As with the military, our armed forces' final farewell to comrades is steeped in tradition and ceremony. Prominent in a military funeral is the flag-draped casket. The blue field of the flag is placed at the head of the casket, over the left shoulder of the deceased. The custom began in the Napoleonic Wars of the late 18th and early 19th centuries, when a flag was used to cover the dead as they were taken from the battlefield on a caisson. Horses pull a flag draped casket on a black artillery caisson. Both men and horses are conscious that this is no ordinary ride through a cool, shady countryside. They have the honor of carrying a comrade for his last ride thru the Cemetery to his burial site where he/she will rest in peace with other honored deceased.