Table of Contents

The Field Manual for
the use of the Officers on Ordnance Duty
of the Confederate States of America: 1862

Chapter I

Calibers and kinds of ordnance, pg. 2, 3

Definitions, pg. 4

Nomenclature, Guns of the Model 1861, pg. 5

Guns of the Model 1841 - 44, pg. 5

Different kind of cannon, pg. 5

Chambers, pg. 6

Principal Dimensions and Weights of Siege and Field Guns, pg. 7

Principal Dimensions and Weights of Siege and Field Howitzers, pg. 10

Materials for Ordnance, pg. 13

Bronze, pg. 13

Cast iron, pg. 13

Wrought iron and steel, pg. 13

Marks, pg. 14

Injuries caused by service, pg. 14

Spiking and unspiking guns, pg. 15

Preservation of ordnance, pg. 16

History of cannon, pg. 16

Chapter II

Material, pg. 20

Classification, pg. 20

Shot, pg. 22

Chapter III

Artillery carriages, pg. 23

Field gun carriages, pg. 23-29

Mountain Howitzer and mountain rifle carriage, pg. 30

Siege gun carriages, pg. 30

Limbers, pg. 31-34

Field and siege wagons, pg. 35

Chapter IV

Artillery implements and equipments, pg. 36

Tangent scales for field guns and Howitzers, pg. 37

Tangent scales for pendulum hausses for field guns and Howitzers, pg. 39

Weights of implements and equipments, pg. 42-44

Chapter V

Artillery harness, pg. 45

Pack - saddle and harness for mountain artillery, pg. 46

Packing the mountain Howitzer, pg. 46

Horse equipments for the cavalry service, pg. 46

General directions for shoeing horses, pg. 47

Harness required for each horse, pg. 47

Preservation of harness in store, pg. 49

Chapter VI

Small arms, swords, sabres, etc., pg. 50

History of small arms and projectiles, pg. 50

Different kinds of small arms, pg. 52

Nomenclature, pg. 54

Principle dimensions, weights, etc., of small arms, pg. 55

Ammunition for small arms, pg. 56

Preservation of arms in service, pg. 57

Taking arms to pieces, pg. 57

Cleaning and care of arms, pg. 59

Strength and durability of musket barrels, pg. 61

Swords and sabres, pg. 64

Principal dimensions and weights of swords and sabres, pg. 65

Accoutrements, pg. 66

Weight of accoutrements, pg. 67

Musket and rifle practice, pg. 67

Chapter VII

Ammunition, pg. 71

Gunpowder, pg. 71

Ammunition for small arms used in the C.S. service, pg. 74

How to make cartridges, pg. 75

Ammunition for field pieces, pg. 75

Dimensions and weight of fixed ammunition, pg. 78

Contents of each packing box of field ammunition, pg. 79

Ammunition for siege and garrison service, pg. 80

Charges for shells for Columbiads and heavy guns, pg. 81

Military fireworks, pg. 82

Fuzes, pg. 83

Rockets, pg. 84

Storage and preservation of ammunition and fire works, pg. 86

Chapter VIII

Interior arrangement of ammunition chests for field guns and Howitzers, pg. 89

Ammunition carried in each chest, pg. 89-92

Implements and equipments for field carriages, pg. 93-94

Implements and equipments for Prairie carriages, pg. 95

Implements and equipments for the mountain Howitzer carriage, pg. 96

Equipment of traveling forges and battery wagons, pg. 96

Contents of the limber chest of forge A, . pg. 98-99

Contents of forge body A, pg. 100

Contents of limber chest for battery wagon C, pg. 101-103

Contents of wagon body C, . pg. 104-106

Contents of forge chest, pg. 107

Contents of smiths' tool chest, pg. 108-109

Contents of carriage makers' tool chest, pg. 110-111

Weights of gun carriages and caissons, equipped for field service, pg. 112-113

Weights of forges and battery wagons equipped for field service, pg. 114

Field train,. pg. 115

Ammunition for small arms, pg. 116

Composition of a battery on the war establishment, pg. 116-118

Rocket battery, pg. 118

The field park, pg. 118

Chapter IX

Mechanical manoeuvres and artillery practice, pg. 119

Ranges, pg. 124-137

Service projecting and bursting charges, pg. 138

Elevation, ranges and times of flight of 10-pdr. Parrott gun, pg. 139

Height of breech sight for different angles of elevation, pg. 140-143

To estimate distances, pg. 144

Velocities of cannon balls, pg. 145

Chapter X

Recoil of gun, pg. 147

Pressure of gunpowder per square inch, pg. 149

Causes of difference in the endurance of cannon,
when cast solid and when cast hollow, pg. 150

Weights and measures, pg. 151-158

Table of natural sines and tangents, pg. 159-163

Appendix, pg. 164

Rates of prices of small arms and accoutrements, pg. 168-170

Rates of prices of swords and sabres, pg. 171

Rates of prices of accoutrements, pg. 172

Ordnance depots and officers, pg. 173

Excerpts from the book

Chapter VI.

__________

Small Arms, Swords, Sabres, etc.

__________

History of Small Arms and Projectiles

Portable fire arms were invented about the middle of the 14th century. They consisted of a tube of iron fired from a support and weighed about 75 pounds.

Arquebuse - The difficulty of firing "hand cannon," arising from their weight, was overcome by making them shorter and supporting them on a tripod by means of trunnions. They were called Arquebuses and fired with a match by the hand.

