Since when did the US Army need horses

No -

There was NOT a huge standing army, as desertion rates in both sides were quite high, and units were being "mustered out" quite rapidly - depleting both armies very quickly.

Even though the Union Army was much better equipped, there were still a LOT of men on BOTH sides "a foot" at the war's end, as EVERYTHING cost quite a bit of money.

One pound of flour was known to have sold for up to $1,000.00 - sugar and coffee for much, much more in some areas - mainly the south.

You can imagine what horses would have gone for - IF you could find one. Also, the incidence of horse-theft was epidemic. It was also an immediate death sentence. By hanging - after a trial, or sometimes - simply shot while caught in the act...

The cost of maintaing a war was (and is) enormous. When soldiers (friendly or not) would go through areas, they would take whatever they pleased more times than not, and might or might NOT leave a voucher or receipt of some type for the property owner to be paid with.

These weren't honored with any regularity.

The bottome line is this: The majority of the horse population in the US was WEST of the Mississippi River, and 99.9% of the Civil War took place EAST of it....The southern US was nearly destoryed, and was certainly crippled for years, and parts of the northern states nearer to battle areas were ravaged as well.

It was a VERY sad and tragic time....

I don't act...I react. John Wayne

Horses were a valuable commodity to the post Civil War Military in the West, during war or peace. The US Cavalry went through horses at what would seem today an alarming rate, due mostly to constant patrolling. Horses tend to break down under constant use, (which is why a trail crew of cowboys would have a remuda of as many as a dozen horses per man). Also, in the Cavalry, spare mounts were calculated at a rate of 50%- for every 100 mounted soldiers, 150 horses were maintained. The Artillery also needed a lot of horses to move cannons around. Even the Infantry needed a certain number of horses for supply wagons, ambulances, mounts for officers (the exalted Brass didn't WALK, after all), and all the other non- cavalry branches had the same requirements. Also, in the US Army in the West (excluding the Buffalo Soldiers, who very rarely deserted) the desertion rate was around 40-50%, and practically every deserter stole an Army horse on his way out. Theft of Army horses by civilians was fairly common, as well. Remember that the Earp brothers' first clash with the McLaurys was over the theft of army stock. The McLaurys were caught red-handed altering the "US" brand to "D8". There are several items in this film that strain credibility, but the Army's need for large numbers of horses is on the money.

"It ain't dying I'm talking about, it's living!!!"
Augustus McCrae