7tncav

During the late 1850s the U.S. War Department,
under the recommendations of the Secretary of War,
Jefferson Davis, conducted experiments in the field
on equestrian equipment for mounted troops. A Lt.
Walter H. Jenifer served in Company A, 2nd U.S.
Cavalry at the time and was intrigued by the
experiments for improved horse equipment. Taking
note of the strengths and weaknesses of the saddles
being considered, Jenifer invented his own design.
Although his pattern was submitted too late for
consideration in the field experiment, Jenifer was
granted a patent in 1860.

The Baltimore native borrowed the rawhide cover
from the Hope for strength, mixed the pommel and
cantle from the Grimsley Dragoon and the McClellan,
and incorporated the flat seat of the English saddle
that was commonly used in his native Maryland for
his design. His concept of combining the attributes of
several saddle patterns into one may have seemed
logical in theory, but in practice it was a different
story. Jenifer was further hampered by the fact that
he was not a saddle maker and his design would be
subject to the interpretations of local saddlers.

Upon secession of the Southern sates in 1861,
Jenifer, whose loyalties lay with the South, offered
his design to the Confederate government. It was
accepted and prescribed in the Confederate
Regulations as the official saddle for mounted
troops. Under the directions of Col. Gorgas of the
Ordnance Department the details for measurements
and material for the Jenifer saddle were prescribed
and sent to various saddlers in the Confederacy for
manufacture.

The majority of the Jenifers were sent to the cavalry
in the east, where they quickly encountered disfavor
from the troops. The flat seat would have been fine
for a well-fed horse under normal conditions, but with
a reduction in the horse's weight, which often
occurred during the rigors of campaign, the saddle
would rub raw the withers and backbone. Many of the
manufacturers took liberty with the design, altering
the structure of the pommel and cantle, which usually
added to its defects. The saddle was so abhorred
that by the spring of 1863, even Gen. Lee wrote the
Ordnance Department to deplore it and recommend
a change. Several "improvements" in the Jenifer
were authorized but did little to rectify the situation. In
the middle of this, Walter Jenifer sued the
Confederate government for patent infringement.
Jenifer was eventually paid off and the saddle that
bore his name was replaced with the more suitable
McClellan and Hope patterns.

Cris Malone