Bendabout Farm players prepare for their match with the 6th Cavalry.
Bendabout Farm plays their final match against the 6th Cavalry team at The Post at Fort Oglethorpe, just before the U.S. entered World War II.
Museum representatives will be there to answer questions and accept donations.
The 6th Cavalry, stationed at Fort Oglethorpe from 1919-42, has a rich history of championship polo. The 6th Cavalry competed against other cavalry teams, as well as civilian teams who took to the polo field on Barnhardt Circle in Fort Oglethorpe. They often entertained huge crowds on Sunday afternoons. Polo matches between Bendabout Farm and the 6th Cavalry at Fort Oglethorpe date back to the 1930s.
According to the late Robert Easterly, who played on the Bendabout Farm team, the last polo match between the 6th Cavalry and Bendabout Farm was scheduled to have been played on Sunday, Dec. 7, 1941 but news of the bombing of Pearl Harbor put the post at Fort Oglethorpe on alert. By dawn Dec. 8, 6th Cavalry troops were patrolling Chickamauga Dam with live ammunition.
The matches are open to the public. Admission is free, and there is plenty of free parking. Bendabout Farm is at 3553 S. Lee Highway in McDonald, Tenn., just south of Cleveland on Hwy. 11. Signs will mark the entry. Limited bleacher seating is available, or you may bring folding chairs. In case of inclement weather, matches may be canceled. For more information on Bendabout Farm, call 423-476-6602 or visiting bendabout.com.
The 6th Cavalry Museum preserves the military history of the “Fighting Sixth” Cavalry. The museum is on the original parade ground/polo field, and he area is listed on the National Register of Historic Sites, surrounded by officers’ homes and other historical buildings. The museum houses artifacts, uniforms, weapons, accouterments, photos, a Patton tank and a Cobra gunship helicopter. For more information, visit 6thcavalrymuseum.org.
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