THE ARMY REMOUNT PROBLEM. 113 



from the remount depots. The system is satisfactory and adequate 

 for the present peace footing, but what the country would do in case 

 of war can only be conjectured. 



WHAT WAR REQUIREMENTS MEAN. 



The following table gives a slight idea of the difference between 

 supplying the present demand of about 2,000 horses per year and the 

 demands of war. It shows the number of remounts of all kinds re- 

 quired by the Regular Army and militia on a war footing, excepting 

 draft horses and animals for wagon trains, some of which might be 

 replaced by motor vehicles : 



Total authorized animals, mounted service, Regular Army and militia, war 



footing. 1 



1 From Quartermaster General's Office, War Department. 



This table shows that on a war footing 50,000 horses (in round 

 numbers) would be required before a shot was fired or a saber drawn, 

 as against 20,000 horses now in the Regular Army on a peace basis. 

 The number is regarded as conservative, as the figures show the mini- 

 mum needed. The fact that new mounted organizations are con- 

 stantly being formed in the militia will soon make these figures 

 considerably under the mark. 



On the basis of a 10-year life for a horse in the mounted service, under 

 the remount system there should be available annually at least 5,000 

 horses to supply both the Army and the National Guard, but in war 

 we can not count on a 10-year life. The decimation of horses in war 

 is enormous and must be provided for if a country's mounted service 

 is to be properly equipped. How much this should be the writer does 

 not pretend to estimate. The Federal Government purchased during 

 the fiscal year ended June 30, 1864, 188,718 horses. Captures reported 

 added 20,388 more, and the number consumed daily was therefore 

 500 head, without considering those captured and not reported. Dur- 

 ing eight months of the year 1864 the Cavalry of the Army of the 

 Potomac was remounted twice, nearly 40,000 horses in all being 

 required. During his Shenandoah Valley campaign Sheridan was 

 supplied with fresh horses at the rate of 150 per day. In his report 



