Nathan Stuart
2nd Lieutenant
- Joined
- Apr 14, 2020
After Gettysburg, a report was prepared by Lt. Joseph G. Rosengarten, the designated ordnance officer of the 121st Pennsylania (First Army Corps, Army of the Potomac). His report, dated July 19 1863, listed the arms captured from the enemy around Gettysburg. The Lieutenant’s list of captured Confederate weapons on the battlefield showed:
Springfield rifled muskets 174
Enfield rifled muskets 2,402
Austrian rifled muskets 64
English rifled muskets 26
Harpers Ferry smooth bores 212
Various 80
TOTAL 2,958
(Source – ‘Official Records’ , Series 1, Volume XXVII, Part 1, at page 264)
The entry above for English rifled muskets is interesting. Most of the low number of imported English Kerr rifles were used in the western theater. There was also very small quantities of various other imported English target rifles carried by individual Confederate marksmen.
Could any of the captured English rifled muskets included above have been whitworths? This also leads to pondering about another wider question. How many Confederate whitworth rifles (if any) were captured by the Union on the battlefield during the war?
Springfield rifled muskets 174
Enfield rifled muskets 2,402
Austrian rifled muskets 64
English rifled muskets 26
Harpers Ferry smooth bores 212
Various 80
TOTAL 2,958
(Source – ‘Official Records’ , Series 1, Volume XXVII, Part 1, at page 264)
The entry above for English rifled muskets is interesting. Most of the low number of imported English Kerr rifles were used in the western theater. There was also very small quantities of various other imported English target rifles carried by individual Confederate marksmen.
Could any of the captured English rifled muskets included above have been whitworths? This also leads to pondering about another wider question. How many Confederate whitworth rifles (if any) were captured by the Union on the battlefield during the war?