Air rifles in the American Civil War

KHyatt

Corporal
Joined
Jan 7, 2019
While browsing for information on early air guns, I came across some CWT posts from 2014 and earlier regarding the use of air rifles. I can't now find it, but one post included a quote from a Union(?) commander who remarked that the enemy's sharpshooters were using air rifles. I'm wondering if there might be any newer information available about the use of air rifles in the Civil War since those earlier threads/posts:
  • If the use of air guns has bee verified, do we know if these were Girandoni rifles or something else?
  • For how long were the Girandoni's manufactured? Wikipedia says that they were in service in Austria until about 1815, but it's not clear if they were manufactured all at one time, circa 1780, or if there was a prolonged production period. (Alliteration unintended.)
  • How many were in use and by whom?
No particular reason for asking about this, just curious - and yes, I'd love to own one.

I'm also wondering if there were documented uses of other unusual and/or outdated weapons such as crossbows. Maybe another thread...
 
While browsing for information on early air guns, I came across some CWT posts from 2014 and earlier regarding the use of air rifles. I can't now find it, but one post included a quote from a Union(?) commander who remarked that the enemy's sharpshooters were using air rifles. I'm wondering if there might be any newer information available about the use of air rifles in the Civil War since those earlier threads/posts:
  • If the use of air guns has bee verified, do we know if these were Girandoni rifles or something else?
  • For how long were the Girandoni's manufactured? Wikipedia says that they were in service in Austria until about 1815, but it's not clear if they were manufactured all at one time, circa 1780, or if there was a prolonged production period. (Alliteration unintended.)
  • How many were in use and by whom?
No particular reason for asking about this, just curious - and yes, I'd love to own one.

I'm also wondering if there were documented uses of other unusual and/or outdated weapons such as crossbows. Maybe another thread...

I believe this is the post you were looking for.
https://civilwartalk.com/threads/giordoni-air-rifle.80371/
 
Thanks. Yes, I remember reading that thread, but there was another somewhere that included a post about the CW sharpshooters. Plus, I'm wondering if there's been any new research or information about the air guns in the few years since the earlier posts/threads.
 
Thanks. Yes, I remember reading that thread, but there was another somewhere that included a post about the CW sharpshooters. Plus, I'm wondering if there's been any new research or information about the air guns in the few years since the earlier posts/threads.
If you will go up to the search block in the upper right hand corner you can do a search for those other post. Its a great feature that allows you find find all kinds of archive items.
 
I know of no incident where an airgun was used as a combat weapon by a regular soldier during the ACW.

One of the problems of the Girandoni was its metallurgy. Fabricated of wrought iron, the soft material work hardens and broke easily. There was no way of gauging air pressure in the stock/bladder either. You counted the pump strokes and it could take a long, long time to refill it. There was no training program to teach the peasant soldiers how to use or care for it either.

BTW, of the two contending Girandoni airguns in America, I think the one at VMI was the Lewis & Clark airgun. First, it has a repaired front sight. Second, its mainspring was fabricated from a file - a field expedient repair that was recorded in the travel journal.
 
I know of no incident where an airgun was used as a combat weapon by a regular soldier during the ACW.

One of the problems of the Girandoni was its metallurgy. Fabricated of wrought iron, the soft material work hardens and broke easily. There was no way of gauging air pressure in the stock/bladder either. You counted the pump strokes and it could take a long, long time to refill it. There was no training program to teach the peasant soldiers how to use or care for it either.

BTW, of the two contending Girandoni airguns in America, I think the one at VMI was the Lewis & Clark airgun. First, it has a repaired front sight. Second, its mainspring was fabricated from a file - a field expedient repair that was recorded in the travel journal.
Yes, this re L&C. The gun mainspring was repaired the spring after leaving the Mandans and about the times they reach the great falls. The account regarding demonstrating the air rifle is a singular line, with little other mention of the arm throughout the journals. One might expect Lewis to write more regarding it but likely reserved for fowling, as his excursions from camps with espontoon and rifle are accounts of ball and powder hunting. I have little doubt it was regarded as little more than a novelty.

Cheers
GC
 
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