Fort Myer-Henderson Hall, Virginia. (April 9, 2025): The military is returning to using horse drawn caissons, or 18th century wooden wagons, for funerals occurring at Arlington National Cemetery. In this photo by Lance Corporal Christopher Prelle, Sergeant Joshua Williams straps in a training casket as a part of caisson refamiliarization training. This solemn custom was suspended in 2023 due to concerns about the health and care of the horses. After a thorough revamping of the Army’s veterinary care, practices, and equipment, these newly trained caisson squads will begin by conducting up to 10 funerals per week. When four squads are fully built and certified, the cemetery will be able to go up to about 20 caisson funerals a week.
Service members eligible to be transported by caisson include those killed in action, recipients of the Medal of Honor or the Prisoner of War Medal, as well as senior commissioned officers, senior warrant officers, and senior noncommissioned officers. In addition, they will be available for the funerals of about 25 service members whose families wanted to wait until the caissons returned.
The original caissons were designed to carry artillery and other equipment to the front during the Civil War and to ferry the wounded back to safe areas. Divisions used thousands of these sturdy vehicles to move nearly all their food, ammunition, and medical supplies. Today, they are used to provide a dignified transport of the fallen at military funerals. The military is proud to report the practice of using horse drawn carriage for funerals is back and here to stay.