Both were keen horsemen, but Pershing with his enormous horse and erect military bearing forms a decided contrast to the Prince of Wales mounted on what appears to be a pony, slumping in his saddle.
This photo is extraordinary in the contrast between these two men, one a young royal and a junior officer, the other the commander of the American Expeditionary Force. Army and Edward, Prince of Wales reviewing troops. They were also the tallest, at 16 hands and sometimes more. These “Officer’s Chargers” were the finest boned and lightest in appearance of all military horses. armies, officers were issued horses to ride as their daily mode of transportation.
But putting this aside, and focusing on horses that were ridden rather than being driven, it would be the Officer’s Chargers that made up the largest numbers of saddle horses used in the war. Far more horses and mules served in harness than under saddle (discounting for a moment that many of the draft horses were ridden while in harness, as in many cases the “drivers” did not ride on the vehicles but rather on the horses that were pulling vehicles and guns). While the first thing that might come to mind when considering the role of horses in the Great War might be the cavalry, that would in fact be the least frequent use of horses in the war.
0 kommentar(er)
