Ammo Ammo Replacement?

[Trooper "D"]

Bring up ammo to the 5th Corps. Battle of the Wilderness
View attachment 573236

I love A. R. Waud. My favorite illustrator. I had to magnify the image to see the details on my Android. I didn't see the firing line in the background with a guy taking a hit even. Arms in the air. That one guy is carrying two ammo boxes. How heavy are those things anyway? We got a supply wagon filled with Black Powder cartridges and a caisson parked nearby and what are the two guys sitting around doing? Smoking! No Smoking!
The mules don't seem to appreciate the view from the front row seats.
I was thinking about commissioning a wagon works to build me a supply wagon. I don't know where I would park it. Don't have many events around here. I could move to where the events are and then get the supply wagon. Hmm. Maybe.

 

[Yankeedave]

I love A. R. Waud. My favorite illustrator. I had to magnify the image to see the details on my Android. I didn't see the firing line in the background with a guy taking a hit even. Arms in the air. That one guy is carrying two ammo boxes. How heavy are those things anyway? We got a supply wagon filled with Black Powder cartridges and a caisson parked nearby and what are the two guys sitting around doing? Smoking! No Smoking!
The mules don't seem to appreciate the view from the front row seats.
I was thinking about commissioning a wagon works to build me a supply wagon. I don't know where I would park it. Don't have many events around here. I could move to where the events are and then get the supply wagon. Hmm. Maybe.

Sorry for the poor quality. Search Engine isn't what it used to be.
Looked but couldn't find the sketch of two soldiers carry a box of ammo slung from two muskets.

 

[13 IL Cav & 64 GA Inf]

I'd appreciate anyone pointing me to source material describing rules/regulations/best practices for replenishing ammo during a battle. Assuming the average rifleman had 40 in the box and an extra twenty or so in the pockets, and assuming 2-3 shots per minute, you're looking at a half hour firefight - maybe a little longer if you are able to take ammo from casualties. How is fresh ammo brought up to the firing line and distributed? Or does the unit leave the firing line to replenish? I don't recall that being discussed a lot in unit histories I've read (maybe I've just read the wrong ones!) Thanks in advance for any guidance!

As a soldier, I would hoard ammo, and might start with as many as my cartridge box as it would hold, and as you mentioned some in my pockets upon the first issue of the day.

 

[Rhea Cole]

I think there is a bit of a misunderstanding about how soldiers were issued ammunition. Nobody was filling their pockets with extra rounds. Every soldier was issued 40 rounds / 50 rounds / 60 rounds exactly as ordered. Three day's rations, for example, were issued. It was a controlled process, for obvious reasons.

Think about it, every regiment drew a given number of rounds based on the marching orders. To put rounds into an ammunition pouch a chain of supply reaching all the way back to the army reserve had to be put in motion. In combat, the reserve was an on demand source. Thousands of rounds were collected from color coded ammunition wagons positioned as close to the firing line as possible.

At about 40 rounds fouling in rifle musket bores became a critical problem. Every one has read the reports of the number of muskets recovered from battlefields with bullets stuck partway down the bore. It was while clearing the fouling that ammunition was issued. Clearing the fouling, as anyone who has fired black powder muzzle loading rounds from a long arm with testify, is not optional.

Confederate armory musket rounds were subject to falling apart. It was a source of great vexation. Soldiers found themselves in fire fights reaching into ammunition boxes filled with paper, bullets, & loose powder. It was noted that Springfield Arsenal rounds were very durable & did not fall apart.

This is a well researched article about where Union ammunition was produced & distributed. Lead was mined in the Western Theater. Not surprisingly ammunition was produced near the source. Contrast that with the cargo of the blockade runner Modern Greece that included a large amount of led pigs clearly marked by the English smelters. Read more here.

Link:

Bullets for the Union: Manufacturing Small Arms Ammunition During the Civil War

Civil War bullets are perhaps the most common item collected from the era; the two armies expended bullets by the millions during the...

dan-masters-civil-war.blogspot.com

 

[CowCavalry]

Confederate armory musket rounds were subject to falling apart. It was a source of great vexation. Soldiers found themselves in fire fights reaching into ammunition boxes filled with paper, bullets, & loose powder. It was noted that Springfield Arsenal rounds were very durable & did not fall apart.

LOL, the Enfield ammunition imported from the UK was the very pinnacle of ML ammunition. Reports of 100+ rounds being fired with no fouling issues noted are common. It was far superior both in construction and ability reduce fouling to the US cartridges.

 

[Oceanweather]

What did it take to clean a fouled musket? Could it be done quickly under battlefield conditions?

 

[captaindrew]

What did it take to clean a fouled musket? Could it be done quickly under battlefield conditions?

It can be done pretty quickly, flush some water through the barrell and run a couple patches through it. Still not something I'd want to do while being shot at though.

 

[Rhea Cole]

It can be done pretty quickly, flush some water through the barrell and run a couple patches through it. Still not something I'd want to do while being shot at though.

Also, the thin walled barrel could become very hot. The embers in the fouling caused the powder to flash as it was poured in.

Biting off the end of paper cartridges leads to a mighty thirst. If there was no water in the canteen, urinating into the muzzle was the only option. That alone was an argument for breech loaders.

Sponging between rounds for muzzle loading artillery cleans out fouling. #3 stoppers the vent, which causes a vacuum as the sponge is removed. A very resonate "Phoomm!" sound as the sponge clears the muzzle indicates success.

Civil war & modern practice is to use a damp sponge . Too much water can cause the fouling to crust over leaving a live ember that can last up to seven minutes.

