Use of Hall's Rifle at Prairie Grove Reenactment

[mboyd]

Hi All.....I was planning on going to the reenactment at Prairie Grove this Dec and was wondering if using my Hall's Rifle would be appropriate . I have both percussion conversion and a flint, both sound, both would pass the NPS half cock test etc.
If appropriate, what unit would it best suit, Missouri troops?
I'll have to attach to a unit and I thought I'd bring my defarbed 1842 musket as back up. Just curious, always something I wanted to do.....if appropriate to the scenario. Thanks in advance, Mike

[GarrettG1993]

Re: Use of Hall's Rifle at Prairie Grove Reenactment

I'd have to consult a couple books when I get home, but I wouldn't expect many Hall rifles to show up at Prairie Grove. IIRC the Confederate troops there were all from Texas, Arkansas, and Missouri; states which didn't draw too many Hall rifles under the 1808 Militia Act, and states that didn't have many Halls in their Federal arsenals.

Cheers,
Garrett

[hunt1321]

Re: Use of Hall's Rifle at Prairie Grove Reenactment

The Little Rock Arsenal had some Hall Rifles at the onset of the conflict. We have to remember that by the time Van Dorn left the state in the spring of 62 he depleted the state of all things military; men, ordnance, horses, and material. The army in the fall of 62 was a result of the organization genius of Thomas Hindman, primarily through conscription and martial law. I have a manifest of weapons used by both Confederate and Federal troops that were engaged at Prairie Grove. Some are vague. We do know for example that many of the Arkansas Confederate Regiments were armed with Enfield Rifles, and Richmond Rifles..Yes that is correct! Austrian arms were also present in Confederate ranks as well as a few Whitney Rifles. As far as the Missouri Confederates go we know that they to were armed with Enfields and a few Richmond Rifles. The MO Cav were armed almost exclusively with Shotguns and revolvers, but most MO Infantry regiments are listed as having an assortment of Rifles and muskets, which is were it becomes vague. I know the armament of the 27th Arkansas was so varied and inferior that they were purposely not seriously engaged. I don't think a Hall Rifle would be inappropriate for an impression at Prairie Grove based on the information we have. It would be better if we knew for sure, but considering there was an assortment of rifles in the Missouri regiments it is very likely they were present.

[GarrettG1993]

Re: Use of Hall's Rifle at Prairie Grove Reenactment

I've got my books handy this time.

Arkansas had drawn but six M1819 Hall's in its yearly allotments for the militia, but managed to secure 2,864 flintlock M1819s when the Federal Arsenal at Little Rock was captured. The notes I have handy show issues of flintlock M1819s to the 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, 10th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, four companies of the 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion, and the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry (1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles). Additionally, the 7th Arkansas Infantry Battalion was also armed with Hall's Rifles at some point, having drawn 5,000 rounds of Hall ammunition during the first week of April, 1862.
Tennessee troops might have brought some Hall's with them. The 51st Tennessee was armed with them for a time, but turned over 347 Hall's rifles on April 25/26, 1862. Those were probably already percussion altered, as they were quickly reissued to the 32nd Mississippi and 5th/9th Alabama Battalion.
Mississippians may also have had some with them. 313 had been issued to that State before 1861, and a consignment of 1,000 was sent by Louisiana from stores captured from the Baton Rouge Arsenal. Those 1,000 would have been altered to percussion at the State Arsenal at Jackson by September of 1861. Further Hall's were turned in by various commands mustering around the Corinth area and were reissued or sent to Briarfield/Columbus or Holly Springs for percussion alteration.
Other States' troops at Perryville are probably more unlikely to have been carrying Halls, unless they were received from CS Ordnance rather than State Arsenals or captured Federal stocks.

If anything can be added to or clarified in my post I gladly welcome it. I'm always interested to hear more about these unique weapons.

Cheers,
Garrett Glover

[7tharkinf]

Re: Use of Hall's Rifle at Prairie Grove Reenactment

Do you have any info to say weather those halls carried by the 7th ark were converted or not? Just curious.

[GarrettG1993]

Re: Use of Hall's Rifle at Prairie Grove Reenactment

Do you have any info to say weather those halls carried by the 7th ark were converted or not? Just curious.

The ordnance returns read as "4,000 Rounds Hall's Rifle Cartridges" on April 2, 1862 in Corinth, Mississippi, and on April 7 the 7th drew an additional "1,000 Hall's Rifle Cartridges". Since there are no indications to the issue of flints, which are generally well recorded, I would assume that the Battalion was issued percussion altered Hall's.

