Whispers from the Tent

"Men’s achievements have been enlarged by horses almost as if the animals’ plangent silence implied what could never be merely said. Napoleon’s famous horse Marengo, George Washington’s gray Arab Magnolia, Grant’s horse Cincinnati, Lee’s horse Traveller, and Comanche, the one horse to survive the battle of the Little Big Horn, were regarded with awe because horses, even the bones of horses, remember everything."

— Tom McGuane

Napoleon's horse Marengo, a purebred Arabian.

 General Washington’s horse Magnolia, was chestnut, not grey, as some have stated. He was mostly used for racing. Another of Washington's mounts was Nelson, his favorite to ride in battle. Blueskin was another favored riding horse. He is the grey who was most often painted with Washington. He was supposedly Half-Arabian, while Magnolia, was thought to be a purebred.

Grant’s horse Cincinnati

General Robert E. Lee on his horse Traveller

Comanche, the sole surviving horse in the Battle of the Little Big Horn