Arming the Union: Federal Contract Model 1861 Springfield Rifle Muskets

At the outset of the Civil War, the Federal government ran into a serious issue when the Confederacy occupied Harper’s Ferry, Virginia, the home of one of the nation’s two armories, and carted the gun making equipment off to Richmond, Virginia. This left just the Springfield Armory in Springfield, Massachusetts as the sole government-operated entity to produce longarms for the Union army.

          But it quickly became apparent that production at Springfield would have to be supplemented, so the War Department pursued two tracks to increase the weapons supply. Agents were dispatched to Europe to purchase suitable weapons from England, France, Austria, Belgium, and Prussia. Over time, these agents acquired hundreds of thousands of European arms of different designs and origins that equipped Federal regiments in the first years of the war.

          In the meantime, operations at the Springfield Armory were sped up to produce the army’s new Model 1861 Springfield rifle musket. By the end of the war, the armory would produce over 800,000 rifle muskets. But it took time for Springfield to ramp up so in 1861 the War Department also turned to domestic manufacturers, signing contracts with over 20 manufacturers in the northeast who were tasked with producing copies of the Model 1861 Springfields. These contractors eventually produced more than 630,000 rifle muskets as shown below.

          The list contains the names and addresses of these manufacturers along with some details about their Federal contracts, number of arms produced, etc. The contractors are organized by state in alphabetical order. William B. Edwards’ Civil War Guns and Claud Fuller's The Rifled Musket have been consulted extensively to create this list with supplementary information provided by antique firearms dealers and experts throughout the country. Special thanks also to Phil Spaugy, Dean Nelson, and Mike Santarelli for their assistance with getting this article together. 

Foreign Import

William Hahn (German-made Springfield copies)

Lockplate: Plain

          A total of 487 of the Suhl-produced Springfield copies were imported into the U.S. in early 1862.


Connecticut Manufacturers

Colt Patent Firearms Co.

Hartford, Connecticut

Lockplate: Colt Pt. F.A. MFG Co. Hartford CT

          Colt was the first domestic manufacturer to receive a War Department contract, an order for 25,000 Model 1855 rifle muskets being placed on July 5, 1861, to be sold to the government for $20 each. Colt signed an additional contract for 25,000 more muskets on December 26, 1861 (none of these were delivered). It took quite some time for Colt to obtain the necessary equipment to make rifles and it wasn’t until September 1862 that the Colt Special Model 1861s began to be supplied to the army. A third contract for 50,000 rifles was signed on June 5, 1863, of which only 12,500 were delivered. A fourth contract was signed March 19, 1864, for 37,500 rifles all of which were delivered before the end of the war. That said, Colt eventually produced 75,000 Model 1861s for the Union army and assisted other manufacturers with producing thousands more.

 


Eagle Manufacturing Co.

Mansfield, Connecticut

Lockplate: U.S. Eagleville

          Eagle Manufacturing Co. received a contract to produce 25,000 Model 1861s in late 1861, but the commission reduced the total to 20,000 in 1862. The first muskets were not delivered until April 14, 1863, and then only 5,480 of the 20,000 contracted were actually delivered. Final delivery occurred on September 11, 1863. Eagle Mfg. Co. worked closely with both James D. Mowry listed below and the Norwich Arms Co. in the production of their weapons.

 


James D. Mowry

Norwich, Connecticut

Lockplate: Jas. D. Mowry, Norwich, CT

          Mowry, a paper manufacturer located in Norwich, Connecticut, secured a contract on December 26, 1861, to produce 30,000 Model 1861s at $20 each. Mowry subcontracted the parts and assembly; assembly occurred at both Eagle Manufacturing Co. in Mansfield with the lockplates marked as U.S. Eagleville and guns assembled at the Norwich Armories as marked Jas D. Mowry Norwich. The Holt & Owen commission eventually reduced Mowry’s contract to 20,000 guns and the first delivery occurred on June 1, 1863, eventually delivering 12,000 by the time his contract expired in January 1864. He was permitted to deliver another 10,000 weapons in 1864, raising his overall production to 22,000 Model 1861s.



Norwich Arms Co.

Norwich, Connecticut

Lockplate: U.S. Norwich

    The Norwich Arms Co. received two contracts: one signed April 1, 1864 for 10,000 Model 1861s at $18 each and a second contract signed October 18, 1864 for 15,000 muskets at $19 each. All 25,000 Model 1861s were delivered. 

