Horses and Cavalry from Xenophon in Ancient Greece to the American Civil War, and in New York City

How were horses used in cavalry forces in warfare in both the
ancient and modern world? How did cavalrymen battle the
enemy while on horseback, or in chariots? Or did the cavalry
dismount and fight like infantry on foot?
How did changes in technology affect how horses were used in
battle?
What were the unique challenges faced when caring for horses
during wartime?
Why were horses, not cars, seen as the major sources of
pollution in big cities like New York City?

Please, we welcome interesting questions in the
comments. Let us learn and reflect together!
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Horses were the major form of transportation before the
invention of the automobile, and were used extensively in
combat before the World Wars. We became interested in
this topic when we found, in a collection of Civil War
letters, a letter from a cavalryman describing how horses
suffered and died during the Civil War. Also, in ancient
Greece, Xenophon wrote several interesting treatises on
horses and cavalry.

From antiquity, in combat, horses had three roles: hauling
supplies, fighting in highly mobile cavalry regiments, sometimes
pulling chariots in ancient times, and enabling generals to quickly
survey the battlefield. From ancient times, in both war and peace
time, technological improvements meant horses could be used
more effectively. Improved harnesses made chariot warfare
common throughout the Ancient Near East, quite often several
archers would ride in the chariot. In the Old Testament, we read
that King Ahab died in battle when an arrow struck him in his
chariot, likely he was standing next to an archer.

Illustration from
Nubian Egyptian
Monuments, by
Jean-François
Champollion, 1845,
digitally enhanced
by rawpixel-com

The death of
king Ahab, by
Alessandro
Franchi, late
1800’s

The death of king
Ahab, by Julius Schnorr
von Carolsfeld, before
1883

The Greek and Trojan heroes rode chariots in the Iliad,
several professors have quipped that Homer must not
have known their original purpose, since they were used
as ancient taxicabs to carry the heroes to the front line.
This may have been accurate, as Julius Caesar, when he
invaded Britain, described British charioteers throwing
javelins, then leaving their chariots to fight as
infantrymen. Achilles in the Iliad also used his chariot to
drag the corpse of the vanquished Trojan Prince Hector
around the walls of Troy.

How did the ancient cavalryman fight? They could slash at
infantrymen with their swords, or they could throw
javelins, or stab with spears, or most difficult of all, they
could fire arrows while at a gallop. These skills could take
years of training and practice to master.
In the Cyropedia, the Education of Cyrus, Xenophon tells
us that during his first hunt, Cyrus the Great eagerly
pressed his horse to chase a great stag.

https://youtu.be/E4BFSIpHHGk
Cyrus’ horse slipped, going to his knees, nearly throwing him, but “the boy
managed to keep his seat, and the horse recovered its footing,” and shortly
thereafter, “Cyrus let fly his javelin, and the stag fell dead, a beautiful big creature.”

https://youtu.be/E4BFSIpHHGk
When they were dismounted, admiring the slain stag, Cyrus sprang back on his horse
when he heard a “frenzied wild boar charging down on them. He charged to meet it,
drawing his bow with the surest aim possible, striking the beast in the forehead, and laid
him low.” Cyrus would later display this brave coolness when under fire in battle.

So, Cyrus the Great, and possibly Cyrus the Younger,
Xenophon’s patron, as well as the Mongol and Turkic
horsemen and the American Great Plains Indians,
could manage to shoot a bow and arrow on
horseback.

Xenophon’s On the Cavalry Commander
Alexander the Great defeating King Darius, by Jacques Courtois, 1687

Xenophon was an excellent horseman; he wrote
a treatise On the Cavalry Commander. He may
have been too young to fight in the
Peloponnesian Wars, he may have served in the
Athenian cavalry, but we can infer from his
account in his Anabasis, The Expedition of Cyrus,
that he had battlefield experience.

Alexander the Great defeating King Darius at the Battle of Gaugamela, by Jacques Courtois, 1687

Xenophon is fond of maxims, he teaches the
moral lesson that we must be kind to our
horses. “While the ranks are filling up, you
must see that the horses get enough food to
stand hard work, since horses unfit for their
work can neither overtake nor escape. You
must see that they are docile because
disobedient animals assist the enemy more
than their own side.” “And horses that kick
when mounted must be got rid of, for such
brutes often do more mischief than the
enemy.”
Parthian horseman on display at the Palazzo
Madama, Turin

Alexander the Great, left, fighting King Darius, painting in Pompeii
A history of the ancient world, for high schools and academies, 1904
How do you train the cavalry? Xenophon states
that “having made sure that the horses are in
good condition, the next business is to train the
men. First, they must learn to mount from the
spring, since many before now have owed their
lives to that. Second, they must practice riding
over all sorts of ground since any kind of
country may become the area of war.”

