In my December 2018 column, I wrote about problems British troops had during the Sepoy Rebellion in India when their Enfield P53 rifles fouled up so badly after a few shots that reloading became difficult and at times impossible. After analysis, British ordnance experts decided that the problem was traceable to tallow used with beeswax as a bullet lubricant. The tallow’s reaction to the intense tropical heat expanded and hardened it. The problem was solved by eliminating the tallow from the formula and using pure beeswax.
Reader and SUV expert rifle musket shooter Dick Denney took the story to heart and began to experiment with using beeswax as a bullet lubricant, leaving out other substances. He reported that: “The best mix I found was to cut a cube of beeswax one-inch square and add five drops of mineral oil, stir and pour into a wax paper lined large bottle cap for dipping. It improved my scores and I am certain that I am not becoming a better shot on my own.”
So, although we have plenty of effective bullet lubricants to pick from today, if you want to be a true traditionalist, and maybe even improve your shooting a tad, you might want to try beeswax as a retro lubricant.
The Artilleryman Magazine is a quarterly magazine for enthusiasts who collect and shoot cannons from the Rev
Keeping with the British theme, Buffalo Arms Company is now offering Whitworth hexagonal paper patch cast bullet molds for the Pedersoli Whitworth reproduction. The mold, which uses Pedersoli bullet mold handles, casts slugs in .442 inch diameter weighing 556 grains. It is priced at $223.39. Buffalo is also offering hexagonal felt wads for the Pedersoli Whitworth. They are .451 inch diameter and .236 inch thick. A box of 200 wads costs $39.79. For more on these and other Buffalo Arms offerings check out the company’s website at: https://www.buffaloarms.com/.
At the outset of the Civil War, the M1861 Springfield rifle musket was the standard U.S. infantry weapon. Due to the massive increase in manpower, Union army soldiers were subsequently armed with whatever was available, however, including obsolete smoothbore muskets and foreign made weapons of varying quality. By mid-war, availability of the standard arm had increased dramatically, as Springfield Armory boosted productions and contracts were awarded to private gunmakers.
In 1863, New Jersey Adjutant General Robert Stockton, with the approval of Governor Joel Parker, was reforming the state’s militia, and in the process created the New Jersey Rifle Corps. Although units of the old smoothbore musket armed militia still existed, recruits to the new organization were issued distinct uniforms and promised up to date rifled arms. Initially, the Rifle Corps was less than a stunning success, with only six of the authorized fifty companies organized by the end of the year, but those companies were deployed to control a riot that broke out between employees of two rival railroads in November.
In order to properly arm the Rifle Corps, New Jersey purchased over 9,000 rifle muskets in 1863 and 1864. The first two orders, in July 1863, were to New York arms merchants Schuyler, Hartley and Graham, for 2,500 and 1,500 Colt “Special Model” 1861s, paid for with Federal promissory notes.
After delivery of the initial Colt order in January 1864, however, the state’s Quartermaster General cancelled the second one. It appeared that Colt, or Schuyler, Hartley and Graham, was trying to dispose of guns that had failed Federal inspection by selling them off to unsuspecting customers. Unfortunately for them, New Jersey had a very sharp Quartermaster General in Lewis Perrine, who saw to it that each weapon was taken apart and carefully inspected by “a competent person” at the state arsenal in Trenton. Perrine reported that “the inspector rejected a great number of parts.” He added that he had “allowed the contractors in every instance to replace the parts rejected for defects with perfect parts.” He did not provide details on why the second Colt contract was cancelled, although one would assume that there was a lack of “perfect parts” to replace the inferior ones.
None of the other contracts, for standard Springfield pattern M1861 rifle muskets, to J.T. Hodge and A.M. Burton of the Trenton Locomotive and Machine Co. in Trenton, or Savage Revolving Firearms Company of Middletown, Conn., were cancelled, so it is safe to assume that those contractors either supplied satisfactory arms or had a ready supply of functional parts. Accepted guns were stamped “NJ” on the barrel and stock opposite the lock to indicate state ownership.
In January 2019, one of those rifle muskets returned home, as a generous Midwestern donor disposing of his father’s large arms collection contacted the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey in Sea Girt and asked if that institution was interested in receiving an “NJ” marked Savage M1861 rifle musket. Savage delivered 2,200 rifle muskets to the New Jersey state armory in 1863. The rifle, in almost perfect condition will be on prominent display at the museum.
The New Jersey Rifle Corps and the militia were combined into the National Guard in 1869. They continued to use the M1861 rifle muskets Stockton purchased until 1875, when they were replaced with breech loading Springfield rifles. The rifle muskets were stored and sold to legendary firearms dealer Bannerman’s in New York City early in the 20th century. This rifle musket was apparently one of them.
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
The Savage rifle musket the National Guard Militia Museum of New Jersey received in January 2019. (Photos by Joseph Bilby)
WASHINGTON, D.C.—“We are trying to save land in Virginia where boys from Rochester fought, and in some cases were captured, wounded, or killed,” said Tom Van Winkle, president of the land preservation and conservation group The Central Virginia Battlefields Trust (CVBT). Rochester’s own 140th New York Infantry fought on battlefield property the CVBT is now saving. “Although CVBT is based in Spotsylvania County, Va., we have a national following, and we want it to grow. We are in a race against time to save historic greenspace in this county where people from Rochester fought for the preservation of the Union and we are asking for your help,” said Chris Mackowski, professor at St. Bonaventure University and CVBT board member.
