Boer War 1899-1902
 "This is the Hall Horse and Carriage Repository located at 30 Derling Street in Capetown, South Africa," Jonathan Shaffer, Schuyler County Historical Society President, photo Schuyler County William P Hall Museum  "This is the Hall Bros. Mules and Horses business, located at 74 Longmarket Street in Capetown, South Africa," Jonathan Shaffer, Schuyler County Historical Society President, photo Schuyler County William P Hall Museum |
Hall opened stables in Cape Town, South Africa in 1898, a year before the Second Boer War. This put him in the perfect position to supply horses and mules to troops. According to Cline, “Hall supplied nearly 200,000 horses and mules [to the British government], giving them a constant supply of fresh transportation.” This created ripples in history because Hall's horses helped the British win the war more efficiently and faster. This was a turning point in Hall's life because, "he made millions during this war," according to Fred D. Pfening, III.
 "Lancers on patrol during the Boer War." Allan Mallinson, History Today, January 1992 |
"On 12 October 1899, the Second Boer War between Britain and the Boer Republics broke out, and he [Winston Churchill] obtained a commission to act as war correspondent for The Morning Post with a salary of £250 per month. After some weeks in exposed areas, he accompanied a scouting expedition in an armored train, leading to his capture and imprisonment in a POW camp in Pretoria (converted school building for Pretoria High School for Girls). He escaped from the prison camp and traveled almost 300 miles (480 km) to Portuguese Lourenço Marques in Delagoa Bay." |
 "A previously unseen photograph of Winston Churchill on a horse following his daring escape from a prison camp during the Boer War has emerged for sale. Sitting astride his grey mount in 1899, the 26-year-old future Prime Minister is shown wearing a suit and tie and has on a wide-brimmed hat. He has a notably slim figure after his 'sixty hours of misery' trying to find his way back to British lines. The back of the photo reads 'Winston Churchill after escape'. The photo was put up for sale by the descendants of Arthur Knight, a trained photographer who was the son of pioneer diamond miner William Knight." Nick Enoch, UK Mail Online, February 2, 2012 |
A South African bill of sale indicated that the horse Churchill rode matches the description of one sold to a Boer general by Hall - only days before his escape.
"Premier Mine, South Africa around 1903." Leith Paxton and David Bourne, Old Steam Locomotives in South Africa
"Hall perfected the Missouri Mule to become stockier and taller which allowed it to carry heavier loads and thereby created a draft animal that was in much demand all over the world. After the war, Hall continued selling in South Africa. The mules became more important because they were needed in the expanding diamond mines."
Tom Parkinson, Bandwagon Magazine, Jan./Feb. 1964
Hall obtained his diamonds and his nickname "Diamond Billy" from trading mules for diamonds. "The diamonds may have served two purposes - to enable Hall to carry purchase funds very readily, and when worn as jewelry, to build his character," explained Circus Historian Fred Dahlinger, Jr.
“Stories were told that Hall wore $20,000 [$700,000 today] worth of diamonds as cuff links, stick pins, tie tacks,
and an over-the-top diamond ring.”
Bob Cline, Bandwagon Magazine, December 2010
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The South African Boer War Exhibition Company contracted Hall to provide horses and mules for their Boer War reenactment at the 1904 St. Louis World’s Fair. This was a turning point in Hall's life because it was his first dealing with show business, which opened the door to his circus career.
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 Letter from South African Boer War Exhibition Company to Hall on May 4, 1904. Picture Circus World Museum archives |
World War I 1914-1918
Hall was called upon to aid the war effort during WWI. “Several carloads of Cavalry horses left the farm in early September for Montreal from which they were shipped to England,” reported local newspapers. Shipments continued throughout the war. According to Circus Historian L.M. "Mitch" White, “Over one million horses were rushed to the European market between 1914 and 1917, and Hall supplied nearly half."
“At least nine to ten carloads of horses were shipped every week to the war effort in the fifty to sixty foot wooden stock cars the railroad owned, which carried twenty-five to twenty-six horses each.”
The Schuyler County Republican, April 13, 1916
