In death, these horses rest in an unusual cemetery

Caretaker Terry Crowder (right) and a worker walking through the horse burial site after feeding horses at the Division Cavalry Brigade Barn in Spanish Lake, Missouri, the United States.

As Terry Crowder walks past the simple white crosses in this unusual cemetery in Spanish Lake, Missouri, the United States, he can remember each of the fallen: 16 horses that have ridden into battle with Crowder and other Civil War re-enactors, fake though the battles were.

On a brisk fall day, Crowder, 70, reminisced about Beau, an exceptional horse he bought for a bargain price because he was stubborn and hard to break. It took Crowder two years to tame him enough to put a saddle on his back. After that, Beau carried Crowder in countless American Civil War re-enactments and educational programmes.