More than three million horse were used by the Union and Confederate Armies in the American Civil War.[1][2] These horses provided transportation, gave a better view of the battlefield, helped deliver communications between the troops and commanders, were a symbol of authority to the troops.[1][3] The American Saddlebred, Morgan, and Thoroughbred breeds were the most popular for warhorses during the Civil War.[4]
Cavalry regiments used the most horses during the war.[2] The 206 Confederate and 137 Union cavalry regiments required at least 1,200 horses each, with all upper officers allowed three horses and each lieutenant allowed two horses.[5]:4–5 Regiments also needed extra horses to replace animals lost in battle or that became tired while marching.[5]:5 On average, each cavalry member had four or more replacements horses in addition to their original mount.[2] Generals required a supply of fresh horses to move through the battlefield rapidly.[5]:7Thus, the 425 Confederate and 583 Union generals needed at least 4,032 horses at all times.[5]:7
The 636 Confederate and Union artillery batteries each required around 120 horses,[5]:5–6 most importantly the six horses were needed to move each gun.[6]Robert E. Lee's Order No. 155, issued on October 1, 1862, detailed the care of Confederate horses, assigned responsibility for artillery horses, and listed punishments for neglect.[7]William Tecumseh Sherman issued similar ordered to the Union, with each artillery horse receiving twelve pounds grain and fourteen of hay each day.[7] However, this required food and water were not always available.[7]
Between 1.2 and 1.5 million horses died in active service during the war, or roughly fifty percent.[1][8][9][10] Like their riders, horses died from diseases and combat wounds; some also succumbed to starvation.[3][9][2] It was common for accounts of commanders and generals to note, "his horse was shot out from beneath him".[5]:4 Eleven of cavalry commander George Armstrong Custer's horses died, 24 of General Philip Sheridan's horses, and 39 of Nathan Bedford Forrest's horses.[4] On some occasions, soldiers were ordered to kill exhausted horses rather than to leave them behind for enemy troops.[2] The average life expectancy of a cavalry horse during the Civil War was four months, while an artillery horse averaged seven and a half months.[5]:5–6
For the Union troops, the United States Army Quartermaster Corps was responsible for procuring horses, under the leadership of Brigadier General Montgomery C. Meigs.[2][11] There was also a Confederate Quartermaster-General's Department.[12] However, many of the officers on both sides and Confederate cavalrymen road their personal horses in a policy of "self mounting".[2][4][13] Confederate soldiers were paid forty cents a day for the use of their horse.[2] Both sides frequently used formal impressment of horses, leaving a receipt with owners, who could claim future payment for their horses.[5]:20
Depending on their role, military horses required specific characteristics; cavalry horses needed to be able to ride in synch with other horses, follow their rider's instructions, and tolerate battle sounds.[2] Most horses even learned bugle calls and would respond to them without an additional prompt from their rider.[2] However, the horses had a harder time learning to move in tight formations and to ignore the sights and sounds of a battle.[2] Many soldiers also described horses that had behavioral issues, such as biting, kicking, and running off with their riders.[2] Horse historian Earl J. Hess notes that some of this misbehavior may have been related to wartime trauma.[2]
At the end of the war, Union General Ulysses S. Grant agreed to Confederate General Robert E. Lee's terms of surrender, which included allowing Confederate soldiers to keep their personal horses so that they would be able to farm and plant spring crops once they returned home.[14]
This horse was Rosecrans' favorite and was used during the Battle of Chickamauga. It is featured in the Major General William Starke Rosecrans Memorial in Sunbury, Ohio.
Grant's favorite and most famous horse, acquired in 1864; most paintings of and memorials to Grant depict him astride Cincinnati, including the Ulysses S. Grant Memorial at the base of Capitol Hill. It was used during the 1864 Overland Campaign and was ridden by President Abraham Lincoln at City Point, Virginia. It lived in the White House stables when Grant was president.
One of many secondary horses used by Grant, this horse was named for the southern region of Illinois, nicknamed "Little Egypt" or "Egypt". It lived in the White House stables when Grant was president.
The horse was given to Col. Lagow as a joke, as it was deemed "good-for-nothing". Grant offered to take the horse from his staff members and used it as one of his secondary horses.
Little Sorrel became the regiment's mascot. Jackson was fatally wounded while riding Little Sorrel at the Battle of Chancellorsville. The horse lived at the Virginia Military Institute for 35 years. When it died, the horse was mounted and displayed. In 1997, Little Sorrel was cremated and buried on the Virginia Military Institute parade deck adjacent to Jackson's statue.
Served with the artillery at the Second Battle of Manassas, where the horse survived being wounded in both hips and lost his tail to a shell blast. Later, it was used in the Battle of Fredericksburg.
Broun, a member of 3rd Infantry in Western Virginia, purchased Jeff Davis and renamed it Greenbrier. Lee purchased what became his favorite horse from Broun in 1862 and renamed it Traveller. Traveller died a few months after Lee in 1871, and was later buried beside him at Lee Chapel in Lexington, Virginia.
↑ Gordon, John B. (1904). Reminiscences of the Civil War. New York: Charles Scribner;s Sons. p.102. Retrieved August 11, 2025– via Documenting the American South.
↑ Magner, Blake A. Traveller & Company, The Horses of Gettysburg. Gettysburg, PA: Farnsworth House Military Impressions, 1995. p. 46. ISBN0-9643632-2-4.
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