Resting cavalry horses on the march

[pvtbordonaro]

Friends,
Does anyone know what the normal Army practice was for resting cavalry horses on the march? Was it done every hour, or every few hours? And did the march continue, but with the men leading their horses, or was a halt called?
- Joe Bordonaro

[Mike_Schramm]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

From “War Horse”, by Louis A. DiMarco. This actually covers Indian War. I am still looking for a CW era primary.

"At the end of the first hour of the march, the column halted for 10 to 15 minutes to adjust tack…Once the march commenced again, it stopped every hour for five minutes. At the second halt the command did not rest but rather proceeded forward dismounted leading the horses for 20 minutes. The troopers then remounted and proceeded forward at the trot for 20 minutes. The last 20 minutes of the second hour were completed at a walk. This pattern-lead, trot, walk, was repeated with slight variations for the remaining three hours of the march. Commanders injected short gallops into the march to allow the horses to stretch…The goal of the command was to cover 25 miles in less than 6 hours of marching time.”

“…well-conditioned cavalry could march at a rate of 50 miles a day for three to five days in an emergency”.

[pvtbordonaro]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

Thanks, Mike. I imagine the Civil War practice was about the same. - Joe

[GAR]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

That was cool, Mike. It gives an insight into what an average march was like for those who strictly followed the regulation. I liked the the use of different gaits to keep the horse stretched and warm, something really useful in the event of an unexpected skirmish. A good trooper always put the care and comfort of his horse first and the 20 minute walk was also a good way to keep the trooper limbered, too. A 50 mile march in one day would have been pretty grueling, considering all the work the trooper would have to do at the end of the march to feed, water, clean, rub down, inspect and secure his mount for the night. Troopers got at least an hours less sleep than the infantry did because of the night and morning horse responsibilities. I'm sure they were always the last in line for chow.

[Tom Craig]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

Gents,
I don't have my resources in front of me to refer to, so I am pulling this from memory. As I recall, the order for CW cavalry was to ride for 50 minutes and dismount and walk for 10. That I am aware of, there was no provision for trotting, or resting on a proscribed basis as was the case for the Indian Wars citation.

I do believe that in a lot of cases the gate and pace was up to the commanding officers and/or the situation. I do recall a quote from the 6th US of a trooper who complained bitterly that his officers trotted them everywhere, and he really hated trotting. Remember that despite the fact the horse was essential to cavalry service that not all officers and men treated them as well or as optimally as they should have been treated.

For what it's worth, when Sheridan came east he proscribed that no horse could be ridden faster than a walk during the course of his two raids toward Richmond in an effort to save horseflesh. Having ridden long distances at a walk, I know that any change of gate is a relief to man, and I bet beast as well, so while walking may have saved energy, I'm not sure how pleasant it was.

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[ethan harrington]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

All
That is true back in the 80's Rode from Ft. Riley to Ft.Levenworth 150 mile trip in Five days roughly Fifty miles a day , The trip encountered a rain storm of ample might as well with wet and tiredi beast and man for the last 60 or so miles. Rode horses every day vigorusly for three months to prepair, stayed mounted 75% of the time most was done at a running walk as we were mounted on gaited " Fox Trotters" horses not plugs or modern quarter horses. My dad Earl harrington and Terry Jones of the 7th Ill Cav were in attendance. So what Im tring to say is this was done campaign style the entire trip similar to a march of the 1860's and was acheived with good "Finished Results" those horses back then were conditioned and if they wernt they were fairly quick as these modern day mounts were and it was not an unatainable goal to ride that distance that fast with all your gear and in the wool suits I would like to do a 150 miler again Any takers?

Gents,
I don't have my resources in front of me to refer to, so I am pulling this from memory. As I recall, the order for CW cavalry was to ride for 50 minutes and dismount and walk for 10. That I am aware of, there was no provision for trotting, or resting on a proscribed basis as was the case for the Indian Wars citation.

I do believe that in a lot of cases the gate and pace was up to the commanding officers and/or the situation. I do recall a quote from the 6th US of a trooper who complained bitterly that his officers trotted them everywhere, and he really hated trotting. Remember that despite the fact the horse was essential to cavalry service that not all officers and men treated them as well or as optimally as they should have been treated.

