Civil War
Sharps Carbines & Rifles
Edwin J. Coates & John D. McAulay
19
A month after the Battle of Antietam the 1st U.S. Sharpshooters
showed 508 Sharps rifles on hand as of October 24. The breakdown by company was:
Company A
34
Company B
73
Company C
65
Company D
16
Company E
36
Company F
73
Company G
57
Company H
38
Company 1
43
Company K
34
There were thirty-nine more rifles in the hands of the regimental
armorer. Several hundred Berdan rifles were
also in storage and were eventually issued to other units. On August 10 the 42nd
Pennsylvania Bucktails drew a
20
number of Berdan Sharps; the 16th
Michigan Infantry was issued about 300 during this same period. Most of these extra rifles
were turned back in for issue to Berdan's men. It appears that about 180 Berdan Sharps
rifles were maintained by the 42nd Pennsylvania Bucktails during its military service.
(The serial numbers of the 42nd Pennsylvania Berdan's Sharps Rifles can be found in the
serial number section of this book.)
Duryea's 5th New York would get a
chance to use its Sharps rifles at the Battle of Gaines Mill, Virginia, on Friday, June
27. At about 12:30 in the afternoon Lt. Col. Hiram Duryea sent forward flank companies E
and I as advance skirmishers to meet the advancing Confederate infantry. Within a few
minutes they returned to the main command. Leading the Confederate advance was the 1st
South Carolina-Orr's Rifles. When the Confederates came into the open they were attacked
by the 5th New York. In the melee that followed the 5th New York suffered 162 casualties
out of 450 engaged, while-Orr's Rifles incurred eighty-one killed and 234 wounded out of
537. Although the battle of Gaines Mill was a Confederate victory, the 5th performed its
duty well. 22
By the time of Ripley's Annual Ordnance Report of June 30, 1862,
he was able to report from the beginning of the war to June 20, 1862, that the Ordnance
Department had purchased 13,005 Sharps carbines. For the remainder of 1862 two additional
three-month contracts were given for all the carbines which could be delivered during the
three month period. In the last six months of 1862 the Sharps factory delivered 11,001
carbines on these contracts. In all the Sharps Rifle Manufacturing Company supplied 2,000
Berdan Sharps rifles and 17,134 carbines for the year. By December 1862 more than 60
percent of all breechloading carbines in field service were Sharps. The December 31, 1862,
list of ordnance stores in the hands of the cavalry shows 13,600 Sharps carbines; 1,900
Smiths; 500 Gwyn and Campbells; 900 Gallagers; 1,040 Merrills; 1,900 Halls; and 900
Burnsides carbines .21 The following cavalry regiments were listed with Sharps carbines:
1st U. S.-332
2nd U.S.-469
3rd U.S.-83
4th U.S.-180
5th U.S.-321
6th U.S.-621
1st California-355
2nd
California-601
1st Colorado-63
2nd Illinois-338
4th Illinois-463
6th Illinois-248
7th Illinois-399
8th Illinois-440
11th Illinois-19
3rd Indiana-54
1 st Iowa-9
2nd Iowa-226
3rd Iowa-70
5th Iowa-131
5th Kansas-106
6th Kansas-56
7th Kansas-88
3rd Kentucky-92
1st Lousiana-294
1st Maine-12
1st Massachusetts-102 2nd
Massachusetts-168
1 st Maryland-75
1st
Michigan-385
2nd Michigan-8
3rd
Michigan-37
1 st Minnesota-115
1
st New York-22
2nd New York-402
3rd
New York-192
5th New York-39
6th
New York-410
7th New York-301
8th
New York-334
9th New York-373
1st
New Mexico-8
3rd Ohio-184
3rd Ohio-53
4th Ohio-288
5th Ohio-131
1 st Pennsylvania-481 2nd
Pennsylvania-92
3rd Pennsylvania-307 4th
Pennsylvania-200
6th Pennsylvania-43
8th
Pennsylvania-295
9th Pennsylvania-35
1lth
Pennsylvania-93
16th Pennsylvania-200 1st
Rhode Island-70
1st Tennessee-146
1st
Vermont-152
1st West Virginia-36
2nd
Wisconsin-6
As of December 1862 the following infantry units were listing
Sharps rifles :24
42nd Pennsylvania-140 12th
Kentucky-101
6th Connecticut-178
15th Massachusetts-22
7th Connecticut-168
1st Minnesota-30
8th Connecticut-92
26th
Missouri-70
11th Connecticut-78
5th
New York-22
13th Connecticut-192
2nd
New Hampshire-60
l0th Connecticut-36
91
42ND
PENNSYLVANIA INFANTRY
History:
The 42nd Pennsylvania Infantry was organized in
early May 1861 in Harrisburg as the 1st Rifle Regiment or 13th Regiment Pennsylvania
Reserve Corps. This corps had been authorized by the state legislature primarily for the
defense of the state. It was not until late June that the regiment was called into United
States service. At this time the 13th Reserves was designated the 42nd regiment. The three
regimental titles would remain nearly interchangeable when referring to the regiment. It
would be still another unofficial designation, however, that would become famous. These
men of the 42nd Pennsylvania would win glory as the "Bucktails," a nickname
which referred to the piece of deerhide or buck's tail which adorned the forage caps of
the men.
