Horseshoeing in Army Life

The Blacksmith & Wheelwright, Vol. XLV, No. 3, New York, March 1902

THE ARMY MULE

An account of the experiences of the writer in army life with the mules and horses may interest your readers. The army blacksmith and wheelwright is quite a busy person, as he not only makes repairs and alterations to the army wagons, but often has to do the shoeing of the mules and the horses. The writer has followed army life for a number of years, and was on foreign soil with the United States army during the recent wars with Spain in Cuba and the Filipinos in the Philippines. The career of the army horseshoer in America is very different from what it is in the tropics. During the past year or two the Americans have established stations for supplies throughout the new American possessions, so that the wagon trains of mules and horses can be provided with the necessary equipments when needed. Before this was done, however, the horseshoers in the service had many complications to contend with. In Fig. 1 is shown one of the types of shoes which had to be made to put on the fore feet of the mules on a wagon train which was making for the interior on the island of Puerto Rico. There are many hills to climb, and the mules slipped constantly. Shoes were made with the tools available and stock at hand and arranged with points. The fore part of the shoes were turned up as at A and a barb point provided there. These emergency shoes are frequently required when traversing some of the slippery clay surface roads of the tropics.

In Fig. 2 is a sketch of a case which occurred while the writer was with an army train of stores for troops located in a very stony country. A number of mules caught their feet between the stones in the manner shown, but in this case the hoof was almost torn off from the animal, for he had gotten one hoof down in between the stones, C and B, and as the other mules on the team continued to haul, the mule was dragged and the hoof split at D. These instances are given to illustrate some of the problems and difficulties with which the average American shoers contend when out with army wagon trains to remote sections, where supplies are not to be secured. The shoers must be veterinarians in many cases, also wheelwrights and general artificers for the whole outfit. Still these fellows like the rough life and seldom leave it.

SOME EXAMPLES OF WORK OF THE ARMY HORSESHOER

In the foreign countries, where supplies are constantly exhausted, the army horseshoer soon learns to resort to all sorts of tricks and devices to perform his work. I will refer to a case in mind, in which the shoes of a number of animals came off on a trip with a supply train, and the extra shoe outfit had been left behind by mistake. The only metal available was wagon tires. A tire was slipped from a wheel and split, as at E, Fig. 3, and the pieces cut the proper lengths and bent around by heating into the shape shown in Fig. 4. Some really good and effective shoes were forged in this way, that answered all purposes until a station was reached where new shoes were obtained. The wagon tire was bound up with split bamboo to preserve the wood after the metal tire was removed. On another occasion I saw the horseshoer of the outfit make a shoe from a chain link. A shoe was needed and no metal could be found, except an old Spanish chain, which had been used by the shipping and for purposes of anchorage, and the links were very large. One of these links is shown in Fig. 5. In Fig. 6 is the same link after the shoer had heated it and pounded it quite flat in order to reduce it to the proper proportions. The next operation involved the cutting of the shoe to right size. This is shown in Fig. 7. The inner circle was reduced by chipping with cold chisel the part F, and the outer by chipping off the portion G, thus leaving the shoe the correct pattern. This shoe was put on a mule and used with fair results until proper shoes could be obtained.

MADE OF SHEET METAL

In the tropical countries now possessed by the United States, much of the roofing of the better classes of houses consists of corrugated sheet metal, imported. There is often not many other forms of metal to be had. I once saw a horseshoer make a protective covering for a mule’s hoof to answer the purpose of a shoe, when no shoes were at hand. How he did it is shown in the next views. Fig. 8 illustrates the style of the sheet metal which was available. Fig. 9 shows how the man applied the sheet metal to the hoof of the mule. The metal is marked H. The metal is wrapped about the hoof and is then laced under and secured by a series of bendings and lappings, one covering the other. The blows of the hoof upon the road serve to hammer the sheet metal firmer into place. This protected the hoof of the mule for a number of days. The roughest and quickest piece of work I ever saw done in the line is shown in Figs. 10 and 11. We were in the hills, and speed was essential for war reasons. A shoe was lost, and there was no time to make another and an extra shoe could not be found.

A piece of iron rod about half an inch in diameter was taken, cut the right length and bent as in Fig. 10. This crude device was then secured to the hoof of the mule by using strips J J, as in Fig. 11. This contrivance served to get the mule over the rocky sections to a place where there was time to replace the device with a proper shoe.

RELATING TO THE OUTFIT

The outfit carried in the army service by the army horseshoer is different from that of the civilian smith. In Fig. 12 is one of the boxes which one sees on service on the army wagons, and in camps where much shoeing is done. The army horses or mule shoer makes up this kit himself and selects the tools. The quartermaster’s department may be drawn upon for some of the tools and fixings, but the man himself is usually obliged to make the selections. The wood box is carried under the seat of the wagon, or it is sometimes attached beneath the body where it can be reached conveniently. In this box there is also a department of rations, in which the shoer carries canned stuff, C and B, for use en route when accompanying a wagon train to the interior in some foreign land, as in the Philippines, Cuba or in Japan, where, at present, American troops are stationed and require wagon trains to haul stores. There are also troops in Alaska. The horseshoer is prominent in all of these places. Your correspondent met with them wherever there were soldiers. The shoer also arms himself, and in the box shown is a revolver. There is a box at D for nails or other articles required on his work.

SHOER’S CHEST

The shoers in the army have first-class chests with them in garrison, and on Fig. 13 is a design of chest ordinarily used. It is made of hardwood, nicely finished, and the corners are fitted with sheet metal for the purpose of strengthening. The interior of these chests is divided off for holding various articles carried by the shoer.

SOME OF THE TOOLS

In Fig. 14 is one of the patterns of knives carried by the horseshoer in army service, for the reason that he is frequently called upon to perform work outside of that related to the horseshoeing. I can recollect numerous cases in which the men engaged for shoeing were called upon to do surgical work among the animals. The knife is used to stick with. In one case a mule had contracted a trouble, resulting in the swelling of one side of his head to large proportions. The swelling got so bad that the mule was given up to die. One of the shoers opened the swelling with a knife like that shown, and it immediately went down. In Fig. 15 is a sample of the bandage usually carried by the shoer in his kit of tools and fixings. It is useful for emergencies. In Fig. 16 is a type of syringe also employed. In Fig. 17 is one of the samples of bandaged foot, seen with the ankle wrapped at F with cloth, and then with cords. In this instance the bandaging was to cover a torn portion of the skin.

HOME-MADE NAILS

In Fig. 18 we show some samples of home-made nails for shoes, turned out in the field from wire. Wire can be purchased usually, even when nails cannot. F marks the piece of wire cut to the proper length. G shows the same piece of wire after the head has been hammered on, and H shows the head finished off properly and the point put on the nail. The nail is now ready to use.

IMPROVISED FIREPLACES

The horseshoer in active army service is compelled to resort to all manner of tricks to get his work done. One scheme is to build a fire in the ground, as shown in Fig. 19. The hole is excavated to a depth of about one foot. Then a tunnel is made under ground at K, leading from the base of the fire at J to the open air, as shown. There is a stack put in at L, if it is possible to obtain the same. This makes the draft. The current of air down through the stack and up through the fire makes a strong blower, which serves well in generating the heat. The shoe to be heated is passed down through the covering of the fireplace by means of the rod M.