The Non-Combatant Quartermaster of the 48th Georgia and the Clock Weight "Artillery Shell"

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Clock Weights.jpg
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From Maryland, the 48th Georgia marched back toward the Rappahannock, then the border line of Dixie. Upon this march occurred an episode worth recalling because of its contrast with one given in the story of the 19th Georgia. That was a story of a fighting quartermaster; this is one of the traditional Q. M. who is everything else but a fighter.

While the 48th was maneuvering around Culpeper before the Battle of Fredericksburg, one of the soldiers picked up a clock weight [possibly similar in appearance to those pictured above] and decided to have some fun with it. Attaching a piece of artillery fuse, he carried it to a fire where he saw the quartermaster and a number of others telling campfire stories. Displaying his contrivance, which he called a shell, he declared that he was going to put it in the fire for the fun of the thing.

The Q. M., skeptical at first as to the soldier's earnestness, began to plead with him not to do it, but when the wag threw it in the fire the non-combatant broke for the rear at the first splutter of the fuse and didn't stop running until he had dashed through a thicket as thorny as a bramble bush and tripped over a tent rope, bringing down the pole and setting the whole camp in an uproar.

Whether he ever learned to take the joke or not, history doesn't state, but leaves him sitting in his tent all in a tremor and swearing to shoot the next man who threw a shell into the fire in his presence.
Excerpted from George L Kilmer. "The Old 48th Georgia." The Sunny South. (Atlanta, Ga.), July 23, 1898, page 11, column 2.

* Image above, clock weights from a long case clock. Clock weights seem to have come in all shapes and sizes. Let's give the QM the benefit of the doubt, and assume the one referenced at least looked something like an artillery projectile. :D
Various clock weights.JPG

https://www.the-saleroom.com/en-gb/...0018/lot-df4878e1-15b9-4d2a-954f-a43d00b75a4f

@Tom Elmore you'll be interested in this story since it pertains to a quartermaster of the ANV. Good stuff.
@alan polk @ucvrelics.com yall will like it because its funny.
 
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That’s hilarious!! Thanks for posting!! Shows it wasn’t all blood and guts...they knew how to have fun too!!

I believe a similar prank was played on Forrest, except it had something to do with an artillery limber but I can’t recall the detail....

Edit to say: By the way, I notice you paged me but I never got an alert. I wonder if the problem is on my end or if the page system is down on this site?
 
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This must have been George W. Evans, who served as quartermaster (with the rank of captain) of the 48th Georgia from March 22, 1862 until the end of the war.

My father (in the Navy) pulled a similar prank during World War II when he drilled out a grenade and inserted a CO2 cartridge. The unsuspecting recipient juggled the hissing grenade with terror before finally tossing it overboard.
 
This must have been George W. Evans, who served as quartermaster (with the rank of captain) of the 48th Georgia from March 22, 1862 until the end of the war.
Thanks for providing the name of the QM. I checked for additional information on George W Evans and found that he fell overboard and drowned May 7, 1886 while serving as a watchman on the steamer Ethel near Purysburg, GA, about 20 miles above Savannah. The complete article is posted on his FindAGrave memorial.
https://www.findagrave.com/memorial/124833705/george-w.-evans
 
Great Story.
 
... I believe a similar prank was played on Forrest, except it had something to do with an artillery limber but I can’t recall the detail...
The artillery-related story I remember about Forrest was a little different and not really a prank, but still made me laugh when I read it earlier this year. I don't remember if it was John Morton (likely) or another young artillery officer, but supposedly during his very first battle with the General his gun(s?) went into action as per regulations sending the limbers to safety in the rear when Forrest rushed up threatening to shoot the drivers for running away with the ammunition. The young officer tried to tell Forrest that that was according to the drill but quickly realized that during a battle wasn't the time. Later he requested an audience and invited Forrest to inspect his battery and witness them going through the drill according to the manual. Forrest complied and realized what was intended and asked to borrow the manual which he spent some time studying for himself, soon becoming proficient in the deployment of guns.
 
* Image above, clock weights from a long case clock. Clock weights seem to have come in all shapes and sizes. Let's give the QM the benefit of the doubt, and assume the one referenced at least looked something like an artillery projectile. :D
These also remind me of now old-fashioned window sash weights like I have in my 1935-built house. They're maybe more like the long and narrower ones pictured here and made I think of cast iron. I wonder what sash weights were like during the period?
 
The artillery-related story I remember about Forrest was a little different and not really a prank, but still made me laugh when I read it earlier this year. I don't remember if it was John Morton (likely) or another young artillery officer, but supposedly during his very first battle with the General his gun(s?) went into action as per regulations sending the limbers to safety in the rear when Forrest rushed up threatening to shoot the drivers for running away with the ammunition. The young officer tried to tell Forrest that that was according to the drill but quickly realized that during a battle wasn't the time. Later he requested an audience and invited Forrest to inspect his battery and witness them going through the drill according to the manual. Forrest complied and realized what was intended and asked to borrow the manual which he spent some time studying for himself, soon becoming proficient in the deployment of guns.
It seems to me that the story I’m thinking of (or dreaming up) occurred at night in camp or something. Forrest was standing near a limber chest. This limber chest was empty of ammunition and powder charges but Forrest did not know that. One of his officers, or someone on his staff, realized Forrest thought the chest had fixed ammunition in it. So this person had a torch or something and ran up to the chest, opened it, through the torch in it, slammed it shut and ran off!! Forrest dove for cover or something, then they all had a laugh about it.

Anyhow, that’s the story I’m trying to recall. But, heck, it’s been so long ago that I read it, I could be confusing it with someone else or completely dreamed it!!
 
On the other hand, I've seen several Civil War era balls/shells that have been converted into such items as doorstops, andirons (?) and gate weights. Fortunately, the andiron application was using solid shot.
 
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