A "Well Regulated Militia" .....
- Thread starter nhboy
- Start date
Keep in mind..a remarkable number of Civil War soldiers (particularly Northern) had, in effect, "no combat experience" . Many spent most if not all of the war bivouacked or long marching. So it wouldn't be unusual for a soldier to have fired his piece for the first time at an enemy target in battle even though he'd been in uniform for a long time.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
That's them starched collar pussies in the Army of the Pot-o-mac. The MEN of the Army of the Tennessee and the boys in gray weren't strangers to firearms.
mAlice
professional daydreamer
I would also think (could be wrong) that they wouldn't be practicing like we do today, either. I would think that ammo was at a premium in such lean times.
Harumph harumph.hear hear!....I'm sure my GG uncles and GG grandfather from Alabammy were proficient with arms.
Hijinx
Well-Known Member
I only add this. That certainly ammo was expensive and at a premium, and the guns were a pain in the ass to load.
I know when I shot black powder I was careful to take good aim and hit what I aimed at because of the pain in the butt of reloading.
Back when cops had revolvers they aimed. Today they have Glocks and other semi automatics with an excess of bullets so they spray.
Keep pulling the trigger in the general direction and hope for a hit.
The Northern Armies were, if anything, over-equipped in many cases, as their timid commanders avoided contact with the southern forces and continually demanded more and more equipment and supplies. But how much actual "range time" they got?..I honestly don't know.
In the southern armies....everything was scarce to begin with, and only got scarcer as the War of Northern Aggression dragged on.
? That certainly does not resemble anything in the training I've received over the years.
mAlice
professional daydreamer
Didn't they have bullets during the civil war? Are you maybe thinking Revolutionary War?
mAlice
professional daydreamer
Okay. That makes sense to me. I guess I hadn't really thought about it in those terms. I kinda' relate to the south more than the north.
a hollow base bullet called the Minié ball was popular around this time
The vast majority of infantry rifles were still muzzle-loaders during the Civil War. But you are correct in the that breech-loading rifles and cartridges to fit them were used by some. Cavalry, in particular, were usually the first to receive those more modern rifles.
Spencer Rifle was demonstrated for Lincoln on the White House Lawn
Burnside Rifle
Henry Yellowboy
glhs837
Power with Control
Being familiar with firearms and being used to firing it at human beings are a bit different.
Larry Gude
Strung Out
You wanna have a noob shooting at you or a deer hunter?
Larry Gude
Strung Out
I'm getting learned on antique firearms.
It's a subject near and dear to my heart. (Translates to: I could bore you tears with a wealth of minutiae)
That's right. And if I read correctly, your unit was one of the first...
*snort*
LMAO..good point. Ahma pick "noob".