CONFEDERATE SADDLES

British Hussar’s Saddle (c. 1850's) British Hussar’s saddle and equipment used by Capt. Morgan of Her Majesty’s 17th Royal Lancers in the famous "Charge of the Light Brigade" at Balaklava in the Crimean War of 1854. This pattern of British Hussars saddle dates back at least to the early 1850's and possibly earlier. A nearly identical pattern of this saddle was given by British admirers to Gen. T J. "Stonewall" Jackson just a few months before his death. It is on display today atop his stuffed horse "Lil Sorrel" at the V.M.I. Museum in Lexington, Va. Many hundreds of these saddles were imported by the Confederacy during the war and preferred by Confederate officers over the new British Universal Pattern of 1856. A "set" purchased by Confederate officers usually included a numnah pad, valise, British bridle with bit (often a halter-bridle) and sometimes a shoe pouch and other accessories. This pattern is known by our British friends as the "MKI". It was used as primarily an officer’s (and artillery) saddle and with only slight changes until about 1903. Very few of this early pattern survive today. Note the striking similarity between the "scalloped" breast strap and crupper ornamentation and the "scalloped" bit boss of the South’s English imported "C" boss bit.