Firearm question

[gunslinger598]

Anyone know exactly which firearms were in use by the U S Military in 1861?

[Andrew]

That's a good question. You know, I don't remeber having discussions on the firearms that shaped history(which I believe they did) in school, just the "history".

[Gun Smith]

I believe it was the 1861 Springfield musket. 58 caliber? Officers probably carried Colt 1851 or 1860 pistols or Remington 1858 models.

[Hobie]

Plus 1800 something flintlocks and flintlocks converted to percussion (and both rifled and not) and 1842 muskets, rifled and not and... hey, define "military" as there were a number of organizations with different armament. It would almost be easier to ask exactly to which unit you are referring and do the research on that. While there were standards, they changed continuously and make do was the order of the day for the first couple of years of the war.

[gunslinger598]

I'm looking for information what U S troops from Ft Ruby, Nevada would have been using at that time.

It's research for a friend that has to be better than a guess. Once some good leads are defined then the research will go that direction.

[Otto]

Here http://www.webpanda.com/white_pine_coun ... t_ruby.htm is a little information about the fort. Company B, 4th Artillery is mentioned. Maybe some research on that unit will lead somewhere. Also mentioned is Co I of the 9th Infantry.

[gunslinger598]

Thanks for the reference site. It's already being used at this time.

[Gun Smith]

I got to thinking about what a U.S. soldier would be armed with in 1861 if he didn't have the latest issue musket. The 1855 Springfield in 58 caliber would be the most logical choice prior to the beginning of the War between the States.

[rangerider7]

This is a 1842 Springfield Musketoon (mounted soldier) 69 caliber. It has been rifled and was probably use in the Mexican War, Civil War, and by Native Americans in the Indian Wars. It turned up from a family in Goldtwaith, Texas. Their ancestor had taken it off an Indian in a running battle in the 1870s. Great history!

[gunslinger598]

Thanks everyone.

Some good places to start.

[rjohns94]

gettysburg's visitors center has on display several hundred, if not thousand arms from that period. I am sure they have records of the arms each organization used during the great debate

[Hobie]

I got to thinking about what a U.S. soldier would be armed with in 1861 if he didn't have the latest issue musket. The 1855 Springfield in 58 caliber would be the most logical choice prior to the beginning of the War between the States.

Many many units particularly militia units were armed with the 1842 musket or 1816 converted to percussion.

[Griff]

Locate a copy of Randy Stefan's series, "The Horse Soldier 1776-1943", subtitled "The United States Cavalryman: His Uniforms, arms, Accroutements, and Equipment", specifically "Volume II, The Frontier, the Mexican War, the Civil War, the Indian Wars, 1851-1880". It provides many references for official arms, uniforms, etc., just as the title sez. However, as Hobie points out, specific units differed, as did individuals, more so among officers than enlisted.

[Doc Hudson]

The War Between the States was a Quartermaster's worst nightmare, on both sides. The only uniformity was the lack of uniformity whether Federal or Confederate troops are discussed.

On both sides, the early days of the war saw plenty of troops marching off to war armed withModel 1803 Harpers Ferry .69 caliber flintlock Muskets, Hall Breech-loading Rifles and Muskets, Model 1840, Model 1842 Muskets, Model 1842 Rifles, Model 1855 Rifle Muskets, Enfield Rifle-Muskets of both Three-Band Model 1853 and Two-Band Model of 1857 versions. Some regiments were equipped with Colt Revolving Rifles, Henry Model 1860 Lever-Action Rifles as well as Spencer Rifles and Carbines.

Calibers ranged from .69 down to .44. The smooth-bores were often loaded with buck-and-ball loads (a .69-caliber ball plus 4 to 6 pieces of 00 buckshot in a paper cartridge), simple .69-caliber round ball cartridges, .54 caliber cartridges, .52 caliber cartridges for Sharps, .56 caliber cartridges for Colt Revolving Rifles, .577 caliber Minie Ball cartridges (the .577 cartridges could be used either in the .577 Enfields or .58 caliber Springfields), and that is just the paper cartridges! And some Model 1842 Muskets that had been converted to .69 caliber rifles before The War.

The Smith, Jenks, Burnside, Starr, Joslyn, lee, Henry, Maynard, Greene, and Spencer, along with several I've probably forgotten all used metallic or rubber cartridges. Some were outside primed, some were rimfire. Calibers ranged from .38 caliber to .52 caliber.

And don't think handguns were any less of a nightmare!

In addition to the .22 and .32 Rimfire Smith & Wesson revolvers that many soldiers carried as privately owned weapons, there were a dozen or more different manufacturers supplying revolvers of a sort in at least three different calibers, .36 caliber, .42 caliber, and .44 caliber. Action types ranged from familiar and sensible designs such as the Colt, Remington, Starr and assorted Confederate knock-offs to such oddities as a Savage Turret Revolver, in which the cylinder was flat, rotating in the center with the chambers drilled into the edge. Chambers not aligned with the barrel were pointing back toward the shooter. How would you like to have a chain fire with one of those? There were Starr Double-Action revolvers in .36 and .44 Calibers. Savage-North pistols with a ring lever to rotate the cylinder and an extra long two finger trigger for cocking the hammer and firimg.

And many cavalry units were especially fond of the double-barreled shotguns. And to cap off the oddities, I remember seeing a double-barreled .58 caliber breech-loading pistol that was allegedly used during the War Between the States.

Standards of acceptance were low for both sides. The main requirement being that the things go bang when properly loaded, and were at least somewhat more dangerous to the enemy than to the shooter (Confederate arms did not always meet that requirement). Both sides fielded thousands of muskets and rifles that had been condemned and sold as surplus in the decades before The War, and even in the closing months of The War, some Confederate units were still using .69 caliber smooth-bores. The Arsenal at Selma, AL produced several million .69 caliber buck-and-ball loads before it was burned by Wilson's Raiders in the Spring of 1865.

Like I said, The War was a logistical nightmare for both sides. It is a wonder that any member of the Quartermaster Corps and Ordnance Department finished The War sane or sober.

[Doc Hudson]

I'm looking for information what U S troops from Ft Ruby, Nevada would have been using at that time.

It's research for a friend that has to be better than a guess. Once some good leads are defined then the research will go that direction.

In that area and time, the Infantry would probably have been equipped with Aprinfield Model 1855 Rifle-Muskets. Cavalry would probably have had Sharps Carbines or possibly Springfield Model 1855 Carbines.

Like Hobie said, you might have better luck researching the exact regiment.