Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

[Skutatos]

I have found three references now to soldiers firing their rifles after being relieved from picket or guard duty:

I had scarcely got out of sight of camp, when the firing toward the front, though faintly heard, seemed too steady to be caused by the pernicious habit which prevailed of the pickets firing off their guns on returning from duty, preparatory to cleaning them. - Shiloh As Seen by a Private Soldier by Warren Olney

Also at Shiloh:

That was not a squad of pickets emptying their guns on being relieved from duty; it was the continuous roll of thousands of muskets, and told us that a battle was on. The Story of a Common Soldier of Army Life in the Civil War, 1861-1865 by Leander Stillwell

In camp near Washington:

Upon being relieved from guard in the morning, the squad was marched to the rear of the camp, to what had been at one time a mansion, but at that time nothing remained but the bare walls, upon which we practiced target shooting. Gone for a Soldier by Private Alfred Bellard

My question is whether this was a common practice or simply a lack of discipline at Shiloh and an excuse for target practice in Bellard's regiment?

[Calum]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

The book in which the reference I want is currently out on loan to a pard, but I believe in Wiley Sword's book on Berdan's Sharpshooters it gives something similar to the following. I humbly apologize for butchering the quote... (note - at this point, they were carrying Colt revolving rifles, so reloading wasn't a quick process)

The pickets, having already discharged their weapons in expectation of the arrival of their relief worked hurridly to reload . It turned out that the approaching enemy was actually the relief, having gotten turned around and approaching from the direction of enemy lines.

Calum

[KPavia]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

I don't have any quotes or anything to go off of but my interpretation of the quotes in the original post seem to say that the soldiers just discharged their weapons to quickly unload them rather than go through the pain of withdrawing the loaded bullet. I've read similar instances from first hand accounts, one being that of William Ray 7th Wisconsin, where the soldiers on picket are relieved and there is no mention of the discharge of firearms.

[cavscout148]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

From "The Buckeye Vanguard: The 49th Ohio Veteran Volunteer Infantry". Following Shiloh:

"Company F was coming in off pickett duty and it was the custom to discharge their muskets. The provost marshall quickly put them under arrest and ordered them all to carry rails as punishment. Col. Gibson arrived soon after and inquired to the reason for the punishment. He immediately went to the provost marshall's quarters and proceeded to give him a piece of his mind, in a stern voice and using choice words. The boys were soon ordered to drop their rails and return to their quarters, which they quickly obeyed."

Joshua Mann
SFC, Historian, Ohio Army National Guard
PVT, 121st OVI

[Don Dixon]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

Firing at the conclusion of guard duty was doctrine: Heth, Henry; A System of Target Practice for the Use of Troops When Armed with the Musket, Rifle-Musket, Rifle, or Carbine; D. Van Nostrand (for the War Department), New York, 1862, page 67, states:

"Immediately after the guard marches off it will fire at a target under the supervision of the officer of the guard, or, in his absence, the officer of the day..."

Regards,
Don Dixon

[markj]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

Not quite, at least for the Confederates. I'll have to dig through my National Archives notes, but I definitely recall seeing an early 1863 directive from, I believe, Braxton Bragg ordering sentries to have the rounds pulled from their loaded pieces instead of discharging them. Very sensible idea: this probably saved hundreds of rounds a day in Bragg's command alone.

As time permits, I'll post the original order once I rediscover it.

Regards,

Mark Jaeger

[Craig Wolfe]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

Mark,

Just curious how sentries pulling rounds would have saved hundreds of rounds for Braggs Command. I would have guessed that pulled rounds would have been dropped as trash. Would they have done something to recycle the pulled rounds?

Craig Wolfe

[Archie R. Lib]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

With the Confederates, I distinctly remember reading about swapping muskets - that is, the loaded "guard" or "post" soldiers' muskets, obviously loaded, would be passed to the next on-duty sentry if they were from the same company. This prevented the wasting of rounds and powder - either by firing or pulling. However, if the company were relieved then they would be fired off, which was a ration bonus if there was any game in the area....

