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Arms of the Regiment
Arms:
This page
discusses the Arms the 31st Indiana soldiers carried into battle. To view
pictures of 31st Indiana soldiers with their arms, see the "Uniforms
of the Regiment"
web page.
Five companies of the 31st Indiana were sent to Evansville, Indiana from
Terre Haute via train on the night of September 21, 1861, to prevent the locks
on the Green river in Kentucky from being destroyed. These were companies
A, C, E, I, & K. The regiment had not yet received their arms prior to
this date. Governor O. P. Morton sent a train loaded with
arms and accoutrements to Terre Haute, Indiana, which were to be loaded onto the
train taking the "500 troops" to Evansville.
In a letter published in the THE PARKE COUNTY REPUBLICAN newspaper dated
October 2, 18611, Gus C. Ford of Company A, writes, "At 3 P. M. we were each
given a new Enfield rifle, a pretty cante[e]n and cartridge box and thirty
rounds of cartridges." This occurred on September 22nd, 1861.
The following table lists the arms given to the 31st Indiana early in the
regiment's life. The information comes from the Indiana Armory Records.
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Date |
To Whom Given |
Description |
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Sept. 21, 1861 |
Delivered to Maj. Gen. Love, Evansville
turned over to Col. Cruft 31st Reg.
|
70 altered Muskets and Accoutrements complete
10
" "
" less bayonets
79 short Enfield Rifles &
" complete
270 long "
"
"
"
41 long range "
"
"
32 Springfield Rifles
"
"
3 rifled muskets
"
"
3 percussion "
"
" |
| |
Total to date: |
508 |
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Sept. 28, 1861 |
Col. Cruft, 31st Regt. Evansville |
460 rifled muskets with accoutrements. |
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Total to date |
968 |
The above table supports Gus Ford's mention of receiving the Enfield rifles.
From diaries, letters and photos, it is clear that the majority of arms were the
Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket.
Company K received the shorter Enfield rifles. This is based on the
photo of Andrew Gosnell and James N. Sheperd, both of Co. K, and the Memoir of John Day. John Day's Memoir states
that on September 22nd at Evansville, Indiana, "We
removed to the side of the city near the river and here we drew our arms –
Enfield rifles – Co. “K” receiving short barrels, sabre bayonets and 40 rounds
of cartridges."2
This proves that company "K" was
armed with the
Enfield Pattern 1858 Short-Rifle, or 1856 No. 2 or
Bar-on-Band.
Another piece of support for the Enfield Rifle-Muskets and the Enfield Short
Rife comes from an excerpt from a letter written in October of 1861 by a Eli S.
Combs, Co. H;
"...there is two kinds of guns in the regiment........the enfield rifles and rifled musket.
"3 The regiment was now well armed, the Enfields being considered the "Best" of the Muzzle loading arms of the war. These arms would have been obtained by the efforts of the Hon. Robert Dale Owen, a former Congressman, who was commissioned by Governor Oliver P. Morton to obtain Arms for Indiana troops.
The reason for the emphasis on the 1858 Short
Enfield is that there is an overwhelming belief that the only regiments that
received this arm were Confederate regiments.
Other soldiers (Company G) were disappointed in receiving converted Springfield Muskets
(Co. G received their arms at a later date). These muskets were old flintlocks converted to
cap locks. They expected that all would receive Enfields and made their displeasure known to Colonel Cruft. He explained to them that this was all that could be obtained at this time.4
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Description of Arms:
5
Enfield Pattern 1858 Short-Rifle, also know as the Pattern 1856 No. 2 or
Bar-on-Band:
Overall length 49 inches, barrel length 33 inches, caliber 0.577 inch, rifled
with 2 barrel bands. The furniture; butt plate, trigger guard, nose guard, left
side lock screw escutcheons are entirely made of iron. The bayonet is a yataghan
sword type that attaches to a bar on the front barrel band ("Bar on Band"). The
sling swivel rings are located on the upper band and the rear sling ring is
located to the rear of the trigger along the long tang of the trigger guard
furniture. The stock comes to 1 ¼ inches of the muzzle and the upper barrel band
is wider than the lower band and is pinned to the fore-end by a thick cross pin,
approximately 9/32 inch in diameter. The bayonet bar is on its upper right
side. The barrel has three-groove rifling with a twist of 1 in 78 inches and
uses progressive rifling that was adopted in 1858. The rifling depth is 0.013
inches deep at the breech and is 0.005 inches at the muzzle. The barrel is a
light weight barrel nearly identical to the model 1856, weighing 3lb 10 1/2 oz.
