Did George Washington ride sidesaddle?

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Accepted answer

It appears that this was almost certainly not the case. Here are some of the things contemporaries said of Washington's horsemanship during the revolution:

"the best horseman of his age, and the most graceful figure that could be seen on horseback." - Thomas Jefferson

"a very excellent and bold horseman, leaping the highest fences, and going extremely quick, without standing upon his stirrups, bearing on the bridle, or letting his horse run wild." - Marquis de Chastellux

These feats are quite frankly physically impossible on a sidesaddle without use of something like a two-pommel sidesaddle, which was not invented until the 1830's.

The impact of the second pommel was revolutionary; the additional horn gave women both increased security and additional freedom of movement when riding sidesaddle, which allowed them to stay on at a gallop and even to jump fences

Additionally, if you check out the Wikipedia entry for Men on the sidesaddle lists some specialty cases where it might prove useful, but no mention whatsoever of someone as famous as a Washington or Jefferson. While that isn't evidence to the contrary, it is certainly the case that there's no evidence I could find supporting their use in places that really ought to have it.

Upvote:13

I passed the question to the professional historians at Mt Vernon (Washington's home).

The Mt. Vernon research historian provided the following information, which I'll quote.

Interesting...I've been on the staff here at Mount Vernon for almost 34 years and have never heard anything about Washington riding sidesaddle.

I think what people might be thinking of is Washington's physical condition at the Battle of the Monongahela (aka Braddock's Defeat) on July 9, 1755. Then 23 years old, Washington had been suffering from pain, fever, and delirium since mid-June and was very weak. Here is how Washington biographer Douglas Southall Freeman described his condition on that day: "George's responsibility was neither for strategy nor for tactics but for being mounted and afield on the day of all days in his life of twenty-three yeas. His fever and pain were gone; but they had left him with his muscles so weakened that he did not know whether he could endure the jolt of a fast-moving horse. He determined to try it, and, to lessen his ordeal, he procured cushions and tied them into his saddle..." (From: Douglas Southall Freeman, George Washington: A Biography (New York: Charles Scribner's Sons, 1948), 2:51-64; quote on page 2:64)

Many years after the battle, George Washington wrote this about himself at the start of the action that day: "...the first division approached the Monongahela 10 miles short of Fort Duquesne the 8th. of July; and which time and place having so far recovered from a severe fever and delirium from which he had been rescued by James's powder, administ[er]ed by the positive order of the Genl. as to travel in a covered Waggon [sic], he [Washington] joined him [Braddock] and the next day tho' much reduced and very weak mounted his horse on cushions, and attended as one of his aids [sic]." (From: The Writings of George Washington from the Original Manuscript Sources, 1745-1799, 39 volumes, edited by John C. Fitzpatrick (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1931-1944), 29:42)

I have attached some information on horses & horsemanship at Mount Vernon, which contains a section on descriptions of Washington as a horseman, which may be helpful for your research.

Mt Vernon provided a supplemental reference that seems to be every time that Washington was mentioned with a horse. This is quite a large document and as such inappropriate for posting to SE.

Mt. Vernon granted permission to share the information, but I'm going to withold the researcher's name; unless she grants explicit permission, I'd rather err on the side of privacy.

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