Xenophon continues: “As soon as they have
acquired a firm seat,” they “should be able
to throw the javelin when mounted and
become efficient in all the details of
horsemanship.” “Both horses and men
must be armed, so that, while they are
themselves thoroughly protected against
wounds, they may have the means of
inflicting the greatest loss on the enemy.” Alexander the Great, left, fighting King Darius, painting in Pompeii
A history of the ancient world, for high schools and academies, 1904

What are the duties of the cavalry commander?
Most importantly, the commander “must seek to
make the men obedient: otherwise, neither good
horses nor a firm seat nor fine armor are of any
use.” Xenophon moralizes: “First, he must sacrifice
to propitiate the gods on behalf of the cavalry;
secondly, he must make the processions during the
festivals worth seeing; further, he must conduct all
the other obligatory displays” at public festivals
“before the people with as much splendor as
possible.” “During a march, the cavalry commander
must always think ahead, so he may rest the horses'
backs and relieve the men by walking, giving
moderate spells of alternate riding and marching.”
Athenian cavalryman Dexileos fighting a
Peloponnesian hoplite in Corinthian War.

Xenophon closes with a moral lesson:
“Therefore there is none other who can
give counsel but the gods. They know all
things, and warn whomsoever they will
in sacrifices, in omens, in voices, and in
dreams. And we may suppose that they
are more ready to counsel those who not
only ask what they ought to do in the
hour of need, but also serve the gods in
the days of their prosperity with all their
might.”
Warrior's departure, Athenian amphora, 540 BC

Xenophon followed this advice himself in his Anabasis,
when he led the Ten Thousand Greek troops out of the
heart of Persia. But if the seers inspecting the entrails of
slaughtered animals discovered bad omens when
Xenophon thought they should proceed, he demanded
they try, try, try again until a good omen was produced.
Xenophon also wrote a treatise On the Art of
Horsemanship. Dr Wikipedia informs us that many of his
tips on purchasing, training, and care of horses are
valuable to horse owners today.

Thálatta!
Thálatta!
(Θάλαττα!
θάλαττα!,
"The Sea!
The Sea!").
Trebizond
was the first
Greek city
the Ten
Thousand
reached on
their retreat
from inland
Persia, by
Herman
Vogel,1884

Horses in Ancient Greek Cavalry & Logistics
Alexander the Great defeating King Darius at the Battle of Gaugamela, by Charles Le Brun, 1669

The modern historian Robin Waterfield has written
an excellent account of Xenophon’s Anabasis, and he
includes several interesting observations on how
horses were used in the ancient Greek and Persian
armies. In ancient battles, often the cavalry forces
rode around the battle, flanking the enemy,
sometimes attacking in the rear, seeking to cause
panic among the enemy forces.

Rarely would cavalry forces charge headlong
into battle. Waterfield states that, in
particular, the Greek “arms, armor, and
tactics outclassed anything they faced, even
the famous Persian cavalry: no horse,
however passionately urged on by its rider,
will hurl itself into a solid Greek Hoplite
infantry phalanx, bristling with spears. In a
tightly packed phalanx, the spears for the
first three lines were long enough to project
in front of the first line, if the soldiers had
the necessary strength and skill. The most a
horseman could do was ride up close
enough to discharge a javelin, and even that
was difficult to do effectively in the days
before saddles and stirrups.”

Robin Waterfield also describes the
logistics of ancient armies. During
Xenophon’s Anabasis, “Cyrus’ army was
followed by thousands of carts, ranging
from two-wheelers to six-wheelers,”
filled with supplies of all sorts. “Packing
and unpacking the wagon every day
was a notoriously tedious aspect of a
military campaign for those who lacked
slaves to do the job.” “One well-stacked
cart could be loaded with the arms,
armor, equipment and tents for twenty
men, and Cyrus’ men required fifteen
hundred carts.”
Departure of warrior, with Scythian archer, 520 BC

Waterfield continues: “Pack animals and
slaves were used as well as ox-carts for
transport, and many soldiers also strapped
a rucksack on their shoulders. Because of
the amount of grain animals consume and
the need to find campsites with sufficient
fodder, individual human porterage was
actually a highly efficient way for ancient
armies to transport at least a portion of
their equipment.” “The animals were
generally expected to live off the land:
fodder was not carried, and its availability
was one of the main factors that decided a
good spot for camping.”
Departure of warrior, with Scythian archer, 520 BC

Both ancient and modern armies on campaign had to choose: Should
they carry the supplies the armies needed, or should the armies setup up
camp midday so they could forage and/or steal the provisions they
needed? In Xenophon’s account of the Anabasis, or the Persian
Expedition where Cyrus the Younger attempted to usurp the Persian
throne, when the Greek mercenary armies marched through the arid
southern approach towards Babylon, they were supplied by provinces
friendly to Cyrus. When Cyrus was slain in battle, the Greeks were
compelled to trudge north to the Greek colonies on the coast of the Black
Sea. On this journey, they lived off the land, foraging and requisitioning
the supplies they needed, ensuring the safety of the inhabitants if they
voluntarily hosted the Greek army.

