names on guns

[1903sprfld]

I was reading Texans at Antietam by Joe Owen at one place in the book it says that because soldiers did not have dog tags they would carve they're names on they're gun stocks and other equipment so they would be identified if they were killed. The author has got to have gotten this wrong. I know that at cold harbor they would pin they're names on the back of there uniforms so they could be identified. I would think carving names on gun stocks wolud be frowned upon.

 

[Vicksburger]

I was reading Texans at Antietam by Joe Owen at one place in the book it says that because soldiers did not have dog tags they would carve they're names on they're gun stocks and other equipment so they would be identified if they were killed. The author has got to have gotten this wrong. I know that at cold harbor they would pin they're names on the back of there uniforms so they could be identified. I would think carving names on gun stocks wolud be frowned upon.

Yes and Col. Rogers at Corinth wrote his name on a paper he attached to his body before they made their charge. I have not heard that about the gun stocks.

 

[WJC]

Soldiers certainly 'personalized' their weapons, but I believe it had little to do with identification post mortem.

 

[OldSarge79]

Soldiers certainly 'personalized' their weapons, but I believe it had little to do with identification post mortem.

I agree. Most of those who carved their initials seem to have used only their first and last initials. Not the greatest way to identify a body, especially if it was the enemy who won the battlefield and buried the dead. And how many guns were still with the body of the soldier who carried it?? My understanding also is that initial carving was more common in the Confederate army as the Union army was much more regulated.
A paper on the uniform is not only the best way for identification but probably in most cases, the only way.

 

[UCVRelics]

The carving of names or initials on a stock would have been so the soldier could ID his weapon. One of the things that came out of the CW was dog tags.

 

[Patrick H]

I imagine it had more to do with identifying the weapon itself as a possession, for example: "This rifle is mine. Don't mess with it."

 

[Ralph Heinz]

Carved initials on stocks made it easy for a soldier to identify his weapon quickly when rifles were stacked and all rifles basically looked alike. If you kept your bore scrupulously clean -- you didn't want to get Snuffy Smith's grungy bored rifle by mistake when in a hurry. Since there were no serial numbers on rifles and muskets, your personal initials were the only way to identify it. It was more common on Confederate weapons and much less so on Yankee weapons.

 

[Patrick H]

Carved initials on stocks made it easy for a soldier to identify his weapon quickly when rifles were stacked and all rifles basically looked alike. If you kept your bore scrupulously clean -- you didn't want to get Snuffy Smith's grungy bored rifle by mistake when in a hurry. Since there were no serial numbers on rifles and muskets, your personal initials were the only way to identify it. It was more common on Confederate weapons and much less so on Yankee weapons.

Yes, this is exactly what I was trying to express in post#6. Thanks.

 

[CSA Today]

I once had an 1864 Ames sword made sword until it was stolen in 1991, It had three initials scratched on the hilt guard. The first initial was J but I'm having a senior moment on the last two. I bought it at a friend of mine's uncle's estate sale. According to my friend, it was picked up on a battlefield late in the war.

 

[hrobalabama]

Were men issued weapons for their tour of duty? I was in the Army during the Korean Conflict (1950-1952) and we were issued weapons on a temporary basis. We turned in weapons every peaceful weekend or transfer to another unit. I was issued an M1 and later an M1Carbine but I don't remember keeping the same weapon for over a week. We we not allowed to mark any weapon whatever - just keep it clean!

 

[Story]

Were men issued weapons for their tour of duty? I was in the Army during the Korean Conflict (1950-1952) and we were issued weapons on a temporary basis. We turned in weapons every peaceful weekend or transfer to another unit. I was issued an M1 and later an M1Carbine but I don't remember keeping the same weapon for over a week. We we not allowed to mark any weapon whatever - just keep it clean!

Not for nothin', but that's insanely stupid on the command's part. How do you maintain a zero on your weapon if it's a constant merry-go-round?