cartridge boxes and muskets

[pvt_dirty]

howdy pards
just wanting to know how authentic it would be to have 58 cal weapon and be carrying a 69 box. was this done a lot in the cs army.
thanks for your help
your pard
Tyler Goodrich
aka pvt dirty

[Charles Heath]

Re: cartridge boxes and muskets

Tyler,

Please take a good look at the following two threads with the knowledge beforehand that they will not answer your question directly:

Research 105, Part I.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2929

Research 105, Part II.

http://www.authentic-campaigner.com/forum/showthread.php?t=2936

Both are well written guides to answering the question of "Did they have this back then?" The recent research articles Curt has graciously provided here on the A-C Forum are very good, and go well with the age old concept of teaching a man to fish.

"...just wanting to know how authentic it would be...."

I don't know if anyone alive today could answer a single question with this preamble, but you can bet some poor fellow somewhere had a .58 weapon and a .69 box, and probably the other way around, too . It is also possible people could, after many years and hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of research, come to some general conclusions. I do know one man who has done this and can most likely tell you "yes" off the top of his head, but that's neither here nor there, because the question is not specific enough to answer.

When you do the research indicated by Curt in the articles posted above, you may come by photographs and written accounts of Confederates being issued cartridge boxes and other issue items that do not precisely match their firearms. When originally issued, you may learn they were issued as a "stand of arms," and as items were destroyed, lost, or consumed in use through fair wear and tear, they were replaced piecemeal with items that were not perfectly matched for the weapon. The way to learn this is through research. It may help to narrow down the search from "cs army" to Army of Northern Virginia to a certain Corps, division, brigade, and maybe down to an individual regiment. Perhaps if you examine Mast's book, for example, and were to see several images of soldier's with .69 caliber boxes, then a little more information could be drawn into the discussion.

"...was this done a lot in the cs army."

The confederates had several armies in the field during the war, and what happened at an army level should concern us less than what happened at the brigade and lower echelons, for that is the most we can portray on a good day with the hobbyists available and willing to commit to events on a regular basis. Perhaps a good direction would be to focus on the regimental or battalion level impressions availing themselves through the next few events, and work from there with the research. Only then will you know if it is NUG or PEC for your impression, and even then the answer to the question may be simply "there is not enough information to know if they did this at that moment in time."

By now, you may be fuming, and thinking "Why this old man made me read all this stuff and didn't answer my question! By, golly, that's mean!" Well, if you saw a question phrased as:

"howdy pards
just wanting to know how authentic it would be to wear a federal tarred haversack over my head when I sleep in the rain. was this done a lot in the cs army.
thanks for your help
your pard
Taylor Goodyear
aka pvt muddy"

or

"Howdy Pards,

In my readings over the last few weeks, I have come upon three references from three different journals about men using freshly issued tarred haversacks as headcoverings in the pouring rain while trying to get some sleep. While I am not likely to attempt this at a future event (knowing what I keep in my haversack most of the time), I am curious if others have run across similar accounts?

Insert Journal Quote 1 with source.

Insert Journal Quote 2 with source.

Insert Journal Quote 3 with source.

This was probably not very common, but it is comical to think of a group of men with haversacks as sleeping caps.

Thanks for your help,

Your pard,

A. Michelin
aka pvt sweaty"

The two posts carry a different tone. My attempt to illustrate such may or may not have been able to convey that tone, but I hope it helps somewhat reduce the increasing number of "trial balloon" posts flooding into the A-C Forum lately.

Charles Heath

[ferraius]

Re: cartridge boxes and muskets

howdy pards
just wanting to know how authentic it would be to have 58 cal weapon and be carrying a 69 box. was this done a lot in the cs army.
thanks for your help
your pard
Tyler Goodrich
aka pvt dirty

I think that if you were portraying a Confederate regiment that was initially issued .69 caliber guns and some of it's men acquired .58 cal. rifled-muskets, it would be most authentic and just plain common sense that they would still keep their .69 cal. cartridge boxes. The Confederate central government and states did a pretty good job of supplying her troops with equipment, but I don't think that something so trivial would have required new issue .58 cal. boxes.

Jon O'Harra

[MassVOL]

Re: cartridge boxes and muskets

If I recall correctly Echoes of Glory says something about as the war progressed all cartridge boxes for the Confederacy were constructed in .69 size. Because of the mixed calibre of weapons it was better to have them be a little big than a little small. I wish I had my book here so that I could check though.
I am sure there is someone more knowledgeable about the Confederate leather goods than this yank.

[tmattimore]

Re: cartridge boxes and muskets

Tyler
To provide an example for Mr. Heaths post. We know that Mr Blake made the first 2000 pair of sewn sole shoes as a contract to the state of Mass. in 1862 for issue to "the light artillery battery". 2000 pair seems a large amount for a battery. Did all Mass light artillery men recieve them? It seems unlikley due to distribution problems. Did they still have them in 1863? Who knows how long they lasted. I have not been able to get clothing issue reports for that era specific enough to tell. So if the question of hand sewn welt, mckay shoes, pegged shoes or drivers boots came up for Btty A 1st Mass vol. light artillery it would impossible to answer with out extensive research that may never provide a clue. It is good that you are asking the questions but be prepared to go to great lengths to find the answers.