Route of
Xenophon
and the Ten
Thousand
(red) in the
Achaemenid
Empire. The
satrapy of
Cyrus the
Younger is
delineated in
green.

Modern armies prefer to transport their own
supplies, but Generals Grant and Sherman revived
the ancient practice where their armies lived off the
Confederate lands, particularly before Grant’s Siege
of Vicksburg and during Sherman’s March to the Sea.
This weakened the Southern economy, hastening the
end of the Civil War.

Horses are not the only pack animals; mules are better
pack animals than horses or donkeys. A mule is usually
bred from a jack, or male donkey, and a mare, or female
horse. Since donkeys and horses are differing species, with
differing numbers of chromosomes, mules are usually
sterile. Mules are hardier, more patient, and live longer
than horses, and are less obstinate and more intelligent
than donkeys. Oxen were also used as pack animals, they
were better at pulling wagons before improved horse
harnesses were invented.

Marine leads his mule during mule and troop movement training, Official U.S. Marine Corps photo, 2009

Cavalry in Medieval Europe and Afterwards
High or traditional style jousting, by Paulus Hector Mair, 1540

The ancient Persians pioneered the use of armor for both horses and cavalrymen, as
Xenophon stated. Both armor and chain mail protected medieval knights and their
horses. As the armor became heavier, larger and larger horses were bred. The
invention of the saddle and stirrup enabled knights to charge with lances, leading to
the sport of jousting, where knights tried to unhorse their opponent.
Armored knights became obsolescent after the invention of the English longbow,
and especially after the invention and perfection of firearms, leading to unarmored
light cavalry. Elaborate turning movements were developed to maximize the
effectiveness of using firearms from horseback. Often cavalry was used to combat
enemy artillery, especially during deployment. And cavalrymen were still useful for
scouting and reconnaissance.

A cavalry skirmish, by Karel Breydel, 1700's

Horses in Civil War Cavalry Forces
Grant and His Generals, by Ole Peter Hansen Balling, 1865

How were horses used in the Civil War? Horses enabled officers to quickly
determine the progress of the fighting across their front lines, and they
pulled supply wagons. Quick raids by cavalry often surprised the enemy.
During the Civil War, often cavalrymen dismounted upon arriving at their
destination, fighting as infantry.
General Ulysses Grant was fighting a war of attrition against the
Confederate General Robert E Lee. In the last years of the war, whatever
the outcome of a battle, the Union Army would immediately try to flank
the Confederates to fight the next battle. This constant warfare
exhausted the soldiers but was especially hard on the horses.

Capture of
Ricketts' Battery,
First Battle of Bull
Run, one of the
early battles in the
American Civil
War, by Sidney E.
King, painted 1964
Casualties:
Union 2,700
Confederate 2,000

Captain Charles Adams of the
Massachusetts Cavalry wrote home in
1863, describing how difficult it was to
properly care for horses during the Civil
War. “Do you know how cavalry moves?
It never goes out of a walk, and four
miles an hour is very rapid marching,
‘killing to horses,’ as we always describe
it.” “You have no idea how the horses
suffer.” “You are a slave to your horses,”
“and you see diseases creeping on you
day by day and your horses breaking
down under your eyes.”
Cavalry orderly, Rappahannock Station, VA, by Edwin Forbes, 1864

Our cavalryman continues, “I have but
one rule: a horse must go until he can’t
be spurred any further, and then the
rider must get another horse as soon as
he can seize on one.” How heavy is the
burden they carry? “A cavalry horse,
when loaded, carries an average of 225
pounds on his back,” and “a packed
saddle alone weighs fifty pounds. The
horse is, in active campaign, saddled
about fifteen hours a day.” His feed is
about eight pounds a day, which is too
little, plus the grass he grazes during
halts. “The usual water he drinks is brook
water, so muddy by the passage of the
column that it is colored chocolate.” Civil War Battle Scene, by William T Trego, 1887

Our cavalryman says,
“Imagine a horse with his
withers,” or shoulders,
“swollen to three times
its natural size, and with
a volcanic, running sore
pouring matter down
each side, and you have a
case with which each
cavalry officer is daily
called upon to deal with,
and you can imagine a
horse which has still to
be ridden until he lays
down in sheer suffering
under the saddle.”
General Philip Sheridan making his famous ride during the Shenandoah Campaign,
by Thure de Thulstrup, 1886

Every night, the first task of a cavalryman was to
unsaddle his horse, examine the sores on his back,
and do what he can to comfort and care for his horse.