Since 1996 the CVBT has saved over 1,300 acres of “battlefield greenspace” from America’s bloodiest conflict, in the country’s bloodiest county—Spotsylvania, where over 750,000 soldiers fought and 110,000 fell in four battles in a mere 18 months. “Major newsgroups were publishing reports from ‘The Front’ regularly in Spotsylvania. Many Americans would know very well the names of the county’s battlefields, Fredericksburg, Chancellorsville, ‘The Wilderness,’ and Spotsylvania Court House, in addition to the local names of the roads, rivers, and farms, that were fought over,” said CVBT board member Pete Kolakowski. The four battlefields are ranked in the top ten deadliest battles of the Civil War.
The race with time to save this battlefield land has accelerated since Spotsylvania County, being just 60 miles from Washington, D.C., has been one of the fastest growing areas in the United States. In Spotsylvania, the roads are being choked with rising traffic congestion. Those same roads were also where massive armies marched and bled over in the 1860’s, posing a quandary for preservation and conservation groups.
Compare the rapid growth of Spotsylvania County with the hard reality that the underfunded National Park Service (NPS) owns just 1,500 acres of the 21,000-acre Spotsylvania Court House battlefield, or only 14%. Ironically, Spotsylvania Court House was the third bloodiest battle of the Civil War, lasting 13-days.
The target property the CVBT is now saving is part of the long-neglected fighting in an area known as Myer’s Hill, where Rochester’s 140th Infantry fought.
The fighting at Spotsylvania Court House was also the costliest battle of Union General Grant’s famed and aggressive “Overland Campaign.” Grant’s Federal army suffered 50,000 casualties in the 50 days it slugged through Virginia in 1864; it was a presidential election year, and Abraham Lincoln needed military victories to be re-elected. In 1864 the warfare took on a more modern, and more desperate, feel.
By the time Rochester’s 140th New York attacked Myer’s Hill they had been in action for 9 straight days and lost 315 of 529 soldiers. They were a hard-fighting, “zouave” unit, wearing fez caps and turbans, short jackets, baggy pantaloons and leggings, a popular style at the time.
At 8 a.m. on May 14, the 140th New York Zouaves and another
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regiment, attacked Rebel artillery and cavalry on Myer’s Hill. “Forward we go with bayonets,” said 140th Private August Seiser, “Under a rain of bullets.” Company B’s John Wetzel was hit in the left thigh, and George Dreschler in the hip. Tim Farrell of Brockport’s Company A took a Rebel bullet in the left foot. John Snyder of Churchville’s Company G was hit by a minieball in the finger.
The 140th took Myer’s Hill from the Confederates. Private Seiser rushed into the Myer House stating, “We reach the top, rush into the building. The rebels take to their heels and quickly we are the possessors.” The 140th set up a defensive position in Myer’s orchard. They were relieved by a 900-man Federal brigade that was later routed by a Confederate counter-attack. In this vicious Rebel assault General Meade was almost captured while directing a Federal picket line. After a fierce Federal artillery barrage, Meade ordered the 140th New York, and over ten thousand other Union troops, to attack and retake Myer’s Hill. A Union soldier said, “The rebs were lying on the other side to avoid our shells which were hissing and exploding around the crest.. .”
Then the Federals attacked. “When all was ready the bugle sounded the charge and we broke from cover like quarter-horses and with a volley of cheers mounted the hill... when they heard our cheers supposed a mighty force was coming and so they ran like the Devil.”
Historians have wanted Myer’s Hill preserved for a while. Chief Historian Emeritus of the National Park Service, Ed Bearss, said, “At Myer’s Hill Grant is checked, but he goes back and takes it. The fighting for the hill resulted in a crucial two-day delay for his army.”
Noted Civil War, and Spotsylvania, author Gordon Rhea, said, “It is imperative that Myer’s Hill be saved to enable future generations to walk the ground and understand the momentous events that transpired there.”
Local resident and Spotsylvania Court House historian, John Cummings added, “I’ve been hoping for nearly twenty years to see this vital property preserved. The human interest stories relating to Myer’s Hill abound, and its preservation and interpretation will greatly enhance the understanding of the two week struggle at Spotsylvania Court House.”
CVBT pays fair market value for historic land. They work with landowners who want to see their property saved for future generations to appreciate and learn about America’s vast history.
Private Seiser wrote after the Myer’s Hill battle, “Deadly tired we throw ourselves onto the wet ground... How is it possible to endure such strain and how long will it still last in this way?”
Rochester’s 140th was a zouave unit, wearing fez caps and turbans, short jackets, baggy pantaloons and leggings, of an Algerian influence—a popular style at the time. (Photo Credit: Guy DeMasi) Rochester’s soldiers, and others, who fought at Myer’s Hill. By protecting this land it helps tell their story. CVBT is also saving greenspace along the way, and, simply put, we need your help to accomplish this,” said CVBT Executive Director, Elizabeth Heffernan. She added, “CVBT’s administrative costs are low at 14%; one of our mottos has been ‘Your green buys green.’”
