ABSTRACT
The American Civil War was the first industrialized war. Conventional descriptions of industrialization have focused on the adoption of mechanical devices and inanimate forms of energy, and this applies to many aspects of the Civil War. Mechanized production made it possible to feed and equip enormous armies, steam-powered railroads expanded the war’s geographical size, and mass-produced weaponry with increased range and accuracy caused staggering casualties and altered battle tactics. However, the Civil War was also a war of animal power that used horses on an unprecedented scale. Thousands of horses accompanied Civil War armies. In four years, the Union army alone employed between 650,000 and 1,000,000 horses.1