 


James Mulholland/ Parker, Snow, Brooks, and Co.

Meriden, Connecticut

Lockplate: Parkers’ Snow & Co., Meriden, CT

          James Mulholland was the superintendent of the Reading Railroad, and using his significant political connections secured a contract to produce 50,000 Model 1861s on January 7, 1862. Mulholland subcontracted the entirety of his contract to Parker, Snow, Brooks & Co. of Meriden, Connecticut. A reduced contract for 25,000 arms was signed on June 11, 1862, of which only 5,502 were ultimately delivered before the contract was closed October 31, 1863. Parker, Snow, Brooks and Co. delivered 15,000 muskets under their own contract. 

 


Savage Revolving Firearms Co.

Middletown, Connecticut

Lockplate: Savage R.F.A. Co., Middletown, CT

          After much maneuvering including being willing to fulfill the Parker, Snow, Brooks & Co. contract, this firm received a contract for 25,000 Model 1861s on September 9, 1862, at $16 each of which 13,500 were delivered by February 1864. Shortly thereafter, a second contract for 12,000 muskets at $18 each was signed February 25, 1864, and all were delivered by November 7, 1864. Overall, Savage produced 25,500 Model 1861s.

 


William W. Welch

Norfolk, Connecticut

Lockplate: U.S. Norfolk

          Welch’s first contract was for a modest 18,000 arms at $20 each, the contract being signed November 6, 1861with the first deliveries taking place on September 23, 1862. The commission reduced the contract to 16,000 arms by that time, all of which were delivered by December 1863. A supplemental contract for 2,500 muskets was signed on January 12, 1864, but only 1,000 were delivered in May 1864 before the contract was prematurely exhausted. Welch lobbied the Federal government to be allowed to deliver the balance of the 1,500 muskets that had been ordered and was allowed to do so in April and May 1865, the government only paying $15 per gun for this final batch. Total production of Model 1861s amounted to 18,500 muskets.

 


Whitney Firearms Co.

Whitneyville, Connecticut

Lockplate: Whitneyville or E. Whitney

          Whitney Firearms Co. started producing firearms in 1847 so it natural that it would play an important role in filling the government’s need for rifle muskets when the need arose in 1861. The works were actually located in New Haven, Connecticut but was popularly known as Whitneyville. Eli Whitney, Jr. signed a contract with the state of Connecticut to supply 5,600 modified Model 1861s featuring a Remington style rear sight, all 5,600 being delivered by April 1862. Whitney also signed a contract with the Federal government to make 40,000 muskets on December 24, 1861, but the Holt-Owen commission reduced the total to 25,000. After much finagling, Whitney cancelled the old contract and eventually signed a new one on October 17, 1863, to produce 15,000 muskets at $19 each, the first deliveries of which commenced three days after signing the contract. A total of 15,001 of the muskets under this final contract were delivered by January 30, 1865.

 


William Muir & Co.

Windsor Locks, Connecticut

Lockplate: Wm. Muir & Co., Windsor Locks, CT or Windsor Locks

          On December 7, 1861, William Muir secured a contract to deliver 30,000 Model 1861s at $20 each and unusually of all these makers, his contract was not reduced and Muir delivered every gun of the contract. He subcontracted with several other makers including Dinslow & Chase and eventually formed a partnership with O.T. Burt to form William Muir & Co. An altered contract was signed July 9, 1862, where Muir would deliver the first 20,000 muskets at the full price of $20 each and the last 5,000 at $16 each. Deliveries commenced on January 11, 1863, and by November 3, 1864, all 30,000 muskets had been delivered.

 

Massachusetts Manufacturers

 


William Mason

Taunton, Massachusetts

Lockplate: U.S. Wm. Mason, Taunton (a few early ones are marked U.S. Taunton)

          William Mason, a well-known manufacturer of machinery for cotton mills, secured a contract for up to 100,000 Models 1861s on January 7, 1862, but the contract, after much wrangling, was eventually reduced to 30,000 guns. Deliveries commenced on June 11, 1863, and the final deliveries on the contract for 30,000 occurred in August 1864.

 

New Hampshire Manufacturers

 


Amoskeag Manufacturing Co.

Manchester, New Hampshire

Lockplate: Amoskeag Mfg. Co., Manchester, N.H.

