A FAMOUS WAR HORSE.

New Zealand Illustrated Sporting & Dramatic Review, Volume XVII, Issue 985, 21 January 1909, Page 6

A FAMOUS WAR HORSE.

“ Old Faithful,” of the Fifth Field Artillery, Un’ted States army, has been ordered to be put on the retired lists with all the honours due to long and faithful service (says the “Breeder and Sportsman.”.) Old Faithful, who used to be known as Putnam, and later as Peking, is a horse, and there is not an officer or enlisted man in the entire service who has not listened to the stories of this old horse’s wonderful intelligence and his splendid battle record.

At the beginning of the SpanishAmerican war Putnam, as he was then called, was young and strong, and was earning a livelihood as a draught horse in New Haven, Conn. The Yale Battery was then organised, and among the animals procured for pulling the ordnance of that command was Putnam. Putnam took to army life as a duck does to water, and in less than six weeks what he didn’t know about pulling an artillery gun carriage was not worth knowing. The fame of the animal spread hroughout the regular and volunteer armies, and as one of the regular commands ordered to Cuba needed a firstclass intelligent artillery horse, Putnam was transferred to the regulars, and went to Cuba in time to take part in the campaign that ended in the capitulation at Santiago. He made such a fine record at El Caney and in the assaults on Santiago proper that when the war was over Putnam was brought back to the United States and sent to Fort Hamilton, in Brooklyn, as a “ casual” to recuperate from the strenuous service he had gone through.

A few months at Fort Hamilton made a new horse of Putnam, and early in 1899 he was ordered to Manila as one of the artillery horses of Battery F of the Fifth Field Artillery, under command of Capt. Reilly. The ’fa l ! of 1899 was one of the most strenuous in the historv of the Philippine war, and during October and November of that year old Putnam did the work of half a dozen horses, participating in every engagement i*iat the troops under General Swan fought in the expedition through Cavite Province.

The following year came the Boxer outbreaks in China and the organisation of the allied armies for the rescue of the Peking legations. The N’nth United States Infantry and a battery of field artillery were sent to China to represent the United States in that

advance, the commander of the Americans being Lieut.-General Adna R. Chaffee. The finest artillery horses in the Philippines were sent along to pull the field guns, and of course one of those horses was old Putnam. Putnam shared in every one of the engagements in which the allied forces participated, and long before Pekin was relieved he was the best known horse that ever trod Chinese soil. When the allied forces arrived in sight of Pekin, the old Yale horse, with another horse, known as Corregidor. was pulling the first of the American light field guns. The American artillerymen had orders to take a position on a hill overlooking Peking, and the gun that Peking and Corregidor were pulling was the first that was ordered into position. Just as they had started up the hill the traces behind Corregidor broke, and the artillerymen were in a quandary, when one of the gunners shouted: “ Cut Corregidor loose and let Peking pull it up by himself.” There was an answering yell of approval, and a moment later, straining every muscle, Peking started up Cat hill, and the soldiers tell to this day how he arrived there in time for the American gun to open fire first on the troubled city. Since that time Peking has had but one name, Old Faithful, and under this he has been ordered retired by the War Department. After the Chinese problem was solved. Peking went back to his old regiment in the Philippines, where he has since served on duty every day until a few weeks ago. Under the American laws no horse can be brought back to the United States from the Philippines on account of certain diseases they are subject to on the islands, which might infect the animals at home. Col. Brown did not want Old Faithful sold to the Manila cart peddlers, and he recommended to General Pershing, the department commnader, that the long and splendid services of Old Faithful entitled him to an old age of peace and comfort at the expense of the United States Government. General Pershing agreed with him, and so did General Weston, the commander in chief in the Philippines. Now the Secretary of War has acquiesced, and from now till the end of his life Old Faithful will be cared for by the Government he has served so long and well.