Civil War Guns

Confederates under fire, like their Blue-legged compatriots, often kept a sense of humor in the presence of death. Some of Berdan’s men had quietly settled themselves in the basement of a Virginia gentleman’s home from the windows of which they had a good short-range view of the Southern lines. A captured Alabama soldier later paid tribute to their cool efficiency. “It was only necessary to hold up your hand to get a furlough,” he said, “and you were lucky if you could get to the rear without an extension.”

An occasion for expending ammunition profitably occurred later on during the Union advance toard Spotsylvania. The Po river had to be forded and the engineers were making preparations to cross while occasional exchanges of artillery fire broke the monotony of the day. The artillery fire was not really effective, but a Rebel signal post was spotted some 1,500 yards off, observing the Union lines. Federal guns opened fire on the observation point, a clump of trees from the upper branches of which wig-wag flag signals could be seen, but the range was too great for canister, and shell was wholly ineffective.

Sharpshooter against sharpshooter should have meant a sniping match, with life instead of the Wimbleton Cup to the winner and death to the loser. But at the Devil’s Den at Gettysburg the Berdan Sharpshooters served as shock troops. A small force of Confederate riflemen, armed mainly with conventional but wellaimed rifle muskets, had settled themselves along the crest of the rocky knoll. Their sniping had been very annoying to the Union officers within range. But so well concealed were they, that rifle fire could not dislodge them. Sergeant Richard W. Tyler of Company K detailed 20 “volunteers” to help him take the position. They raced across the marsh, routed the Confederate pickets at the foot of the hill, and closed in, capturing 20 snipers. The Confederate sharpshooters were terrified because they believed that they would be hanged, but on learning that it was Berdan’s men which had taken them prisoner, their spirits changed from fear to complete happiness. Not one of the Union sold...

But snipers did not need fairy stories to build them up when the chips were down. Even the common rifle muskets, in the hands of a man who knew how to use the inverted wedge front sights and had the patience to aim carefully, could account for a fantastic number of individual enemy soldiers. The dead Confederate sniper immortalized in the picture taken by Brady at the Devil’s Den at Gettysburg used a common Rifle Musket. The 2d Regiment of Colonel Henry A. Post also had been issued Colt’s rifles, .56 caliber, fitted with two bands and a triangular bayonet. The 2d has not come down in history with the popular name of the 1st, but was nonetheless distinguished in combat throughout the War . Their first skirmish with the Confederates came at Falmouth, Virginia, April 18, 1862 . “Advancing ahead of Augur’s brigade they met the Confederate fire with their five-shooters in a manner that evidently surprised the foe, who little expected such rapid firing. The revolving chambers of the Colts w...

Among the many stories of the sharpshooters’ exploits, none stands out more than the vaunted accomplishment of Captain John H. Metcalf, who is said to have killed a Confederate general with a picket ball rifle at the enormous distance of one mile, 187 feet range. That no “Captain John H. Metcalf III” existed, or that the one Captain Metcalf of some distinction to be found in the Official Records was not a sharpshooter Left side of full stock Whitworth shows slightly different scope but position is same as on Battle Abbey Confederate specimen. Long eye-relief tube was located so because rifle was shot from “back position,” with muzzle balanced between shooter’s  crossed feet and butt near cheek, lying on one’s back. Rifle shown, in N.R.A. (British) museum, has Enfield-type rear sight.

The Yankees were not the only ones with long-range rifles. During the siege of Charleston, South Carolina, the Union forces were under continual small arms fire from long range. Their artillery batteries were pounding the city, but one by one a blue-clad sponger and rammer would drop suddenly, a bullet through his head as he stood beside the smoking muzzle of his cannon. The 144th Regiment New York Volunteer Infantry served in this fighting. Some men stationed in Fort Wagner, a Union artillery strong point from which Charleston was being shelled, complained “Nor was the danger alone from (Confederate) shells, for on a Rebel picket line among the sand hills in front of Fort Wagner the sharp shooters had established themselves. These sharp shooters were provided with the Whitworth rifle with telescopic attachment and from their little sand-bag batteries, established in the sand hills, they watched through the hours of the day for the opportunity to pick off the Union soldiers. These guns...

