Mules as Mounts
Civil War armies traveled with large numbers of hoofed animals, be they for riding, hauling supplies, or meat. Mules were a common sight in the ranks, with the Army of the Potomac using about 150,000 during the war. Ninety percent of them hauled waggonage and artillery, with the remainder serving as pack mules in terrain too rough for wagons.[1] Rarely, these beasts of burden also saw use as cavalry mounts.
Mules are regarded as superior to horses over rugged terrain. Capt. Henry Young, who became the Chief of Maj. Gen. Phil Sheridan’s scouts, reported leading a party with mules beyond their picket line for reconnaissance. Encamped near Warrenton, Virginia, the route had them summiting a mountain and crossing a creek. While horses may not have ferried them across such topography, they discovered the truth of the old idiom, “stubborn as a mule.” Guerrillas ambushed Young’s party and one man’s mule refused to move during the firing. The trooper had to abandon it and flee on foot, reaching the safety of Union lines by taking a stray horse.[2]
In April 1863, Col. Abel D. Streight sought to raid the Western and Atlantic Railroad in Alabama with troopers riding mules. Yet those supplied for the expedition proved to be sickly and rambunctious. After twelve days of riding including four days of constant pursuit by Brig. Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest, Streight surrendered his command when his men and their mounts became too exhausted to continue. The mules still proved they could be ridden hard, navigating from the western border of northern Alabama to the east, including one thirty-five mile day.[3]
For combat purposes, mules were not anyone’s first choice. Corp. Samuel Watkins remembers that during the battle of Shiloh, “One fellow, a courier, who had had his horse killed, got on a mule he had captured, and in the last charge…just charged right ahead by his lone self, and the soldiers said, ‘Just look at that brave man, charging right in the jaws of death.’ He began to seesaw the mule and grit his teeth, and finally yelled out, ‘It arn’t me, boys, it the blasted old mule. Whoa! Whoa!’ ”[4]
Some report that certain fearless mules could outclass horses. Sgt. Francis Cunningham of the 1st WV Cavalry had his horse killed underneath him at Sailor’s Creek. In the fog of war, he clambered onto a mule bearing the bloodied saddle of a Confederate. When the order came to charge, “It took my mule just about four jumps to show that in an obstacle race he could outclass all others. He laid back his ears and frisked over logs and flattened out like a jackrabbit, when he had a chance to sprint. Soon I was ahead, far ahead of the rest of the boys. That mule never even stopped when he came to the breastworks. He switched his tail and sailed right over among the rebs, landing near a rebel color-bearer of the Twelfth Virginia Infantry.”[5] Receiving two wounds while capturing the flag, Cunningham earned the Medal of Honor for this action.
Overall, few could imagine riding a mule for military purposes if a horse was available. That impression opened the opportunity for soldiers to covertly deliver messages through enemy lines. On April 4, 1865, the Army of Northern Virginia was gathering at Amelia Court House with the hopes of finding trains loaded with rations. Instead, the trains waiting for them contained ammunition, and Robert E. Lee sent a messenger out of uniform on a mule with two telegrams in his boot asking for rations to be sent from government storehouses. Union cavalry under Sheridan captured the man, finding the messages which revealed where Lee was and, based on the quantity of food requested, allowed an estimate of his troop numbers to be made.[6]
Civil War buffs can name several general’s horses, but few ever thought to name a mule. Despite their reputation, they could at times compete with horses and proved themselves in combat. Their ability to navigate difficult terrain has led them to outlast their more famous counterparts in military usage. Even today, the Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center offers training for using pack mules.[7]
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[1] Albert Castel, Winning and Losing in the Civil War (Columbia, SC: University of South Carolina Press, 1996), 148-150.
[2] Jacob H. Martin and Sidney S. Rider, The Campaign Life of Lt.-Col. Henry Harrison Young (1882), accessed from http://www.jessiescouts.com/JS_Accounts_Young.html.
[3] Brian Steel Wills, The Confederacy’s Greatest Cavalryman: Nathan Bedford Forrest (Lawrence, KS: University of Kansas Press, 1992), 109-119.
[4] Samuel R. Watkins, Co. Aytch (Chattanooga, TN: Times Printing Company, 1900), 36.
[5] “Congressional Medals of Honor,” 1st West Virginia Cavalry, 2001. https://www.lindapages.com/wvcw/1wvc/1wvc-moh.htm
[6] Philip H. Sheridan, “Last Days of the Rebellion” in MOLLUS IL vol. 1, https://www.beyondthecrater.com/resources/mollus/il-mollus/mollus-il-v1-last-days-of-the-rebellion/.
[7] “Marines With 2/1 Hike With Mules,” Marine Corps Mountain Warfare Training Center, United States marine Corps, October 18 2024, https://www.mcmwtc.marines.mil/Resources/Photos/igphoto/2003567254/.
I’m always interested in the use of horses and mules in the Civil War. It is ironic that soldiers didn’t name their mules. Or if they had they are forgotten to history. I guess they had no attachment to the beasts and would soon trade them in for a horse. Have you come across any references to mules being named?
Very interesting article. Mules were also used in coal mines as they were shorter in stature and strong, lugging the heavy coal bins. The Anthrocite Heritage Museum in Scranton pays tribute to these hardy workers.
Thank you for the very informative article. However, you might have informed some here who may not know, that a mule is the offspring of a male donkey and a female horse.
“The Charge of the Mule Brigade” is a humorous parody of “The Charge of the Light Brigade.” The poem recounts an alleged incident during the October 28, 1863 Battle of Wauhatchie, Tennessee, during which some 200 riderless mules charged Confederate troops, driving them back – in Grant’s opinion – better than a cavalry regiment could have done.