Jayne:
Below is an article that I posted sometime ago on horses in the Civil War.
The life span of a CW horse was 6 months, and they endured much hardship and suffering during their brief army careers. I know that as a fellow horse lover you can well appreciate the courage of these heroic equines, and their enormous, indelible contributions throughout history.
The Horse in the Civil War
"Although few people realize it, the horse was the backbone of the Civil War. Horses moved guns and ambulances, carried generals and messages, and usually gave all they had. An instruction from Major General William T. Sherman to his troops shows the value of the horse to the army:
"Every opportunity at a halt during a march should be taken advantage of to cut grass, wheat, or oats and extraordinary care be taken of the horses upon which everything depends."
The total number of horses and mules killed in the Civil War mounts up to more than one million. In the beginning of the war, more horses were being killed than men. The number killed at the Battle of Gettysburg totaled around 1,500. The Union lost 881 horses and mules, and the Confederacy lost 619.
It is the great misfortune of horses that they can be saddle-broken and tamed. If the horse was more like an ox, not suited for riding, the war would have been drastically different. But no matter what the horses were put through, they soldiered on. Whether plodding through choking dust, struggling through mud, rushing up to a position at a gallop, or creeping backward in a fighting withdrawal, the horses always did what they had to do. They served their masters.
The Cavalry Troops
At the start of the war, the Northern states held approximately 3.4 million horses, while there were 1.7 million in the Confederate states. The border states of Missouri and Kentucky had an extra 800,000 horses. In addition, there were 100,000 mules in the North, 800,000 in the seceding states and 200,000 in Kentucky and Missouri. During the war, the Union used over 825,000 horses. The average price of a horse was $150.00 a head. Occasionally, high-class horses were found, but the reverse was commonly true.
The South furnished - involuntarily - many horses to the North. Most of the fighting was done on Southern soil, and the local horses were easily seized by Northern troops. While Confederates had opportunities to take Northern horses during Robert E. Lee's invasion of Pennsylvania and upon the occasional raids into Northern territory, the number taken was small compared to the thousands commandeered by Union troops, who occupied large areas of the South for several years.
The Northerners were not the only ones to make off with horses. Both the North and the South soon began to take horses that belonged to enemy allies. This was often done not out of necessity but simply to deprive the enemy of horses.
Early in the war, the Confederate cavalry was superior. The theory was that in the South the lack of good roads had forced Southerners to travel by horseback from boyhood, while in the North a generation had been riding in carriages and other wheeled vehicles. Although this may have been true, rural young men in the North were also horsemen by necessity, but unlike many of the Southern boys, they had to bear the tedious burden of caring for their animals after plowing behind them all day. Young Northerners who knew horses seemed to have little desire to assume the responsibility of taking them to war, and instead joined the infantry.
In the South, long before the war, young men organized themselves into mounted militia companies, often with passionate names. Although these may have been more social than military, the men learned how to drill, ride daringly, and charge with the saber.
Southern cavalry horses were also superior to Northern horses, largely because of the Southern penchant for racing. Nearly every Southern town had a track, and the sport developed a superior stock of pure-blooded, fleet-footed animals. In the North, the stocky, strong draft horses were preferred because of their ability and willingness to work long hours.
It is difficult to determine the dominance of any breed in the war. It is probable that breeds native to and developed in the South - the Tennessee Walker, the American Saddlebred - were most widely used because their gaits were smooth and comfortable to ride and they had tremendous endurance. The horses used by the North were most likely ordinary carriage and riding horses, since no particular breed has ever originated from the North. Morgans may have been widely used on both sides. They were small and compact, and good endurance resulted from these qualities. Pictures portray horses that look much like Morgans and Arabians. Arabians may have been scattered here and there, but they were not yet prominent in the U. S. The small Arabian is noted for being fiery, courageous, and having remarkable stamina; perhaps they might have served to slightly change the battle and march patterns of the Civil War.