For what it's worth, when Sheridan came east he proscribed that no horse could be ridden faster than a walk during the course of his two raids toward Richmond in an effort to save horseflesh. Having ridden long distances at a walk, I know that any change of gate is a relief to man, and I bet beast as well, so while walking may have saved energy, I'm not sure how pleasant it was.

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[ethan harrington]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

All

Sorry,
Ethan harrington

[pvtbordonaro]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

Ethan,
Sounds good to me :) When are you planning the event for :)
- Joe Bordonaro

[Mike Ventura]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

I'm with Tom Craig on this. But, I would caution you that "by the book" went out the window when the first shot was fired or when on an active campaign. I would recommend the following excellent books on this subject:

Civil War:"Sherman's Horsemen." David Evans, Indiana University Press

Indian Wars: "The Last Stand: Custer, Sitting Bull and the Battle of the Little Big Horn." Nathaniel Philbrick, Viking (just out this past spring)

Both have well researched and documented reports on how horses were used, ground covered, etc.

[ethan harrington]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

All,
Sounds good to me When are you planning the event for
I don't know maybe next year I didn't mean to ramble as Mike stated their are a few good books out with info on the subject it takes alot to prepare for an event like that man and beast alike I just wanted to state that it had been done without hauling horses part of the way and some of the usual hurdles that you have to cross Keep in mind that was the 80's and in rural KS to boot.
We have kicked around the idea of a 100 mile rided in east TN, Good ground and minimal intrusions. I'll keep you posted.

Thanks
Ethan Harrington

[PetePaolillo]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

This a Post war Manual for British Cavalry Officers from 1867 that may be of interest to some here. Some good reading in here. Do you fellas give your horses beer while on the March?:)

The handy horse-book, or, Practical instructions in driving, riding, and the general care and managament of horses
Robert Blackall Graham, Maurice Hartland J. Mahon
William Blackwood, 1867 - 167 pages

[Tom Craig]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

Pete,

Thanks for posting that. There is a branch of equine sport that commonly does 100 mile "century" rides which are cross country endurance affairs. Of course they aren't carrying cavalry gear, are well conditioned, and are coming from a well balanced, calorie rich diet.

Ethan,

If you put such a ride together, I am there in a heartbeat!! It's off topic for this forum, but some of us in the 1st ME were looking into doing something at the Little Big Horn next year, but it seems the situation in reenacting out there is completely screwed, so we'd be open to another ride out west. I just finished reading Charles Pearson's memoir about the summer he spent with the indians in the 1850's...sounds like a ton of fun!

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry

[Ken Knopp]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

Gents,
Back in “ the day” (when I was young and pliable) we had several such rides. The first as I recall was “Grierson’s Raid” in 1989 in which the 7th Illinois Cavalry (reactivated) rode much of the original route and length (trailering some of it) of Grierson’s famous 1863 raid from Lagrange Tenn through the length of Mississippi to Baton Rouge. About 35 of us in the 7th Illinois (and another dozen or so of the 7th Tennessee) made the voyage with a six horse caisson. The first day we left from the same spot, at the exact time, almost 125 years to the day that Grierson did. Using some original and back roads we made 26 miles the first day (some say 33) due to our getting lost. The second day about 18 miles. Subsequent days were 15 to 20 miles or by trailer depending upon the routes available. In scenes reminiscent of John Wayne’s (John Ford movie) “The Horse Soldiers” we bivouac camped, pulled picket duty, cut cross country on occasion, rode through belly high swamps, (walked and rode) up and down hills much of it on desolate, rural, unpaved (not any more) roads. At a Newton Miss. commemoration, we burned a makeshift rail station and had old iron rails that we piled, heated and twisted around telephone poles (Sherman neck-ties) for the crowd. At the end of the ride the 7th Illinois rode into Baton Rouge some what ingloriously on trailers but did camp at a plantation home on the Miss Rvr. - the very same place Grierson did at the end of his raid. Cool stuff huh?

