America’s War Horse

By Laura Leigh on May 30, 2022

Memorial Day is an American holiday, observed on the last Monday of May, honoring the men and women who died while serving in the U.S. military. Originally known as Decoration Day, it originated in the years following the Civil War and became an official federal holiday in 1971.

Civil War horse and mule memorial. Three million horses and mules served during the Civil War.

During the Civil War years the concept of breeding horses specifically for the United States Cavalry began to develop as the necessity became evident after an estimated 1.5 million horses died in the conflict, including wild horses.

Many of the horses that served the US military came from the open ranges of NW Nevada, NE California and Southern Oregon.

During World War I, and into World War II, military cavalry contractor Harry Winton (sometimes referred to as ‘Wilson’) would roundup horses from the area now known as Sheldon National Wildlife Refuge. The horses would then be loaded onto railroad cars and shipped to the East Coast. From there the horses would make a trip across the Atlantic ocean by ship. Horses that survived the journey had a bit placed in their mouths and began to pull artillery or serve as a cavalry mount.

American Mustangs served as cavalry remounts for our allies as well as the supply of horses dwindled as the conflict raged in Europe. The cost in horses lives was great.

It is estimated that a shipment of 500 American horses left to supply American and allied troops during World War I every 1.5 days (archive stat).

It is estimated that nearly eight million horses died in World War I alone.

We remember furred, feathered, 4-legged and human, that gave their lives in conflict.

A little horse that should always be remembered is Staff Sargent Reckless.

The war horse is spoken of in words that could not be more perfect:

“This one isn’t just any old horse. There’s a nobility in his eye, a regal serenity about him. Does he not personify all that men try to be and never can be? I tell you, my friend, there’s divinity in a horse, and specially in a horse like this. God got it right the day he created them. And to find a horse like this in the middle of this filthy abomination of a war, is for me like finding a butterfly on a dung heap. We don’t belong in the same universe as a creature like this.” ― Michael Morpurgo, War Horse

. Nearly 8 million horses, mules and donkeys died in World War I; many of them American mustangs.