Army Blacksmith

[Boy of '61]

Mods feel free to move this to a more appropriate folder.

I may be doing an army blacksmith impression doing demonstrations of making hand turned horseshoes during a Civil War living history weekend in the blacksmith shop of a historic fort. By the way I’m a farrier so I can make horseshoe and such, but I’m looking for period information on blacksmith, particularly army blacksmiths. I know this subject is lacking in info and research, something I’m hoping to change once I can really digging into researching the topic and develop an authentic impression. I will be using the fort’s period correct forage, but I’m going to be researching period portable forages, not those incorrect rivet forages with crank blowers you see everyone using a events.

Does anybody have any info or know of any online sources, period books or manuals on the subject. I’m really interested in the tools that they used. Tongs, hammers, punches and such are basically the same as today, but I’m not sure about hoof nippers, knifes, or pull-offs. I have a German manual written in the 1880’s, the closest to the 1860's I have found so far, which it did talk about the use of hoof nippers and had a crud hoof knife, but it’s not from the correct time period. I believe they did have hoof knifes then, but a sole knife was more common, which is the opposite now. I would appreciate any info anyone has.

Thanks

[tmattimore]

Re: Army Blacksmith

Ordnance Manual of 1862 page 339..
In the field smiths for artillery and cavalry also repaired iron and leather goods. Horse shoes were not made in the field but carried. Forge bodies were authorized 100 pair per forge.
QMD remount stations hired civilians who often worked in gangs in order to shoe large numbers of horses per day.
Tom Mattimore

[rmilstead]

Re: Army Blacksmith

To continue Tom's point. In researching ANV CS artillery battery QM requisitions in the winter '63-'64 and spring '64 as part of an other study that I am doing, there were often cases where they were requisitioning and recieving horse shoes in relatively large numbers. These were obviously pre made. Probably the smiths could also make them in the field but the QM department supplied them and artillery ferriers/blacksmiths in winter camps (when they clearly had time to DYI) were requesting them.

Dick Milstead
Hardaway's Alabama Battery
The Company of Military Historians