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| A second “army” opposed to the Confederate cavalry: a Federal cavalry mess-house The Confederate cavalry, like the Confederacy itself, was hastened to its fall because of the exhaustion of resources. While horseflesh was growing scarcer and poorer in quality in Virginia, and proper fodder had become little but a memory since Sheridan's devastation of the Shenandoah Valley, the Union Government, with its immense resources, was able to systematize the handling of supplies for its cavalry corps, establishing half a dozen huge cavalry remount depots, and devoting the proper amount of attention to every branch of the work. This photograph shows the mess-house at the Government stables in Washington. The Confederacy barely supplied food for the troopers themselves, while the Union Government was able to build mess-houses for those who were engaged in caring for the troopers' wants. |