This is the Enfield that is seen in the
photo of Andrew Gosnell and James Sheperd (See "Uniforms
of the Regiment"
web page).
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From the author's Collection |
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Enfield Pattern 1853 Rifle-Musket:
Overall length 55 inches, barrel length 39 inches, caliber 0.577 inch, rifled
with 3 barrel bands. The furniture; butt plate, trigger guard, nose
guard, left side lock screw escutcheons are made of Brass. The bayonet is a socket mount with triangular
cross section. The sling rings are located on the front band and the rear
is attached to the front of the trigger guard. This was the most popular
of all foreign weapons used during the war. It was used by both the Union
and Confederates.
Both patterns were manufactured mainly in England.
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From the author's Collection |
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Bayonets and Scabbards for the Above Enfields
Yataghan
Saber Bayonet for the Enfield
Short Rifle (above)
Bayonet for the Enfield Rifle-Musket (below)
From the author's Collection |
Later in the war it appears that the regiment had many or all of its arms
replaced. Sanford Fordice of company H, mentions the following in a letter
to his father and mother dated May 3, 1864; "I must tell you we have
Just Turned over all Our Enfield Rifles and drew New guns, Colts, Patent the
nicest gun I ever Saw...."6 Since he does not mention that it is the
Colt revolving rifle, I would think that it was the Special Model contract
musket designed by and first produced by Colt. See Below
Colt Special Model 1861 Rifle-Musket:
Maker: Colt's Patent Firearms Co., Hartford, CT. Dates: 1861-1865, Cal. .58
rifled.
The Colt Patent contract rifle was similar to the US 1861 Springfield, but
its parts were not interchangeable with the Springfield. |
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Sources:
1
THE PARKE COUNTY REPUBLICAN
newspaper dated October 2, 1861
2
Memoirs of Private John Day, 31st
Indiana, Co. K.
(William Henry Smith Memorial Library )
3 Letters of Eli S. Combs, 31st Indiana, Co. H.
4 Memoirs of Private William Turner Glenn, 31st Indiana, Co. G.
5 British Military Longarms, 1715-1865 By De Witt Bailey,
first publication 1971.
6 The Letters of Sanford Fordice, 31st Indiana
Volunteer Infantry, Co. H.
My thanks goes out to a reader who corrected the author on the correct model
Enfield that James Sheperd and Andrew are holding. I had originally made the mistake
of thinking it to be the Enfield Pattern1858 Naval Rifle and that the Bayonet
bar was on the barrel. The P58 / P56 No. 2 "Bar-on-Band" Short Rifle
appears to be somewhat rare.
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This site was written by:
Dennis Hutchinson
Copyright
© 1998 - 2017 by Dennis Hutchinson. All Rights Reserved.
This site may be freely linked to, but not duplicated in any fashion
except by the author's consent. When permission is given, this copyright
statement must remain with the document.
Last Update January, 2017
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I am interested in anything connected with the
31st Indiana Vol. Infantry, or if you have any questions please feel
free to contact me by E-Mail.
I am especially interested in photos of
soldiers from the 31st Indiana in their wartime clothing. I am
also interested in any letters, diaries, or biographical information on
31st Indiana soldiers
Contact: 31st Indiana
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