The persistent embers are why NPS, State Park & responsible gun crews do not indulge in rapid fire. Annually it results in premature detonation that causes terrible burns, traumatic amputations & death.

Historic examples:

1540 Premature Ignition. Francisco Vazquez de Coronado's expedition pushes from Mexico as far east as Kansas. En route a No. 1 man loses his arm as a result of a premature ignition of a cannon.

1811 Premature Ignition. Portugal. No.1 man blown from the muzzle and into the harbor along with rammer. No. 3 stopping vent gets severely burned hand.

1840 Premature Ignition. U.S. sailor killed while priming the vent directly from a priming horn.

Nothing new about the dangers of firing blackpowder cannon.

Around here there is a very amusing tale involving an infantry muzzle flash & a well known long beard. Don't know how true it is, but I have seen clothing set alight by flying bits of cartridge paper during a skirmish..

 

[bayonet]

It can be done pretty quickly, flush some water through the barrell and run a couple patches through it. Still not something I'd want to do while being shot at though.

Or drop yours and pick up a dead guys musket. Plenty of them around during a ACW battle. Besides they won't have need of it anymore!

 

[Oceanweather]

This is an interesting discussion and opens up new insight of soldiers in a line of battle.

 

[Rhea Cole]

This is an interesting discussion and opens up new insight of soldiers in a line of battle.

That is one of the joys of living history. There is something about the laying on of hands that doesn't come from books.

 

[Rhea Cole]

In answer to a private question:

The best collection of black powder cannon accidents I have on file comes from a compilation 1996-2003. Leaning over to light a cannon with the cigar in his mouth is absolutely the most improbable. Read more here:

Link:

https://www.njacc.info/cannon_accidents.pdf

 

[Rhea Cole]

Picking up a musket during battle to replace a fouled one might have been a vexing experience. Of the 27,574 muskets retrieved from the Gettysburg battlefield, (+/-) 24,000 were loaded, the majority with multiple rounds. Many of the remainder had burst barrels.

Esteemed CWT member Craig Berry has written a well researched article about the number of loaded / fouled muskets retrieved from the Gettysburg battlefield. Read more here.

Link:

Loaded Muskets Taken After Battle At Gettysburg

After Gettysburg in July 1863, 27,574 muskets were picked up by the Union from the battlefield.

www.historicalpublicationsllc.com

 

[captaindrew]

Or drop yours and pick up a dead guys musket. Plenty of them around during a ACW battle. Besides they won't have need of it anymore!

Who's to say their's wasn't just as dirty? Although that was a common practice if a guy was having issues with his weapon. I'd think it wasn't just common to CW soldiers, a jammed M16 would put you in a similar pickle.

 

[Rhea Cole]

Who's to say their's wasn't just as dirty? Although that was a common practice if a guy was having issues with his weapon. I'd think it wasn't just common to CW soldiers, a jammed M16 would put you in a similar pickle.

Craig Barry's article in Civil War Times that is linked up thread makes your point in some detail.

 

[DixieRifles]

Orion P Howe
Receieved the Medal of Honor

Rank and organization: Musician, Company C, 55th Illinois Infantry. Place and date: At Vicksburg, Miss., 19 May 1863. Entered service at: Woken, Ill. Birth: Portage County, Ohio. Date of issue: 23 April 1896.
Citation: A drummer boy, 14 years of age, and severely wounded and exposed to a heavy fire from the enemy, he persistently remained upon the field of battle until he had reported to Gen. W. T. Sherman the necessity of supplying cartridges for the use of troops under command of Colonel Malmborg.

 

[Sgt Williams]

Remember that fierce firefights didn't last hours of continuous shooting. For the most part, unless you were defending, where you had a ready supply of ammo at your rear, you were moving back and forth across the field. The thick of the actual shooting may not have lasted longer than 30 minutes before you either took the position or broke to the rear. The standard supply carried by a soldier was enough for a single firefight lasting 30 minutes or less. Chamberlin withstood three charges with rapid firing before he was out of ammunition on Little Round Top. You have to figure the amount of time both sides were engaged with each other and shooting back and forth at a rapid rate probably totaled less than 45 minutes.

 

[Yankeedave]

What did it take to clean a fouled musket? Could it be done quickly under battlefield conditions?

When eenacting, we would fall out of line when the barrel became so hot that the canteen water would immediately boil when poured in. Instantly clean.
Three way tool to break down the weapon. It fits in the cartridge box.

Nipple wrench. The caps can shred brass down the nipple vent plugging the hole.

Nipple picks

One of unit members carried these three things every event, generally me.
When back at camp we would pour boiling water down it.
There are wire brushes that can be run down it and would be in the real deal.

 

[Dan Kohli]

When eenacting, we would fall out of line when the barrel became so hot that the canteen water would immediately boil when poured in. Instantly clean.
Three way tool to break down the weapon. It fits in the cartridge box.
View attachment 573365
Nipple wrench. The caps can shred brass down the nipple vent plugging the hole.
View attachment 573373
Nipple picks
View attachment 573374
One of unit members carried these three things every event, generally me.
When back at camp we would pour boiling water down it.
There are wire brushes that can be run down it and would be in the real deal.

One musket tool and cone pick was issued for every musket, the spring vice was issued to the sargents.

 

[Rhea Cole]

One musket tool and cone pick was issued for every musket, the spring vice was issued to the sargents.

This sounds like the straight line to a joke… maybe it is me getting ahead of being snowed in.