Single-shot rifles they were, but their breech-loading system gave them greater firepower than the rifle muskets and smoothbores of the Confederate troops. At the battle of Malvern Hill, Berdan’s men, armed with their new 100 Sharps rifles, gave a good show, described by Stevens: “At about half past two the Confederate artillery fire eased up, and suddenly bursting from the edge of the forest a heavy line of skirmishers came at a run, heedless of the Yankee troops on their front. Company F’s bugler was ordered to sound the ‘commence firing’ signal. . . the Sharpshooters sent across the field and into the line of the oncoming Rebels a storm of lead from their breech-loading rifles that soon checked their advance and sent them back to the cover of the woods in great confusion and with serious loss.” The Sharpshooters were forced to retire when the Confederates charged again and again, although more and more gray dead remained behind on the field. But the Sharpshooters held their gro...

The single-shot Sharps rifles differed considerably  from the Colts. The barrel was open at the rear and a  sliding block moved vertically to cover the bore and  uncover it for loading. The block carried the percussion cap cone or nipple, and was pierced with a channel  which angled into the position coincident with the axis  of the bore and just behind the cartridge when inserted. BS Sharps breechblock was lowered to expose bore and chamber at back, allowing rapid reloading with a combustible glazed   linen cartridge. Sharps primer was column of copper wafers   in front of hammer which were mechanically fed to nipple at   instant hammer fell. Sharpshooters used Sharps rifles but name   was old term for accurate marksmen.

On May 8, 1862 , the regiment received a first issue of the long-awaited Sharps rifles. Only 100 were received as a first consignment, and they were immediately issued to Company F, the Vermont troops, in regard for their valor and conduct. The Colts were, according to Captain Stevens, “found defective in many respects, and they gladly turned in the fiveshooters. On receiving the new arms, the men were impatient to get again within shooting distance of the enemy. These rifles shot both linen and skin cartridges, of .52 caliber, and also had primers, little, round, flat coppered things, which were inserted below the hammer; but the Regular Army or hat cap was more generally used, as the primers were not always a sure thing; also it carried the angular bayonet.”

Not all was glory with the Sharpshooters, and one man, Joe Durkee of “C,” was killed while on a scout within 40 yards of a Rebel rifle pit. In such an exposed position, Durkee’s body could not be recovered during daylight, and he lay there with his Colt rifle beside him. Came nighttime, and the Sharpshooters went out to get him. Instead of the .56 Colt they found a note, stating which Southern regiment had it, and declaring the Confederates’ intention to have them all before long. They were evidently elated to know they had killed a Sharpshooter. The boaster’s promise was never kept. The 5th Wisconsin in its famous bayonet charge against the 5th North Carolina recovered the Colt rifle. Its possessor was just one more K.I.A. on Confederate rolls. The Petersburg (Va.) Express drew the longbow in telling of this incident: “A McClellan Sharpshooter had been picked off by a Kentucky hunter, at two hundred yards distance, and on approaching the pit where the Sharpshooter lay, it was found ...

The papers attributed practically every remarkable shot fired by the regiment to colorful California Joe. But he was far from the figure of a popular hero. Truman Head resembled pretty much the average modern target shooter, give or take a bit. “Entirely free from brag and bluster, an unassuming man, past the middle age, short in stature and light in weight, and a true gentleman in every sense of the word, he was always a special favorite with the entire command.” Joe had never married. A Philadelphian, he apparently had loved a lass of one of the better families, and her father had disapproved of the marriage. So Joe left for California, and remained a bachelor. He had made a reasonable fortune, however, and upon enlisting he made a will leaving $50,000 to the Philadelphia Old Soldiers Home. But though he was looked on with affection as an “old gent” by his comrades in the U.S. Sharpshooters, Truman Head was a highly skilled rifleman and a professional killer—the deadliest kind, for...