On The Battlefield
Needless to say, the horses selected for military service needed to fit the requirements for artillery horses and were highly scrutinized for as close to the desired qualities as they could possibly come. The qualities most valued in a horse intended for artillery were described in John Gibbon's diary:
"The horse for artillery service should be from fifteen to sixteen hands high ... should stand erect on his legs, be strongly built, but free in his movements; his shoulders should be large enough to give support to the collar but not too heavy; his body full, but not too long; the sides well rounded; the limbs solid with rather strong shanks, and the feet in good condition. To these qualities he should unite, as much as possible, the qualities of the saddle horse; should trot and gallop easily, have even gaits and not be skittish."
Horses that were between the ages of five and seven years old were usually selected. John Gibbon carefully portrayed what was wanted, but horses with these qualities were not always available. Horses became scarce and stayed in short supply in areas of continuing conflict.
Regardless of the shortage, the horses still had to prove they were fit for battle. Supposedly, the horses went to what would now be called a boot camp where they were taught to react to various commands and cues from the rider. They were also taught how to react appropriately to certain situations they might encounter on the battlefield. One training exercise included incoming machine gun fire at body level. At a physical and verbal command from the rider, the horse was supposed to lie down and stay down, thereby eluding bullets and creating a breastwork for its rider.
At the conclusion of the training, the horses had to pass one final test that determined if they would become army horses. On a signal, the riders dismounted and directed their horses to lie down. Machine gunners at the other end of the field would open fire, scattering bullets over the prone men and animals. The horses that panicked and jumped up were killed promptly and released from duty.
Artillery and saddle horses had to endure ample danger in battle. An effective tactic used when attacking a battery was to shoot the horses harnessed to it. If the horses were killed or disabled, moving the guns was impossible. Unfortunately for the horses, they could take much punishment. They were difficult to bring down and keep down, even with the impact of large-caliber Minie bullets.
An example of this tactic was brutally shown at Ream's Station in August 1864. The Tenth Massachusetts Battery was fighting from behind a makeshift barricade with the horses fully exposed. There were six guns, and five soon came under fire. In minutes, only two of the thirty horses were still standing; both animals bore wounds. One horse was shot seven times before it went down. Others were hit, went down, and struggled back up only to be hit again. The average number of wounds each horse suffered was five.
Despite the thousands of horses killed or wounded in battle, the highest number were lost to disease or exhaustion. The Tenth Massachusetts Battery lost 157 horses between October 18, 1862, and April 9, 1865. Out of these horses, 112 died from disease. Forty-five of these succumbed to glanders. Glanders, a highly contagious disease that affects the skin, nasal passages, and respiratory tracts of a horse, was most widespread. Another forty-five horses from the same battery were lost to fatigue; they simply became too exhausted to work and were put to death.
The capacity of a healthy horse to pull a load was affected by a number of factors. Chief among these was the nature of the surface over which the load was being hauled. A single horse could pull 3,000 pounds 20 to 23 miles a day over a hard-paved road. The weight dropped to 1,900 pounds over a macadamized road, and went down to 1,100 pounds over rough ground. The pulling ability was further reduced by one-half if a horse carried a rider on its back. Finally, as the number of horses in a team increased, the pulling capacity of each horse was further reduced. A horse in a team of six had only seven-ninths the pulling capacity it would have had in a team of two. The goal was that each horse's share of the load should be no more than 700 pounds. This was less than what a healthy horse, even carrying a rider and hitched into a team of six, could pull, but it furnished a safety factor that allowed for fatigue and losses."
And my favourite CW poem which was written to honour
Roderick, General Bedford Forest's especial mount.
The General's Mount
by Jack Knox
THE BLOOD from deep inside
Began to color flecks of foam about the bit.
And pink the moisture in his heavy breath.
And yet the pain,
Sharp and searing hot,
Appeared to make no difference in his stride.
For this great chestnut gelding,
Dark with sweat,
Was all a war horse;
In his pace
And in his sinew,
Bone and blood . . . and in his heart.
The towering General, light-reined horseman
- Light in the saddle, too-
Felt the shot
That hit the horse beneath him.
There is
Some indescribable communion
Between a man and horse
Who've shared the roughest roads,
The longest hours,
The hardest battles;
A singleness of spirit, faith unflagging.
