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**Coatsy** · 03-22-2014, 01:45 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

And what is the source for this information? Since that type of stuff is helpful..

**hireddutchcutthroat** · 03-22-2014, 07:55 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

Tertiary at best, but it what I have on hand, An Introduction to Civil War Small Arms by Coats and Thomas. Also please disregard the 100% in my previous post.

**Silas** · 03-22-2014, 09:13 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

I thought there was some mention in Woodcock's memoirs about the 9th Kentucky carrying Enfields.

**Coatsy** · 03-22-2014, 09:39 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

Bob and Silas, please post accounts if they pop up. Not trying to be a hater/mega troll here, but I'm always open for tidbits like this.

Enfield rifle muskets are on the Menu for Team Blue at the event. I checked my own guidelines just to make sure I wasn't going crazy.

**hireddutchcutthroat** · 03-23-2014, 01:13 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

I haven't started tearing into Woodcock yet, he is on deck however. At the moment I am planing on bringing my shiny new repro Enfield.

**Curt Schmidt** · 03-23-2014, 03:00 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

Hallo!

I am doing this from memory and will see if I can track the Period references down...

IIRC, the Orphan Brigade got 1200 Enfields divided up from the early batch delivered in Nassau by the Gladiator , and then off-loaded and delivered to Smyrna, Florida by the Kate and a few other ships while several CSA governors feuded over how belonged to whom. And were the angered by CSA Secretary of War Randolph choices.
Anyways, Randolph had 1200 shipped to Albert Sidney Johnston at Decatur, AL in time for Shiloh, their being delivered to Breckenridge's Reserve Corps 1st Brigade on the night of April 3rd. The 3rd and 4th KY Infantry got a batch but there were not enough to arm the 5/9th KY which IIRC, later liberated Enfields from the Feds.

I think Johnston made an attempt to spread them around, possibly to even firepower or may be not create state resentments... as the 20th TN in the 3rd Brigade got some according to their regimental historian at Burnsille. MS.

Curt

**Silas** · 03-23-2014, 05:28 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

Curt, wrong side. The Kentucky impressions at Pickett's Mill are the loyal Fifth and Ninth volunteer regiments of infantry.

**Craig L Barry** · 03-23-2014, 08:57 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

Woodcock mentions the 9th KY got their Enfield rifles just before Shiloh. Todd's Military Equipage, not 100% reliable but confirms what Marcus Woodcock recalls in "A Southern Boy in Blue." Coates & Thomas says Enfields as well. You can never state anything with 100% certainty where small arms issuance is involved, but it seems safe to conclude the vast majorities of 9th KY (US) had the P53 Enfield long rifle. Further, based on the Union contracts from late 1861-early 1862, probably of Birmingham manufacture and Tower marked, if that makes any difference.

**Curt Schmidt** · 03-23-2014, 10:04 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

Hallo!

"Curt, wrong side. The Kentucky impressions at Pickett's Mill are the loyal Fifth and Ninth volunteer regiments of infantry."

D'oh! he said, sheepishly.

Curt

**Craig L Barry** · 03-24-2014, 08:20 AM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

Originally posted by Curt Schmidt View Post

Hallo!

"Curt, wrong side. The Kentucky impressions at Pickett's Mill are the loyal Fifth and Ninth volunteer regiments of infantry."

D'oh! he said, sheepishly.

Curt

Understandable. A number of the STRI volunteers do 9th KY as a primary impression because there were both 9th KY US and CS, and for the park living histories and demos you often switch between the two. We prefer morning and afternoon, but some times it's every hour.

Ironically, it's Enfields either way, too. Another reason.

**Coatsy** · 03-24-2014, 11:57 AM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

Curt, don't worry too much. I've had to field questions about the Orphan Brigade in regards to the event too. That's why I always try to add "US" every time I mention them.

**Silas** · 03-24-2014, 02:06 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

In my reading this morning in the primary book on Pickett's Mill, there is a reference to the men of Granbury's policing the field of captured arms and equipment. They were able to exchange their Austrian Lorenz rifles s for Enfields. The footnote cites to a 2012 book by John R. Lundberg called Granbury's Texas Brigade : Diehard Western Confederates. Here's a link to page 156 where Enfields are mentioned. The citation begins on the last sentence of page 155 :

Granbury's Texas Brigade

http://books.google.com/books?id=PS8EFiPu56QC&pg=PA156&dq=Lundberg+granbury+enfield&hl=en&output=html_text&sa=X&ei=OEUwU5qIAorvoASGioGoAg&ved=0CCoQ6AEwAA

John R. Lundberg's compelling new military history chronicles the evolution of Granbury's Texas Brigade, perhaps the most distinguished combat unit in the Confederate Army of Tennessee. Named for its commanding officer, Brigadier General Hiram B. Granbury, the brigade fought tenaciously in the western theater even after Confederate defeat seemed certain. Granbury's Texas Brigade explores the motivations behind the unit's decision to continue to fight, even as it faced demoralizing defeats and Confederate collapse. Using a vast array of letters, diaries, and regimental documents, Lundberg offers provocative insight into the minds of the unit's men and commanders. The caliber of that leadership, he concludes, led to the group's overall high morale.Lundberg asserts that although mass desertion rocked Granbury's Brigade early in the war, that desertion did not necessarily indicate a lack of commitment to the Confederacy but merely a desire to fight the enemy closer to home. Those who remained in the ranks became the core of Granbury's Brigade and fought until the final surrender. Morale declined only after Union bullets cut down much of the unit's officer corps at the Battle of Franklin in 1864.After the war, Lundberg shows, men from the unit did not abandon the ideals of the Confederacy -- they simply continued their devotion in different ways. Granbury's Texas Brigade presents military history at its best, revealing a microcosm of the Confederate war effort and aiding our understanding of the reasons men felt compelled to fight in America's greatest tragedy.

The footnote also cites to a 2000 book about the 4th Louisiana from Thomas Ritchey called The Tirailleurs of the 4th Louisiana Infantry. The book isn't on google books, so I could not check the source. If someone has it, this one could be of value as the 4th Louisiana advanced through the cornfield where both the 5th and 9th Kentucky fought.

**Ambrose Bierce** · 03-24-2014, 06:42 PM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

From Along The Dead Line, "The Confederates collected over a thousand rifles from the battlefield. Wood's division supplied enough rifles to the Confederacy that Granbury's entire brigade was able to exchange their Austrian and Belgian rifles for enfields on the spot. Pp 153.

Seems to support Silas's source and lend credence to the claim the Kentucky boys were armed with Enfields. Like Bob, I will be sporting mine, too!

**Coatsy** · 03-25-2014, 06:31 AM

Re: Arms of the Kentuckians

I called the park's ranger in regards to this. Ivan and Tackitt beat me to the punch. The Springfield rifle muskets that were picked up were more from the US commands that were stopped in the "main" ravine. This is also where Granbury's men were located. So, yeah... A slight conundrum.

But, one cannot go wrong with an Enfield rifle musket.

The sad thing is that I have read Lundberg's book as well, and I really enjoyed it. I promptly forgot the passages from Pickett's Mill.... Ugh....

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