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I found this by accident and was curious if this is Vicksburg unique or truly NPS policy as it says.
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Re: NPS drill
Originally posted by DonSmithnotTMD
Hmmm... why not ask them?
Click on the emial button at the bottom of the page and fire a note off to VNMP.
Regards, Bob.[B]Robert Braun[/B]
<< Il nous faus de l'audace, encore l'audace, toujours l'audace! >> -
Re: NPS drill
Never ceases to amaze me how folks deviate from the drill manual in the name of safety. I am wondering back during the ACW how many accidents occurred in the ranks due to improper loading techniques (???????) Assuming that this is the drill they would use for a double rank, I would hate to be the poor guy in the front rank.Bill Jordan
“I ended the war a horse ahead.”
Nathan Bedford ForrestComment
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Re: NPS drill
"During the prolonged silence of the enemy's musketry, a sad accident occured in our midst, resulting in the loss of a young Captain from the Ninth NH Regiment. A soldier near him, while in the act of placing a cap on the tube of his musket, accidentally let go the hammer, thus discharging it, killing him instantly"
From "Charge at Day-Break, scenes and incidents at the Battle of the Mine Explosion, Near Petersburg, VA, July 30th, 1864 Written by Lieut. J.J. Chase who is now totally blind in consequence of a wound received in the fatal charge after the explosion" Lewiston [Maine] 1875.
Was this bad drill (the angle the musket was being held couldn't have been correct, unless the Captain was on the embankment above the man) or a broken half cock? "...accidentally let go the hammer..."
Hmm...Daniel Fodera
Palmetto Living History AssocComment
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Re: NPS drill
Yes, that is the NPS standard. It has been this way for well over 20 years that I am aware of. We have our own artillery drill as well.
LeeLee White
Researcher and Historian
"Delenda Est Carthago"
"My name is Ozymandias, King of Kings, Look on my Works, ye Mighty, and despair!"
http://bullyforbragg.blogspot.com/Comment
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Re: NPS drill
Sounds like he was holding the hammer.
I know an unfortunate 13-year-old who had a similar experience with a .357. I forget his name right now. No one was hurt but a door looked kinda bad.Comment
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Re: NPS drill
I didn't know that -- I have seen units do it right at G-burg, so I was unsure.Originally posted by LWhite64Comment
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Re: NPS drill
OK, advancing middle age must be really taking its toll, or else I've done loading in nine times the NPS way so long I can't tell the difference any more, but I've just compared this with Casey's and except for some details like the distance of the muzzle from the face on the command "Load" I can't find the deviation that everyone else seems to read into these instructions.
I do know that at Fort Washington, Maryland, where I first took the NPS black powder certification umpteen years ago, the rangers there stressed that on Draw Rammer the head of the rammer is to be rested on the front sight and not where the pointed end of the ball would be at the muzzle, and that on "Prime" the trigger guard is to be above the cap box. Also, they didn't want us ramming the paper - Nothing that could become a projectile, no matter how harmless it seems.
So, what am I missing in Vicksburg's instructions?"the regulars always do well, and seldom get any credit, not belonging to any crowd of voters"
Darrell Cochran
Third U.S. Regular Infantry
http://buffsticks.usComment
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Re: NPS drill
[QUOTE= but I've just compared this with Casey's and except for some details like the distance of the muzzle from the face on the command "Load" I can't find the deviation that everyone else seems to read into these instructions.
[/QUOTE]
Comparing it to Caseys and Gilhams and Hardee 1855, the nineth step of Loading by the nine times is Shoulder arms. Note, you are loading by the nine times, not firing in the nine times.
Based on the photos they have going with the commands on the NPS page, I would not want to be in front of those 2 men. The manuals all talk about having the weapon higher (2" below right breast) when priming. In a reenactor term "nipple to nipple".Greg Bullock
[URL="http://www.pridgeonslegion.com/group/9thvacoe"]Bell's Rifles Mess[/URL]
Member, [URL="http://www.civilwar.org/"]Civil War Preservation Trust[/URL]
[URL="http://www.shenandoahatwar.org/index.php"]Shenandoah Valley Battlefield Foundation[/URL]Comment
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Re: NPS drill
[QUOTE=lhsnj]Yes, leaning the muzzle that far forward would be impossible in a properly positioned rear rank.Originally posted by but I've just compared this with Casey's and except for some details like the distance of the muzzle from the face on the command "Load" I can't find the deviation that everyone else seems to read into these instructions.
[/QUOTEBill Watson
StroudsburgComment
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Re: NPS drill
From Hardee's - "162. Turn the rammer, the little end of the rammer passing near the left shoulder, place the head of the rammer..."
In the Photo beside Ram Catridge on the NPS Vicksburg site, what is that Rammer doing over the right shoulder of the near man. Did I misinterpret something in Hardees?
John TJohn TaylorComment
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Re: NPS drill
OK, so the problem is not so much with the actual variation in the drill, but with the execution, and the illustration thereof ... I found this illustration of the correct rifle position for Prime from Casey's on the U.S. Regulars web site:
"the regulars always do well, and seldom get any credit, not belonging to any crowd of voters"
Darrell Cochran
Third U.S. Regular Infantry
http://buffsticks.usComment
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Re: NPS drill
" After the weapon was discharged the soldiers would wait for the command to RECOVER ARMS and bring the weapon off the shoulder to either reload or cease firing."
Of course, RECOVER ARMS is used to return from AIM to the READY/PRIME position, so is used when the weapon is loaded, prior to discharge, not after discharge as stated above. The proper post-discharge commands are CEASE FIRE, LOAD, or SHOULDER ARMS (Revised Hardee, SoS, paragraphs 179-184).
Greg RenaultGreg RenaultComment
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