Hold Your Horses
Civil War Museum
August 24, 2019 - December 1, 2019
The 1st Wisconsin Cavalry trained in Kenosha at Camp Harvey from November 1861 to March 1862, which was set up south of Kenosha near Lake Michigan, where Greenridge cemetery is now. The men spent the winter in Sibley tents like this one, which housed up to 16 at one time, their bedrolls arranged from the center like spikes of a wheel.
800 men arrived by train with 100 horses to share between them. More horses arrived throughout the winter, but any man who owned a horse and used it while serving was paid by the government 40 cents a day.
The “Hold Your Horses!” exhibit at the Civil War Museum tells the story of the cavalry training camp and how soldiers and horses alike trained for battle. The exhibit is on view now through mid September.
