No lead, no bullets.

[major bill]

I know the Union melted down lead gutters, pewter housewares, and lead pipes. However the Union was able to purchase lead abroad. How did the Confederacy get the lead they needed? Was the Confederacy able to import lead? I understand Missouri had some lead mines, but not sure the mines could be used during the Civil War. Do we have good statistics about how much lead was mined in Northern and Southern states during the Civil War?

 

[major bill]

One should note that warring nations also needed zinc which mixed with copper makes brass. Zinc is often a byproduct of lead mining.

 

[JOHN42768]

I have seen lead listed on captured ships cargo manifests . I don't remember which.

 

[Robin Lesjovitch]

I know the Union melted down lead gutters, pewter housewares, and lead pipes. However the Union was able to purchase lead abroad. How did the Confederacy get the lead they needed? Was the Confederacy able to import lead? I understand Missouri had some lead mines, but not sure the mines could be used during the Civil War. Do we have good statistics about how much lead was mined in Northern and Southern states during the Civil War?

Virginia Geological Survey - Civil War Lead

 

[DaveBrt]

Was the Confederacy able to import lead? Do we have good statistics about how much lead was mined in Northern and Southern states during the Civil War?

I have seen no good numbers on lead production in the Confederacy -- however, we have the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad data on items shipped east and west each year of the war. Since the only big lead mines in the South were in southwestern Virginia, these eastward shipments probably include all the new lead production.

Years ending June 30, Lead in pigs, rounded
1861 450,000
1862 1,070,000
1863 571,000
1864 500,000

Lead was also shipped through the blockade.
7/20/63 CS Agent in Bermuda, writing to Gorgas, says Lt Col. St. John had written him to impress him with the importance of shipping 40 tons of lead through the blockade every month. That same day, the agent reported to St. John that, in addition to the lead on the R. E. Lee, he still had 1,500 pigs (100 lbs each) and was notifying England of the per month requirement. The book by Vandiver, Confederate Blockade Running Through Bermuda, shows many shipments of lead.

Despite of the above, the South had to melt window sash weights and rain gutters, collected battlefield lead, and still barely had enough for combat demands. The arsenals had numerous stoppages of work making cartridges because of lead shortage and ammunition requirements from armies were frequently shipped short.

 

[UCVRelics]

According to a letter that I was able to find thanks to @DaveBrt website http://www.csa-railroads.com/ which helped me locate the arsenal site here. The CS major states in a letter to a friend in May 1864.

"Georgas has ordered me to discontinue making cartridges here in consequence of the scarcity of lead in the Confederacy, but has ordered me to carry on an extensive repairing establishment & collect supplies for Gen'l Johnston's Army".

At one time they were making 60,000 cartridges a month here.

 

[major bill]

I wonder if late in the War it was not just that the Confederacy was low on lead, but if they had difficulties transporting the lead from the mines to the manufacturing sites. Moving lead would take mule and horses as well as trains.

 

[redbob]

At places like Spanish Fort and Petersburg, soldiers would receive incentives such as a leave if they recovered spent lead bullets to be recast as new ones. At Spanish Fort for example, you could get a 24 hour leave for collecting 25 pounds of spent lead.

 

[uaskme]

Jim Ogden the Historian at Chickamauga says they periodically went thru the cartridge boxes. If a percussion cap was missing, the fine was 5 cents. If a boolit was missing, it was a quarter. If they found a damaged boolit, paper torn for instance, they collected them and they sent it back and remanufactured. So they closely managed ammo, but never refrained from firing in combat.

 

[major bill]

Jim Ogden the Historian at Chickamauga says they periodically went thru the cartridge boxes. If a percussion cap was missing, the fine was 5 cents. If a boolit was missing, it was a quarter. If they found a damaged boolit, paper torn for instance, they collected them and they sent it back and remanufactured. So they closely managed ammo, but never refrained from firing in combat.

I learn something new everyday.

 

[Carronade]

Did Civil War soldiers ever carry bullet molds for making their own bullets from whatever lead, pewter, etc. they could obtain? I suppose it would be easier to make plain shot than Minie "balls". Make-your-own might also be more prevalent in partisan or militia units.

 

[Rhea Cole]

At the siege of Petersburg, Confederate soldiers were paid a per each price for spent musket rounds. In a commendable early example of recycling, men risked their lives by scouring the ground behind the lines for spent lead. Thousands of spent rounds lay on the surface of the battlefield. It would seem that these pioneering relic hunters were in real danger of becoming relics themselves.

 

[DaveBrt]

Did Civil War soldiers ever carry bullet molds for making their own bullets from whatever lead, pewter, etc. they could obtain? I suppose it would be easier to make plain shot than Minie "balls". Make-your-own might also be more prevalent in partisan or militia units.

Even if they had molded bullets, what would they use for powder? and where would they get the caps? There was some do-it-yourselfing in the cavalry, but not in the infantry.

 

[Hoseman]

The confederates mined lead in Wythe county, VA which is in the southwest part of the state. It is about fifty miles from Saltville. The two towns, plus the Virginia & Tennessee Railroad, made this part of SW Virginia an important target for the union. There is a very interesting story about a union raid in 1863 at Wytheville where a small CS force along with home guard and citizens turned away a much larger federal force. It was a "wild west" battle where the federals charged down main street and the southerners were waiting for them in the buildings on either side of the street.

 

[Robin Lesjovitch]

At the siege of Petersburg, Confederate soldiers were paid a per each price for spent musket rounds. In a commendable early example of recycling, men risked their lives by scouring the ground behind the lines for spent lead. Thousands of spent rounds lay on the surface of the battlefield. It would seem that these pioneering relic hunters were in real danger of becoming relics themselves.

Porter Alexander mentioned several times the difficulties and incentives the Ordnance Dept. had with collecting critical materials. Unfortunately, I do not have his writings at hand.