Horses and mules served during the Civil War in greater number and suffered more casualties than the men of the Union and Confederate armies combined. Using firsthand accounts, this history addresses the many uses of equines during the war, the methods by which they were obtained, their costs, their suffering on the battlefields and roads, their consumption by soldiers, and such topics as racing and mounted music. The book is supplemented by accounts of the "Lightning Mule Brigade," the "Charge of the Mule Brigade," five appendices and 37 illustrations. More than 700 Civil War equines are identified and described with incidental information and identification of their masters.
Horses and mules were essential to the conduct and, ultimately, the outcome of the U.S. Civil War. Horses and mules fulfilled such important duties as hauling supplies to camp, providing the means by which the artillery was maneuvered in battle, and granting cavalry units their essential mobile capabilities. While many historians have explored the importance of the cavalry, artillery, and transportation services, the appreciation shown to the equines who were essential to these units has been relatively slim, and the logistical concerns that resulted from the units' reliance on equines are often minimized or ignored. Providing a basic level of care for millions of horses and mules affected the decisions and plans of military and civilian leaders throughout the Civil War, as did the need to procure more equines; such considerations consequently had a significant impact upon the war and its outcome. The Confederacy's inability to procure a sufficient number of horses and mules for its forces in the field, as well as the fodder they needed, eventually made it impossible for some commanders to operate effectively. Finally, the study of horses and mules and the feelings of camaraderie, gratitude, and empathy that many of the soldiers who served alongside these equines felt for them is integral to gaining a more thorough understanding of the conflict and those who lived through it. It is my hope that this work will increase the readers' understanding and appreciation of the important roles that horses and mules played in the Civil War, the myriad logistical considerations that reliance upon equines entailed, and the decisions that these logistical considerations necessitated. Such details have frequently been overlooked in historical accounts of the war; appreciating the contributions made and problems posed by equines is essential to increasing understanding of this influential American conflict.
Horses are one of the many unsung heroes of the American Civil War. These majestic animals were impressed into service, trained, prepared for battle, and turned into expendable implements of war. There is more to this story, however. When an army’s means and survival is predicated upon an animal whose instincts are to flee rather than fight, a bond of mutual trust and respect between handler and horse must be forged. Ultimately, the Battle of Gettysburg resulted in thousands of horses killed and wounded. Their story deserves telling, from a time not so far removed.
Animals mattered in the Civil War. Horses and mules powered the Union and Confederate armies, providing mobility for wagons, pulling artillery pieces, and serving as fighting platforms for cavalrymen. Drafted to support the war effort, horses often died or suffered terrible wounds on the battlefield. Raging diseases also swept through army herds and killed tens of thousands of other equines. In addition to weaponized animals such as horses, pets of all kinds accompanied nearly every regiment during the war. Dogs commonly served as unit mascots and were also used in combat against the enemy. Living and fighting in the natural environment, soldiers often encountered a variety of wild animals. They were pestered by many types of insects, marveled at exotic fish while being transported along the coasts, and took shots at alligators in the swamps along the lower Mississippi River basin. Animal Histories of the Civil War Era charts a path to understanding how the animal world became deeply involved in the most divisive moment in American history. In addition to discussions on the dominant role of horses in the war, one essay describes the use of camels by individuals attempting to spread slavery in the American Southwest in the antebellum period. Another explores how smaller wildlife, including bees and other insects, affected soldiers and were in turn affected by them. One piece focuses on the congressional debate surrounding the creation of a national zoo, while another tells the story of how the famous show horse Beautiful Jim Key and his owner, a former slave, exposed sectional and racial fault lines after the war. Other topics include canines, hogs, vegetarianism, and animals as veterans in post–Civil War America. The contributors to this volume—scholars of animal history and Civil War historians—argue for an animal-centered narrative to complement the human-centered accounts of the war. Animal Histories of the Civil War Era reveals that warfare had a poignant effect on animals. It also argues that animals played a vital role as participants in the most consequential conflict in American history. It is time to recognize and appreciate the animal experience of the Civil War period.
War Horse is exactingly researached, lavishly illustrated with over 130 archival photographs, and is written with thoroughness, excitements, adn many humorous anecdotes.
During the Civil War and throughout the rest of the nineteenth century there was no star that shone brighter than that of a small red horse who was known as Stonewall Jackson’s Little Sorrel. Robert E. Lee’s Traveller eventually became more familiar but he was mostly famous for his looks. Not so with the little sorrel. Early in the war he became known as a horse of great personality and charm, an eccentric animal with an intriguing background. Like Traveller, his enduring fame was due initially to the prominence of his owner and the uncanny similarities between the two of them. The little red horse long survived Jackson and developed a following of his own. In fact, he lived longer than almost all horses who survived the Civil War as well as many thousands of human veterans. His death in 1886 drew attention worthy of a deceased general, his mounted remains have been admired by hundreds of thousands of people since 1887, and the final burial of his bones (after a cross-country, multi-century odyssey) in 1997 was the occasion for an event that could only be described as a funeral, and a well-attended one at that. Stonewall Jackson’s Little Sorrel is the story of that horse.
There were 7,500,000 horses in the United States in 1861 and only fifty known graduate veterinarians, all of whom were schooled abroad and most were foreign born. That's the way it was on April 12, 1861, when the country split apart and the two nations embarked on programs of animal procurement, management, and medical care, the dimensions of which had never before been seen. As the rebellion raged, hundreds of thousands of horses and mules were processed through the remount systems of both sides. Demands on quartermasters, impressment officers, and medical care givers were staggering. Through all of this, the lack of an efficient veterinary service contributed significantly to the tragic loss of well over a million animals, most of which died in service from sickness and disease.
Many accounts of the Civil War battles, armies, and key figures have been written over the years, but none have looked at the bloodiest war in our nation's history through the eyes of the cavalry. The horse soldiers in the Civil War are often referred to as the last of the cavaliers, men who valued their honor as much as their cause. In this sweeping saga George Walsh brings to life anew the gallant horse soldiers of the North and South, showing in dramatic detail how their raids and expeditions affected the outcome of the war and how their fortunes waxed and waned. At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.