The regiment's first action was at Dranesville, Virginia on
December 20, 1861. This was followed by duty in the Shenandoah Valley and with the Army of
the Potomac on the peninsula below Richmond and the Army of Virginia under Pope. In
February the "Bucktails" were again assigned to the Army of the Potomac. From
that date on, the history of the 42nd Pennsylvania is that of the famed Union army. At
Gettysburg, the regimental monument stands just south of the Wheatfield in the area where
the 42nd fought heroically and captured the colors of the 15th Georgia Infantry. The last
action seen by the regiment before being mustered out was at Bethesda Church, Virginia on
May 30, 1864. On June 11, 1864, the "Bucktails" ended their term of service;
however, many men were transferred to the 190th Pennsylvania, a new regiment which was
formed in the field from veterans and recruits of the Pennsylvania Reserve Corps. With
this organization, they continued to fight to the end of the war.
Arms: The Sharps rifles carried by the
42nd Pennsylvania were originally intended for issue to the 1 st and 2nd U.S.
Sharpshooters. These rifles had been placed in storage in the Washington Arsenal to
replace arms damaged or lost by the sharpshooters or to arm new recruits. A protest in
August 1862 by the "Bucktails" over an attempt to issue them inferior arms
resulted in them receiving enough Sharps
92
rifles
to place between 14-25 in every company. The numbers listed here appeared on a listing
which unfortunately contained no names. The
list was entitled, "Invoice of Guns, Sharps
Rifles, Cal. 52, now in First Rifle Regiment P.R.V.C. January
3, 1862." It is obvious from the well-established date
of the receipt of the rifles by the 42nd that the 1862 date
should read 1863. An interesting point on the original list
was the notation of a small letter "b" behind 12 numbers in Co. A and 11 in Co. B. This letter stood for
"bayonet" and except for a notation in
Co. H "no bayonets" was the only mention of
those weapons' association with these arms.
Source: The
"Invoice of Guns" which is listed here was
found bound into the Regimental Descriptive Book of the 190th Pennsylvania. This is the
regiment to which the recruits and veterans of
the 42nd Pennsylvania were transferred. It is evident that at least part of the regimental records went along with the men.
Serial # Company Serial # Company Serial # Company Serial # Company
44918
D
54720 I
55143
C
56553
1
54377
H
54721
E
55158
F
56599
H
54379
I
54727 D
55371
A
56604
H
54417
A
54735
E
55378
D
56668
G
54425
F
54748 D
55384
F
56767
D
54433
C
54749
E
55385
B
56804
G
54440
C
54750
A
55386
A
56818
C
54470
H
54759
E
55387
B
56822
E
54503
G
54761
D
55395
D
56975
1
54504
K
54783
I
55398
A
56993
1
54505
H
54784
D
55399
D
57012
E
54512
F
54792
H
55404
C
57054
G
54517
E
54798
G
55406
K
57116
I
54526
K
54808
K
55409
H
57123
G
54555
E
54847
D
55419
E
57126
G
54559
K
54856
H
55428
G
57204
H
54578
A
54860
A
55430
B
57207
A
54604
F
54862
G
55438
K
57218
A
54606
H
54863
D
55447
K
57225
G
54609
D
54868
K
55450
C
57275
D
54613
I
54878
B
55455
K
57341
A
54616
B
54884
F
55459
C
57401
G
54620
B
54886
F
55460
E
57441
D
54621
D
54893
B
55461
F
57451
C
54622
E
54900
E
55466
F
57467
K
54630
F
54914
B
55471
K
57484
D
54644
B
54921
A
55474
F
57490
C
54646
H
54944
C
55832
B
57500
I
54648
H
54945
F
55876
F
57512
A
54651
C
54948
B
55885
D
57567
H
54654
K
54957
D
55886 R
51591
F
54665
A
54970
E
55916
F
57641
1
54682
D
54974
K
55966
I
54682
1
54979
B
55989
C
54695
F
54991
D 56069
C
54997
B
56070
H
56412
K
54999 H 56079 C 56430 A
55001
E
56089
C
55002
E
56092
B
55005 D 56119 E
55014 F 56142 C
55016
D
56144
B
55040
B
56160
F
55061
B
56176
C
55071 B 56188 1
55080
E
56193
C
55081 C 56242 G
55087
C
56243
G
55095
I
56246
G
55119
B
56251
H
55120
D
56298
H
55123
D
56332
B
55135
I
56344
C
55138 D
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