2nd US Cavalry Co. A / 9th Virginia Cavalry Co. D

2nd US Cavalry Ordnance Report

Notes from the Archives: the Ordnance Returns of the Second United States Cavalry (Dragoons) during the War of Rebellion

The "SUMMARY STATEMENT of Ordnance and Ordnance Stores on hand in the Cavalry Regiments in the service of the United States..." records found in the National Archives (NA) comprise the official listing of weapons and equipment on hand in the field. Each quarterly summary includes several very large ledger sheets now converted to microfilm.

I found all the reports from fourth quarter 1862 through fourth quarter 1864, and second quarter 1866. The reports include totals by regiment, for each company. I made copies of all sheets for the First through Fourth Regular Cavalry. The contents include "Small Arms" (rifles, carbines, pistols, and sabers), "Accoutrements, Equipments, and Appendages" (pouches, boxes, belts, slings, all saddlery, tools, etc), and Ammunition for Small Arms.

The reports to not include commissary items such as food, clothing, haversacks, canteens, ponchos, bed blankets, etc.

While the reports supply very important and enlightening information, omissions and interpretation raise numerous questions. At many points several companies appear to not have reported, or the reports were lost. No one company has complete information throughout the period. The handwriting is often very small and hard to read.

The method of gathering the information for these reports remains unclear as to exactly whose equipment was counted. Did it include those personnel absent sick, on detached duty, or otherwise not present for duty? Did it include equipment on hand in the unit's possession but not yet issued to individuals?

Without further clarification, we can only draw large-scale conclusions from the data. I include here several tables of data for varying themes comparing personnel present for duty with numbers of items in the reports. I believe the most important conclusion tells us there was plenty of equipment available most of the time for most men in the ranks. Significant shortages occurred at various times though, and some items became increasingly scarce as the war progressed. After each table, there are several paragraphs to clarify some of the highlights.  My thanks to Mike Riggleman for proof reading and style / format suggestions.

The Second Cavalry carried 1859 Model .52 Sharps Carbines through the period. Company A carried nothing else, while company I carried 27 Smith and 27 Sharps carbines in December 1862. The Smith Carbines were gone three months later. Company E lists 34 Sharps Rifles and no Carbines in December 1862, but all Carbines in March 1863. Only in the last report of 1864 do significant shortages appear for company A. The regiment overall appears to have only enough for half it's men from mid-1863 onward.

The Second Cavalry carried the .44 Colt Revolver throughout the period. Company A carried nothing else. The category though, included "Colt's Army, old and new models, Caliber .44" and could mean both the 1860 and earlier models. Company D carried all .36 Colts in December 1862, and Company K carried them through March 1863. Since the pommel holster was not issued with Model 1859 equipment, only one revolver could be carried. During the last report of 1862, and again the last of 1864 significant shortages appear, and some shortages occur after hard campaigning in 1863 as well. Of the first four regiments of Regular Cavalry, only the Third reported any Remington Revolvers before the end of 1864

While the First Cavalry (Dragoons) show some 1840 Sabers (just "Cavalry Sabers" in the report) early in the period, the Second Cavalry carried only "Light Cavalry Sabers" throughout. During the last report of 1862, and again the last of 1864 significant shortages appear, and some shortages occur after hard campaigning in 1863 as well.

Screwdrivers are listed for both pistol and carbine in the reports. My tables combine the numbers. Generally, there were more pistol screwdrivers on hand than carbine, by about 3 to 2. Small numbers of pistol and carbine bullet moulds and replacement percussion cones were kept on hand by various companies at various times. Cleaning brushes for the carbine were also kept sporadically in numbers not matching the weapons. Company A seemed more poorly supplied with this tool than the regiment overall.

Overall, the numbers of cartridge boxes, cap pouches, belts, slings, and holsters appears to match those of the weapons they served. Interestingly, the Pistol Cartridge box (much maligned by so-called authentic reenactors) appears in numbers matching saber belts and pistols throughout the period. This holds true for the first four Regular regiments of Cavalry.

Only the Model 1859 equipment shows up for any of the regular regiments throughout the period. Generally, most Horse Equipment items matched the number of saddles on hand. Brushes and currycombs seemed to suffer continual shortages. Neither the Crupper (which was issued), nor the Breast strap (not standard issue) are listed as separate items. Saddlebags (standard issue) are also not listed, but Valises (no longer issued?) are listed even though none were counted. In a couple of the reports, someone hand wrote in the category "Saddle Bags" and counted a fair number for Company M, 2nd US.

Link Straps were listed and counted in significant numbers until late in the conflict when they dwindled in both the company and regiment. Nosebags also dwindled as did Lariats and Picket Pins.

While the Ordnance Summaries tell us how much stuff was on hand with the units they leave much unanswered. I hope future research into officer's correspondence will shed more light on this subject.