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Old 12-28-2006, 10:45 PM
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Ole, I think that could be very well true. Looking at photos of hundreds of recovered bullets from Mossy Creek, one notices that very few are damaged. This means that few hit there targets. Of course there were a lot of rounds that were lost and never fired but, I think the case can be made for your number.
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  #12  
Old 12-28-2006, 10:45 PM
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Ole, I think that could be very well true. Looking at photos of hundreds of recovered bullets from Mossy Creek, one notices that very few are damaged. This means that few hit there targets. Of course there were a lot of rounds that were lost and never fired but, I think the case can be made for your number.
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Old 12-29-2006, 02:40 PM
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Originally Posted by ole
I read somewhere that 100 pounds of lead was expended for each battlefield death or casualty during the Civil War. I suppose that was derived from the total consumption of lead in the manufacture of bullets divided by the killed or casualties.

The way I figure it, that's about 200 shots per hit. Stretching credibility, for sure, but not totally unbelievable. Anyone have the real number available?

Ole
Maybe not all lead production went into ammunition. My sailboat (32 feet) has 5000 pounds of lead in its keel. The U.S. Navy went through massive expansion during the war. I wonder how much lead was in the keel of, oh let's say, the Hartford (yeah, I know she was built in 1857)? I'm speculating here; but I'd bet there was a lot-o-lead in the keels of the Union Navy. Maybe that would explain some of the differences between lead production and casualties caused by those "little" balls of lead. Just thinking out loud here.

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Old 12-29-2006, 06:46 PM
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Thinking out loud is good, but I think I remember that the number I'm trying to think of was devoted entirely to bullets.
Ole
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Old 12-29-2006, 10:30 PM
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I'm speculating here; but I'd bet there was a lot-o-lead in the keels of the Union Navy. Maybe that would explain some of the differences between lead production and casualties caused by those "little" balls of lead. Just thinking out loud here. Calicoboy
Wasn't stone more in use in that era?
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