Re-issue?

[Dignann]

Re: Re-issue?

According to the May 20, 1863 report of Lieut. Col. Briscoe G. Baldwin, Lee's Chief of Ordnance:


SIR: I have the honor to report the following as the principal captures in the recent engagements near Fredericksburg and Chancellorsville:

Artillery.--Five 12-pounder Napoleons, seven 3-inch rifles, one 10-pounder Parrott, nine caissons, four rear parts of caissons, three battery wagons, two forges, 1,500 rounds artillery ammunition, a large lot of artillery harness, and a large lot of wheels, axles, ammunition chests, &c.

Infantry.--Nineteen thousand five hundred muskets and rifles (29,500 collected, 10,000 admitted dropped by our men, leaving 19,500 captured), 8,000 cartridge-boxes, 4,000 cap-pouches, 11,500 knapsacks, 300,000 rounds infantry ammunition.

I have carefully confined myself to what has been reported as collected and counted. This, of course, is considerably less than the amount actually captured, as a number of unarmed men supplied themselves with arms, accouterments, &c., and the army generally helped themselves from the cartridge-boxes of the enemy. Also every day small lots of muskets and rifles are brought-in, and without doubt quite a number of arms, &c., are retained in regimental ordnance wagons for future contingencies and not reported.

A large quantity of lead has been and is now being collected from the battle-fields.

Respectfully submitted.

BRISCOE G. BALDWIN,
Lieut. Col. and Chief of Ordnance, Army of Northern Virginia.


The above is from the ORs, Volume XXV, Part 1, page 818-819.

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: Re-issue?

Dusty,

Yes there was such a thing as bad ammunition but whether the wet or damaged ammo would be turned back in or not, I do not know.

The following return was found in the CSR of Major Beverley Randolph, Ordnance Officer on the staff of Major General John B. Hood. CSR on microfilm at the National Archives - M331, Roll 206. I do not have a date for the return but it was shortly after the Battle of Fredericksburg and is for Hood's entire division.

"Expended & Lost In Battle of Fredericksburg"
1 Spong Rammer
145 12 pdr. Shell
21 12 pdr. Sph. Case
96 6 pdr. Sph. Case
30 3 in. Reifle Shell
25,000 Cartridges cal. 69
3,500 Cartridges cal. 58
4,000 Cartridges .54
1,000 Cartridges Horse Pistol

Now, what's interesting is that Hood's Division saw almost no action during the Battle of Fredericksburg, losing a total 252 men out of 13,400. So what was Randolph claiming? Did the men expend that much ammunition? Doubtful. Hood occupied a very wet and swampy area along Deep Run in the Lansdowne Valley. Perhaps "Lost" meant damaged by moisture.

Eric

[Dignann]

Re: Re-issue?

Following the Battle of Fredericksburg, Lee's army systematically scavenged weapons from the battlefield. In ORs, Volume XXI, page 568, is Lieutenant Colonel Briscoe G. Baldwin's, Lee's Chief of Ordnance, report:

Return of Small-Arms, Ammunition, &c., Collected on the Battle-Field Before Fredericksburg, in the Engagements of December 12 and 13, 1862

Small arms:
Springfield rifles 250
Improved muskets 3,148
Altered muskets 1,136
Austrian muskets 772
Belgian rifles 312
Belgian muskets 78
Springfield muskets 42
Mississippi rifles 478
Flint-lock muskets 13
Enfield rifles, caliber .69 26
Enfield rifles, caliber .57 59
Damaged guns 1,406

Recapitulation

Total on hand at the reserve trains 7,720
Total retained by the First Army Corps 2,166
Total retained by the Second Army Corps 513
Total forwarded to Richmond 692

Grand Total 11,091

Ammunition

Caliber .69 80,000
Caliber .57 and .58 94,000
Caliber .54 31,000
Mixed and damaged cartridges 50,000

Grand total ammunition (rounds) 255,000

Infantry accoutrements 1,800

Recapitulation In Full

Grand total of arms collected 11,091
Probable loss of our troops 2,000
Grand total captured (stands) 9,091
Grand total ammunition (rounds) 255,000
Grand total accoutrements (sets) 1,800


What I find very interesting about this is the fact that of 11,091 arms picked up off the field, only 692 were forwarded to Richmond. Also, take a look at the variety of weapons. 13 flint-locks in the AoP or ANV in December 1862!

Eric

[hireddutchcutthroat]

Re: Re-issue?

Hon E. M. Stanton:

Permission is requested to ship thirty cases of condemned (CS) muskets per ship Suprise to Hong Kong sailing Saturday (From San Fransico). Please answer emmediatly.

A Baldwin Co.
July 1, 1863

[JACKSONVC]

Re: Re-issue?

Excellent post!

Referencing the "Duties of Ordnance Sergeants" May 1862, the chief of the Confederate Ordnance Dept stipulated that, "In battle it will be the duty of the ordnance sergeant to remain with the ammunition wagons and act with the details assigned to them from the regiments, under the orders of the ordnance officer, in supplying the troops with ammunition, collecting arms of the killed and wounded, and securing captured arms and ammunition."

Additionally, the ordnance sergeant will.."take charge of the ordnance wagon or wagons attached to each regiment and see that it contains at least fifteen rounds (of ammunition) per man of the regiment- surplus arms or accouterments to be turned over to the brigade or division ordnance officer."

These items would then be either used on the spot to arm each regiment or unit or they would be turned over to the arms depots of the south. An excerpt from "Confederate Ordnance During the War" page 367 made by LTC William Le Roy Broun, Commander of Richmond arsenal, " The steel guns used by the confederates were highly values, and with the exception of a few purchases abroad, (all) were captured from the federals......In the summer of 1862, after the Seven Days' battles around Richmond, Between General Lee and General McClellan, men were detailed to collect arms from the field, which were carried to Richmond Arsenal, and then, as quickly as possible, repaired and reissued to the army. Subsequently, through the blockaded runners, a large importation of excellent rifles was received and distributed."

Aparently this was not without danger, many of the workers at the Richmond Depot found out that when the weapons returned from the field after being "collected", they were still loaded.

From the Richmond Enquirer, 7/9/1862, Accidentally Shot
"One of the wagoneers, employed in hauling muskets from the recent battlefields, while taking off his load at Thomas' factory, on Monday Evening, met with a serious accident, by which the fingers of his left hand were terribly shattered. He was pulling one of the muskets from out of the mass, in order to extricate others, when the lock became entangled, and the piece being loaded, the cock drawn back, slipped and the contents exploded. The wagoner's hand being upon the muzzle, received the charge, which passed through and slightly injured on of his legs. His name is Wm. Johnson, of Company B, Sixteenth Virginia Regiment."

From the Richmond Enquirer, 10/25/1862, Accident at Arsenal
" on Thursday, between 12 and 1 o'clock, a workman named Horner was employed at his bench in the arsenal, when another, working at the next bench, was engaged on an old loaded musket. As the latter was taking out the breech-pin, the load exploded and the bullet penetrated Horner's right hip and glanced down his leg, producing a severe but, fortunately, not serious wound. Such accidents are frequent occurrence here, and we are informed - that the workmen are astonishingly careless. The benches all over the establishment bear traces of the shape of bullet holes on their style of extracting bullets from old muskets on the accidental principle."