Regular readers of this blog may recall that I mentioned receiving this book as a gift from Mark at the Man Of Tin blog. Mark is aware of my interest in horse drawn logistics and this is an original War Office publication which he no longer wanted, a very generous gift indeed.
The format of the book is the usual War Office style and covers every conceivable element of the care and use of horses and mules in service in the British Army. There are chapters on the structure of the horse and points of particular types and breeds, stable construction and management including grooming, foods and watering, saddles, shoeing, transportation of horses by sea and rail and of course prevention of disease and first aid. In fact everything you could wish to know about the military use of the horse.
Although a reference book and therefore not the easiest read, as a source of information this book is a "bible" of relevant data about horses in military service and I am delighted to have it in my library.
You can see why the mechanization of the army solved lots of supply issues that horses brought to the game, so to speak. I have a book on how the Royal Artillery was mechanized and how many horses it would have taken to tow one of the very large calibre guns, compared to a couple of traction engines being able to do the same job. This caused other issues too, but was far preferable compared to the horse.
ReplyDeleteRecently I was reading one of Duffy's books on the SYW and the issue of trying to keep horses supplied with fodder during the campaign season, talk less of Winter Quarter's. In short they often had to be so widely dispersed which made quick recall to action a rather tricky act to pull off effectively.
Hi Steve...The biggest problem with horses was always fodder...the sheer amounts needed and the inability to move it away from the railways caused almost impossible problems. That's why so many horses died in service...starvation. A team of horses could eat all the contents of the wagon they were pulling in less than 100 miles. Mechanisation solved so many logistical problems. However, for me, the fascination is in how the supply issues facing a horse drawn army were addressed. That's why I love books like this....Regards.
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