For BrassMonkey -
Legend has it that George Washington created the first groomsman hitching post, or "Jocko," in honor of the frozen slave in the 1770s.
According to Florida Atlantic University history professor Kenneth W. Goings, in his book Mammy and Uncle Mose (Indiana University Press), Gen. Washington wanted to mount a surprise attack on a British encampment during the Revolutionary War. Several blacks ? slaves and free men ? joined the group.
A young black man named Tom Graves wanted to fight but Washington said he was too young and asked the boy to hold a lantern for the troops as they crossed the Delaware, Goings writes. (Some versions of this story say it was Graves? son, "Jocko," a nickname or given name, who died holding the reins of the horses.)
Another version of the story:
When the troops rowed back after the battle, instead of finding their horses hitched to a post, the reins were in the hands of Graves, who had frozen to death. Washington was moved by the boy?s dedication, Goings writes, and ordered a statue made in his honor.
All night long Jocko Graves had stood there freezing from the ice and snow. he had crossed earlier with his father; Tom Graves. Tom was among the sixty Negro volunteer troops in Washington's immediate command. When the patriots were needed to take care and herd the horses on the Jersey side, Graves was among the volunteers. His son, Jocko, having the attributes of a normal boy, tagged along with his father. When the horses were gathered, someone asked, "who will hold the General's horses?" Jocko was quick to step forward, saying, "I will."
When George Washington realized the supreme sacrifice made by the little Negro boy, he was very much impressed. He told his officers about it and they in turn told their men whose hopes and valor were restored as if by magic. The Colonials charged the Red Coats and Hessians at Trenton, routing the garrison, killing and capturing over 1,000 royalists. Only four patriots died; two in battle and two frozen to death. Jocko is counted among the latter.
It was the turning point for Washington. Nicholas Cresswell who knew the father of our country personally; wrote the following:
Six weeks ago, I was lamenting the unhappy situation of the Americans and crying the wretched conditions of the much beloved General... But now the scale turned and Washington's name is extolled to the clouds.
After the War, and after serving as the first President of the United States, George Washington returned to his estate at Mount Vernon. There he ordered two sculptures to be erected commemorating America's great political and military crisis: A Dove of Peace in iron-work was added to the cupola as a weather vane and a statue of Jocko stepping bravely forward to hold the horses as if saying, "I will, " was set up on the lawn before the mansion.
Others think the black lawn jockeys were representative of blacks? role in organized horse racing. But this connection has been strongly disputed.
http://www.loudounhistory.org/histor...ey-statues.htm