Pistol - The first pistol was a wheel lock Arquebuse, invented 1545, in Pistoia, a city of Tuscany; hence its name.

Musket - The musket was first used by the Spaniards, under Charles V. The balls weighed 2 ounces and the piece had to be supported on a forked stick. The caliber was afterwards reduced; and hence the present smooth bored musket.

Match lock - To avoid disturbing the aim, a lock was devised, which consisted of a lever holding at its extremity a lighted match. The lever was pressed down with the finger until the end of the match touched toe priming.

Wheel lock - Invented 1517, consisted of a grooved wheel of steel, made to act on a piece of alloy of iron and antimony, placed near the priming charge of powder.

Flint lock - Derived from the wheel lock by substituting flint and a steel battery for the wheel and the alloy, was generally introduced in the French army in 1680.

Percussion lock was introduced in 1842 and now all arms are made with this lock. The percussion cap was invented in the United States in 1817.

Bayonet - Before the invention of the bayonet, fire arms were combined with pikes in such a manner that one afforded protection to the other. It was first made at Bayonne 1640; hence its name. It was formed of a steel blade attached to a handle of wood, which was inserted into the bore of the barrel when used. Afterwards the wooden handle was replaced by a hollow socket, thus rendering the musket a pike as well as a fire arm, changing the formation of infantry from six ranks to three and then two.

Rifle - The rifle first made its appearance at Leipsic 1498. The grooves were parallel to the axis of the bore, for the purpose of diminishing friction. It was accidentally discovered that spiral grooves gave greater accuracy to the projectile. About 1600 it was somewhat used as a military arm for firing spherical balls.

Accuracy of the rifle - In 1742 Robins pointed out the superiority of the elongated form of projectile and demonstrated that the irregular deviations of the projectile fired from a smooth bored musket, were due to the revolution of the ball around an axis not coincident with the axis of the bore; thus producing by the resistance of the air an unequal pressure on the sides of the ball. This irregular revolution is due to the eccentricity of the center of gravity of the ball and the position which the center of gravity occupies in reference to the axis of the bore, together with the lodgments of the ball near the muzzle. When by the grooves of the rifle the projectile is made to revolve on an axis coincident with the axis of the bore, there is no inequality in the resistance of the air on the sides of the projectile and hence no pressure to cause a deviation from the normal trajectory.

Range of the rifle - The superior range of the rifle over the smooth bored musket, is due entirely to the fact that in the rifle, windage is entirely cut off by forcing the ball into the grooves and by the shape of the projectile the resistance of the air is diminished; thus the explosive force is greater and the resistance less.

Forcing - "Forcing" is the operation by which the projectile is made to take hold of the grooves of a rifled barrel and follow them in its passage through the bore. At first this was effected by driving the projectile down with a mallet applied to the point of the ramrod and then by wrapping the projectile in a patch of cloth, greased. Owing to this slow and difficult method of loading, the rifle was not introduced as a military arm until recently, when this difficulty was overcome.

Delvigne - In 1827 M. Delvigne, an officer of the French infantry, introduced the following method of "forcing:" At the bottom of the breech was a small chamber to contain the powder. The ball, when resting on the shoulders of the chamber, was forced into the grooves by two or three blows with the ramrod. This method was soon abandoned, as the ball was much disfigured.
Thouvenin - Col. Thouvenin replaced the chamber of Delvigne by a spindle of iron screwed into the center of the breech screw. The base of the elongated bullet resting on the point of the spindle, was forced into the grooves by two of three blows of the ramrod. This was the celebrated carabine a tige, or stem rifle and is the first military arm in which an elongated projectile was used.

Greener - The first attempt to force a projectile by the action of powder was made in 1836 by Mr. Greener of London. He inserted a conical pewter wedge in the base of an oblong bullet, which was driven in the force of powder so as to force the exterior of the bullet into the groves of the rifle.

Minie - Some years after this, Col. Minie proposed a projectile on the same principal. But instead of a solid wedge, he inserted in the conical cavity at the base of the bullet, a cup of sheet iron.

Present method - Shortly after the introduction of the Minie bullet, it was discovered, simultaneously, in this country and in England, that by giving a suitable size and shape to the cavity in the projectile, the expansive powder of the gas alone, without the wedge or culot, was sufficient to force the projectile into the grooves.

The C. S. bullet is a cylinder surmounted by a conoid, weighs 550 grains and has three grooves around the bore to hold the grease for lubricating and to guide the bullet in its flight, preserving its point foremost.

The English bullet (know as the Pritchett bullet) has a perfectly smooth exterior. A conical wedge of box wood is inserted in the cavity of the bore, chiefly to preserve its form in being transported.

Charge of powder - The charge of the old smooth bored musket was from one - half to one - third the weight of the projectile. The charge for elongated expanding bullets varies from one - tenth to one - seventh the weight of the projectile.

Different Kinds of Small Arms

The small arms adopted for service are:

The rifle musket, model 1855.

The rifle musket, model 1842.

The rifle, model 1855.

The rifle, model 1842, reamed out to .577 inch.

No model has yet been adopted for a carbine for the cavalry service; several different patterns are now in the hands of the troops.

A repeating pistol is issued to the cavalry.

The uniform caliber of .577 inch is adopted in the C. S. service for all rifles and rifle muskets. Rifle musket - The rifle musket of model 1855 combines in one piece the range and accuracy of the rifle, with the advantages of the smooth bored musket, as regards lightness, quickness of loading and facility of handling, as a pike.

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