As Europe edged toward World War I in 1914, armies still relied on horsepower of the four-legged kind. Sir Douglas Haig, a British cavalry officer said, “Airplanes and tanks are only accessories to the man on a horse.”
Horses and mules were needed for pulling artillery, supply wagons, and ambulances. The war required hundreds of thousands of horses. However, when the war began, the combatants did not have a sufficient supply of horses and mules. While patriotic young men eagerly lined up at recruiting centers, acquiring horses proved more challenging. It soon became clear that the warring nations needed to acquire horses from other nations.
Purchasing agents quickly arrived in the United States and spread out across the country in search of suitable animals. The British Remount and Mule Purchase Commission established a shipping station at Newport News, Virginia. This station included vast corrals, veterinary facilities, and modified ships with stalls. By the fall of 1917, it is estimated that half a million American horses and mules had been shipped to Europe.
On this date in 1914, the Williston Graphic warned that horse prices were likely to rise dramatically. The newspaper noted that one French cavalry officer “used up his horses at a rate which alarmed the war office and the British taxpayer.” Also on this date in 1914, the Department of Agriculture saw an opportunity for farmers to benefit from increased prices. The department advised farmers to breed horses, recommending that they mate their best working mares with their best working stallions.
When European buyers arrived in North Dakota in November of that year, the Grand Forks Herald echoed concerns about rising prices, noting that “the scarcity of these animals is driving up the price.” With only twenty thousand tractors in the entire United States, farmers, still reliant on horses and mules, felt the impact.
These warnings proved accurate. At the beginning of 1914, a workhorse could be bought for fifty to seventy-five dollars. By December, a European buyer in Oakes purchased horses for one hundred seventy-five dollars each, and by the end of the war four years later, prices had doubled.
Dakota Datebook by Dr. Carole Butcher
Sources:
- Williston Graphic. “Horses in War.” Williston ND. 10/8/1914.
- Grand Forks Daily Herald. “Buyers Seeking for Horses.” Grand Forks ND. 11/30/1914. Page 11.
- Oakes Times. “City Local.” Oakes ND. 12/3/1914. Page 5.
- Devils Lake World. “Good mares used in farm work should be bred to good stallions.” Devils Lake ND. 10/8/1914. Page 1.
- Statista. “Number of passenger cars and commercial motor vehicles in use in the United States from 1900 to 1988.” https://www.statista.com/statistics/1246890/vehicles-use-united-states-historical/ Accessed 8/28/2024.
- Farm and Dairy. “Tragic Fate of Many Horses in World War I.” https://www.farmanddairy.com/columns/tragic-fate-of-many-horses-in-world-war-i/483657.html#:~:text=Butler%20tells%20how%20horses%20were%20commandeered%20from%20farms,purchased%20at%20inflated%20prices%20in%20the%20United%20States. Accessed 8/28/2024.
- American Battle Monuments Commission. “Remembering the American War Horse.” https://www.abmc.gov/news-events/news/remembering-american-war-horse Accessed 8/28/2024.
