The white
face on the horse purchased from the government in 1861 by
General George G. Meade suggested the name "Baldy".
Baldy was ridden by General David Hunter at the battle of First
Bull Run. Twice wounded in that battle, the horse was returned
to the government herd. At first General Mead though little
of his new horse, and was concerned that the princely sum of
$150 which he paid for him brought him "no luck with horses."
During
the Civil War it was considered most important that army
commanders lead their troops by example. On their
horses, urging their men forward, they became prime targets
for opposing riflemen. The bullets and shells intended
for their masters often found their mark instead in the horses
that they rode. As a brigade commander, General Meade
first rode Baldy at the battle of Second Bull Run, where Baldy
was shot in the leg. His wound healed, General Meade
again rode him at the battle of Antietam, where Baldy was seriously
wounded in the neck by a Confederate minie ball.
Baldy saw
action again during the battles of Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville. At the Battle of Gettysburg, a
Confederate bulled passed within an inch of General Meade's
thigh and slammed into Old Baldy. Meade sent the horse
to the rear thinking he would never ride him again.
Old Baldy
returned to service with General Meade and received the last
of his fourteen wounds at the Battle of Weldon Railroad,
in August, 1864. That winter, the General retired Baldy to
a stable at Jenkintown, outside of Philadelphia. General
Meade often rode Baldy, especially through Fairmount Park,
of which the General was the first commissioner. When Meade
died in 1872, Old Baldy served as the "riderless horse" at
his funeral.
Old Baldy
survived the General by ten years, dying in 1882 at the age
of thirty. On Christmas Day of that year, nine days after
his death, Old Baldy was "resurrected" by two
admirers of General Meade, Harry W. Hervey and Albert C. Johnston.
They had Old Baldy's head preserved and then mounted on an
ebony shield on which they inscribed his service record. Old
Baldy was then presented to Gen. George G. Meade Post #1, Grand
Army of the Republic, of Philadelphia.
The head
of Old Baldy was cleaned and restored in 1991, and now reposes
in a place of honor in the Major
General George Gordon Meade Room.
