The Arms & Equipment in the Civil War Message Board

Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket

I've been collecting data on the cause of wounds inflicted on both sides at the battle of Gettysburg. As for just gunshot wounds, the following are the number of times a specific category or type of ammunition is mentioned.

Wounds to Confederates:
Conoidal (Minie) ball - 166
Buckshot - 2
Round ball (possibly from buck and ball) - 1
Carbine .44 caliber - 1
Pistol - 1

Wounds to Federals (I am still recording data on this side)
Conoidal (Minie) ball - 47
Gardner bullet - 1
Buckshot - 3
Round ball - 1
Pistol ball - 5 (four of these were received by cavalrymen)

Dean S. Thomas' booklet on small arms, Ready...Aim...Fire! mentions 20 Federal regiments that were at least partially armed with .69 caliber smoothbore weapons at Gettysburg, and scattered use of such weapons is also evident in the Confederate army.

Considering specific cases, a soldier of Company H, 23rd North Carolina who was wounded in the left cheek by buckshot was nearly opposite the 88th Pennsylvania, which was one of the units said to have been armed partially with the .69 smoothbore. A soldier in Company I, 2nd South Carolina was wounded in the face by buckshot and his unit had squared off against a few Federal units armed with the smoothbore in Caldwell's division, including four of the regiments in Kelly's famed Irish brigade. The "round ball" wound to the lung of a soldier in Company C, 56th Virginia may actually have been from canister, although a few Union Second Corps units carried the smoothbore, notably the 4th and 8th Ohio and 11th New Jersey. Incidentally the .44 carbine round that hit a member of the 26th North Carolina was likely fired by one of Buford's cavalryman, or even by a soldier in the 24th Michigan who said he used a carbine dropped by one of Buford's cavalrymen. On the other side, buckshot casualties were recorded by soldiers in the 19th Indiana, 150th Pennsylvania and 9th Pennsylvania Reserves, and a round ball struck a soldier in the 5th Michigan. Doing the math suggests buck and ball was relatively ineffective in relation to the conoidal ball, particularly since the buckshot portion of the load appears to have inflicted only minor or superficial wounds.

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buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
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Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Re: buck and ball versus rifled musket
Weapons of CS army.