The Guns of Harpers Ferry

Stuart E. Brown, Jr.History
The Guns of Harpers Ferry

Author: Stuart E. Brown, Jr.

Publisher: Genealogical Publishing Com

ISBN: 9780806346403

Category: History

Page: 157

View: 483

GET EBOOK
This standard history of Bath County. Of greatest genealogical import are the chapters devoted to the names of heads of families in Bath in 1782, early marriage records, a roster of Confederate soldiers, and a list of families in Greater Bath.

The Making of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Teresa S. MoyerHistory
The Making of Harpers Ferry National Historical Park

Author: Teresa S. Moyer

Publisher: Rowman Altamira

ISBN: 0759110662

Category: History

Page: 268

View: 520

GET EBOOK
Harpers Ferry National Historical Park is most widely known today for the attempted slave revolt led by John Brown in 1859, the nucleus for the interpretation of the current national park. Here, Teresa S. Moyer and Paul A. Shackel tell the behind-the-scenes story of how this event was chosen and preserved for commemoration, providing lessons for federal, state, local, and non-profit organizations who continually struggle over the dilemma about which past to present to the public. Professional and non-professional audiences alike will benefit from their important insights into how federal agencies interpret the past, and in turn shape public memory.

Guns on the Early Frontiers

Carl Parcher RussellHistory
Guns on the Early Frontiers

Author: Carl Parcher Russell

Publisher: U of Nebraska Press

ISBN: 0803289030

Category: History

Page: 426

View: 864

GET EBOOK
"Here is a book for the historian, the student, the gun collector or aficionado. . . . It approaches understatement to call Guns on the Early Frontiers an outstanding contribution to firearms literature. It sets its own standard."--New York Times. "A Glossary of Gun Terms, ample footnotes most skillfully arranged and illustrations beyond the dreams of avarice complement the text, which achieves the miracle of scholarship without tedium."--W.H. Hutchinson, San Francisco Chronicle. "Not the least interesting portions of the book are the notes and glossary and the excellent bibliography. Here [is] a book designed primarily for the serious collector or gun historian, but whose readable style should appeal even to the casual amateur. The collecting of old guns, whether privately or by a public institution, involves a certain responsibility. These guns, whose history is inextricably linked with the history of settlement, require something more than careful preservations. They require--and the present volume goes far to supply--accurate documentation."--Canadian Historical Review. Carl P. Russell, a leading authority on firearms of the American frontier, was coordinator of planning for the science and history museums and other interpretive facilities of the National Park Service in the Western United States.

The Best Gun in the World

Robert S. SeiglerHistory
The Best Gun in the World

Author: Robert S. Seigler

Publisher: Univ of South Carolina Press

ISBN: 9781611177930

Category: History

Page: 284

View: 674

GET EBOOK
A thoroughly researched account of weapons innovation and industrialization in South Carolina during the Civil War and the man who made it happen. A year after seceding from the Union, South Carolina and the Confederate States government faced the daunting challenge of equipping soldiers with weapons, ammunition, and other military implements during the American Civil War. In The Best Gun in the World, Robert S. Seigler explains how South Carolina created its own armory and then enlisted the help of a weapons technology inventor to meet the demand. Seigler mined state and federal factory records, national and state archives, and US patents for detailed information on weapons production, the salaries and status of free and enslaved employees, and other financial records to reveal an interesting, distinctive story of technological innovation and industrialization in South Carolina. George Woodward Morse, originally from New Hampshire, was a machinist and firearms innovator, who settled in Louisiana in the 1840s. He invented a reliable breechloading firearm in the mid-1850s to replace muzzleloaders that were ubiquitous throughout the world. Essential to the successful operation of any breechloader was its ammunition, and Morse perfected the first metallic, center-fire, pre-primed cartridge, his most notable contribution to the development of modern firearms. The US War Department tested Morse rifles and cartridges prior to the beginning of the Civil War and contracted with the inventor to produce the weapons at Harpers Ferry Armory. However, when the war began, Morse, a slave-holding plantation owner, determined that he could sell more of his guns in the South. The South Carolina State Military Works originally designed to cast cannon, produced Morse’s carbine and modified muskets, brass cartridges, cartridge boxes, and other military accoutrements. The armory ultimately produced only about 1,350 Morse firearms. For the next twenty years, Morse sought to regain his legacy as the inventor of the center-fire brass cartridges that are today standard ammunition for military and sporting firearms. “Does justice to one of the greatest stories in American firearms history. If George Woodward Morse had not sided with the Confederacy, his name might be as famous today as Colt or Winchester.” —Gordon L. Jones, Atlanta History Center “Excellent and well-researched.” —Patrick McCawley, South Carolina Department of Archives and History “For connoisseurs and scholars of military history (especially Civil War), history of technology, or Southern/South Carolina history, this is a must-read and reference volume pertaining to a previously little-known aspect of the nineteenth century that had a far-reaching impact in the manner wars would be fought by soldiers decades later.” —Barry L. Stiefel, College of Charleston

Into the Unknown

Donald L. CarrLewis and Clark Expedition
Into the Unknown

Author: Donald L. Carr

Publisher: DIANE Publishing

ISBN: 9781437923810

Category: Lewis and Clark Expedition

Page: 113

View: 810

GET EBOOK
Two hundred years ago, a 30-man U.S. Army party ascended the Missouri River and conducted the most extensive exploration yet attempted of the North American continent¿s interior. The preparations for the Lewis and Clark expedition were exhaustive. Pres. Jefferson ensured Lewis was well prepared for his task by coaching, mentoring, and teaching the young officer for two years. Lewis and Clark then spent the better part of a third year planning and organizing for the journey. This study examines the key logistics components and considerations in the planning and execution of the mission. Modern logisticians will find themes in transportation, civilian contracting, indigenous (host nation) support, and others that still resonate today. Maps and illus.

