The Wolf Point herald. (Wolf Point, Mont.) 1913-1940, 1921-02-03

No Light Brigade won immorta
fame with it's splendor and dash il
the great war, but mans most faith
full friend played an indispensable
part in subduing the Germans. With.
drawal of the cavalry-what there
was of it-from It's former field OF
achievements and its RELOCATION to
police duty left the horse without OPP
portunity to perform the spectacular
fashion of the Napoleonic charger,
but where other means of transpor-
tation failed and under conditions
suffered by no other branch of the
service, the horse transport labored
through to its undying glory.
Major M. E. Knowles of Helena,
formerly and for many years state
veterinarian of Montana and connect
ed with General Pershing's headquar-
ters overseas, is a staunch champion
of the horse in war. At the fore
front of the fight, where the truck
could not get through and where the
army's advance depended so much
On the forwarding of munitions and
supplies, the horse and the mule were
relied upon almost exclusively. And
so poorly equipped was the veterin-
airy department and so severely had
its charges suffered that at the time
of the signing of the armistice the
Argonne army was all but endorsed.
another 80 days and the army
In fhn Arnnnnn urnu1d houn hnQn
without transportation at the 'front.'.
said Major Knowles. "Only a rem
nant of the horse transport was left
and within a very short time the big
guns and the supply wagons would
have been wheeled into place by hand
if at all.
"But the story of the horses hard
ships overseas is not an account of a
supply of horseflesh bel
cause of casualties. Only a small per-
centage of the horses we lost were
killed by shellfire. Eighty-five per
cent of u horse fatalities were due
to inability, which means that they
lied for want of proper care and at
IGNITION. Seventy-five per cent of the
fatalities we're caused by mango, and
put 25 per cent of those we lost were
killed in battle or died of wounds.
Lack of h-orsemanship and ordinary
animal care was the principal cause
for complaint.
Few know it perhaps, but the
fact is that III supply of horses was
low towards the last that we had
drawn all the draft animals possible
France and even had pressed
nto service nearly 1000 choice stall
ions-the same as we have been
bringing to America for years and
at the head of stables I
an and the French method Of hand s
ing horses differ vastly and it is easy
o imagine, l think, what the result s
vas when we placed a team of house 7
aised stations in the care of a dry {
foods clerk or a mechanic. I
when a horse was hit the result
was either an immediate fa- r
ality or a case that could be success r
ully treated. At the front a broken r
oreleg was always fatal and it was 6
eldom that a puncture of any of the
could be treated. The horses
uttered most from shrapnel and ma
nine gun bullets and when the Huns
.ot the range of an outfit the conse- n
.uences were always serious. 5
wounds in the flank, the hips, the I.
ack or the shoulders, were terrible 4
nough to look at, but the number K
f remarkable %recoveries was very s
reat. Under fire a horse behaves y
luch as humankind under the same b
circumstances, and I want to say that W
goodly portion of the heroism at a.
he front must be rightly shared with M
lie horse" pl
Major Knowles stated that lessons W
armed by the English in the Boer II
ar placed them in position to far ~
lcel the Americans in maintaining OF
leir horse transport in France. The le
nglish had learned, said Major
movies, that preventive and not GU
tive measures are necessary to
eep the modern war horse in SER ia
ce. The English horses at the tW
ont were SO per cent ''show stock" ia
hen the American army was all but su
the major said. WI