M 1842 Rifled Musket used by Union?

[Charles Kaiser]

Hallo Kameraden,
Is There anyone Who knows abour using of the m1842 rifled musket by Union
Units?

[Johan Steele]

Re: M 1842 Rifled Musket used by Union?

1st MN VI had two Companies armed such, the 35th IA carried them as late as 63 IIRC as did 5 or 6 Wisconsin Regiments. I'm rather certain quite a few Union Regiments were carrying these fine arms well into 63; particularlty in the western theatre.

As an example the 1st MN went off to war w/ a few M1855 Rifle Muskets, two companies carried the rifled M1842 but the majority of the men were carrying M1842 smooth bores. This leads to no less than three varities of ammunition: .58, .69 minie & .69 buck and ball. I believe they may still have been carrying some of those M1842 Rifled Muskets at Gettysburg but most if not all of the M1842 smoothbores had been replaced by M1861's.

As for CS use, I think it was probably considerably less but don't know that for certain.

There were only a little more than 14,000 M1842's rifled. IIRC the project was only done between 1856-59.

I know Coates & Thomas list the arm in the An Intro to Civil War Small Arms and Reilly's United States Military Small Arms 1816-1865 does as well. I don't recall Edwards doing much more than mentioning the arm in his excellent work Civil War Guns.