An Irishman and a horse...

I remember when I was a little kid, my dad had country music records. Even then, I think I knew that country music wasn't my thing, but there are a few that stand out in my mind.... Johnny Cash, Hank Williams and Johnny Horton being the most favourable. Of these, only Johnny Horton seems to have been worthy of special remembrance, because, as I recall, his songs told stories... perhaps historical stories. One song in particular caught my fancy as a little girl... It was about a horse.... Comanche, the brave horse...  I remember that the horse hoof-beats sounded rather hokey, and I don't remember all the words, but the song is, for whatever reason, still here in my memory. 

A year ago, I think perhaps even before I started the blog, I had gone searching online for events that had happened on my birthday... deaths, births, disaster...  and in scrolling down a list, I clicked on several to read, but the only one that drew me in deeper was of one Irish Soldier, named Myles Keogh. I was intrigued, and subsequently somehow spellbound by his life... frankly, I was almost smitten.  I read whatever I could find online and was tempted to buy a couple books, but I couldn't justify the expense. Anyways, the more I learned about him, the more interesting he became.  Then one day I came across a most interesting piece of information. I already knew that he had fought in the American Civil War and that he had continued his life as a soldier, to eventually fight and die in the Battle of Little Bighorn.... Custer's Last Stand. What I found out afterwards is that Myles Keogh's horse..  his horse... that he rode as Captain of Company "I" ... that he rode one last time... into his last battle... was Comanche... that brave horse in a song that a little girl so many years ago remembers to this very day. I knew that Comanche had survived the battle, but what I didn't know is that he had been found on the battlefield wounded, and although common practice would have been to put him down, he was treated and nursed back to health. And... speaking of common practice...  it was common practice for the bodies of the enemy to be mutilated after battle, but for whatever reason, Myles' was not.  Tis a fascinating story indeed... and there is so much more which can be found here.  

March 25, 1840 - June 25, 1876