          Amoskeag secured a contract on November 18, 1861, to produce 10,000 Model 1861s at $20 each.  What Amoskeag produced was actually the Colt Special Model 1861 (sometimes called a Model 1863 Springfield), their first delivery taking place on June 11, 1863, and ultimately 10,001 were delivered by July 13, 1863. A second contract was signed on November 5, 1863, for 15,000 more muskets, all of which were delivered by February 28, 1865. A final contract for 2,000 muskets (this small number intended to use up all remaining spare parts) was signed on January 6, 1865, and delivered soon thereafter, making Amoskeag’s contribution of 27,001 muskets to the Union war effort.


New Jersey Manufacturers

 


Trenton Arms Co.

Trenton, New Jersey

Lockplate: U.S. Trenton

          Trenton Arms Co. was formed by James T. Hodge and Addison M. Burt to execute the two contracts for 25,000 muskets at $20 each that each man had secured in 1861. Utilizing the shops of the Trenton Locomotive & Machinery Co. as the armory, Hodge and Burt subcontracted for numerous components including locks and barrels. Initial deliveries on Addison Burt’s contract commenced on March 26, 1863, and totaled only 11,495 muskets when closed on December 30, 1864. The deliveries on Hodge’s contract commenced May 14, 1863, and totaled 10,500 muskets when completed on December 17, 1864.

 

New York Manufacturers

 


Charles B. Hoard

Watertown, New York

Lockplate: U.S. Watertown

          Charles B. Hoard operated a steam engine factory in Watertown, New York, secured a contract for 50,000 Model 1861s at $20 each on December 24, 1861. Holt & Owen’s commission in the spring of 1862 threatened to negate his contract, so Hoard let it expire then promptly signed a new contract on June 28, 1862, for 25,000 muskets at $20 each. Only 12,800 of these were delivered between September 17, 1863 and August 2, 1865.

 


Remington Arms Co.

Ilion Gulph, New York

Lockplate: Remington’s, Ilion, N.Y.

          The well-regarded E. Remington & Sons firm of Ilion, New York, the oldest gunmaker in the country, devoted most of its productive energies to producing handguns and carbines during the war, but also produced some rifles in the latter half of the conflict. On August 11, 1862, Remington secured a contract from the War Department to produce 10,000 modified Harpers Ferry rifles with sword bayonets at $17 each, all of which were delivered between April 18, 1863, and January 8, 1864, while a further 2,500 were contracted for in December 1863, none of which were delivered. On December 14, 1863, Remington secured a contract to supply 40,000 Model 1861s at $16 each which were delivered between May 31, 1864, and May 24, 1866.

 


Edward Robinson

New York, New York

Lockplate: E. Robinson, New York

          This firm received a contract to produce 30,000 arms in June 1863, ultimately delivering 12,000 1861s between 1864 and 1865. It has also been reported that this firm produced the full 30,000 arms called for in the contract.

 


Sarson & Roberts

New York, New York

Lockplate: U.S. New York

          John B. Sarson and William S. Roberts formed a partnership in the fall of 1861, initially delivering Potsdam muskets to the U.S. market but soon secured a contract to produce 25,000 Model 1861s, the contract being signed on August 3, 1861. Their initial offer was to produce Enfield copies or Springfields at $18.50 per musket, but after fully realizing the production issues that lie ahead, the contract was cancelled and a new one for 25,000 muskets at $20 apiece was signed. The Holt-Owen commission reduced the contract to 20,000 muskets, the components of which S&R subcontracted from other gunmakers. Eventually only 5,140 of these guns were delivered before the contract was terminated on November 20, 1863, making Sarson & Roberts one of the rarer Model 1861 contract muskets.

 


Union Firearms Co.

New York, New York

Lockplate: U.S. U.A. Co., New York

          Robert S. Gallaher of New York secured a contract to produce 20,000 Models 1861s at $20 each on August 13, 1861; a second contract to produce 20,000 more was signed on October 11, 1861. The Union Firearms Co. was established in late 1861 to execute these contracts as well as 25,000 of the E.S. Allin conversions (Marsh guns) for the Springfields. A fourth contract calling for 25,000 more muskets was received in December 1861. But in the spring of 1862, the government reduced Union Firearms contracts to 25,000 Model 1861s and 12,500 of the Marsh guns. First deliveries of the Model 1861s were to begin in July 1862 but only roughly 300 were actually delivered. Another very rare Model 1861.

