Blacksmithing

rock city guard · #1 01-31-2007, 02:06 AM

I have a video from 1904, but they used the same methods as in the civil war for steel forging.

http://s135.photobucket.com/albums/q...ent=2206-1.flv

scone · #2 01-31-2007, 02:21 AM

Cool video Jay thanks for sharing

gary · #3 01-31-2007, 03:18 AM

It looks like someone was scraping off the scaling as they were dropping the hammer on that billet. Geez, that was one huge billet too.

rock city guard · #4 01-31-2007, 09:03 AM

The rods they were using were to help draw it out. Didi you see the guy in the durby hat? off to the side? he didn't want to get too close to measure it

rock city guard · #5 01-31-2007, 09:05 AM

I have a few other videos i'll post later, these are pretty cool. One is forge welding a huge ring and the other is pouring pig iron.

larry_cockerham · #6 01-31-2007, 10:04 AM

Gentlemen, one of my ancestors, James Patterson Cockerham was a farrier in the 4th US Cavalry. Can any of you give me an idea about how often a blacksmith or farrier would have joined the troops in action?? Would they have always remained at a safe distance? Did they sometimes ride with the cavalry? Just how portable were their tools? Confined to a wagon? Any references to material that I can access? Still learning in Tennessee........

gary · #7 01-31-2007, 10:26 AM

Good Question Larry. Darn if I know the answer either since I learned to avoid books written by cavalrymen. But if he drove his wagon, I doubt if he would have to fight at all except in an emergency.

rock city guard · #8 01-31-2007, 11:05 AM

the blacksmith at the time used a travelling forge which was attached to a regular artillery limber. In the south they whites were replaced by some black blacksmiths. I had seen a few in the book "Black Confederates".

rock city guard · #9 01-31-2007, 11:06 AM

Blacksmiths were skilled tradesmen, I don't think they would have been put into battle.

It would be like putting a surgeon into battle after a while.

larry_cockerham · #10 01-31-2007, 11:14 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rock city guard

the blacksmith at the time used a travelling forge which was attached to a regular artillery limber. In the south they whites were replaced by some black blacksmiths. I had seen a few in the book "Black Confederates".

I assume this would have been limited to regiments or batteries with artillery? Obviously they would have need horses. I my case (or gg Grandpa's) he was cavalry, so I assume that would have been a wagon? In his pension application he only referrs to the identity of the owner of the horses he was shoeing and "doing the company's blacksmithing". As in the case of the battle for Nashville, Hatche's cavalry broke the Confederate left flank and then pursued the fleeing AOT south to Alabama. How closely would a blacksmith have followed behind? The weather was p poor. Gen. James H. Wilson, wrote that the pursuit was called off prior to crossing the Tennessee River because of the weather. He stated he had lost close to 5,000 horses in the prior weeks and had had enough for a while.