The General felt the pain
As though the gelding's wound was in himself;
It tightened muscles in his jaws and throat.
AND then the second shot
Struck hard the chestnut's side.
And then the third.
Stunning.
Staggering.
His powerful and easy stride
Became a labored lunge,
Steadied only by the General's balanced weight
And sure band.
The war horse gathered-
With every ounce of courage in his heart-
To carry on,
To fight the mission through.
Calmingly, .
The General reined him in.
And stepping down
He loosed the girth
And lightly slipped the saddle to the ground.
THE GENERALS young lieutenant,
Aide de camp-
His son- Reined up,
Dismounted;
Took the General's horse and gave his own.
Scarcely a word was passed,
No orders given-
None bad to be-
As the General,
With one backward glance, rode on.
And Willie led
The wounded war horse from the field
And to the rear.
Away from powder smoke
And battle strain.
Into the chill of early March,
Into the quieter countryside
In Tennessee.
To the horse holders beyond the second hill.
AND in the cutting chill
The war horse ached.
Ached under his drying sweat
And drying blood.
A once alert,
Clearheaded "General's mount,"
Stunned and trembling
From the shock and pain.
Jaded.
Limping to the holders In the rear.
No bugles
And no drumbeats here,
Only fading sounds across the field.
THE HOLDERS slipped the bridle
From his lowered head,
Wiped the sweat marks
From his cheeks and neck.
Bathed the blood-red foam
From mouth and nostrils,
Sponged his wounds,
Applied a stinging ointment.
They washed his knees
And hocks
And pasterns.
"It's Roderick! The General's mount!
Bring the water bucket to him."
Roderick,
The General's mount
Trained in his master's ways.
Trained to jump
A fence or wall or gulley,
To back and wheel,
To follow where the General went,
To follow closely,
Ready for an instant need.
And he followed him from training,
But he followed, too,
From love.
THE stinging ointment touched a spark of feeling.
The water gave refreshment
To his spirit.
He raised his head a little,
Cocked an ear,
And listened . . .
In the distance
There was shooting
And it echoed in the hills.
The General always rode
To the shooting.
HE TURNED to face the sound.
His ears were up and pointing.
His head was clearing now.
He moved a little,
Toward the sound,
The holders started to him.
Shouting "whoa"
He moved a little faster,
Stiff and aching,
Toward the shooting.
"WHOA" they shouted,
"Head 'im!"
He broke into a trot.
To a painful, labored gallop
To the General.
THE GALLOP warmed his blood
Loosened stiff and aching muscles.
Ahead,
A fence,
He cleared it
With a mighty surge of effort.
He was warm
And he was running,
A painful, awkward stride,
But running hard
To the General.
THE next fence-
Up and over-
He almost lost his footing;
But he could smell the powder now.
The General smelled of powder.
NOW he could see the men and horses,
Nervous horses,
Ready for the charge.
Now he could see the General.
One last fence before him
And the field.
He cleared it as the bugles blasted "CHARGE!"
HE was racing with the shouting horsemen now.
He was straining hard
To reach the General's side,
Five good strides ahead.
Bleeding.
Straining hard.
Three good strides . . .
When the killing bullet hit him in the chest.
THE keen ear of the General caught a sound;
Inaudible, almost, against the din.
Half a plaintive nicker,
Half a choking scream;
Like the scream of horses "bad hit" on the field.
Amid the shouting and the shrieking and the fire
The General heard it.
He stiffened,
Half turning in his saddle.
And there behind him
In the charge,
Stumbling, plunging, dying,
His war horse
-On his feet, but dying
In the charge.
THE feared
And fearless,
Battle-hardened General
Spurred ahead;
To fight more awesome battles for his cause.
But the man-the horseman-
Underneath his honored uniform
-Bedford Forrest-
Died a little there
On the field near Spring Hill,
March the fifth,
1863.
"Horses of the Civil War " (Christine Porter)
"Hail to the Horses" (Jim Kushlan)
Story by: Deborah Grace