 

Pennsylvania Manufacturers

 


Alfred Jenks & Son

Bridesburg, Pennsylvania

Lockplate: U.S. Bridesburg (464 were marked Philadelphia)

          Alfred Jenks & Son, a Philadelphia firm, operated the Bridesburg Machine Works and acquired a contract on July 13, 1861, to produce 25,000 Model 1855s at $20 each, but actually made Model 1861s. The contract was doubled to 50,000 muskets on October 5, 1861, and by the spring of 1862, these started to arrive in Federal stocks. A final contract for 50,000 more Model 1861s was signed on December 15, 1863 of which Jenks delivered 48,000. Total production of Model 1861s was 98,000.

 


John Rice

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Lockplate: U.S. Philadelphia

          John Rice, a stonemason, not a gunmaker but a skilled organizer and well-known commodity in Washington, secured a contract to produce 36,000 Model 1861s on November 21, 1861 at $20 each. Rice utilized other gun makers to produce his components: Essler & Brother made locks, Alfred Jenks’ Bridesburg Machine Works produced stocks, William Mason produced the barrels, etc. Production delays eventually caused the government to reduce the contract to 25,000 muskets and only very few guns were actually produced before the whole scheme collapsed. It’s possible that the 464 Philadelphia-marked Model 1861s delivered by Alfred Jenks’ Bridesburg Machine Works were actually assembled John Rice weapons. A very rare bird.

 

Rhode Island Manufacturers

 


Providence Tool Co.

Providence, Rhode Island

Lockplate: U.S. Providence Tool Co., Providence, R.I.

          Providence Tool received a contract for 25,000 Model 1861s on July 13, 1861, and a doubling on November 26, 1861 with the first delivery not commencing until December 18, 1862. A third contract to deliver 20,000 more muskets was extended in 1863 and final deliveries on this contract occurred May 25, 1865. All told, Providence produced 70,000 Model 1861s.

 


Casper D. Schubarth

Providence, Rhode Island

Lockplate: C.D. Schubarth, Providence

          Casper Schubarth, an experienced Norwegian-born gunsmith, secured a contract to produce 20,000 Model 1861s at $20 each on October 11, 1861; on November 26, 1861, he secured a contract for an additional 30,000 muskets. Schubarth formed a partnership with Frederick Griffing and James Ryder, forming C.D. Schubarth & Co. in February 1862. Schubarth subcontracted the barrels, locks, stocks, mountings, and implements with other northeastern manufacturers but conducted the final assembly at his shop in Providence. The contracts were eventually reduced to 30,000 weapons of which the first delivery commenced on December 19, 1862. Final delivery occurred in October 1863 by which time only 9,500 Model 1861s had been delivered.

 

Vermont Manufacturers

 


Lamson, Goodnow, & Yale

Windsor, Vermont

Lockplate: L.G.&Y., Windsor, VT (a few 1865s are marked E.G. Lamson)

          Lamson, Goodnow, & Yale purchased the assets of failed gunmaker Robbins & Lawrence in Vermont before the war and received a contract from the Federal government on July 11, 1861, to produce 25,000 of the special Colt pattern Model 1861 at $20 each. By October 7, 1861, this contract was doubled to 50,000 muskets, but as mentioned with Colt above, it took awhile before the L.G.&Y. muskets started to arrive in government stocks, the first delivery taking place on September 24, 1862.  All 50,000 of the contracted muskets were delivered by December 10, 1864.

An oddity- blank lockplate rifle muskets from Whitney Firearms Co. 


