"Beeswax" Cartridges?

[JohnTaylorCW]

I'm hoping that someone can point me to a source where I can find an example of one of these cartridges:

In the History of the 49th New York Volunteers (Bidwell, 1916), Sgt. Alexander McKelvy records his capture in Sept. 1863. One comment he makes is: "...we did not stop to see that our guns were well loaded, but while on the dog-trot in order to save time we loaded, and thereby made a serious mistake, for had we loaded with the regulation cartridges, powder and ball, the result... would have been far different... We used what was called by the boys the "beeswax" cartridge, which required no biting to break the package, but they were not sure to explode as we found to our great sorrow that day."

I've tried searching on both the Forums, and on the web at large with no luck. If anyone can direct me to a publication that has an example, I'll see if I can find it the next time I'm in the States. The 49th NY at that time were using Springfields.

Many thanks for any help.

John T

[Johan Steele]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

I've read of something similar but w/ British issue... The wax would burn very well when spark from a cap hit it and it was considerably more resistant to moisture. I don't know the particulars but IIRC the Brits discontinuiing it because the wax had a tendency to clog the nipple hole if not all left the barrel or if the barrel was quite hot. All I can recall on wax ammo. THough I have heard of blanks w/ a wax pellet in place of the minie ball for training purposes but I recall those being distinctivly marked for ease of id...

My two cents worth...

[Jim Mayo]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

There was a limited use of .58 Cal. cartridges with a membrane used to contain the powder. Looks like a minnie with a membrane shell attached to the skirt. Some dropped ones are still dug with the membrane intact. If they can last 140+ years in the ground they may have been prone to misfire. Have never seen a non-dug one or even a picture.

Jim Mayo

[JohnTaylorCW]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

Thanks Guys,

You've given me enough info to do some additional searches and digging. Tentatively, I suspect that the Sgt. is referring to a Johnston and Dow cartridge (US Patent 34061) The membrane, in the one photo I've found so far resembles a "beeswax" color, they don't need to be bitten, and they were issued to a number of other New York regiments. I'll need to look some more, but I'm further ahead than I was.

Many Thanks!

[1stMaine]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

Comrades,

FWIW, the 7th Maine, on a couple of occasions, was issued with a "water-proof" cartridge that was fully combustible. The overall impression was quite favorable. The cartridge was apparently slightly undersized, and the men found they could load it without the use of their ramrods (the regiment was armed with M1841 rifles) which made them almost as fast to load and fire as breechloaders.
The comments about them may be found in "Maine At Gettysburg". I haven't my copy at hand so cannot list the page number, but it is in the unit history of the 7th Maine.

respects,

[JohnTaylorCW]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

Thanks Tim,

The 7th Maine and the 49th NY were in the same Brigade (3rd Brigade, 2nd Division, 6th Corps) so that jibs with the info from the 49th. I'll see if the local reference library might have a copy.

John T

[1stMaine]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

Comrade,

The following is from pp455, Maine At Gettysburg, and is part of the historical sketch presented by Seldon Connor, former Colonel of the 7th Maine. It regards the actions around Salem Church the morning of 4 May 1863. To Wit:

" At about 10 o'clock in the morning a rebel brigade formed in the open field behind some buildings and then advanced in line, with the evident intention of taking possesion of a wooded hill which was occupied by two companies of the 49th N.Y. and company B of the Seventh Maine as an outpost. The attacking force was routed by these three companies, and more prisoners than they themselves numbered and the colors of the 58th Virginia were taken by them. Their success in the face of such overwhelming odds was due in part to their position on the hillside, where rocks and trees offered protection, but chiefly to the water-proof cartridges with which company B had been supplied. It is not known whether the two companies of the 49th had those cartridges or not. It was the first issue of the kind that had ever been made to the regiment and it proved to have been very timely. The paper was prepared in such a way as to be ignitable by the fulminate of the cap so that it did not require "tearing," and it was so thin that the cartridge slipped down the barrel of the Windsor rifle without the use of the ramrod. This cartridge made the muzzle-loader almost equal to a breech-loader in the rapidity of firing."

Respects,

[Jimmayo]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

There was a whole box of these dug around Richmond some years back. Most all of them still had the membrane intact. I dug one at Cold Harbor in the 2nd Corps position near the Adams house with the membrane still intact. The combustible cartridges for the pistols worked pretty well and it seems that these did also.

[Jimmayo]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

Here is one dug at Cold Harbor.

[JohnTaylorCW]

Re: "Beeswax" Cartridges?

Thanks Jim,

The 49th was at Cold Harbor (as was the 7th Maine, I believe.) What do you and Tim think, is it possible that the Thumbnail of the D & J is the same as/similar to the dug specimen? I admidt, I'd like to see both "live" to compare them.

John T