86 THE HORSE AND THE WAR 



been dreamed of. They must still continue to do what motors cannot do until 

 the time comes when war will be made wholly in the sky and under the 

 earth. 



In a previous chapter it was mentioned that at the time of writing there 

 were in the neighbourhood of half a million horses and mules engaged with 

 the British armies in France. In the month of February there were just on 

 100,000 with the particular army I visited — approximately three horses to 

 one mule. At one time there were with this army about 150,000 animals, 

 every one being urgently required ; but I need scarcely point out that any 

 fluctuations must be a matter of adjustment of the Higher Command according 

 to the general situation. Let me try and convey to the reader some idea of 

 what the 100,000 were doing. First and foremost, the roads by day w^ere a 

 revelation. They were a revelation in the splendid control of the traffic, 

 in the distinction made between fast and slow^ moving vehicles proceeding 

 in the same direction. 



Take the Field Artillery proceeding up the line in relief, or, perhaps, com- 

 ing out for rest and a clean-up, or movement elsewhere. There were the 

 i8-pounder guns, the 60-pounder guns, a siege battery of still heavier guns 

 of the "How" description, and with them all, their limbers and transport ; 

 light draught horses, mostly of American origin of that greatly admired Per- 

 cheron-graded stamp— the stamp that has proved his excellence as a war- 

 horse in France over and over again — were in the lighter field gun, or there 

 were teams of mules, pulling stoically and philosophically at their own gait 

 as if nothing else in the world mattered. There were heavier Percheron-bred 

 teams from the United States in the heavier guns, all in clean and hard 

 condition, and then, perhaps, variety would be given to the long unending 

 procession by the appearance on the scene of some howitzers of certain 

 calibre, each with a team of ten heavy draught horses. A big gun of the kind 

 would require more horses to move it in rough ground, but ten amply sufficed 

 along the level, well-laid roads behind this part of the line. 



And what else depends for their movement on horse and mule haulage 

 in the vast scheme of war-making as it is to-day ? A divisional train would 

 come along made up of General Service wagons, limbered wagons with heavy 

 or light draught horses or mules, playing their part. An infantry transport 

 might be bringing up the rear of a battalion on the march, and you would 

 notice its wagons, its travelling kitchens smoking and emitting the savoury 

 odours of the coming meal, its water-carts, and its pack animals. Or, again, 

 a machine gun company's transport of limbered wagons is on the move, and 

 still another unit you recognize as the cable section of a signalling company. 

 So all day and every day movement and push and drive go on, passing in 

 different ways, like a limitless frieze, but all intent on arriving at the same 

 objective — the winning of the war. 



Think, therefore, how much depends on the hundreds of thousands of 

 equine helpers and the necessity of keeping them in health and strength. 

 Most of them had still on their long winter coats, some were partially clipped, 

 a few only were fully clipped ; for there is a strong belief now among those 

 who should know that the most complete clipping of war-horses and mules 