Let us hope the practice was satisfactory to the man from Wisconsin, too, for it was not a pleasant prospect to enter battle with a new weapon, and one untried by the soldier. Pierce and his fellows soon had a chance to Warm up their Colts, at Yorktown, April 5, 1862 . In the morning of that day, the Sharpshooters were given the order to advance. Rain greyed the sky but did not dampen the enthusiasm of the target shooters for combat. Suddenly, through the drizzle, a Confederate gun opened on them, a field piece possibly firing leadflanged Hotchkiss shells. The screaming shell passed high above them and dropped into a field beyond the line. But every man instinctively ducked as the sound hit him—so sudden did the noise occur that the motion of ducking was as if an order had been given, right down the line. Captain Stevens continues: “As the riflemen pressed forward, the enemy fell hurriedly back, and soon after, far in advance, approached within sight of the formidable-looking earth ...

Colonel Ripley, the Chief of Ordnance, was against the idea of arming the Sharpshooters with anything but common muskets or rifles of Springfield armory manufacture. The men of the Sharpshooter regiments apparently wanted to have the Sharps rifle. Yet Berdan himself must have been in favor of the Colt, to have them the first pattern issued. Doing business with the Army in the early days of the Civil War was to do business with a hydra—if you couldn’t sell to one head, you could always count on cooperation from another. The secretary of the Colt Company, Hugh Harbison, was in Washington seeing officers of new regiments and endeavoring to either sell them Colt guns directly or have them requisition them from the Ordnance Department. Harbison reported the whole Berdan business to Sam Colt early in December, with great success. Aiding Harbison was Colt’s friend Randolph Barnes Marcy, formerly of the Topographical Engineers and a fan of the Colt rifle since 1856 . Marcy in 1861 was chief...

President Lincoln himself was directly responsible for the Sharpshooters’ rifles. At “Camp Instruction” near Washington one day Colonel Berdan and the regiment were treated to a visit by President Lincoln, General McClellan, and Assistant Secretary of War Colonel Thomas A. Scott. Berdan turned out the men to show what they could do. A target, representing two Zouaves painted on canvas, was set up at 600 yards. One hundred men with their heavy target rifles were placed in a pit, where each fired one shot. When the bullet holes were counted, it was found that each shot had struck within the outlines of the figures. Lincoln fired three shots from a “globe rifle” belonging to H. J. Peck of Company F. The rifle was equipped with a round aperture-type front sight which circled the target, and had a post or bead sticking up from the bottom of the circle for a front sight. Lincoln proved entirely at ease with a rifle, and resting a gun across a tree he called out “Boys, this reminds me of o...

The string system of measuring shots is an odd one, and a method which could not successfully be used today. The small number of shots used to score, two and three, compares interestingly with the usual 5-shot string or 10-shot string of today. Because of the large amount of black powder being burned in barrels which were made of low-carbon steel or iron, the barrels heated up rapidly. Modern rifle barrels undergo a stressrelieving operation during manufacture so they will not Warp from the heat of firing and change their shooting. But the old match rifles, while highly accurate, had their limitations. They could not be fired often without overheating. Therefore two or three shots was more common a target than one of many shots. As methods of working metals became more scientific, and riflemakers discovered how to make barrels which would not Warp, targets were often fired composed of as many as fifty shots. These targets were often used in advertising of the period, and corresponded ...

The Weehawken camp was the center of attraction for many New Yorkers, for while other regiments presented scenes in camp of either little activity or dull marching drill, the Sharpshooters constantly engaged in target practice. However, they had not yet been issued their military rifles. Weapons fired at Weehawken were a motley lot, some good, some not so good. A few were fine heavy octagon-barreled target rifles with false muzzles, so that in loading from the front the bullet would not be deformed and would be exactly centered in the bore. The false muzzle was a section of barrel which had been cut off after rifling during manufacture, and fitted with four pins to exactly match the rifling when it was re-fitted to the muzzle. Pushing a lead, patched bullet through this false muzzle sized the projectile and protected the sharp edges of the rifling from damage by wear or the cleaning or loading rod striking the edge. Then, when ready to fire, the false muzzle was removed, aim taken, an...

