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On October 3rd, 1856, Geo. McClellan forwarded a proposal for improvements for horse equipments and request to prepare a sample set for consideration to Secty of War Davis. A quick review of his proposal will show what has been a dilemma for many a student of this saddle style. McClellan describes a saddle that has nothing to do with the design that he delivered in late December, 1856.

Here's the letter in full: https://www.militaryhorse.org/mcclellan ... 3-oct-1856

So.... what's the situation?

Not a terribly ‘McClellan’ looking saddle!

Indeed!

Todd wrote: ↑Tue May 08, 2018 7:14 am On October 3rd, 1856, Geo. McClellan forwarded a proposal for improvements for horse equipments and request to prepare a sample set for consideration to Secty of War Davis. A quick review of his proposal will show what has been a dilemma for many a student of this saddle style. McClellan describes a saddle that has nothing to do with the design that he delivered in late December, 1856.

Here's the letter in full: https://www.militaryhorse.org/mcclellan ... 3-oct-1856

So.... what's the situation?

Quoting my own post - that's awkward.

Let's define this some more - if this was the design that he recommended, and is alleged to have had approved to make - he completely failed. Indeed, he would have (essentially) disobeyed orders by making a saddle design that had no connection to the European designs referred to in his initial proposal.

Smells a bit fishy, does it not?

OK - just to make things fun....

Does ANYONE have any first hand evidence that Capt. George Brinton McClellan actually invented/designed the saddle that bears his name?

A serious question.

Just to poke the bear, yet again...

I've been studying and researching US military saddles for years. In the case of the McClellan, since 1984.

Having come to the realization that the more common published resources are highly flawed, I dug into the actual source material and started tracking down the occasionally footnoted original citations.

A recent find of a true treasure trove of primary data has brought a peculiar fact to light - there is NO direct evidence that George B. McClellan actually designed the saddle that bears his name.

Of course, that begs the question of 'how did this come to pass'? Working on finishing up a series of short articles that should shed a lot of light on this one - and as you might expect, it's far more interesting then the image of Capt. George sitting there whittling away on his saddle model...

I am not surprised to hear this.
In my experience research in primary documents can often reveal different stories than those presented in some works that could/should be more properly classified as fiction than as reference works.

Todd wrote: ↑Tue Oct 23, 2018 8:06 am Just to poke the bear, yet again...

I've been studying and researching US military saddles for years. In the case of the McClellan, since 1984.

Having come to the realization that the more common published resources are highly flawed, I dug into the actual source material and started tracking down the occasionally footnoted original citations.

A recent find of a true treasure trove of primary data has brought a peculiar fact to light - there is NO direct evidence that George B. McClellan actually designed the saddle that bears his name.

Of course, that begs the question of 'how did this come to pass'? Working on finishing up a series of short articles that should shed a lot of light on this one - and as you might expect, it's far more interesting then the image of Capt. George sitting there whittling away on his saddle model...

Really looking forward to the articles!

The Hungarian Boch saddle in the illustration with McClellan's letter is quite similar to the Prussian saddle of 1864 and the Prussian saddle of 1873. These were used to some extent by German/Prussian cavalry but were much more commonly used by German/Prussian Field Artillery and Trains: https://www.lovettartillery.com/Field%2 ... rness.html

Ralph Lovett wrote: ↑Fri Feb 01, 2019 2:19 am The Hungarian Boch saddle in the illustration with McClellan's letter is quite similar to the Prussian saddle of 1864 and the Prussian saddle of 1873. These were used to some extent by German/Prussian cavalry but were much more commonly used by German/Prussian Field Artillery and Trains: https://www.lovettartillery.com/Field%2 ... rness.html

Excellent pic!

It would be interesting to see a gallery of all the variations of this saddle form - the 'hammock' seat is ancient and widespread.

In Prussian service there was the 1808 Hungarian Bochsattel that has an all wooden tree. If the cover was used it was fabric padding. This is likely the closest to the drawing in McClellan's letter. The Prussian Bochsattel 1864 evolved from the 1808 with metal cantle and pommel. When a cover was used it was padded leather. The German/Prussian 1873 Bochsattel was the last obvious evolution of the classic Hungarian style Bochsattel in German/Prussian service. The 1873 also had a metal cantle and pommel but with a curved spoon shaped hook on the cantle instead of the straight hook on the cantle of the 1864. After the classic Bochsattels there was the 1889 German/Prussian cavalry saddle and a variation of this saddle I only see marked to Dragoon units with a leather covered spoon shaped hook on the cantle. The Bavarians went their on way with the Bavarian 1876 saddle. It and the Austro-Hungarian 1899 saddle both have trees that are similar to the Hungarian Bochsattel but with a very different pommel and cantle. The German/Prussian 1889 saddle eventually evolved into the German 1925 saddle that was in common WW2 service. I have a number of examples of all of these except the 1808 Prussian Bochsattel. There is also the Prussian Heavy Cavalry Saddle. I am not completely convinced the example I have is correct but have attached a photo of it anyway. I have not included the German Heavy Artillery saddles because there is no similarity to the Bochsattel or the McCallan but these are shown on my web link below. If you want to see these use the link below and follow the "Transportation" column on my German Artillery Related index page: https://www.lovettartillery.com/German% ... bKiWxVt984

There are a few of the other saddles on this link: https://www.lovettartillery.com/WW1_&%2 ... Index.html