[4V50 Gary]

I don't recommend stealing other people's horses and in the old days, it was a hanging offense. Not a bad idea today either. Nonetheless, during the Civil War horse stealing was quite common. Here's how one unit got away with it:

'Ambulance Brown' prefers a black moustache on his amiable face to the huge paler hued one which nature supplies. The color he takes along in his pocket is handy to have... Our excellent Asst. Surgeon Small finds among the captured horses one that suits his fancy. A whining rebel citizen appears and begs for his 'dear horse.' The Colonel tells this Mr. Secesh to go among the herd and pick out his horse, and he will see about his return. The horse has a white foot or two, a white star in his face and a white nose. Brown, however, the moment he sets his sharp eyes upon this horse, sees that he is a valuable animal, and suspects that he will be demanded. He decides that this particular horse is not the horse he was, and to prove it, he whips out his moustache dye - without the knowledge of the Colonel or Asst. Surgeon Small - and colors all the white marks on the horse jet black. This job has hardly been completed, when Mr. Secesh appears in the herd, and still further proves the horse was not his he was, by being utterly unable to find his lost property - the work so well done he does not recognize his own 'dear horse,' and goes his way lamenting. When it is safe to do so the color is washed off - and now he is the horse he was. He does good service in the army, and is brought North at the end of the war. No one but 'Ambulance Brown' would ever have thought of dyeing a horse's moustache - but you see the habit of dyeing moustaches had grown strong upon him."