To combat the superior skill of the average Southern soldier, the U.S. War Department early in the summer of 1861 authorized a New York amateur target shooter, Hiram Berdan, to enlist a regiment of skilled riflemen. The regiment was to be called the First Regiment of United States Sharpshooters, and was to be composed of the best shooters in the Northern states. To make sure they were the best, it was decreed that no man should be enlisted in Berdan’s outfit who had not proved his skill with a rifle through practical test. A recruit, before he was enlisted, had to shoot ten shots at 200 yards inside a ten-inch ring. Any style of rifle was allowed, but telescope sights could not be used. Any position was permitted, variations of the off-hand (standing) or prone positions, kneeling or squatting, except that the rifle had to be against the shoulder.

Christian Sharps died aged 64 in Hartford, March 12, 1874 . The brief obituary in the Hartford Courant for Sunday, March 14, contains a sentence which, for reasons still not clear, must be his epitaph: As an inventor he was one of the greatest, not confining himself to firearms—though he produced several models—but covering the peaceful arts as well, and in whatever he undertook in this direction he displayed a great fertility of resource; yet somehow failed to secure a decided practical advantage out of any of the valuable products of his brain-work. In Philadelphia, scene of his last gunmaking activities, the papers noted this failing, saying he “never derived from his inventions the pecuniary share to which he was entitled.” Inventor of the most famous breech-loading rifle in the world, though produced in far fewer numbers than some more financially successful, Christian Sharps at his death was described as a man of peace, “a decided spiritualist,” without the slightest fear of ...

Christian Sharps’ personal career had separated from that of Palmer and the Sharps Rifle Company a decade before the War . In 1853 Sharps moved to Philadelphia, doing business as “C. Sharps & Co.” In association with Nathan A. Bolles and Ira B. Eddy he moved into a large four story 140 by 40-feet brick factory building on 30th street at the western end of a wire suspension bridge. Today, the double decked Spring Garden Street bridge passes the same point, over the Schuylkill river. Forging was done in the basement, the second floor was used for barrel drilling, the third for tool and small parts making, and the top floor, making best use of the last rays of light each day, for assembly and finishing. A 75 HP steam engine moved the machinery, and in 1859 the capacity of the factory was described (Edwin T. Freedley, Philadelphia and Its Manufactures, 1859 ) as 1,000 rifles a month. The rifles hopefully referred to by Sharps, who doubtless was the source of information, were pat...

The record of Sharps Rifle Company after the War is beyond the scope of this book; summed up, it enjoyed great favor as a buffalo killer, Indian fighter, and long range target rifle. Why it ultimately failed as a commercial venture is a question we cannot answer. Expert shooters, favorable journalists, a packed “jury” among the military of the nation, all gave it devoted service. Perhaps the cause of failure was economic and overcapitalization. The tremendous factory which had delivered as much as 3,000 carbines in one month, could not be supported by peacetime sporting goods trade. With the passing of the buffalo, the Sharps rifle passed from the sporting scene, with out having gained any major acceptance in the postwar scramble for foreign contracts.

Among Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company executives during 1854 to 1861 were William Jarvis, Samuel Colt’s brother-in-law, and Elisha Colt, Samuel Colt’s financier uncle who had supported the revolver maker in 1848 by a letter of credit of up to $14,000, helping him to get established in Hartford. W. J. Hamersley, Colt’s journalistically prolific friend, and eloquent speaker, was also a director. The influence on these men of the way Colt managed things seems to have had its effect. Impressed on their minds was the battery of letters which Colt obtained in the early  1850 ’s lauding his revolvers, from some 39 officers of the Army, Navy, and Marine Corps. On the force of these letters, in a petition to Congress, Colt obtained the adoption of his revolvers as standard U.S. sidearms. Palmer decided to go the late Colonel Colt not one, but several dozen better. He obtained from the following officers letters praising Sharps rifles. Since some of these men were long time friends of...

During the late winter and spring of 1863 the New Model 1863 was developed. Minor manufacturing changes plus the omission of the patchbox in the stock of the carbines marked this “new” arm. With the change in pattern, Palmer was concerned over the existing parts which had been manufactured; he asked Ripley to continue to receive those on hand until used up during this transition period, at the old price before commencing the New Model at the reduced price. The order read: Ordnance Office, April 1, 1863 Sir: By authority of the Secretary of War , this department will receive from you, at the current price of $30 for each carbine and appendages, all such carbines of the present pattern (i.e., New Model 1859 ) as you may now have completed, or in process of construction, with the parts deemed unessential, and to be omitted in those hereafter to be fabricated and bought at the reduced rate. All to be subject to inspection as heretofore. Major Hagner, inspector of contract arms, has been...

