"Recruiting" ANV Horses for the 1865 Campaign

DaveBrt

1st Lieutenant
Joined
Mar 6, 2010
Location
Charlotte, NC
From the QM General's Outgoing Letterbook:

August 30th 1864
Major J. G. Paxton
Lynchburg, Va.

Sir,
Great evils having resulted from the foraging serviceable cavalry horses, in charge of soldiers, throughout the State, I shall request the Genl's Commanding our Armies in Va to order that hereafter all cavalry horses becoming unfit for service in the field shall be turned over to you to be recruited. You will make all the arrangements necessary for receiving and taking proper care of these horses.

For the purpose of providing forage for these animals the counties of Bedford, Roanoke & Montgomery are given over to you, together with the portion of N. Carolina west of the Piedmont Rail Road, and not within 20 miles of any Rail Road or navigable stream. You and your agents are authorized to collect all the forage within the counties & sections described, and all other Officers & Agents are prohibited from interfering with the same. You are also authorized to obtain one thousand tons of wheat straw from any of the counties lying west of Lynchburg outside of your District.

You are authorized to graze the animals under your charge anywhere in this state, beyond the reach of our armies in the field.

When the new crop of corn comes in Major C. S. Carrington QM will be ordered to turn over to you monthly, at Danville if practicable, ten thousand bushels of corn.

The supplies of forage allotted to you in this order are given on the supposition that you will have in your charge during the winter, to be recruited from seven to ten thousand animals. Should you have a smaller number you will be expected to turn over a proportionate amount of your forage collected.

A. R. Lawton, QMGenl.
 
This letter exemplifies the total lack of an efficient Confederate remount system. On the other hand, the Union facilities were on an industrial scale.

IMG_0207.JPG

The Photographic History of the Civil War, the Cavalry is an excellent source for illustrated essays about Civil War cavalry operations. The section on the Union remount system is a real eye opener. The photo above is of a 1,000 horse depot Giesboro, District of Columbia.

"Giesboro was a gerat teacher in regard to the care of horses. Cavalrymen learned what to guard against. The knowledge was acquired partly from field service, but in a great measure from the opportunity for leisurely observation, an opportunity somewhat analogous to that of a physician in a great metropolitan hospital where every kind of a physical problem has to be solved."

The Mounting & Remounting of the Federal Cavalry by Charles Rhodes Captain, General Staff, United States Army P 320-321 Photographic History of the Civil War
 
This letter exemplifies the total lack of an efficient Confederate remount system. On the other hand, the Union facilities were on an industrial scale.

View attachment 342942
The Photographic History of the Civil War, the Cavalry is an excellent source for illustrated essays about Civil War cavalry operations. The section on the Union remount system is a real eye opener. The photo above is of a 1,000 horse depot Giesboro, District of Columbia.

"Giesboro was a gerat teacher in regard to the care of horses. Cavalrymen learned what to guard against. The knowledge was acquired partly from field service, but in a great measure from the opportunity for leisurely observation, an opportunity somewhat analogous to that of a physician in a great metropolitan hospital where every kind of a physical problem has to be solved."

The Mounting & Remounting of the Federal Cavalry by Charles Rhodes Captain, General Staff, United States Army P 320-321 Photographic History of the Civil War
Since this facility, article and picture have been discussed several times on CWT, I thought it would be of interest to show how the South was trying to handle the same issue. A letter about a month later discusses establishing the same system for the AOT. The ANV system was instituted -- don't know about the AOT.
 
Since this facility, article and picture have been discussed several times on CWT, I thought it would be of interest to show how the South was trying to handle the same issue. A letter about a month later discusses establishing the same system for the AOT. The ANV system was instituted -- don't know about the AOT.
I always think it is a good idea to show all sides of an issue. You & I may have studied this issue for years, lots of others on this forum have not. I have definitely copied your post for my remount folder. The situation of the cavalry of the AoT was catastrophic. Ed Bearss & a host of other major historians have shown that Confederate cavalry in the West was a parasitical organization that cost their own side far more than the trifling damage they did to the Yankees. By the end of the Nashville Campaign, CSA IG's reported that the horseflesh of the AoT had been exterminated. Needless to say, there were no remounts forthcoming in 1864.
 
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