Billy Buskin’s Bridle

Bridle of Civil War horse, Billy Buskin. The horse was Mr. Francis Chase’s saddle horse he rode all through the Civil War. Mr. Chase was a wagon master of an ammunition train. The horse was given to Mr. Chase by the government when he received his discharge. The horse lived to be over 30 years old. Mr. Chase had a dog named Captain and he lived to be a very old dog and was a constant companion to Billy Buskin and Mr.Chase.” (Letter received from Mr. Fred W. Chase, grandson of Mr. Francis E. Chase, June 3, 1964.) The horse and the dog are buried side by side on the former Chase farm in Wilmot Flat. The G.A.R. of Wilmot started the custom of putting a flag on the horse’s grave each Memorial Day, and the custom has been followed each year. In 1973, Myrtle T. Newcomb, who lived on the former Chase farm gave the town a parcel of land enclosing the Civil War graves of horse Billy Buskin and dog Captain. The Bicentennial Committee placed a plaque at the site near Chase Pond. The marker reads “This plaque marks the grave of Billy Buskin, a horse ridden through the Civil War by Captain Francis E. Chase who lived across the road.” The horse’s bridal was given to the Wilmot Historical Society by Mr. Chase’s great-great Grandson, Edward F. Chase of Plymouth, NH, and is in their room at the old schoolhouse in Wilmot Flat. – From “Glimpse of the Past” by Florence Langley.