When and where was the horse Traveller born?
A colt named Jeff Davis was born in 1857 near the Blue Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, Virginia. His sire was Grey Eagle, a notable Thoroughbred racehorse of that era.
A colt named Jeff Davis was born in 1857 near the Blue Sulphur Springs in Greenbrier County, Virginia. His sire was Grey Eagle, a notable Thoroughbred racehorse of that era.
Captain Joseph M. Broun sold the animal to General Robert E. Lee in February 1862 for $200. Lee immediately renamed him Traveller after purchasing him from Broun.
The startled animal plunged and pulled Lee down onto a stump at the Second Battle of Bull Run. Both of Lee's hands were broken in the fall resulting from this incident.
Traveller stepped on a nail in 1871 which caused tetanus an untreatable disease at that time. Soldiers shot the horse to end his suffering following the infection.
In 1971 the remains were finally interred in a concrete-encased wooden box near the chapel at Washington and Lee University. The skeleton had been returned to the college by Joseph Bryan in 1907 before its final burial.