Artifact 1 - HEC-TV

Artifact 1:
Artifact 2:
Artifact 3:
Artifact 4:
For Teacher Use Only: The information below identifies and describes each artifact
used in this activity. Please do not reveal this information to the students while
conducting the activity with them. The goal of the activity is for them to “think like an
historian” and try to determine what they think the object is, how it was make, how it was
used, etc. as they look at it. If you are participating in the live program, the students will
learn the nature of each object during the program so do not reveal it to them prior to the
program. If you are viewing the archived program, the time-coded archived program
agenda lets you know in what part of the program the artifacts are identified so you can
let students learn as you view that segment.
Artifact 1: Grimsley Saddle
Adopted by the U.S. Army in 1847 this saddle was designed for the cavalry by Thornton
Grimsley a saddle maker operating in St. Louis. The saddle was the primary saddle for
mounted troops until the Civil War.
Artifact 2: Print, Lt. Col. Robert E. Lee, 2nd Cavalry, from Harpers Weekly, 1861
This image of Robert E. Lee shows him during his time in the 2nd Cavalry. The unit was
formed at Jefferson Barracks in 1855, and Lee was one of its original officers. Handpicked by then Secretary of War Jefferson Davis, 11 of the unit’s officers would go on to
be Confederate Generals.
Artifact 3: Sioux War Club, ca. 1870
This club reportedly belonged to Chief Red Cloud of the Sioux. Plains Indians like the
Sioux had their land over-run by white settlers. This migration accelerated in the years
following the Civil War leading to outbreaks of violence. Quelling this violence was the
prime directive of the Cavalry in the post- Civil War period.
Artifact 4: U.S. Army Issue Buffalo Coat, ca. 1880 The earliest recruits of the 10th Cavalry, known as the Buffalo Soldier, came through
Jefferson Barracks in 1866. As the Cavalry Recruit Depot beginning in 1878 all new
recruits for Buffalo Soldier cavalry units would train at Jefferson Barracks.