Three Sharps long guns were made in Hartford for the Union. Rarest was the rifle musket, a 36-inch barrel arm without patchbox measuring 53 inches overall, in the new Model 1859 series. The Rifle with 30inch barrel measured 47 inches overall, and the 22-inch barrel Carbine, about 39 inches. Early 1859 carbines have patchbox, butt plate, and band of brass; in the New Model 1859 series, casehardened iron was substituted. A brass patchbox combined with an iron buttplate or band does not seem to have appeared as factory issue. M 1859 numbers (with the Sharps series, with some exceptions, starting in 1851 with “1”) range according to Smith’s records of numbers, 21788 to 31047. New Model 1859 ’s range 32833 to 73602. An overlap of numbers occurred in 1863 when that “New Model 1863 ” was introduced, the major distinction in manufacturing being the improved fillister head cleanout screw, the model stamping, and sight change; externally, the patchbox was usually omitted in the carbines fo...

The basic principle of toggle-linking trigger guardlever and vertically sliding breechblock dated from that Sharps New Model  1859  carbine illustrated in Official  Records typified over 80,000 of this type bought by the North  from Hartford gunmaker. patent. Sharps’ sliding wedge breechblock is still with us; on artillery, as a rifle mechanism, and the leverlink-breech construction of the Sharps rifle, with its slide milled out on each side to reduce friction, is the genesis of the spring lever-toggle-breech action of the Borchardt-Luger automatic pistol.

The rifles and carbines of Christian Sharps fought the great battie, and won. The North bought 80,512 Sharps carbines and 9,141 Sharps rifles, yet the Sharps company did not suffer the fate of the Spencer firm, which mass-produced itself out of the market. Many postwar models kept the Sharps company solvent through the buffalo years. While the factory hummed, at several locations including Hartford, Bridgeport, and Philadelphia, the name of Sharps was a household word and, more importantly, a word heard frequently in the old red brick War Department building in Washington . Christian Sharps, who had worked for John Hall at Harpers Ferry, patented his first breechloader as a military rifle September 12, 1848 . This patent date appeared on all the guns through the Civil War .

Among relative rarities are also the few single shot European horse pistols bought by the North in the dark days of 1861 . Philip S. Justice delivered 96 on September 4, 1861 , and an additional 250 (125 pairs), September 19, at $8 a pair, $4 each. Without confirmation, we think these are the Model 1859 Austrian cavalry pistol, system Lorenz, caliber .54. A standard percussion pistol, these have a special hammer-safe which is raised up in front of the hammer to hold it off the capped nipple. No spur on the guard; you are supposed to hold your finger inside in the charge, and when you cock the gun and set it half-cock, the hammer block will prevent discharging if the gun is accidentally dropped from horseback. The barrel band is steel; lock and band are case hardened; other parts rust blued. A specimen in the author’s collection stamped on top of the barrel pirko is dated “864” on Perrin revolver is one of  War ’s rarities; 550 were received  by New York ordnance officers f...

Three of the foreign revolvers rate as very important U.S. martial arms. The Lefaucheux or, as the American patent documents sometimes list them, Lefaucheaux, 12mm pinfire revolvers were most plentiful. Colonel Schuyler bought 10,000 at $12.50 each, and 200,000 cartridges at $17.45. Minister Sanford in Belgium also sent over 25 of the Lefaucheux, average price $7.96 4/10; a misleading price, as they were averaged out with 55,000 smoothbore and rifled muskets. Civil War pistols imported seem to range from approximately 25,000 to about 37,000 serials. The gun, introduced about 1853 in France, was popular; in 1863 it was adopted as the Swedish artillery pistol. Two basic types existed; single action and double action. The single action frames are curved at the back; the double action have a hump or prawl. While the 12mm DA type has a rounded trigger guard, the smaller calibers (9mm, 7mm) often have folding triggers, Odd Colt-made Navy .36 has similar lion-eagle cylinder  stampin...

