Army of Tennessee Arms on the Brink of the Atlanta Campaign

The military record of Lieutenant Colonel Hypolite Oladowski, the long serving chief of ordnance of the Army of Tennessee, totals more than 800 pages in length. Most of the file consists of correspondence between Oladowski and Josiah Gorgas in Richmond, or ordnance depot and arsenal commanders in the western Confederacy. Buried amongst the mundane business of supplying arms among supply shortages, battle losses, and the carelessness of the troops there are just a few reports giving broader details of what types of arms the Army of Tennessee carried throughout its storied career.

          The following two reports, both dating from the spring of 1864 and predating the opening of the Atlanta campaign, list both the types of artillery utilized and the small arms carried by the infantry and cavalry. The reports do not call out arms by specific type but calibers are given by which we can make the following broad assumptions:

.54 caliber: Mississippi rifles or Austrian Lorenz rifles

.577 caliber: Enfield rifles or Confederate-made equivalents

.58 caliber: Model 1855 or newer U.S. Springfield-type rifle muskets, or Austrian Lorenz rifles and other foreign-made weapons

.69 caliber: older model U.S. muskets, some rifled, some smoothbore, or foreign-made weapons

          It is interesting to note that per this report, only 79 guns carried by the infantry fell under the heading of “various patterns and calibers.” These oddball guns were a little more prevalent in the cavalry corps but even then only 179 out of the 4,363 arms reported fell under the category. That the cavalry arm appeared to be armed with the same caliber of weapons as the infantry squares with persistent reports that Confederate cavalry fought more like mounted infantry at this stage of the war; I have yet to see much evidence that the cavalry carried “cavalry-specific” arms like we see with Federal cavalry in 1864.

Also, pistols are called out specifically for the cavalry but none were reported in either of the infantry corps (Hardee and Hood) although I’m sure hundreds of officers carried sidearms of some sort. Of the roughly 4,400 troopers in Wheeler’s cavalry command, roughly 1 in 4 potentially carried a pistol although that is speculation; it’s quite possible that many soldiers who carried a pistol carried two or more.

There are a few things worth noting about the artillery, too. One is the near absence of the antiquated 6-pdr field gun; this staple of the western Confederate army appears to have been by and large replaced by March 1864 with only two guns being held in the artillery reserve. The most common guns were 12-pdr Napoleons and 12-pdr howitzers. A total of four British-made Blakeley rifles also reside in the artillery reserve, a pair of 2-1/2” (6-pdr) rifles and a pair of 3-1/2” (12-pdr) rifles. These cast steel weapons were highly accurate and reliable but had a punishing recoil that could break the standard field artillery carriage.

 

An early supplier to the Army of Tennessee and its predecessors, Cook & Brother of New Orleans had relocated to Athens, Georgia and continued to produce thousands of Enfield copies to supply the western Confederacy. These weapons, extremely rare today, are highly prized by collectors. No doubt hundreds perhaps thousands of the guns listed below as .577 caliber were produced by Cook & Brother. 

Report of Field Artillery and Small Arms in the hands of Troops, Army of Tennessee, commanded by Gen. J.E. Johnston, March 31, 1864

 

Hardee’s Corps

Artillery

12-pdr Napoleons  34

12-pdr howitzers    14

 

Small Arms

.54 caliber    3,106

.577 caliber   9,713

.58 caliber    1,464

.69 caliber    3,099

Various patterns and calibers      9

Total: 17,382

 

Hood’s Corps

Artillery

10-pdr Parrotts      2

3-inch Rifles           6

12-pdr Napoleons  14

12-pdr howitzers    14

 

Small Arms

.54 caliber    6,719

.577 caliber   5,329

.58 caliber    1,323

.69 caliber    3,320

Various patterns and calibers      70

Total: 16,770

 


Wheeler’s Cavalry Corps

Small Arms

.54 caliber    1,522

.577 caliber   1,799

.58 caliber    490

.69 caliber    374

Various patterns and calibers      178

Total: 4,363

Pistols:

.36 caliber Colt Navy        765

.44 caliber Colt Army       411

Total: 1,176

 

Reserve

Field Artillery

10-pdr Parrotts      12

12-pdr Blakeley      2

6-pdr Blakeley        2

12-pdr Napoleons  10

6-pdr field guns      2

12-pdr howitzers    8

 

Atlanta Arsenal, Dalton, and Calhoun Depots

Artillery and small arms ammunition only

 

Roughly 40% of Joe Johnston's infantrymen began the Atlanta campaign toting a .577 caliber Enfield rifle musket or a Confederate made equivalent. The improvement of arms carried by his troops had come a long way from the flintlocks, Brown Besses, and shotguns carried in the early days at places like Belmont and Mill Springs. 

Armament and Ammunition report for the week ending April 10, 1864

 

Hardee’s Corps

80 regiments, 17,006 effective men

 

.54 caliber     3,070

.577 caliber   8,105

.58 caliber    2,994

.69 caliber    3,191

Total: 17,360

 

Hood’s Corps

54 regiments, 16,962 effective men

 

.54 caliber    6,778

.577 caliber   5,608

.58 caliber    1,034

.69 caliber    3,242

.70 caliber    79

Total: 16,741

Source:

Military Record of Lieutenant Colonel Hypolite Oladowski, chief of ordnance, Army of Tennessee, M331, National Archives, pgs. 332 and 341

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