There were other rides but two notable ones were re-rides of Wilson’s spring 1865 march on Selma, Ala. (Montevello to Selma). The first one as I recall had some 30 or so Federal (again the 7th Illinois) and about 80 Confederates in the spring of 1990. Again taking much of the same routes and camping in the same spots or locales as Wilson. A grueling ride of several days and constant skirmishing took a huge toll on the horse flesh and “heart” of the participants. Only the hardy survived it. At the end there were still the same (or nearly so) 7th Illinois but only about 22 Confederates which included all the 7th Tennessee boys and a handful of others. I did not make the second one but understand it included a tornado and other adventures never to be forgotten.
All of the above were linear marches (not “ride-arounds” on the same 200 acres) put together by a dedicated team of horseman led by Dennis Landry who did the research, planned and “drove” the routes (in Landry’s case he flew too) and prepared the requisite feed, hay, water, etc. Lots of logistics!


The purpose of this visit down memory lane is to (hopefully) stir up some passions for more such (as real as possible) adventures for the 150th’s (do it now while your still healthy and young enough- unlike me). Trust me, you won’t get any better opportunities to really know what a cavalry campaign was actually like (to the extent possible). You will be freeze at night, sweat during the day, get soaked to the bone in rain, be hungry, thirsty, tired beyond endurance, filthy dirty, sore and, stay mad at your officer’s- just like they were. You will learn how to pack light and take care of yourself, your pards and your horse. And, you will have the best, most memorable time of your life!!!

Perhaps more importantly (and my other purpose), I wish to instill the need for horse conditioning. Dr Karl Luthin (GOD love him) was the leader (some say dictator) of the 7th Ill. He made us take these marches (not as a mob) but in period cavalry fashion exactly as Mike Schram and Tom Craig so capably delineate. Believe it or not, the horses and men (those that could) actually got stronger every day. In all cases despite a few horses going lame and the artillery cassions having difficulty in keeping up, most of the horses made it fine- a modern testimony to the “old ways”.
We also made another adventure riding Custer’s exact last day’s route from the Crow’s Nest to the Little Big Horn and Last Stand Hill (we did in three days what Custer did in one) but that is another tall tale. (Tom, those deals out there usually are a circus but do it anyway!)

I apologize for going on like this but if you have never done one of these events you must! I know others have made some of the great Morgan’s Raids of the past and other such rides in the Trans-Miss and in the east. I am sure they will agree here that if the authentic cavalry reenactor only did one more event, this would be the one experience that would make your reenacting career. You will never forget it.
So, who will step up and organize?

Ken R Knopp

[GAR]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

I had contemplated attending the cavalry "school" last summer, which culminates with a reenactment of Custer's Last Stand. It would be far greater to get enough fellows together to book the entire ride and eliminate the "City Slicker's" factor of novice riders goofing around and slowing things down. Apparently there are Native Americans with a wealth of knowledge that join in on the "massacre", and it's played out before a paying audience so it's kind of like being an unpaid extra in a movie. I don't know if it is actually on the same spot at the Little Big Horn as that is usually considered hallowed ground by the NPS. Ken, were you allowed to ride horses on the battlefield where Custer fell? Weren't the troopers buried where their bodies were found? I've never been there but it's on my to do list.
When I was about 19 or so I did a 25 mile ride in the heart of Michigan. I was much lighter and stronger then and it still exhausted me, but it was great fun. I can only imagine how tiring a 50 mile ride would be, not to mention doing it 5 days in a row.

[Tom Craig]

Re: Resting cavalry horses on the march

Gary,
I don't want to tread too far off the CW topic here (although Ken is a moderator here and he weighed in on it too :) ). I looked into the Custer thing earlier in the year. One of our guys went to a ride that apparently used to take place every year in the week leading up to the battle anniversary, and which culminated at the big show/reenactment at the battlefield.

What I found out thus far is that the ride no longer takes place because of reenactor politics regarding authenticity issues and allegations that the Indians who own the land tend to be a little shady in the way they demand fees for people that want to ride on their land.

What I understand is that there is a group of Indians who own the rest of the battlefield that isn't NPS property. The reenactment is held on the indian owned original battlefield. According to what I found out, the only way to ride that land not as part of the annual show is to contract with the Indians to allow you to ride on their land. The catch is that they allegedly can and do hit you up forblots of cash at short notice, or you can't ride etc.

All that said, if someone has connections out there and can make this happen I know a bunch of guys who would be there in a heartbeat!

Ken and everyone else: if you want a linear event with plenty of riding on original pristine ground, come to Unison, VA Columbus Day weekend in October. Campaign style cavalry event, covering real distance on the original ground! Like Ken says, an experience like that can't be beat!

Take care,
Tom Craig
1st Maine Cavalry