The welter of assorted and sordid revolvers which burst upon the Ordnance Department’s attention must have palled upon General Ripley after a time. Though contracts with Colt, with Remington, and others were going well, he still needed good, solid revolvers. One make that his field inspector-buyer officers had been picking up from the large jobbers was the Whitney Navy .36. A Beals’-designed solid frame six-shooter, it resembled the Remington and was a well-made and sturdy pistol. From Schuyler, Hartley & Graham, for example, on August 7, August 15, and August 26, his men in New York had bought a total of 360 Whitney Navys at $17. Time rolled on; why not go to the source? On May 15, 1862 , Ordnance bought by purchase most of the on-hand stock of finished revolvers at Whitneyville, 600 of them at the modest price of S15.03 each. June 9, 1862 , Whitney and General Ripley closed the deal and drew up the contract for 6.000 Whitney Navy Revolvers at “$10 for each musket complete.” Whet...

While the 10-shooters and double pistols were in production by 1861 , as evidenced by a broadside featuring comments of officers dated that year, the .36 caliber was probably introduced soon after, and during 1862 Lindsay got to work on a rifle musket. While the rifle musket may be assumed to belong in that chapter, the design is wedded to its origins in the Walch revolver, as made by Lindsay. The site of the Walch-Lindsay factory is open to conjecture, according to some authorities. Gluckman declares the Lindsay double muskets “were probably made for Lindsay on contract by Cyrus Manville, whose plant was at 208 Orange Street, the site of the old Volcanic factory.” This address is usually given for the J. P. Lindsay Manufacturing Company, in New Haven. But the broadside alluded to above, which includes statements from such notables as Colonel George L. Schuyler, now back from Europe and acting as aide de camp to General Wool of the New York State troops, declares quite clearly: “The ...

The revolvers of John Walch of New York City require more than passing mention. He felt a man could never be too well armed, especially in lawless New York, where the Metropolitan Police had been organized only a couple of years before and were still not sure who would rule the roost: the Tammany Tiger, the Tenderloin element, or Law and Order. (Come to think of it, the same problems exist today in New York or any city!) Walch cured the problem of being undergunned by designing a six-shooter and then jamming six more Walch revolver of unique two-hammer design discharged  first one shot, then a second, from same chamber before  rotating cylinder one index notch as both hammers were recocked. View of pistol in Independence Hall, Chicago, collection shows two triggers but both charges could be fired at  once with safety, manufacturer claimed.

One of the battle-worn limited issue revolvers ignored by Ordnance buyers is that of Josiah B. Butterfield. A brass-framed percussion six-shooter using the patented Butterfield pellet primer device, this gun originated during the time when Jefferson Davis wanted guns to be self priming. Perhaps it is this erstwhile Pellet primer revolver of Josiah Butterfield was bought on  authorization of Dr. Rowand who wanted to help out. Fifth  New York Cavalry carried some, and Confederate use is also  alleged. Firm Beauregard & Slidell are said to have sold a  few in the Carolinas presumably during “cold  War ” period.

Listed among the “Pistols” obtained for the war is a lot of 536 Allen’s revolvers at a total cost of Big Allen's revolver used trigger guard hinging forward to  rack back a loading plunger with enormous force, to seat  bullets. Percussion arm was fundamentally well designed and  built in spite of bulk. $9,130.50. Of these, 198 were bought from William Read & Sons of Boston, December 31, 1861 , for $22 each. More correctly known as Allen & Wheelock, they were produced in Worcester, Massachusetts by Ethan Allen and his brother-in-law, Thomas P. Wheelock. Allen, pioneer gunmaker (no relation to Ethan Allen of Ticonderoga fame) patented features of the gun January 13, 1857 (No. 16,367), December 15, 1857 (No. 18,836), and September 7, 1858 (No. 21,400). A .44 caliber percussion six-shooter, the Allen & Wheelock is a single action gun having a creeping lever ramrod of distinctive form; the lever arm is bent around to form the trigger guard, pivoted in the ...