Found it fascinating that my ancestor's Muster roll had the vale of his Horse ($100) and Equipment ($18). (in today's dollars that would be about $3,000) My question did he supply his own horse or was this supplied to him? I note when he applied for a pension (Which was denied---I think because he did not identify his unit properly and was listed only by his initials) he states in 1906 he has two old mares valued at $50. So he was 70 years old but still had horses.
Hey Kwheaton welcome to CWTs thread on cavalry.
The Union supplied all horses. The Confederacy took a somewhat different approach. They supplied all horses except for cavalry and officers. In other words the CS government only supplied horses for supply wagons and artillery.
The decision by the south proved to be a bad choice - at least somewhat.
The confederate government paid their cavalrymen for using their own horse, but as the war grew longer and the supply of horses became less the law was devastating to the trooper. For example if his horse was killed or deemed unserviceable the government only gave the solder the value of the horse when he enlisted. As horses grew more valuable with the war dragging on, and the Confederate money devalued the southern cavalrymen couldn’t afford to buy a horse with the competition money- if he could find one!
If you want more details I will be glad to assist or point you in the right direction if I don’t know the answer. Also if you wish, most of the kinds of questions, like yours, are addressed in my book General Robert E Lee’s Warhorses, Newman Springs Publishing.
Again thanks for stopping by.