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Table of Contents
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The first stagecoach in the American colonies was owned by Jonathan Wardwell of Boston. His coach first made the trip
from Boston to Providence, Rhode Island, on May 13, 1718, and in doing so began a system of travel which would endure for
nearly 200 years. Following Wardwell's example, stagecoaches and wagons began to travel regularly throughout the East. The
individual credited with instituting long-distance stage travel was another New Englander named Levi Pease. He began a
stagecoach run along the upper Boston Post Road after the American Revolution in 1784. This stagecoach traveled from
Boston through Worcester, Springfield, and Hartford to New York.
The only protection passengers had against the elements were leather curtains which could be drawn down to cover the sides. Travel in winter, if roads were passable, must have been a chilling experience, to say the least.
The "stages" of travel were marked by the numerous taverns located along the turnpikes and post roads. Taverns provided food and lodging for travelers, and stabling for the stagecoach horses. These taverns were traditionally named for famous persons who stayed there, and any number of taverns carried the names of Washington, Franklin, and Lafayette. These stagecoach stops were not only lodging and dining facilities, but were the principal gathering places for local people as well. Describing the typical tavern in colonial Massachusetts, Edwin Lasseter Bynner wrote:
The stagecoaches were largely replaced by the railroad in the East by the middle of the nineteenth century. However, the stagecoach remained important for transportation in rural areas. Most isolated villages and hamlets were connected to the rail head and to the market place by the stagecoach until the twentieth century.
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From the time of Alexander the Great to the early twentieth century, the horse has played a central role in warfare. The Battle
of Waterloo remains one of history's most remarkable and important battles employing cavalry. On June 18, 1815, Wellington
amassed some 17,000 English, Dutch, and German cavalry troops. This force was pitted against Napoleon's cavalry of 15,000
troops. Legend has it that Wellington's Royal Scots Greys removed the bits from their horses' bridles to insure an unbroken,
all-out charge of their "terrifying grey horses," as Napoleon later described them.
At the end of the day's fighting, Wellington's cavalry was victorious, but the cost of this one battle was great for both sides:
50,000 men and 20,000 horses were killed. This was a costly day for both man and beast.
New McAdam Roads Allow Faster and Easier Travel, Which Increased the Use of Fine Blooded Horses
Both the National Pike and the Maysville Turnpike were built according to specifications of John Loudon McAdam.
The section of the National Pike in Ohio between Bridgeport and Zanesville was 73 miles in length, and required five years
to build. The Maysville Turnpike between Maysville and Washington, en route to Lexington, was the first
"macadamized" road in Kentucky. It was completed in November of 1830. Macadam roads required great
sums of time and money due to McAdam's rigorous specifications. Rocks could be no more than six ounces in weight, and
two inches in diameter. The macadam road was constructed in three layers of stone, each rolled with a cast-iron roller. The
thickness would be between 12 and 15 inches, with drainage ditches at the sides. On macadam roads, stage coaches and
Conestoga wagons could travel unimpeded by bogs or ruts. The speed and reliability of travel increased, as did the pace of
settlement and commerce in America.
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The Horse Helps Build Canals
Providing transportation has always been the basic duty of the horse - even when it came to canals. In 1825, the Erie Canal
was opened by Governor DeWitt Clinton. "Clinton's Ditch" soon became loaded to capacity with barges pulled by
horses, carrying freight and settlers to the West and raw materials to the industrial East. New canals throughout the East
displaced the Conestoga wagons for carrying freight. However, people still preferred the faster stagecoaches as a means of
travel.
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August 28, 1830 - Tom Thunb Versus the Horse
On August 28, 1830, a few miles west of Baltimore, Maryland, there was a test of muscle against steam - a race between two
railroad cars. One was pulled by a horse and the other was pulled by the steam engine "Tom Thumb," built by
Peter Cooper of New York. The Baltimore and Ohio Railroad Company built their railway with the intention of using horses to
draw the cars. But Cooper had faith in the "Tom Thumb," and this race was to prove the superiority of his new
machine over the horse. From the start, the locomotive gradually began to out-distance the horse. Then a belt broke on the
engine and the horse carried its car to victory. Even so, the company directors saw the potential of the steam engine, and
decided not to use the horse as a source of power. However, during the age of steam, the horses were put to even greater use.
They transported goods to railheads and delivered local freight from the trains.
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The creation of the "Intersectional Match" in the 1820s pitted the fastest Northern horses against the fastest
Southern horses in order to settle the question of which section of the U.S. owned the best horses.
American Eclipse Challenges Sir Henry
William Ransom Johnson of North Carolina, the "Napoleon of the Turf," was the first individual to suggest an
intersectional race. His challenge was aimed at Cornelias Van Ranst of New York who owned American Eclipse, considered
by Northerners to be the fastest horse in America. With the financial backing of his friends - most notably John C. Stevens -
Van Ranst accepted Johnson's challenge. They agreed to a wager of $20,000 a side, and a $3,000 forfeit penalty. The match
was scheduled for the last Tuesday in May, 1825, at the Union Course, in New York.
American Eclipse, then nine years old, was the object of Southern resentment since he had beaten Sir Charles, "the lion of the Virginia turf," in 1822. Johnson surveyed the South for the best horse it could offer, and at last he chose a five-year-old named Sir Henry. Race day saw a crowd of some 60,000 assembled at the Union Course. Twenty thousand of the fans travelled the long journey from the South to back their horse. Spectators included Vice President Daniel Tompkins, Andrew Jackson, and Aaron Burr - testimony to the importance of the race. Sir Henry carried 108 pounds compared to American Eclipse's 126. In the first four-mile heat, Sir Henry broke from the pole and set "a killing pace." He ran away from Eclipse and won the heat. Eclipse suffered more than defeat since his jockey beat him so badly that "blood flowed profusely from...foulcurs and gave a more doleful appearance to the discouraging scene of a lost heat. " The jockey was replaced, and Eclipse outran Henry in the next two heats to win the match.
Intersectional matches continued to serve as battles of North and South until the Civil War provided a bloodier alternative. One of the greatest of the intersectional matches was between the South's celebrated horse Boston and the mare Fashion. Their match took place at the Union Course on May 10, 1842. Some 70,000 spectators were in attendance, including 40 senators and congressmen. In the first heat, Boston struck his hip on the rail and was severely cut. Fashion charged on to win the heat in the record time of 7:32.5. The second heat settled the match when Fashion beat Boston by 60 yards.
Boston's defeat by Fashion does not detract from his fame as a racehorse. He was the son of Timoleon and a grandson of the great Sir Archie. Foaled in 1833, he received his name after having been won in a card game called "Boston." He was a mean colt, and refused to be trained for racing. Boston's new owner was given the advice that the horse be "either castrated or shot - preferably the later." Boston did become a racehorse, although he remained hard to handle. Some say he won 40 out of his 45 career races because he bit the other horses as they tried to pass. Boston's reputation was so great that his owner was actually paid to keep him out of races. In old age, Boston became blind and emaciated, but he did not lose his dynamic spirit. One account of Boston's death says: "On the morning of January 31, 1850, he was found dead in his stall, the sides of which were covered in blood where Boston had repeatedly struck his head and legs in his final furious struggle." Among the unborn foals Boston had sired before his death was Lexington, one or the most successful stallions in Thoroughbred history.