Emblem on Sharps rifle

Story, that start date of Feb, 1865 for Hancock's Veteran Volunteers fits very well with what you posted on my previous thread from last year, that the serial # on my rifle was in the middle of the 1865 production. And I just noticed the small hole in the emblem on the rifle posted on this thread.
Hopefully hrobalabama will make an appearance again soon with more info.
 
Actually, that's a 10X hit
Hahaha! That's pretty funny.
I don't even know enough about the subject to know when I find a useful article. :D Thanks for telling me its a good one. Glad its helpful. Here's another
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Dayton Daily Empire., December 17, 1864, page 3.

Here's another article I found - this one is not about Hancock's veteran vols, but it mentions some of the retained arms for Rousseau's corps being Spencers as @johan_steele mentioned above. Was Rousseau successful in obtaining permission to raise his corps?
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Chicago Tribune., February 05, 1865, page 2.
 
Washington, District of Columbia. Hancock's Veteran Corps on F Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry
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Washington, District of Columbia. Hancock's Veteran Corps on F Street, N.W. Washington, D.C. 1st U.S. Volunteer Infantry

I downloaded the highest rez version of that (TIFF file) yesterday and couldn't determine what the guys in the front rank where carrying - the trigger guards all look to be too long to be Spencer levers (so 1861/64s?).

edit - see what I mean?
pn0fysk.jpg
 
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That's a difference of 5292. There were only an estimated 7,000 made, allotted serial # range 30000 to 40000, so even though the numbers aren't that much different, in this limited production, it's a pretty good difference.

Does anyone know how many enlisted in Hancock's Volunteers?

Could some of the Spencer rifles issued to Hancock's Volunteers have been previously issued to units that demobilized?
 
Does anyone know how many enlisted in Hancock's Volunteers?

With nine USVV Regiments listed, that'd be 9,000 at full strength.
The volunteer infantry regiment, as prescribed by United States Army regulations, consisted at full strength of 10 companies, each of 97 men and 3 officers.
 
Imagine the outrage if they printed something like that today.

Anyway, if only 7,000 Sharps New Model 1863 infantry rifles were produced and even if Hancock's Veterans didn't reach their full 9,000 men, there wouldn't have been enough Sharps rifles to arm them all. The corps had to have a variety of arms.
I've compared my Sharps and Spencer rifle trigger guards with the photo close-up and can't make a determination.

Another angle: If the Veteran Volunteers were given rifles with their name on them, wouldn't there be some on the market as "identified"?
I'm suspecting that hrobalabma's rifle and mine were inlaid with those insignias after the war by a couple of the veterans.
 
Anyway, if only 7,000 Sharps New Model 1863 infantry rifles were produced and even if Hancock's Veterans didn't reach their full 9,000 men, there wouldn't have been enough Sharps rifles to arm them all. The corps had to have a variety of arms.

If they ran out of Sharps for the first companies formed, that might have been the trigger to purchase Henry rifles.

Another angle: If the Veteran Volunteers were given rifles with their name on them, wouldn't there be some on the market as "identified"?
I'm suspecting that hrobalabma's rifle and mine were inlaid with those insignias after the war by a couple of the veterans.

After the war, or as per the articles posted previously, prior to the soldiers' demobilization (one of the links I posted has the dates of demobilization for each of the nine regiments).
 
After studying the enlargement of the soldiers under arms, and some thought about what we are actually looking at, I am of the belief that they are carrying common muzzle loading muskets. My reasoning for this is because the slings stop at the trigger guards. If they were armed with either Spencer or Sharps Rifles the sling would extend downward over the trigger guards/levers ending nearly at the toe of the stock.
J.
 
After studying the enlargement of the soldiers under arms, and some thought about what we are actually looking at, I am of the belief that they are carrying common muzzle loading muskets. My reasoning for this is because the slings stop at the trigger guards. If they were armed with either Spencer or Sharps Rifles the sling would extend downward over the trigger guards/levers ending nearly at the toe of the stock.
J.
Jobe, after looking at my Sharps and my Spencer, you are absolutely right. Great observation!
Could it be that the government didn't live up to what it promised??? I just can't believe it.....
 
Not exactly what you're looking for, but might be of interest?
View attachment 323370
The Weekly Pioneer and Democrat. (St. Paul, Minn), February 10, 1865, page 2.

In addition to new-style rifles and "equipment" they were also supposed to have a distinctive uniform. I believe this tintype from my collection may show one of these men in his new uniform:

Union Soldier in Veteran Volunteer Jacket (2).jpg


As I recall, the uniform was supposed to consist of a short jacket with a low standing collar and veteran's service stripes on both sleeves, like those worn in the Regular Army. (What would later be termed hash marks.) This natty fellow in the undated tintype, removed from its case for scanning, appears to conform to that description.
 
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