Contractor Production of Model 1861s by Make

Alfred Jenks & Son                    98,000

Colt Patent Firearms Co.            75,000

Providence Tool Co.                  70,000

Lamson, Goodnow, & Yale        50,000

Remington Arms Co.                 40,000

William Mason                          30,000

William Muir & Co.                   30,000

Edward Robinson                    30,000

Amoskeag Manufacturing Co.    27,001

Savage Revolving Firearms Co.   25,500

Norwich Arms Co.                    25,000

James D. Mowry                       22,000

William W. Welch                     18,500

Whitney Firearms Co.                15,001

Parker Snow Co.                        15,000

Charles B. Hoard                       12,800

A.M. Burt                                 11,495

Trenton Arms Co.(Hodge)       10,500

Casper D. Schubarth                 9,500

Mulholland/Parker, Snow & Co. 5,502

Eagle Manufacturing Co.           5,480

Sarson & Roberts                      5,140

Welch Brown Co.                        1,360

John Rice                                  Less than 500

Union Firearms Co.                   Less than 500



Comments

Post a Comment

Most Popular Posts

Arming the Buckeyes: Longarms of the Ohio Infantry Regiments

Image
     A common question that comes up in conversation about Civil War Buckeye regiments is "What were they armed with?" We are fortunate in that the state of Ohio kept good records of how the regiments were armed when they went into service, this being especially true for those regiments which went into service in 1861 and 1862. The state adjutant general's reports for 1861 and 1862 have been heavily drawn upon to construct this article, as well as consultation with Phil Spaugy who has done extensive research on how Ohio's troops were armed during the war.      Buckeyes carried a fairly wide variety of weapons into the field, and the below article breaks this down into weapons of both domestic manufacture and imported arms. The early days of the war found the state of Ohio practically bereft of longarms; as an example, when the 1st and 2nd Ohio Volunteer Militia left the state in late April 1861, they left unarmed, being armed at Lancaster, Pennsylvania on their way to
Read more

Dressing the Rebels: How to Dye Butternut Jeans Cloth

Image
     In the early days of the Civil War,  the Southern states found themselves with an abundance of cotton but a shortage of cloth with which to make army uniforms. The trade in cloth prior to the war had largely been to send raw cotton or wool north to New England (or Great Britain) where it was converted into usable cloth; but now that trade was broken and the Southern states were thrown upon their own resources in their efforts to properly clothe the Confederate army.  This collection of Confederate enlisted men's frock coats and shell jackets gives some indication of the variety of shades of butternut worn during the war. All of them are shades of yellow brown, some heavier on the yellow and some heavier on the brown. The blue used around the collar or as rank insignia indicates that the soldier was in the infantry. Surviving Confederate uniforms are considered rather rare and command quite a healthy price in the collecting market. For an in-depth study of how Confederate jacke
Read more

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Image
       Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the four years’ conflict and spent or deformed bullets of all shapes and sizes have made fascinating and affordable collectibles since the guns went silent in 1865.       I recently acquired a display piece featuring 35 different types of small arms ammunition used during the Civil War, including everything from a small .28 caliber ball up to a .69 caliber three-ring Minie and it triggered some questions: how did the Federal army obtain its small arms ammunition during the war? Where did the lead come from to make the bullets, and where and how was the ammunition manufactured? This post seeks to answer those questions. A typical .58 caliber 3-ring Minie bullet   “Whenever the blasts of war blow in the ears of men who trade in the implements of destruction, they are apt to experience more joy than the true warrior, for then comes the harvest of gain.
Read more

The Cannons are Now Silent: The Field of Death of Tupelo

Image
       The smoke of battle had drifted away from the battlefield at Tupelo, Mississippi on the hot afternoon of July 14, 1864, but the carnage of war lay spread across the open fields. “Scattered at intervals over the field of a few yards are dull gray blotches half shaded by grass,” an officer from the 7 th Minnesota Infantry recorded. “These are the Rebel dead. They have fought their last battle and lie generally in attitudes of rest; some of them look as if they had welcomed death. On the faces of two is imprinted a smile. One is a boy of 16 with delicate features, almost girlish in their beauty. His last gaze seems to have been directed toward his hand on the forefinger of which was a ring. A circle of purer white indicates its place; the ring was carried off as a trophy of the field.” The following account of the Battles of Tupelo and Old Town Creek was written by an unknown officer of the 7 th Minnesota Infantry, his account appearing in the August 5 th 1864 edition of the
Read more

The Vaunted Enfield Rifle Musket

Image
     The English-made Model 1853 .577 caliber Enfield Rifle Musket was widely regarded as the best infantry arm in the world at the outbreak of the Civil War in April 1861. Favorable international press describing its efficiency in the Crimean War and in suppressing the Indian rebellion led to the widespread desire of American infantrymen (both Federal and Confederate) to be armed with these accurate and well-made arms. The lock plate of this well-worn P1853 Enfield rifle musket produced in 1862 shows the typical markings of a British-made weapon that made it through the Federal blockade.  ( Army of Tennessee Relics ) Enfield-pattern weapons were imported into the states by the tens and hundreds of thousands during the war years; one estimate stated that the Federal government purchased 500,000 while the Confederates purchased another 400,000. The Confederate government dispatched Captain Caleb Huse to Europe in April 1861 to purchase weapons and Huse focused on securing all the Enfi
Read more