Battle of
Chancellorsville,
fought May
1863

Our cavalryman states that
he had disabled ten horses
by the constant campaigning
over four months. He
reports: “The air of Virginia is
literally burdened today with
the stench of dead horses,
federal and confederate. You
pass them on every road and
find them in every field,
while from their carrions you
can follow the march of
every army that moves.”
Saber duel between Union and Confederate cavalrymen, by William BT Trego, 1887

During the Civil War, the Confederate officers
supplied their own horses, which was also the
predominant practice in both the ancient and
medieval worlds. After the defeat of the
Confederates at Vicksburg, and after the defeat of
the armies of Robert E Lee at Appomattox, General
Grant permitted the Confederate officers to keep
their sidearms and horses, so they could use them in
spring planting.

Role of Horses in the Two World Wars
World War I: French horsemen crossing a river to Battle of Verdun, American soldier with a gas mask for his horse

The development of trench warfare, barbed wire, machine guns, and
tanks made traditional cavalry obsolete. Cavalry charges on horseback
were common early in World War I, and cavalry forces were used
sporadically during World War II.
Horses were still used as pack animals by all sides in World War I, and by
both the Germans and the Russians in World War II. The Germans used
more horses in World War II than in World War I, its factories were
dedicated to producing tanks and aircraft, and the Nazi armed forces
were always short on fuel.
Horses were sometimes used in challenging terrain in recent wars. For
example, the American Special Forces accompanied the forces of Afghan
warlords on horseback in the mountains of North Afghanistan.

US Air Force Special
Operations Bart
Decker rides an
Afghan horse in
Afghanistan in
Operation Enduring
Freedom, 2001

Horses in Metropolis of New York City
Mulberry Street in New York City's Little Italy, Detroit Publishing Co., Library of Congress, 1900

We associate pollution with the automobile whose exhaust fumes that
cover our cities, especially Los Angeles, with smog. But after automobiles
were invented, they were eagerly adopted as the solution to a pressing
problem: pollution caused by the thousands of horses trudging about in
the cities, particularly New York City.
In the late nineteenth century, several hundred thousand horses pulled
trolleys, carts, and carriages through the streets of New York City. Each
horse dumped on the street thirty pounds of manure and a quart of urine
each day. Annually, New York City had to dispose of over one hundred
thousand tons of manure, and the carcasses of the fifteen thousand
horses that died on the streets of New York annually.

Horse overcome by heat, New York City, George Grantham Bain Collection, 1910

At first, the surrounding farmers were happy to pay for manure to fertilize
their fields, but after the volume became overwhelming, farmers charged
to accept the manure. Workers gathered the manure in piles on vacant
lots that were sixty feet high. Rain seeped into the manure, manure
streams seeped into basements, the manure bred flies, and the
thousands of flies spread diseases. Walking across the street was
hazardous, you did not want to slip and fall!
The officials of New York City hired an army of sanitation workers and
built sewers and infrastructure to handle the ever-growing piles of horse
manure, but to no avail. Finally, by 1912 cars outnumbered horses on the
streets of New York City, and year by year, as the number of horses
dwindled, so did piles of manure, and the stench.

Central Park,
New York City,
The Grand
Drive, by AR
Waud,
Harper's
Weekly, 1865

Hansom driver with horse and cab, New York City, Library of Congress, 1896

Horse drinking from trough, NYC, Library of Congress, 1907

This collection of the Civil War letters of mostly ordinary soldiers,
but also of generals and the occasional letter from President
Lincoln, revealed the concerns and thoughts of ordinary soldiers
fighting in this epic struggle.
Robin Waterfield’s account of Xenophon’s Expedition, include
excellent background information on the ancient culture and
logistics of Greece and Persia. We quoted from Xenophon’s
Cyropaedia, the Education of Cyrus, which may reflect the
qualities he saw in his patron, Cyrus the Younger, who was slain
fighting to usurp the throne of Persia.

Though he is deprecated by many haughty modern
historians, in the ancient world Xenophon’s works
were read as widely as were the works of Plato. One
favorite was the Anabasis, his description of the
Persian Expedition. This was also a favorite of King
Philip of Macedon and his son, Alexander the Great,
who were inspired by this work in their victorious
invasion of Persia.

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Horses and Cavalry from Xenophon in Ancient Greece to the American Civil War, and in New York City

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