Ugly Horse Pictures Definitions
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"I felt as if I was lifted ten feet in the air, and supposed, of course, my horse (old Plug Ugly) was clean gone in all his under-works."
Plug_Ugly_Picture:_Still_Looking_for_one
Plug Ugly's Story
All Civil War aficionados are familiar with Lee's horse Traveler, Stonewall's Little Sorrel, Grant's Cincinnati and Sheridan's Rienzi, but who knows about Plug Ugly? If Alpheus Williams was an unsung hero, then so was his battle mount Plug Ugly. Partly because Plug Ugly's story, which is metaphoric of the frequent fate of living beings in war, and partly because his name describes the American Civil War more closely than his more famous equine cousin's, I have named this project in his honor.
While I have yet to find a picture of "old Plug", I have come to know about him through William's incidental mention of him, particularly when he was essential in saving William's life. That Williams' somehow managed to go through the war unwounded was due in no small part to Plug. Unlike Williams, Plug would not survive the war. Yet, Williams' endearing descriptions of him present us with another unsung hero.
The first mentions of Plug is in Williams' description of the Union defeat at Winchester in May 1862 as quoted below. Plug is not mentioned by name, but it may be implied from later writings that it is him.
"As we reached the brow of the hill a most terrific fire of infantry was opened upon us from a long line which extended beyond my extreme right. The air seemed literally to be full of whizzing bullets, which stirred up currents of wind as if the atmosphere had suddenly been filled with some invisible cooling process. The cavalry could do nothing before such an overwhelming force and it went down with great rapidity. I stopped just long enough to know that I could see nothing of value through the smoke in front, and looking to the left I saw the whole line of the brigade retiring in order and yet rapidly to the rear. I put spurs to my horse, descended partly down the hill and was beginning to think I should spend a time in Richmond if I did not hurry, especially as I was penned in by a heavy stone wall. I dashed my horse at a point where two or three stones appeared to have been knocked off the top and although he is a pretty heavy beast (not my favorite gift horse) I think he appreciated the occasion for he cleared the wall most gallantly and carried me safely over into a narrow lane." [CM p. 81]
Plug was not his only horse. He had a favorite show horse named Yorkshire, but when it came to crunch time Williams would be found atop Plug. During the muddy winter quarters at Stafford in 1863 he writes:
"I rode yesterday my "Yorkshire." I have not been on his back for over a month, preferring to ride "Plug Ugly" over these rough and muddy roads. "Yorkshire" never looked so well as now. He has grown large and muscular since we left Detroit. Considering his thin skin and soft hair he stands exposure wonderfully, though Charley is as careful of him as a mother of a baby. The horse is admired by everybody and pronounced by all as the finest animal in the army." [CM/ p.166]
At the height of the desperate night battle at Chancellorsville, Williams was riding to rally a regiment of Berry's division, which, with his division, was astride the Orange Plank Road forming the Union last line of defense.
"I was passing through a low, muddy spot, when a shell struck in the mud directly under my horse and exploded, throwing up the mud like a volcano. I felt as if I was lifted ten feet in the air, and supposed, of course, my horse (old Plug Ugly) was clean gone in all his under-works. I dismounted in haste and found he was bleeding pretty freely, but, strange to say, not seriously wounded and only in three or four places. It was probably a percussion shell which buried itself below the mud so deep till it reached the hard earth, that the superincumbent pressure gave a low direction to the pieces, and thus saved both horse and myself."
"I felt as if I was lifted ten feet in the air, and supposed, of course, my horse (old Plug Ugly) was clean gone in all his under-works."
Plug_Ugly_Picture:_Still_Looking_for_one
Plug Ugly's Story
All Civil War aficionados are familiar with Lee's horse Traveler, Stonewall's Little Sorrel, Grant's Cincinnati and Sheridan's Rienzi, but who knows about Plug Ugly? If Alpheus Williams was an unsung hero, then so was his battle mount Plug Ugly. Partly because Plug Ugly's story, which is metaphoric of the frequent fate of living beings in war, and partly because his name describes the American Civil War more closely than his more famous equine cousin's, I have named this project in his honor.
While I have yet to find a picture of "old Plug", I have come to know about him through William's incidental mention of him, particularly when he was essential in saving William's life. That Williams' somehow managed to go through the war unwounded was due in no small part to Plug. Unlike Williams, Plug would not survive the war. Yet, Williams' endearing descriptions of him present us with another unsung hero.
The first mentions of Plug is in Williams' description of the Union defeat at Winchester in May 1862 as quoted below. Plug is not mentioned by name, but it may be implied from later writings that it is him.
"As we reached the brow of the hill a most terrific fire of infantry was opened upon us from a long line which extended beyond my extreme right. The air seemed literally to be full of whizzing bullets, which stirred up currents of wind as if the atmosphere had suddenly been filled with some invisible cooling process. The cavalry could do nothing before such an overwhelming force and it went down with great rapidity. I stopped just long enough to know that I could see nothing of value through the smoke in front, and looking to the left I saw the whole line of the brigade retiring in order and yet rapidly to the rear. I put spurs to my horse, descended partly down the hill and was beginning to think I should spend a time in Richmond if I did not hurry, especially as I was penned in by a heavy stone wall. I dashed my horse at a point where two or three stones appeared to have been knocked off the top and although he is a pretty heavy beast (not my favorite gift horse) I think he appreciated the occasion for he cleared the wall most gallantly and carried me safely over into a narrow lane." [CM p. 81]
Plug was not his only horse. He had a favorite show horse named Yorkshire, but when it came to crunch time Williams would be found atop Plug. During the muddy winter quarters at Stafford in 1863 he writes:
"I rode yesterday my "Yorkshire." I have not been on his back for over a month, preferring to ride "Plug Ugly" over these rough and muddy roads. "Yorkshire" never looked so well as now. He has grown large and muscular since we left Detroit. Considering his thin skin and soft hair he stands exposure wonderfully, though Charley is as careful of him as a mother of a baby. The horse is admired by everybody and pronounced by all as the finest animal in the army." [CM/ p.166]
At the height of the desperate night battle at Chancellorsville, Williams was riding to rally a regiment of Berry's division, which, with his division, was astride the Orange Plank Road forming the Union last line of defense.
"I was passing through a low, muddy spot, when a shell struck in the mud directly under my horse and exploded, throwing up the mud like a volcano. I felt as if I was lifted ten feet in the air, and supposed, of course, my horse (old Plug Ugly) was clean gone in all his under-works. I dismounted in haste and found he was bleeding pretty freely, but, strange to say, not seriously wounded and only in three or four places. It was probably a percussion shell which buried itself below the mud so deep till it reached the hard earth, that the superincumbent pressure gave a low direction to the pieces, and thus saved both horse and myself."
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
Ugly Horse Pictures Images Wallpapers Photos 2013
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