Williams' Patent Bullet at Fredericksburg?

[jimw]

Looking for documentation/evidence of the Williams' type I bullet being used at Fredericksburgh.

Does anyone know the exact date in 1862 that the initial contract was awarded to Elijah Williams?

Most importantly, I need to know when and where these bullets were issued to troops in the field for the very first time.

All replys will be greatly appreciated.

Sincerely,

Jim Worrell
1st Delaware

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Williams' Patent Bullet at Fredericksburg?

Hallo!

Williams filed for a patent on May 30, 1861, but it was granted on May 13, 1862.
A limited trial was arranged at West Point in June, with the results shared by letter to Ripley on June 28th. The tests were not eye-popping, and for over six months a combination of new trials and experiments were undertaken.
An order for 3,000,000 was placed on December 18, 1861 of what we now call "Type I's."
On March 1, 1862, Williams asked permission to substitute his new design, which he had applied for a patent for on February 12, 1862.
Williams finally completed the initial order of 3 million by April 19, 1862 and requested a new order. After some more trials, Williams received a second order on August 26, 1862 for 1,000,000 (Type II).
Issues of cost led Williams to propose reducing the size of the bullet on an "improved' Type II by 20% on November 25, 1862 (the Type III) . After some deliberation the Ordnance Department agreed to take 2,000,000 pounds of bullets on April 6, 1863.

The first official mention of packing Williams cartridges was on November 5, 1862 when it was ordered to pack two in every bundle of 10 cartridges up from one. However, three became standard until increased to six on August 5, 1864 (revoked September 19, 1864 with no Williams cartridges being packed).

Curt

[ley74]

Re: Williams' Patent Bullet at Fredericksburg?

As DP Newton, Executive Director of White Oak Museum would say: "We found many Type-1s and Type-2 cleaner bullets, fired as well as dropped."

Shameless plug for the White Oak Museum!:D:D:D

[GrumpyDave]

Re: Williams' Patent Bullet at Fredericksburg?

Don't forget, those bullets could have been fired or dropped on a bunch of different ocasions between '62 and the end of the war, not just in December off '62.

[jimw]

Re: Williams' Patent Bullet at Fredericksburg?

Many thanks to all who replied, you input has been a great help.

Jim Worrell

[tomarch]

Re: Williams' Patent Bullet at Fredericksburg?

Just out of curiosity, how effective was the Williams round anyways?

[Curt Schmidt]

Re: Williams' Patent Bullet at Fredericksburg?

Hallo!

As a bullet, or as a clean out device? ;) :)

An interesting and conflicitng story that...

Elijah William's 1861 patent application was not really for either. He called his invention an "Improvement in Wads for Ordnance and Other Fire-Arms."
Basically, the "wad" or disk eliminated windage and gave the bullet its spin instead of the expanding skirt of the Minie or Pritchett design.

The first Ordnanc eDepartment test merely reported "There was nothing in the firing to indicate any material increase, if any, in accuracy."

Another set of tests in August reecorded that 25 shots were fired without cleaing the gun and "--the barrel was free from leading or fouling' and 23 shots were fired witout cleaning the gun and ."--The barrel was free from leading or fouling."'

A subsequent endorsement letter in September 1861 from a sergeant-major and Colonel Hiram Berdan claimed experiments with Remington and Springfield guns show a 169% "better" than a Minie in the Remington, and 73% better in the Springfield talking aobut accuracy.

The four endorsements did not sway Ripley. Ripley ordered new tests in November and December 1861. E.S. Allin, master-armorer at Springfield concluded "The Williams bulet evidently keeps tha tpart of the barrel through which it passes free from foul and lead."

Cyrus Fields, Williams" agent" in the later, kept pestering and wrote in dEcember 1862 that Allin's experiments showed a 17 1/2 per cent superiority of the Williams bullet in penetrative power as well as showing that it keeps the gun so perfectly clean "that the necessity of cleaning the part of the barrrel over which the ball passes is altogether dispensed with."

However, after the initial order an disssuance, Ramsay at Washington Arsenal wrote to Ripley in May of 1862 that he was "much inclined to doubt its value for muzzle laoding guns" afer his own testing with Enfields and Springfields.
Two more endorsements earned a second look at the "Type II. A new test was ordered, and the results came back in August, 1862, of the superirity of the Williams bullet in keeping the "bore of the msuket always in seerviceable condition,.." But added that ore exteneded trials were needed.

After confronting Ripley, Williams got his second order on August 26, 1862 for 1,000,000 TYpe II's bullets. He also pitched his .69 version in November. After months of wranlging, Williams got an order in April of 1863. But the shipment of balls seemed to have been imporoplerly amde and were too large, and it was ordered that they not be made into cartridges without being gauged first.

In January 1862 the largest and las torder was delivered- roughly 21,000,000 bullets (counted by the pound rather than the bullet.
In May of 1864 Williams died. The surviving partners tried for more orders, but the relative cost of the Williams over the "Minie" bullet did them in. Ramsay, now Chief of Ordnance, recycled his old views to the Secretary of War saying: "The accuracy and range of the Williams is not materially, if a tall, superior to our own balls, but it has from its construction the advantage of being lighter and at the present prices of lead, somehwat cheaper."

This lead to the directive to use six in every package of 10 cartridges, and a subsequent review of the bullet for economy and accuracy. The conclusion reached by August 1864 was that "..it does not appear that the barrel is cleaned by the Williams bullet."

That lead to the revoking of the order for six to be in every package in September 19, 1864. Folowed on September 23, 1864 not to use Williams bullets at all.
While that sounds final, need prompted deliveries of Williams balls into November 1864 HOWEVER, as a result of lawsuit against New York, partner Mrs. Williams wrote to General Ramsay on March 12, 1865 asking for confirmation that the bullets were still in use. He curtly replied on March 13 that they were not.
A number of Williams bullets were left in inventory at the arsenals, and broken up and cast into zinc and lead pigs for stoarge by August 1865.

Curt