands of young horsemen, each bringing his own horseand eager to serve the Confederacy. The trials of many of the
. The photographic history of the Civil War : in ten volumes . towns took rather to commercial and indoor pursuits;in the South, the sports of a country life appealed to youngand middle-aged alike, and the rifle and the saddle furnishedparticular attractions to a large majority. So it happenedthat the Confederates (their President an erstwhile dragoon)had only to mobilize the cavalry companies of the militia scat-tered through the seceding States, and muster, arm, and equipthe thousands of young horsemen, each bringing his own horseand eager to serve the Confederacy. The trials of many of the newly recruited organizations,until the beginning of the third year of the war, are illustratedin the following extract from a typical regimental history:*Captain Vanderhilt describes in graphic terms his first experi-ence in escort duty (December 10, 1862) : Please remember that my company had been mustered into the serv-ice only about six weeks before, and had received horses less than a * History of the Tenth New York Cavalry. (Preston, N. Y.) [26] P^K^ T. VOLUNTEERS AT DRILL—A NEW YORK REGIMENT It was New York State that furnished the first volunteer cavalry regiment to the Union—Autumn, 1861. Thefleet horsemen of the Confederacy soon taught the North the need of improving that arm of the service. Butit requires time to train an efficient trooper, and the Union cavalrymen were helpless at first when opposedto the natural horsemen of the South. After a purgatory of training they were hurried into the field, oftento fall victims to some roving body of Confederates who welcomed the opportunity to appropriate superiorarms and equipment. The regiment in this photograph is the Thirteenth New York Cavalry at ProspectHill, Virginia. They are no longer raw troopers but have become the eyes of Washington and its chief pro-tection against the swift-riding Mosby and his men. The troopers were drilled on foot as well as mounted. mti
Size: 2042px × 1223px
Photo credit: © Reading Room 2020 / Alamy / Afripics
License: Licensed
Model Released: No
Keywords: ., bookcentury1900, bookdecade1910, bookidphotographichist04inmill
