Enfield's used by 24th NY

[Conquerordie]

I'm starting to do some research on the 24th NY. The regiments was raised in the Spring of 1861 and mustered out in May of 1863. They were part of the Eastern Iron Brigade and had some hard fought battles throughout its time in the Army of the Potomac. According to Dan Masters study on arms for the NY regiments, they left NY on July 2, 1861 with 780 Springfield M1842 muskets. Now in all the others documents I can find, they were issued at a later date P53 Enfields which they carried until the end of their service.

What I cannot find is if these Enfields where issued from the tens of thousands of Enfield rifles that NY agents purchased in 1861, or where they issued by the Federal government some point after their arrival in Washington? Does anybody happen to know if NY was only issuing Enfields to regiments that left the state after the shipments started to come in, or did they ship them to Washington to issue out to regiments that had already left the state? Any ideas where I could research this? Appreciate any help that can be given. Thanks

 

[67th Tigers]

Mea culpa

 

[Mississippian1861]

The 24th NY were issued Lorenz's, not Enfields. At Fredericksburg they had Lorenz's. They will likely have gotten a 1st rate rifle later.

According to the 4th Qtr 1862 Ordnance report they are equipped with Enfields.

 

[67th Tigers]

According to the 4th Qtr 1862 Ordnance report they are equipped with Enfields.

Yep, you are right. I've misread a table whilst looking them up...

 

[rob63]

This might be worth a try. I know they have a lot of stuff, neat museum to visit.

New York State Military Museum and Veterans Research Center | New York Heritage

nyheritage.org

 

[johan_steele]

I seem to recall there is a rather detailed history on the Brigade but I'm not having any luck finding it. I don't know if that would have the level of detail you're looking for or not.

I believe all the companies came out of Oswego? county, that county historical society might be a place to check.

 

[rpkennedy]

I believe all the companies came out of Oswego? county, that county historical society might be a place to check

Company K was recruited in Jefferson County but the rest were from Oswego County.

Ryan

 

[Conquerordie]

Yes I actually found a copy of the book "The Original Iron Brigade" by Thomas Reed and added to my collection. I don't remember if it's in this book or another document, but I found that the 24th was issued Enfields in August of 1861. They were in camp during the 1st Battle of Bull Run, and during those weeks we're issued Enfields. I didn't even know that Enfields were already arriving at such an early time. I still can not figure out if they were purchases from the state of NY, or federal purchases. I might not ever know.

A side note, the more I read about the First Iron Brigade, the more I feel like they have been forgotten by history. The " Second". Iron Brigade that we all know and love were part of the First Corp along with the " First" Iron Brigade, fought in the same battles and statistically took as many casualties. In the corn field at Antietam, they literally fought side by side and at times mixed together. But in May of 1863 the " First" guys all disbanded except the 14th Brooklyn, and Berdans 2nd USSS. I know the joke that the "First" got their name for marching and the "Second" for fighting, but look at the "Firsts" record and you'll see marching wasn't all they did.