lelliott19
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Regtl. Staff Chickamauga 2018
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- Mar 15, 2013
Image from LOC
Hungry, tired, and over-worked with bare, bleeding feet........this described the horses and mules about as well as the soldiers.
- The Museum of Civil War Medicine estimates that 1 million horses and mules died as a result of the Civil War.
- Only 10% died from battle wounds.
- Like their human counterparts, poor diet, overwork, and lack of routine care left equines more susceptible to lameness and disease. As a result, many equines were destroyed due to incurable lameness or died from exposure to contagious diseases.
- On the march, horses were often fed whatever was available - musty hay, moldy grain, and worse. This often resulted in colic and other illness.
- In March, 1863, Congress authorized for each US cavalry regiment, a veterinary surgeon with the rank of sergeant major and pay of $75 per month.
- The US Army Veterinary Corps (a formal veterinary corps with its own officers) was not created until June 3, 1916.
- Harness and saddles rubbed and caused terrible oozing sores. As horses lost flesh, saddle fit also created problems.
- During the Civil War, the "farrier" provided most of the medical care for equines in military service. Farriers had no professional medical training.
- Horse shoes and nails were in short supply, especially for the Confederate army. In his memoirs, Edward Porter Alexander (Longstreet's Artillery chief) had this to say about the scarcity of horse shoes and nails:
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