Casualties of War:

1.5 million in Civil War

8 million in World War I

2.7 million in World War II

Forgotten War HeroesArtillery horse mired in the mud. A total of 8 million horses died in service of the allied forces during World War I. At the peak of the war, over 50,000 per month were being lost to combat and disease.

Humans and horses were issued gas masks during World War I.

RecklessReckless was a war horse hero of the Korean War. She carried munitions from the supply point to the gunners, under fire and often alone. In recognition of her service, the Marines promoted her to Sargent, personally paid her way back to the US and pensioned her at Camp Pendleton.

Recoilless Rifle mounted on a mule. The last U.S. Miltary pack animals were decommissioned and the U.S. Army Remount Service was deactivated after the Korean conflict. The 322 mules left to the Army were sold or transferred to other Government agencies, including the Forest Service of the Department of Agriculture and the National Park Service of the Department of the Interior.

US Special Forces ride horseback working with members of the Northern Alliance, Operation Enduring Freedom, Afghanistan, November 12, 2001

Mounted field artillery horses

Union Cavalryman, 1863

Dismounted: The Fourth Trooper Moving the Led Horses

Frederic Remington

Battery M, 2nd U.S. Horse Artillery, Fair Oaks, Virginia, June 1862

Loading a machine-gun on a packhorse by members of the New Jersey National Guard, June 1941

Ride to WarFrench Cuirassiers leave Paris for the front, August, 1914

Unloading horses and mules by sling during World War II (left) and the Boer War (right)

Such Was the Power of the HorseMongols were the greatest horsemen in the world and Genghis Khan was the most famous of the brutal Mongol leaders. Mongol boys rode before they could walk; on forced marches they would never dismount their horses – there they ate and slept. Their horsemanship and brutality allowed the Mongols to take a huge swath of China, India and Eastern Europe; a massive kingdom 4 times as big as the empire of Alexander the Great.

TravellerGeneral Robert E. Lee’s beloved Civil War horse. Traveller was reported to be difficult in nature; he reared and threw Lee shortly after the Second Battle of Manassas. His hands badly damaged in the fall, Lee was unable to mount up again until the day of the Battle of Sharpsburg. Traveller walked behind the hearse at Lee's funeral in 1870 and died of tetanus in June 1871. His remains are buried in front of Lee Chapel in Lexington.

ComancheWrongly known as the only US cavalry survivor of Custer’s battle of the Little Big Horn (roughly 100 horses survived). US soldiers found Comanche near death two days after the battle, with at least 7 gunshot wounds. He was nursed back to health and kept by the Army until his death at age 29. He was one of only two horses ever buried with full military honors.

BuchephalusThe great black stallion that no one could tame but young Alexander the Great carried Alexander into many battles. The team formed a cult legend. Following Buchephalus’ death in battle, Alexander erected a city in his honor.

Theodore Roosevelt As Roughrider Colonel and U.S. President

General George Washington at the Crossing of the Delaware River, 1776 Washington was known as one of the finest horsemen of his time. His favorite war horse was Nelson. After the Revolution, he kept Nelson in comfort at his farm in Mt Vernon until his death at the ripe old age of 27.

During a national celebration held at the end of the Civil War, General George A. Custer’s horse, Don Juan, bolted forward near the review stand. The out-of-control horse took the spotlight momentarily off President Andrew Johnson, General-in-Chief Ulysses S. Grant and onto Custer. Custer attributed the incident to the horse being spooked by a young girl as she attempted to lay a wreath around its neck. Others claim it was a calculated move by the excellent horseman to garner attention.

MarengoDespite practice from thousands of miles in the saddle, Napoleon was not an accomplished equestrian. He slid so much that he wore holes in his breeches and fell often. The Emperor’s favorite horse, Marengo is a true legend, since no record of a horse by that name exists. Likely an Arabian captured in his Egyptian campaign, Napoleon rode Marengo in all of his famous campaigns to the final battle at Waterloo.

General George S. Patton rides a Lipizzaner stallion once owned by King Ferdinand of Austria. An accomplished horseman, Patton competed in the first Olympic modern pentathlon event in the 1912 Stockholm Olympic games – coming in fifth.

Chariots were first used to transport troops to the battlefield and were abandoned there while the warriors fought on foot. Later, improved chariot models allowed for fighting “on the run”.

World War I German Cavalryman, 1917

Armorer’s ArtMedieval knight and horse geared for battle. A knight’s armor was so heavy that it made mounting unassisted impossible. Some knights needed a mechanical hoist to place them in the saddle.

The Roman Cavalryman

Ancient Abyssinian mounted warrior

Most knights owned four horses; the charger (above) was only ridden in exhibitions and jousts and wore flowing robes instead of armor. The palfrey was a knight’s regular riding horse and not used in combat. The courser, speediest and most agile of his horses, was the knight’s war horse. It was often trained in the art of dressage, making it a form of weaponry itself. The battle horse was no more than a knight’s pack horse.