Beauregard’s Saddle

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Saddle, c. 1862. Paris, France

General Pierre G.T. Beauregard likely spared no expense when he ordered this custom pigskin saddle from a Paris firm while commander of Confederate forces in Charleston. Due to the Federal blockade, however, he never received it. Loaded aboard a blockade-runner destined for Charleston and New Orleans, the vessel was intercepted by a Union ship, which confiscated all its cargo and sent it north. The saddle was declared “confiscated goods” and subsequently auctioned off. Lieutenant Colonel Charles M. Wheldon, a Boston native serving under Benjamin Butler’s command, purchased the piece and kept it throughout his life. After his death in 1910, Wheldon’s widow presented the saddle to the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company in Boston of which her late husband was a member.

The saddle’s accompanying headstall, bit and breast strap are mounted with silver-plated brass bosses cast with the seal of the State of Louisiana, Beauregard’s home state. The saddle itself is of the hunt/cross country style with a high cantle and flat pommel similar to an English saddle, and is equipped with a pair of matching pigskin holsters and saddlebags. Three welded bars of nickel steel enclose the stirrups.

Still owned by the Ancient and Honorable Artillery Company, General Beauregard’s saddle has been brought to Charleston by the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust for the 150th anniversary of the Siege of Morris Island, one of the most pivotal events in the city’s Civil War history. Thanks to their help and support, the saddle will be exhibited here at the Charleston Museum through July 18, 2013.