Im An idiot Did the horses wear shoes?

[rldavis]

I have found several horse shoes that do not look like current day horse shoes. Did the Civil war soldiers shoe their horses? Am I retarded?? I was told once the dumbest quetion is one that is not asked!!!

[davidjett]

Found this great article on the history of horse shoes and it contains information on Civil War horses. Good read. Enjoy!
They did indeed use horseshoes.

"With the coming of the Industrial Revolution, horseshoe production reached new heights. In 1800, the first machine to cast shoes on a large scale was introduced. During America's Civil War of the 1850s, the Northern forces had a horseshoe-forging machine that gave them a distinct advantage over the Southern armies."

Horse Shoes History

David