Changes at White Haven / ~150 Years Ago - Grants Horses

After the war, White Haven changed significantly. The formerly enslaved African Americans were free and appear to have left the area, and labor was provided by German and French immigrants. Ulysses S. Grant owned the property and planned to raise horses, and while serving as President he ordered the construction of new stables, barns, and other structures, including this stable for his thoroughbred horses. During the Civil War, transportation was primarily by horseback, and Grant, a natural horseman from a very young age, often moved among his troops on horseback. Near the end of the war, his three favorite horses were Egypt, Jeff Davis, and Cincinnati. Egypt, a tall dark bay given to him by businessmen from the Egypt region of southern Illinois, was used throughout the Virginia campaign. Jeff Davis, a small horse confiscated from the estate of Jefferson Davis' older brother, was ridden in dense forested areas. Cincinnati, probably the best known of Grant's horses, stood nearly seventeen hands, or five and a half feet, at the shoulder, and Grant was mounted on Cincinnati when he rode to the Mclean House at Appomattox Court House to accept General Robert E. Lee's surrender.

Affton, Missouri · United States