"Morning Glory:" Canada's Faithful Charger
Horses were a vital part of the First World War (1914-1918). They were used for a variety of purposes beyond their offensive role in the cavalry - including recognisance, message-relay, and transport. In rough terrain, especially the deep mud that plagued the trenches, horses often far outperformed mechanized vehicles. Equines (horses, mules, and donkeys) served essential functions by moving artillery, supplies, ambulances, and field kitchens where they were needed.
The unimaginable conditions on the front taxed man and equine alike. Many soldiers developed deep bonds with their hooved compatriots. John McCrae, author of “In Flanders Fields” took his own mount “Bonfire” overseas and was known to stamp his letters home with the hoof print of his beloved horse.
Canada sent over 130,000 horses overseas during the Great War. Canadian horses ended up supplying some 10% of the horses used on the Western Front. Most famous of the Canadian horses to make the journey was “Morning Glory,” often referred to as Canada’s version of the great horse “Warrior.”*
Morning Glory was owned by Lt. Col. George “Harry” Baker in the eastern township of Brome County Quebec. Baker was a lawyer in Montreal and MP for Brome and served as a part-time soldier, leading a division called the 5th Canadian Mounted Rifles. When Baker (aged 38) and the Mounted Rifles arrived in England in 1915, they were reclassified as infantry and separated from their horses. Morning Glory and the rest of the mounts belonging to the division were sent to France.
Baker came across Morning Glory on occasion and his correspondence home spoke of his hopes to get her back. Sadly this was not to be. Baker was killed on June 2, 1916 during the Battle of Ypres. Morning Glory escaped the mud of the trenches by catching the eye of a battalion commander who took her as his personal mount.
At the end of the war, a friend of Baker named General Dennis Draper managed to ship Morning Glory back from Europe as a final salute to his fallen friend. This was a highly unusual occurrence made possible by fact that the lucky horse was never deployed into battle. Morning Glory lived out her days at peace in Brome County, where she worked for a time carrying the local mailman on his route. When she passed at age 26 in 1936, she was buried at Baker Pond. A worn brass plaque marks the place of this “faithful charger.”
*See last year’s Remembrance Day newsletter here for an article on Warrior ("The horse the Germans couldn’t kill")
