![[Dray carts]](http://www.contrib.andrew.cmu.edu/~jw3u/Vargo.jpg)
One of the most common jobs prior to and after the war was that of a teamster or those who drive horses. Some would have driven freight wagons from a few to many miles. Railroad did not reach farther than a few population centers. Feeder lines were not yet common. Hauling by water would be restricted to those bodies of water wide enough and deep enough to permit steamboat use. This is the reason most settlements before this time are commonly found near bodies of water. The hauling of freight farther than the above mentioned pathways would be limited to the capacity of freight and conestoga wagons which were still in use. Each wagon would require between two and six horses to pull it a maximum of twenty miles per day. Passenger travel between land locked towns was limited to stage coaches. The Concord Stage carried most people in all regions of the United States when they had to travel any distance. Major hotels, and some minor ones, would have their own stagecoaches which were called "Omnibuses" to transport their guests between their establishment and rail stations or steamboat landings. There are several books available on this topic and I encourage you to consult them at your local library or bookstore.
The topic I wish to focus on is a job which was quite common but is not covered much in sources of information. The topic is Drayage or driving what was called a dray. Drays were two wheeled carts pulled by one horse and driven by one man. They were used for hauling loads over relatively short distances, such as from one part of a town to another. The loads varied from pile of saw lumber to heavy iron castings. These vehicles show up in many period paintings and photographs. They appear in the background and are seldom described. They are seen less frequently after the 1880s and are finally replaced by the larger four wheel wagons.
The Cart
The cart was called either a Dray or a Truck. The construction was very simple. The wheels were 5' to 6' in diameter and of heavy construction so that they could take the punishment of rough, unpaved roads. Between the wheels was a simple axle. On top of this was a pair of poles or shafts, again of heavy construction. They reached far forward so that a horse could fit between them. What was unusual about these carts was that the poles also extended behind the main body of the cart. When the horse was unhitched these rear poles would lower down and could be used as a kind of simple ramp to facilitate loading of the cargo. There seems to have been little or no floor to these Drays. There were probably a few heavy beams between the poles to carry the load and a few upright stakes to prevent the load from shifting from side to side. You will see in the two plates how simple the construction was. No springs were provided since they would have been considered superfluous. The Drays in Plate #1 are being used to carry lumber. Three are loaded and one in the upper right corner is returning at some speed for another load. At the center background of this picture is a Gig or Shay or Chaise which were common two wheeled passenger vehicles. In Plate II is a Dray which has just been loaded with a heavy casting at the Port Richmond Iron Works at Philadelhia around the 1850s. Note that the weight is centered over the wheels to take the weight off the back of the horse.
The Horse
The cart horse in Plate II is being backed into position between the shafts and is about to be harnessed. This print is good for examining the harness. There is a collar which looks like it is around the horse's neck. It is actually resting on the shoulders of this horse. The horse pushes against this collar in moving and the force is transmitted back to the cart. There is a cover over the collar and harness which obscures some of the detail. Immediately behind the collar is what is called a "Saddle." There is a belt which goes from the Saddle all the way around the horse and is called a Bellyband. There are also belts or harness which hang down and buckle to hold the shafts of the cart up. They not only hold the cart up but are also used to guide the shafts when turning the cart. Finally, there is a complex or harness over the rump of the horse which is called the Breeching. This part of the harness is what enables this horse to back up and, in so doing, to move the cart backwards. In the case of teams of horses where there is more than one pair, only the horses closest to the wagon are equipped with this special harness. These horses are called the wheel horses or the wheel team. The belts or straps which enable the horse to pull a cart or wagon or coach are connected from the collar to the bellyband and to the breeching and then to the cart itself.
The Driver
The man shown in Plate II is the driver or teamster of the Dray. His costume is typical of work clothes worn by laborers of this period. His cap is similar to the forage cap worn during the Mexican War. It is of wool fabric and the brim appears to be of leather. This brim could also be cardboard and covered with cloth that matches the cap. This cap and variations in style are the most common cap worn by workers at this time. He wears a heavy outer pullover shirt, probably of wool. Most likely he is wearing some kind of undershirt. He appears to be wearing some kind of leather cuffs around his wrists. He has on trousers, likely of wool or heavy corduroy fabric, with no belt or suspenders. His foot wear does not show but are most likely boots or brogans. The drivers in Plate I are earlier and vague but seem to be wearing top hats or round hats. Drivers would walk slightly behind and beside their horse. I would imagine that only rarely would the driver ride on the cart. It would add a load on the horse. There is also not a place to sit. Some horses would be driven with a pair of reins, while others may be controlled by what is called a Jerk Line. This consists of one rein controlled by the driver. Civil War supply wagons were driven by one man who rode one mule and used a jerk line. A steady pull headed the mule or horse to the left and short jerks to the right. These would be accompanied by shouts of "Haw!" (left), "Gee!" (right) and "Yay!" (straight ahead). I am willing to wager that many other more colorful words were used by the teamsters and drivers. Allow me to conclude by giving my opinion as to what the various types were called. It is my opinion that all men who drove horses were called drivers. Teamsters were those who drove one or more pairs of horses. The men who drove the Drays were called draymen or cartment. The term cartmen was probably used more broadly.
I hope this brief article will help you in developing an impression as to what you did before entering the army. The ladies may also use these articles in developing a persona as describing what their father, husband, son or brother does or did as an occupation. My hope is that others will begin to pen some like articles or expand on what I have already written.
Plate I (see below)
Dray cart. Termed either a dray or a truck, according to the whim of the user, these simple two-wheelers were among the major vehicles of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. Used extensively by business and industry, countless early sketches and paintings of street scenes testify to their importance. More common than four-wheelers in the eighteenth century, they carried lumber, barrels, boxes, bales and all sorts of merchandise. The illustration on this New York billhead presents them in a mid-nineteenth-century setting. (Original document in the Smithsonian Institution.)
Plate II (see above)
6. Dray cart. The cart was usually made without a floor. The loads, resting on the cross-members of the frame, were retained by stakes. Two permanently attached skids protruded from the rear of the vehicle. When the horse was harnessed to the cart, the shafts were slightly elevated and the skids conseqauerntly almost touched the ground, making it easier to slide or roll loads onto the vehicle. The illustration shows a heavy casting on a dray at the Port Richmond Iron Works in Philadelphia around the 1850s. A number of other drays can be seen in the background. (Lithograph by I. P. Morris & Co., in the Smithsonian Institution.)