Why is the McClellan so important to us? We are Civil War re-enactors and we are on a budget like everyone else. We enjoy this hobby and would like to see more people get involved. Cutting the cost of equipment may help encourage those that are interested. Also Debra (the lady that owns this company) has found out that her g-g-great grandfather was cousin to three Civil War cavalry Generals. This list includes General John Buford of Gettysburg fame, John's half brother Gen. N.B. Buford, both of the Union army and Brigadier General Abraham Buford of the CSA. Abraham Buford's command was transferred to Brigadier General John Hunt Morgan of the notorious "Morgan's Raiders".
Pictures of 1859 Model
For those of you not familiar with the McClellan saddle this is for you. This is the invention of General George B. McClellan. The primary purpose of this rig was for cavalry use and the design was centered around the comfort of the horse. It was first built before the Civil War and was adopted by the army about 1859, thus the name and model of the saddle. The seat is of an uncovered rawhide tree. The straps hanging from the front and back of the seat are coat straps. As you can guess, you would roll up your coat and blankets and strap them on. Other hardware is in place for breast collar, saddle bag, canteen and other items for attaching weapons such as several extra pistols and perhaps a carbine. I would also like to point out the hooded stirrups. The picture in the center was lightened to show the hollow gullet, or the hole down the center. This "hole" may be cause for concern about comfort and is a subject of conversation between users and nonusers of this saddle. From my experience it is not a bad ride at all. If you have sat on a five gallon bucket while going down a gravel road in the back of a pickup then you have rode worse.
After the Civil war the saddle was modified several times. The main differences in the later models was that the rawhide tree/seat was given a leather covering top and bottom and the tree was widened for larger horses. Most of the reproductions of these have a quarterhorse frame. They are wider than the originals to better fit today's bigger horses. The pictures below are of a modern commercial riding model (early 1900's ?) that may or may not be patterned after a military model but do show the leather covered seat.
We hope that this has been informative for you and that it was enjoyable. I would personally like to thank our beautiful model Annieblue for displaying the saddles for us and Debra and Paul for taking such nice Pictures. The 1859 model was built by Carrico's Leatherworks of Edna, Kansas.--BJ
McClellan Saddles offered for sale from Carrico's Leatherworks (click here)
For more pictures of 1859 model in action please see our Civil War Re-enactment photo page.