Straw Already Threshed: Sherman on Shiloh

Image
  W illiam Tecumseh Sherman was enjoying retired life in New York City when just before Christmas in 1889 he was presented with an article written by John Cockerill, a former drummer boy in the 24 th Ohio who was visiting his father Colonel Joseph Cockerill of the 70 th Ohio of Sherman’s division when the Battle of Shiloh began. Cockerill’s article, originally published in the New York Journalist and later featured in the January 1893 issue of Blue & Gray Magazine, Sherman later pronounced as “the best war story ever written” and the truest account of Shiloh.           On New Year’s Day 1890, General Sherman composed the following letter to his friend Marshall P. Wilder thanking him for sending along Cockerill’s article and giving his own explanation of Shiloh. “This to me is straw already threshed for we have fought this battle on paper several times, a much more agreeable task than to fight with bullets,” he concluded. “When in England some years ago I was gratified to liste
Read more

Federal Arms in the Stones River Campaign

Image
  T he following list, constructed after many years of research, lists unit by unit which type of weapons were carried by the Army of the Cumberland during the Stones River campaign. A number of sources were consulted including state ordnance reports, Federal quarterly ordnance reports (thank you Research Arsenal ), Ken Baumann’s Arming the Suckers, regimental histories and memoirs, captured ordnance reports, and consultation with knowledgeable experts in the field of firearms. Some of this information has been shared on the blog before in “ Rosy’s Heavy Metal: Artillery of the Army of the Cumberland ” or “ Shoulder Arms: How Sheridan’s and Davis’s Divisions Were Armed at Stones River ” but this is the first time the army as a whole has been presented. The overall conclusion I drew from looking at this data is that the Army of the Cumberland in December 1862 was an organization in the midst of transformation as far as arms. Many of the regiments still retained their original issue
Read more

Escape of Captain Henry H. Alban of the 21st Ohio Infantry

Image
Captain Henry H. Alban was among the dozen officers of the 21 st Ohio Volunteer Infantry who were captured on September 20, 1863 at the Battle of Chickamauga. The regiment had held its position atop Snodgrass Hill against repeated Confederate assaults and now battered and without ammunition, with the darkness of evening enveloping the hill, the remainder of that gallant band found themselves at the mercy of the 54 th Virginia. A total of 12 officers and 121 enlisted men surrendered; the regiment’s colors were taken, and the men marched off the field into captivity. Captain Henry Harvey Alban, Co. F, 21st O.V.I. Captain Alban along with the rest went through a series of Confederate prison camps before arriving at Columbia, South Carolina in October 1864. Determined to make an escape, he watched for his chance and one night made his leap for freedom, successfully eluding the local camp guard and setting out along the railroad to head for the mountains of eastern Tennessee and
Read more

Knapsack Compression: Wilbur Hinman recalls the first step of becoming a veteran

Image
L ooking back on his experiences during the war, Captain Wilbur Hinman of the 65 th Ohio (perhaps best known as the author of Si Klegg and His Pard ) recalled that the first road along which his regiment marched was strewn “with debris. A pair of six-mule wagonloads might have been gathered of notions that had been flung aside by a thousand suffering “tenderfeet.” “The average young patriot started for the war with a wheelbarrow load of clothing, a bed quilt or two, books, photograph albums, toilet articles, and gimcracks of every sort,” he wrote. “Neither he nor the good homefolks had the slightest conception of the capacity of a knapsack, nor did they for a moment imagine that before the close of his first day upon the road every pound he carried would seem a hundred.” To the true mark of a veteran soldier was one who “learned to dispense with every unnecessary ounce of weight, and just in the ratio that he did this he increased his efficiency as a soldier. It was of the highest
Read more

Federal Arms in the Chickamauga Campaign

Image
T he ordnance returns of the Army of the Cumberland at the end of September 1863 show the results of a transformational year in weaponry. Since taking command of the army at the end of October 1862, General William S. Rosecrans had repeatedly pestered the War Department to supply his regiments with better firearms both to improve the command’s efficiency as well as expand its striking power. The results speak for themselves: for the infantrymen at the end of September 1863, 90% of them now carried Class I long arms (36,058 out of 39,959), 8.3% carried Class II arms, and a mere 1.5% carried Class III weapons. Most of the foreign-made weapons (except Enfields) were gone, and by and large the army had settled on a single common .58 caliber ammunition, although a few .54 caliber and .69 caliber weapons remained within the ranks. The English-made Enfield rifle musket was by far the most common arm, carried by 56% of the men while the second-most common arm was the .58 caliber M1861 Spring
Read more