English ammunition issue

[gnpgoat]

Searched the forums a couple ways but could not get an answer. Were US regiments issued enfield ammunition (especially when the regiment was outfitted with Enfield rifles) or were soldiers exclusively, or nearly so, issued domestically-made rifle ammunition?

Eric

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: English ammunition issue

Hallo!

As I understand it, the initial batches of Enfield rifle muskets "came" with British Enfield cartridges. For example, for the 20,000 Enfields purchased abroad by the State of New York early in 1861 saw 1,031,000 .57 cartridges purchased in 1861. And intriguingly, 631,000 "empty Enfield" cartridges purchased through the Bank of Commerce that were likely just paper tubes lacking powder and or ball. I suspect New York had debated making their own cartridges but there is no (known) record(s) they ever did.

In looking at Federal Ordnance Depart records, they were NOT making Enfield ammunition. Ripley in July of 1861 ordered that at least one million Enfield calibre cartridges be made even to the exclusion of other work as so many troops had been armed with the Enfield and needed ammo as they had or were exhausting the initial English supply.

The practice would be set to use the "Springfield" type cartridge but just make the ball smaller. Then in January of 1862 at .574 to accommodate BOTH the .580 (.5775) Springfields and .577 Enfields by making the ball sized for both arms.

Curt