Prior to the battle of Shiloh, the 51st Tennessee, 52nd Tennessee, 5th Alabama Battalion (Blount's), and the 7th Arkansas Battalion (Desha's) were posted as garrison troops at Corinth. It seems that the 52nd Tennessee was with the Army at Shiloh, but the remainder of the units were stationed at Corinth.
The 51st Tennessee turned over 333 Halls, on April 25, 1862 followed by another 14 the next day. These arms were subsequently reissued to the 32nd Mississippi Infantry and the 5th/9th Alabama Infantry Battalion. Since these Hall's were immediately reissued it is likely that they had previously been percussion altered. Likely they were arms drawn by Tennessee prior to the war (Tennessee had received 360 Hall's), and may have been percussion altered by Frank Bitterlich of Nashville. State records show that he did work on no less than 48 Hall's Rifles, charging $2.50 each for the work done, which was likely percussion alteration given the high price.
It seems that the Hall's that were seized from Little Rock were issued as flintlocks. The majority of the Little Rock Hall's were issued to the 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, 10th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, four companies of the 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion, and the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry (1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles). Given this, it is probable that the 7th Arkansas Battalion drew percussion altered Hall's, probably in northern Mississippi. These may have been altered at the Holly Springs Arsenal, or the Briarfield/Columbus Arsenal.
Prior to receiving cast-off Hall's from the 51st Tennessee, I don't know what kind of arms the 5th Alabama Battalion was carrying, but they must have been fairly low quality to warrant adding Hall's Rifles into the mix. After Shiloh the 51st Tennessee was consolidated with the 52nd Tennessee.

Hope some of that is useful,
Garrett

[Dbackfed]

Re: Use of Hall's Rifle at Prairie Grove Reenactment

Garrett,

Any idea how they would load the cartridges? If I recall correctly, I thought the flintlocks were loaded using a powder horn. How would it work for percussion altered rifles?

The ordnance returns read as "4,000 Rounds Hall's Rifle Cartridges" on April 2, 1862 in Corinth, Mississippi, and on April 7 the 7th drew an additional "1,000 Hall's Rifle Cartridges". Since there are no indications to the issue of flints, which are generally well recorded, I would assume that the Battalion was issued percussion altered Hall's.

Prior to the battle of Shiloh, the 51st Tennessee, 52nd Tennessee, 5th Alabama Battalion (Blount's), and the 7th Arkansas Battalion (Desha's) were posted as garrison troops at Corinth. It seems that the 52nd Tennessee was with the Army at Shiloh, but the remainder of the units were stationed at Corinth.
The 51st Tennessee turned over 333 Halls, on April 25, 1862 followed by another 14 the next day. These arms were subsequently reissued to the 32nd Mississippi Infantry and the 5th/9th Alabama Infantry Battalion. Since these Hall's were immediately reissued it is likely that they had previously been percussion altered. Likely they were arms drawn by Tennessee prior to the war (Tennessee had received 360 Hall's), and may have been percussion altered by Frank Bitterlich of Nashville. State records show that he did work on no less than 48 Hall's Rifles, charging $2.50 each for the work done, which was likely percussion alteration given the high price.
It seems that the Hall's that were seized from Little Rock were issued as flintlocks. The majority of the Little Rock Hall's were issued to the 9th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, 10th Arkansas Infantry Regiment, four companies of the 9th Arkansas Infantry Battalion, and the 3rd Arkansas Cavalry (1st Arkansas Mounted Rifles). Given this, it is probable that the 7th Arkansas Battalion drew percussion altered Hall's, probably in northern Mississippi. These may have been altered at the Holly Springs Arsenal, or the Briarfield/Columbus Arsenal.
Prior to receiving cast-off Hall's from the 51st Tennessee, I don't know what kind of arms the 5th Alabama Battalion was carrying, but they must have been fairly low quality to warrant adding Hall's Rifles into the mix. After Shiloh the 51st Tennessee was consolidated with the 52nd Tennessee.

Hope some of that is useful,
Garrett

[GarrettG1993]

Re: Use of Hall's Rifle at Prairie Grove Reenactment

Garrett,

Any idea how they would load the cartridges? If I recall correctly, I thought the flintlocks were loaded using a powder horn. How would it work for percussion altered rifles?

Originally the Hall's Rifle was intended to be used with a specially designed double flask. The flask had two compartments; one holding 18 balls, and the other 1/4 pound of powder. There are some variations in design, apparently some early flasks held only 16 balls. 10,678 flasks were produced at Harpers Ferry between 1822 and 1837. I'm not aware of Simeon North supplying any, and given their rarity, he very well may not have.

Flintlock Hall's were loaded by priming the pan, then pouring powder into the chamber. Lastly, the ball was funneled out of the flask and seated with the little finger. All Hall's Carbines were produced as percussion arms and were presumably used with ready made cartridges (definitely after 1840), although they have have been flask loaded like the rifles early on. The service charge for Hall's Rifles was listed as 78 grains in 1837, 100 grains in 1839, and 78 grains in 1842. Given that the M1841 Hall would be in production the following year, and no new regulations were posted it is likely that Civil War era Hall's cartridges contained 78 grains of powder. The loading of the M1841 or a percussion altered M1819 would follow the same procedure as before, excepting the percussion cap replaced the priming of the pan, and the flask was replaced with an individual cartridges that was torn and poured into the chamber.