Some say million plus. . .
Totals vary, but, certainly, more horses
killed than soldiers during Civil War

Shoot away from your horse’s head.

That was a basic where Civil War mounted troops were concerned. But, despite personal caution and the value of their mounts, thousands of horses were lost during the North-South conflict. Estimates of horses killed during the Civil War vary, but the total was astounding. Some putting the figure at more than a million – more than the estimated 620,000 to 750,000 soldiers who died.

Union Gen. George Armstrong Custer, a cavalry commander best known for his defeat at the Battle of Little Bighorn in 1876, is said to have had 11 horses shot from under him, including two in one day of fighting at Gettysburg.

However, Confederate Cavalry Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest may have held the record with some 30 horses shot from beneath him.  He also is credited with personally killing 31 men in hand-to-hand combat, resulting in his famous quote, “I was a horse ahead at the end.”

In the beginning of the war, more horses were killed than men. At the Battle of Gettysburg, some 2,500 horses were killed – the Union losing 881 horses – and mules – and the Confederacy losing 619.

Many horses were lost to disease or exhaustion and a good number died as a result of Glanders, a highly contagious disease that affects a horse’s skin, nasal passage and respiratory tract.

Northern states held approximately 3.4 million horses when the war began, while there were 1.7 million in the Confederate states. The border states of Missouri and Kentucky had an extra 800,000 horses; in addition, there were 100,000 mules in the North, 800,000 in the seceding states and 200,000 in Kentucky and Missouri.

The average price of a horse was $150.