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Samuel Ringgold 1800-1846 Written by

For twenty years after West Point, Ringgold’s military career gave little hint of special distinction. But in 1838 he received orders to create the U.S. Army’s first “horse artillery” battery. Horses had always pulled the guns and caissons (ammunition wagons), but in this new formation, gunners rode their own horses.

Ringgold’s battery comprised six guns, each followed by twelve mounted gunners, plus caissons and other gear. Drilled to near perfection, they took only minutes to gallop up, dismount, unlimber their guns, fire, remount, and gallop to a new position, a show so impressive the army used it for recruiting.

Ringgold proved that his battery was not just for show at the Battle of Palo Alto (1846). His guns almost single-handedly repulsed repeated Mexican attacks. In the moment of triumph, Ringgold fell to a Mexican cannon ball, becoming the first American killed in the Mexican War and the war’s first hero.