- Joined
- Aug 25, 2012
Early in the Civil War both sides needed long arms, so were flint locks being coverted during the War? Once better arms became available it would seem like this practice would have ended.
I recall reading that the scarcity of sheet copper in the South in the latter stages of the war was one of the biggest concerns some had for continuing the war.I forgot to add this. I don't know for sure when we started making percussion caps in America. Certainly before the time of the Mexican War. We also imported caps from England and France to meet the demand. I read in Fuller's history of Springfield military arms that 160, 000 caps could be made in a few days. That included punching out the cap from sheet copper, forming into a winged cup, adding the primer (dangerous and tricky!) and securing and waterproofing the primer with a drop of shellac and finally drying and packing. In a short time a million caps were made and that number could be increased! There is a very good description of the process (minus some good pics of the machines) in Peter Scmidt's book on the 1853 Enfield. You can bet that cap and powder factories were working overtime
It made us more independant both N & S
Flint manufacturing continued well into the 20th century but on a smaller scale.
What is a sill?From Barclay, Ducktown, Back in Raht's Time, 1946 -- All copper produced there was shipped to the north as ingots. In an effort to capture the greater profits from selling finished products, the Ducktown mines companies began a rolling mill at Cleveland. This was NOT completed before the war, and was, in fact, completed in the early summer of 1863. When Cleveland was captured in the fall of 1863, the mines went out of production and the just-completed mill was destroyed.
Copper produced before the mill was completed was shipped to Richmond for finishing. Example of those shipments:
2/17/63 from QM Capt J. L. Sehon to Col. Gorgas: I have this day shipped in charge of Messenger Mr J. W. Manning 1003 Ingots Copper 30,000 lbs {2 car loads} turned over to me for transportation by Capt Jno N Austuy M. S. K. in this City (Atlanta).
After the loss of Cleveland, the South began a desperate search for copper and ended up using crushed sills from, primarily, North Carolina to make percussion caps. The supply was barely able to meet demand and copper was purchased abroad to supplement it.
StillWhat is a sill?
The copper situation was one of the reasons the south was unable to produce cartridges for the Spencer and Henry repeating rifles. Since the majority of their weapons were percussion, caps were a priority. Even if they had captured or otherwise "acquired" enough Spencers and Henry repeaters I doubt it would have changed the outcome of the war. But maybe not ? Maybe some speculation on a new thread ?From Barclay, Ducktown, Back in Raht's Time, 1946 -- All copper produced there was shipped to the north as ingots. In an effort to capture the greater profits from selling finished products, the Ducktown mines companies began a rolling mill at Cleveland. This was NOT completed before the war, and was, in fact, completed in the early summer of 1863. When Cleveland was captured in the fall of 1863, the mines went out of production and the just-completed mill was destroyed.
Copper produced before the mill was completed was shipped to Richmond for finishing. Example of those shipments:
2/17/63 from QM Capt J. L. Sehon to Col. Gorgas: I have this day shipped in charge of Messenger Mr J. W. Manning 1003 Ingots Copper 30,000 lbs {2 car loads} turned over to me for transportation by Capt Jno N Austuy M. S. K. in this City (Atlanta).
After the loss of Cleveland, the South began a desperate search for copper and ended up using crushed stills from, primarily, North Carolina to make percussion caps. The supply was barely able to meet demand and copper was purchased abroad to supplement it.
Eley Brothers got started in 1837 and are still (not making caps) in business. I had a tin of original French musket caps but don't recall if they were 4 or 6 wing. Then there was the cheap French caps sold under the GD Brand. From what I read about the rate of misfires from these cheap caps many shooters claimed GD was from the well known profanityIf I am remembering this right, in the Suppliers to the Confederacy books, there is a chapter on the Eley Bros who supplied quite a few percussion caps to the CS war effort. Dave Burt of Congleton, UK did the chapter and he found a fair amount of research on the Eley Bros firm and their production of percussion caps as well as the tins in which they were shipped.
The union didn't have the capacity to produce brass cartridges in any large number... so there where always a lack of them for the few units that did have Spencers.The copper situation was one of the reasons the south was unable to produce cartridges for the Spencer and Henry repeating rifles. Since the majority of their weapons were percussion, caps were a priority. Even if they had captured or otherwise "acquired" enough Spencers and Henry repeaters I doubt it would have changed the outcome of the war. But maybe not ? Maybe some speculation on a new thread ?
I got it.... no wonder there was such a violent resistance to CSA authorities amongst the NC mountain folk. It is one thing to fight a white rich man's war, it is quite another to loose your corn squeezings for somebody else's slaves.Still
I am curious, where did you get that citation? The 95,000 Spencer carbines were the most popular (or second most depending on the source) & widely issued cavalry shoulder arm of the war. The .56-56 Spencer cartridge was also used in Ballard & Joslyn carbines. A slightly different cartridge was used in the Spencer rifle. General Wilder had his men carry their ammunition in their horses's feed bag. He stated that at no time did they suffer from a lack of ammunition. I am unaware of any shortage of cartridges manufactured by Spencer & the Springfield Armory. Spencer ammunition was manufactured until the 1920's.The union didn't have the capacity to produce brass cartridges in any large number... so there where always a lack of them for the few units that did have Spencers.