84 The Arab Horse 



one of them produced the great race horse 

 Limestone, and another the dam of Dor- 

 sey's Golddust. General W. T. Withers, 

 one of the most successful breeders of 

 trotters in Kentucky, had two or three 

 mares in his stud sired by one of the Keene 

 Richards Arabs, that he considered the 

 choicest of any he had. In 1861 the Civil 

 War burst upon the land, and the Keene 

 Richards' s Arabs were scattered and lost, 

 as were other valuable animals of other 

 breeds. 



It is told that after the battle of Pitts- 

 burgh Landing (Shiloh) the Confederate 

 General Breckenridge went to George- 

 tow^n, Kentucky, to Mr. Richards, begging 

 conveyance to Virginia as quickly as 

 possible, as the Federal troops were pur- 

 suing him. Richards had nothing to offer 

 but a pair of three year old half-bred 

 Arab fillies. These he hitched to a buck- 

 board and started. The Federals pur- 

 sued on thoroughbred horses, but though 

 they gained for a while, their bolt was 

 soon shot, and they had to draw rein. 