The War of the Rebellion

United States. War DepartmentConfederate States of America
The War of the Rebellion

Author: United States. War Department

Publisher:

ISBN: HARVARD:HWAJV6

Category: Confederate States of America

Page: 952

View: 139

GET EBOOK
Official records produced by the armies of the United States and the Confederacy, and the executive branches of their respective governments, concerning the military operations of the Civil War, and prisoners of war or prisoners of state. Also annual reports of military departments, calls for troops, correspondence between national and state governments, correspondence between Union and Confederate officials. The final volume includes a synopsis, general index, special index for various military divisions, and background information on how these documents were collected and published. Accompanied by an atlas.

Dawn of Victory

Edward S. AlexanderHistory
Dawn of Victory

Author: Edward S. Alexander

Publisher: Savas Beatie

ISBN: 9781611212808

Category: History

Page: 337

View: 808

GET EBOOK
After the unprecedented violence of the 1864 Overland Campaign, Union Lt. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant turned his gaze south of Richmond to Petersburg, and the key railroad junction that supplied the Confederate capital and its defenders. Nine grueling months of constant maneuver and combat around the “Cockade City” followed. As massive fortifications soon dominated the landscape, both armies frequently pushed each other to the brink of disaster. As March 1865 drew to a close, Grant planned one more charge against Confederate lines. Despite recent successes, many viewed this latest task as an impossibility—and their trepidation had merit. “These lines might well have been looked upon by the enemy as impregnable,” admitted Union Maj. Gen. Horatio G. Wright, “and nothing but the most resolute bravery could have overcome them.” Grant ordered the attack for April 2, 1865, setting the stage for a dramatic early morning bayonet charge by his VI Corps across half a mile of open ground into the “strongest line of works ever constructed in America.” Dawn of Victory: Breakthrough at Petersburg by Edward S. Alexander tells the story of the men who fought and died in the decisive battle of the Petersburg campaign. Readers can follow the footsteps of the resolute Union attackers and stand in the shoes of the obstinate Confederate defenders as their actions decided the fate of the nation.

Early Military Rifles

Balázs NémethHistory
Early Military Rifles

Author: Balázs Németh

Publisher: Bloomsbury Publishing

ISBN: 9781472842329

Category: History

Page: 81

View: 806

GET EBOOK
The conduct of combat operations in open order during the 18th and 19th centuries required an improved firearm with more accuracy than the standard-issue smoothbore infantry musket. Consequently, the appearance of a new type of regular light infantry soldier and an innovative military firearm, the rifle, marked a new age in the history of warfare. During the 18th century both Austria and Prussia fielded light troops armed with rifled firearms, while conflicts in North America involved the deadly long rifle and the innovative Ferguson breech-loader. Rifle-armed specialists also fought for several nations during the Napoleonic Wars. However, it was the decades after 1815 that saw the appearance of successful rifled percussion firearms, paving the way for the widespread issue of rifled weapons. This development was accelerated by the Prussian adoption of the Dreyse 'needle gun' in 1848 and in 1849, the French Minié rifle was the first successful conical ball rifle concept to be issued to regular troops in large numbers. Illustrated throughout with stunning full-colour artwork, this study charts the development, combat use, influence and legacy of rifled firearms in a host of conflicts, from the War of the Austrian Succession of 1740–48 to the Mexican–American War of 1846–48.

The Indianization of Lewis and Clark

William R. SwagertyBiography & Autobiography
The Indianization of Lewis and Clark

Author: William R. Swagerty

Publisher: University of Oklahoma Press

ISBN: 9780806188218

Category: Biography & Autobiography

Page: 830

View: 629

GET EBOOK
Although some have attributed the success of the Lewis and Clark expedition primarily to gunpowder and gumption, historian William R. Swagerty demonstrates in this two-volume set that adopting Indian ways of procuring, processing, and transporting food and gear was crucial to the survival of the Corps of Discovery. The Indianization of Lewis and Clark retraces the well-known trail of America’s most famous explorers as a journey into the heart of Native America—a case study of successful material adaptation and cultural borrowing. Beginning with a broad examination of regional demographics and folkways, Swagerty describes the cultural baggage and material preferences the expedition carried west in 1804. Detailing this baseline reveals which Indian influences were already part of Jeffersonian American culture, and which were progressive adaptations the Corpsmen made of Indian ways in the course of their journey. Swagerty’s exhaustive research offers detailed information on both Indian and Euro-American science, medicine, cartography, and cuisine, and on a wide range of technologies and material culture. Readers learn what the Corpsmen wore, what they ate, how they traveled, and where they slept (and with whom) before, during, and after the return. Indianization is as old as contact experiences between Native Americans and Europeans. Lewis and Clark took the process to a new level, accepting the hospitality of dozens of Native groups as they sought a navigable water route to the Pacific. This richly illustrated, interdisciplinary study provides a unique and complex portrait of the material and cultural legacy of Indian America, offering readers perspective on lessons learned but largely forgotten in the aftermath of the epic journey.