Horses used on the Escape Route

[Wild Bill]

Hundreds of thousands of horses and mules served. Wagons, caissons and artillery used six horses when possible but the Confederates later settled for four. Drivers of wagons usually rode the nearside wheel animal. In the artillery, each team was guided by a man mounted on the nearside animal. Horse artillery had every gunner mounted to keep up with the cavalry. Otherwise the gunners walked or rode on the caissons--a practice frowned on in the regulations but common on the road. Lack of hoses and mules were common in battlefield States like Virginia and Tennessee. Once in Sept 1862 after the Battle of Antietam the Yankees took such poor care of their mounts that the whole horse herd of the Army of the Potomac foundered and had to be destroyed--about 10,000 animals.

The Yankee Cavalry preferred Morgans, but every breed was used, and southerners were generally expected to provide their own mount. Officers liked to ride something special often. At the beginning both sides liked to match horses in each company (later called troop) 100 men. battle casualties changed that to whatever horse available would do. In the South the border stated and upper South raised the most horseflesh. Missouri and Tennessee had the best mules, those states plus Kentucky and Virginia provided horses. The Morgan was started in New England. It took the Yankees about 2-3 years to catch up to the Southerners in riding ability, because of the lack of riding in the North and its predominance in the South. The Yankees introduced repeating carbines in 1863 which negated much of the South's initial advantage.

The equipment was manufactured in the North and Europe, but he South captured much equipment in the first years of the war. Union Gen Nathaniel Banks gave up so much equipment that the Southerners called him "Commissary Banks."

Most of this is off the top of my head--I did my master's thesis on cavalry in the Gettysburg Campaign. One side note to those who are going into Mosby Country on Sunday. Aldie is where Major DHL Gleason was sabered and caused him to retire to the War Department where he became the boss of Louis Weichmann. Have fun!