Comte de Paris, History of the Civil War in America. Vol. 1.
Henry Coppee , LL.D., Ed.

---

[295] interests of the country. The breeds of American horses are generally small. The fatal habit of putting them too soon under the saddle interferes with their growth. The regulations which forbade their being accepted into the service under five years of age and less than fifteen hands high (five feet at the withers) could not be complied with, for it was necessary to take all that could be found; and the sorrier the horses the greater the consumption, and consequently the larger the amount of fresh horses required to replace them. During the first year of the war the number of horses procured for the cavalry and the artillery alone was one hundred and ten thousand.

Immense corrals were established among the vacant lots in the neighborhood of Washington and of the Western cities to receive droves of animals emaciated by long journeys which the horse-contractors brought from Vermont and Kentucky. Taken a few days previously from the farm upon which they were grazing at liberty, never having been broken, these horses were crowded in a too narrow space, carelessly picketed, badly fed, seldom groomed, and without any shelter. Their power of endurance under so many trials showed what robust constitutions they possessed in spite of their appearance, and the impunity with which the contractors, horse-dealers, inspectors, and the officers authorized to make their own selections moved about among them was the best proof of their docility.

Occasionally, however, some unforeseen accident would create disorder at the depot. Thus, for instance, one evening the principal stable in Washington caught fire, and six hundred horses maddened with terror rushed through the badly-lighted streets of the capital, upsetting pedestrians and carriages on their way and spreading trouble and confusion everywhere.

Notwithstanding the enormous supply of fresh horses, the government could hardly replace the lame and foundered animals which filled the large infirmaries established specially for their reception. During the first year of the war there were no less than fifty-seven thousand cured; in the course of those twelve months more than one regiment used up three horses to every man; and it was only through the severest discipline that the mounted men were taught at last to take care of their horses.