Dave Powell is, of course, the ultimate Chickamauga guru. His expertise goes well beyond that crucial battle, though. Dave recently posted some words on the far western theater of the Civil War. By “far western” I mean New Mexico and Brigadier General Henry Hopkins Sibley’s invasion of the territory in early 1862. Sibley, of tipi-style military tent fame, apparently believed, while in a not uncommon for him alcoholic haze, that his brigade of Texans might end up capturing California for the Confederacy.
The result of the grand invasion, which Dave appropriately characterized as “quixotic,” was the battles of Valverde and Glorietta Pass, and an eventual withdrawal to Texas. Of interest to me was his citation of Don Albert’s The Battle of Glorietta: Union Victory in the West, on the firearms carried by Sibley’s troops.
Using archaeological as well as primary sources, Albert’s research tends to reinforce the belief that the Confederate horsemen were commonly armed with, as I have noted in the past, multiple revolvers, and one citation mentions that four captured Rebel scouts were armed with nine Colt handguns, as well as “four splendid Maynard rifles.”
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I would like to give my new book, New Jersey: A Military History, a mention here. The military history of New Jersey, from New Netherland’s struggles with the Leni Lenape through colonial wars of empire to twenty-first century conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan, is far more extensive and significant than most of the state’s modern residents realize, and although a brief history of the state’s military affairs was published by the New Jersey Historical Commission in 1991, it was, by intent and definition, not a detailed account.
From “the Crossroads of the Revolution” to “the Arsenal of Democracy” and beyond, over more than 350 years as a colony and state, hundreds of thousands of New Jersey residents have served in regular armed forces, militia, and National Guard units or in direct support of those organizations. New Jerseyans in the military included Sgt. William McCrackan of Somerset County, a 1757 prisoner of war who ended up in France, Gen. “Scotch Willie” Maxwell of Sussex County, an unappreciated Revolutionary War master tactician, First Sergeant George Ashby of Allentown, of Co. H, Forty-fifth U.S. Colored Inf., the state’s last surviving Civil War veteran, Clara Maas of Newark, a nurse who sacrificed her life in the effort to eradicate yellow fever,
Captain William J. Reddan, who led his company into hell during the Meuse-Argonne offensive in 1918, and World War II Medal of Honor winner John Basilone, whose sense of duty and honor led him to return to combat and death.
My book is an attempt to tell, for the first time, the long, diverse, and sometimes complicated story of New Jersey’s citizens and their significant and continuing role in their country’s defense. Published by Westholme Press, it is available on Amazon and at your local bookstore.
Since I am in a literary mood, I would like to mention Peter Schiffers’ new work, The Morse Carbine: Myth vs. Reality, Schiffers, a French shooter, hands on historian, and American Civil War buff, is the author of Civil War Revolvers: Myth vs. Reality, an excellent work in which he test fired original sixguns of the era. His new work provides a list of all units which were, or might have been, issued the rare Morses. He also deals with the Civil War in South Carolina and the efforts of that state, to hold off the Union army, especially in the final months of the war.
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are in France, you may purchase your copy directly, no doubt autographed, from Schiffers.
We had a preview of a prototype Pedersoli Model 1854 Lorenz rifle a few months back, and there were some conversations that followed regarding the original rifle and its role in combat, as well as the varying quality of Lorenzes, depending on who made them, an Austrian government facility or a private contractor. Pedersoli is now officially introducing their Lorenz, and with it a Youtube video in which Stefano Pedersoli introduces and describes the gun. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=FsIOTicLSZ8
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I occasionally get questions on Civil War shooting and small arms history from newcomers to the field, and so I will answer the most common ones here.
Answer. Civil War cartridges for the U.S. .58 caliber Springfield rifle musket, and American made cartridges for the .577 caliber British Enfield rifle musket, contained a paper wrapped powder charge with a grooved, lubricated Minié ball sitting on top of it pointing up. The whole was then wrapped in another piece of paper to make a completed cartridge. In loading, the soldier bit off the end of the cartridge, then dumped the powder charge, 60 grains of musket powder, down the muzzle of his gun, discarded the remaining paper, inserted the bullet, rammed it down the barrel and then placed a percussion cap on the gun’s nipple, or “cone.”
British (and some Confederate) made Enfield cartridges, although paper, were constructed differently, with an ungrooved bullet, more undersized than the Springfield style projectile, wrapped in lubricated paper and pointing downward. After biting the end off of the Enfield cartridge and dumping the powder down the muzzle of his gun, the soldier reversed the cartridge and seated the bullet, still wrapped in the lubricated paper, in the muzzle, discarded the excess paper, rammed it home and capped his weapon.
Joseph G. Bilby received his BA and MA degrees in history from Seton Hall University and served as a lieutenant in the 1st Infantry Division in 1966-1967. He is Assistant Curator of the New Jersey National Guard and Militia Museum, a freelance writer and historical consultant and author or editor of 20 books and over 400 articles on NJ and military history and firearms, and as publications editor for the NJ Civil War 150 Committee edited the award winning New Jersey Goes to War.