From the Age of Napoleon we find an military adage that goes as follows: Infantry can take and hold real estate, Artillery can hold but can not take it, and Cavalry can take it but can not hold it. So when it came to Cavalry, it's function was limited. The need to take and hold land mass was very important and no where greater than in the "west" of the War. That area between the Mississippi River and the eastern mountain ranges were important in that when a battle was fought the winner or loser gained or lost 1/3, 1/2, or 3/4 of the state to the other side. Corinth, Mississippi was won by the North and that gave them all of western Tenn. Units to hold that land was needed to have long arms (rifles, not carbines, and sabers). According to records most Southern cavalry had few sabers, by the way. In Mosby's Unit at the end of the war out of almost two thousand men there may have been 50 sabers. The need for food for the horse was a problem for the North as well as the South. There is a report that as many as 1500 horses and mules starved and/or froze to death in the winter of 1862/63 near Washington, DC. They didn't have enough to feed them all. The South was just as hard pressed. In a number of accounts of Texas Units in the West and Trans-Mississippi areas you find dismounted units. Grandbury's Brigade of the Army of Tenn. had the 17,18,24,25, and 15th dismounted units I do believe. been awhile. The 6th and 7th Infantry was also part of the Brigade. I left Chattanooga, Tenn. and traveled to Vicksburg, Miss. in one 8 hour day at my own pace. That is through part of northern Ga., across Alabama, and Mississippi. We get to Texas and it takes 24 hours to get across the state on a divided highway going 80 mph. That is why we wanted horse flesh. And we believe, because of our Indian fighting, that we were go at fighting on horse back. The truth be told, our cavalry in the U.S., weather north or south, was poor. Custer dis mounted at Little Big Horn because they couldn't match the native. There was no training like in Europe where the companies charged in overlapping formations that brought pressure to one spot in the infantry line and would, it was believe to help break the line. In the new world only Mexico and a few other former Spanish colonies had units so trained. This rambles somewhat but there is lots to say about the subject, and yes, there were many who left to take horses back to Texas when they were dismounted, and they never returned, a number joined a home guard unit. And ended up fighting in places like Mansfield and Pleasant Hill, La. in 1864. Carry on your interest. Keep the real history alive, and don't let anyone tell you that the stuff in the text book is all there is....there are tons of stuff out there that are not taught.