365
Days in Horse Country – Marengo
I’ve said it before and I will say it again; behind, or rather
beneath, every great war hero is a good horse.
This too is true of Napoleon. The
horse that carried him through many battles was a gray Arabian stallion named
Marengo.
According to legend, Napoleon rode Marengo in all of his major battles, from Moscow to Waterloo. The horse was supposedly captured by Napoleon’s army in Egypt after a battle, and soon became Napoleon’s mount.
Because no official record exists of Marengo in Napoleon’s stable registers, some historians believe the name Marengo may have been a nickname for a horse named Ali, who was ridden extensively by Napoleon.
The great general reportedly liked giving nicknames to both horses and people, and just about every horse he rode had one.
After the battle of Waterloo, Marengo was captured by British forces and taken to England where he was put on exhibition. When Marengo died in 1831, his remains were sent to London Hospital to be prepared for display. The hid was lost, but the skeleton was kept at the Royal United Institute Museum in London for public viewing.
Michael