I will dig through my books and find exactly where I saw that. I believe it was "Diary of a Tarheel Soldier" by Louis Leon in the 53rd NC, but I'm not entirely sure.

R

[Jimmayo]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

Hunting a Union site close to the battle lines in Petersburg I came across an area appoximately 4 feet square with more fired bullets than I wanted to dig. I think I dug over 100 when I first found it and since they were fired I left in search of something better. This area was along a stream bed between two small hills behind the Union main lines where the soldiers coming in off the line would have walked to their camp. The cache of bullets was in the bottom side of the hill at almost ground level. Over the years whenever hunting was slow we would go to this spot and dig fired bullets. Eventually they were all gone.

[Horace]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

It's been related to me by one person who happens to be a stickler for facts vs. speculation that there was at least one incident where returning US pickets cleared their weapons into the tents of another regiment that was camped nearby, but was hidden from view - I'm guessing by trees. It's hearsay and I can't document it.

This is an interesting and overlooked subject.

[Skutatos]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

So it would seem that at least a few regiments did this. If that is the case then maybe firing practice was not as rare as some historians have claimed. I think it might be worth looking into some day, even if just out of curiosity.

I found the bit about the bullets found at Petersburg interesting. The location sounds like an ideal spot for safely discharging firearms. Is it at all possible these may have been spent rounds dropping behind the lines?

Is "A System of Target Practice for the Use of Troops When Armed with the Musket, Rifle-Musket, Rifle, or Carbine" the only manual that describes what you are to do with the loaded firearms after picket or guard duty? I have been looking through what manuals I have available to me and have found no mention.

[AndrewGrim]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

At Fort Tejon in California there was tree behind the barracks buildings that was full of bullets when the state removed it for an access road. While no documentation has been found, speculation is that it was were the soldiers coming off guard duty would discharge weapons.

[VA-Patriot'61]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

While not exactly a Civil War reference, Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe's novels do delve deep into the British Army during the Napoleonic Wars. Numerous times while I was reading he mentions in the stories the pickets coming off duty discharging their weapons for a couple of different reasons:

1. Clearing the weapon so the powder doesn't get damp and foul the barrels (common issue with the pans on flintlocks in the morning mists, rains and weather in general).
2. "Encourages" the soldiers to clean their weapons frequently and keep them busy when duty gets mundane in camp. (this still works today, take them to the range if you're stuck on a FOB)

I've seen other references to soldiers in conflicts prior to the CW discharging their weapons coming off the line or picket duties. If I can remember where I read them it'll be a miracle. Don't forget that you can look at previous conflicts to explain some of the things we take as peculiar when researching our time period here.

Just some additional thoughts...

[Jimmayo]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

I found the bit about the bullets found at Petersburg interesting. The location sounds like an ideal spot for safely discharging firearms. Is it at all possible these may have been spent rounds dropping behind the lines?

Some spent rounds were found in the area but there was no doubt this bunch were fired into the ground at close range. I envisioned a line of men walking by discharging their weapons into the side of the hill from about 10 feet away as they walked along the path. I guess the military still have the red sandfilled cans located where troops entering an area can verify they are unloaded by dry firing the weapon into the top of the barrel. That is the way we did it in my time and that may be why it seemed so natural to me that they would be doing the same thing prior to getting to camp. Have attached a picture of two bullets fired into the ground from close range. When there are no rocks in the ground they come out smooth like these. It used to be not uncommon to find single bullets on the edges of camps and some of the bullets from around the mass of bullets in Petersburg looked like these. Many in the middle of the area showed the results of being fired on top of and through and through. Never did find two stuck together.

[markj]

Re: Discharging of firearms after being relieved from picket duty.

Beats the heck out of me. The directing authority clearly had a well-formed rationale to issue his order. Perhaps the pulled rounds were simply melted down by ordnance sergeants, poured into molds, and then recycled as new rounds?

Mark Jaeger