Inspection Report--Greene's Brigade

[Phelps' Reg't]

I thought that those interested in Marmaduke's Raid might like to see an inspection report of one of his brigades:

"Report of Arms, Ammunition and equipments in Col Colton Greene's Brigade Mo Cav Marmaduke's Division April 11th 1863

Col Greene's Reg
Muskets, Common 127
Rifles, Common 11
Rifles, Enfield 13
Rifles, Mississippi 63
Rifles, Belgian 0
Rifles, Minnie 0
Rifles, Sharps 8
Rifles, Halls 0
Rifles, Escopet 0
Sabres 74
Carbines 13
Shotguns, D Bbl 71
Shotguns, S Bbl 0
Pistols, Army 0
Pistols, Navy 0
Pistols, Holster 0

Col Burbridge Reg
Muskets, Common 22
Rifles, Common 21
Rifles, Enfield 5
Rifles, Mississippi 11
Rifles, Belgian 11
Rifles, Minnie 1
Rifles, Sharps 2
Rifles, Halls 1
Rifles, Escopet 1
Sabres 31
Carbines 7
Shotguns, D Bbl 73
Shotguns, S Bbl 4
Pistols, Army 5
Pistols, Navy 17
Pistols, Holster 32

Col Jeffries [sic] Reg
Muskets, Common 47
Rifles, Common 19
Rifles, Enfield 7
Rifles, Mississippi 3
Rifles, Belgian 11
Rifles, Minnie 0
Rifles, Sharps 1
Rifles, Halls 0
Rifles, Escopet 0
Sabres 0
Carbines 5
Shotguns, D Bbl 64
Shotguns, S Bbl 1
Pistols, Army 0
Pistols, Navy 0
Pistols, Holster 0

Ordnance Department
Sabres 26"

I didn't transcribe the sections covering horse equipment and ammunition, but if there's interest, I'll gladly do so. This document is part of Ordnance Major D.D. Berry's Compiled Service Record (Missouri State Guard), M322, Roll 178.


Jeff Patrick

[Jerry Ross]

Jeff,
It would be neat to see the horse equipment.If you have time Thanks.

[MissouriStateGuard]

Jeff,

Great information!

Are the categories of arms hand-written or on a printed form? Very interesting to note the wide variety of arms the inspectors expected to see.

I am familiar with the escopetas used by the Mexican cavalry as large caliber smoothbore carbines, often firing cast copper balls.

Anyone out there have an idea of what would have been meant by the term escopet rifle?

V/R,
Kip

[Steamboat Willie]

Anyone out there have an idea of what would have been meant by the term escopet rifle?

V/R,
Kip

Kip,

Most period references I can find in one of my favorite databases -- Nineteenth Century U.S. Newspapers if anyone is curious -- refer to an" escopette" as a short musket, sometimes a carbine. This weapon and the one listed in Greene's report must be the same animal.

I would suppose the spelling above is due to yet another anglicized spelling of a foreign word and the rather phonetic nature of the times.

So a escopet rifle would in theory, be a rifled short musket possibly hailing from Mexico.

Or I could be completely wrong.

Best Regards,

[MissouriStateGuard]

Rick,

Thanks for the input!

Having seen many references to the escopet or escopeta by Americans in Mex War battle accounts there seems to be some commonalities- short barrel of large caliber, smoothbore, and horribly inaccurate! So I can see where rifling one might improve accuracy. However giving it the title escopet rifle seems like an oxymoron, like a "sniper's model shotgun." :)

Can anyone add to this? I cannot recall ever hearing of importation of these arms (or any arms for that matter originating in Mexico or Spain) during the war, even for the Confederacy. So why include an entry for these types unless the inspectors expected to see significant numbers in their surveys?

V/R,
Kip

[Steamboat Willie]

Kip,

Is it possible we are seeing the influence of a Mex. War Veteran’s souvenir? A large number of Missourians followed Doniphan on his long walk, and perhaps a few weapons came home with them. I understand this is on the hairy edge of speculation, still it makes more sense to me than a scheduled import of obsolete weapons.

I would also hazard a guess that the reports were amended to reflect pieces found in the ranks as Marmaduke's troop dynamic changed. The arms listed here are so varied, I'm not sure the upper command could even come close to predicting what weapons Marmaduke had at this point. Or would have as his raid continued.

As for why these unique weapons have slots in all three regiments, I think we can chalk that up to neat military paperwork. Both the escopet and Minnie Rifle are listed in all three Regimental lists, though only one of each is present. As a detail oriented -- read anal retentive-- guy myself, I could see someone with this affliction attempting to keep track of these arms.

It must make life easier to have all the reports identical even if you are just plugging zeros in. If nothing else, it leaves some wiggle room if some other citizen joins in to fight with his outdated Mexican hand cannon.

And I may have an answer about the etymology of the word. Depending on which source you wish to believe, the word escopeta is Spanish for either shotgun, musket, or rifle. One online Spanish dictionary classified it as a rifle/shotgun, which boggles the mind. It's not a huge leap to escopet rifle if even the Spanish cannot agree on what it is called.

I have found two quotes that lead me to believe that the escopetas and our escopet are one in the same. The first is a quote from an Arkansas soldier describing the battle of Cerro Gordo:

" Stephen S. Tucker, a Little Rock captain in the Mounted Rifles (regulars), wrote of April 18:

“Infantry, artillery, volunteers and rifles—simultaneously! Merciful God, such another shower of metal—iron, lead and copper! The shouting of the Americans, the din of the artillery, the keen crack of the Rifles, the spang of the musket, and bumble-bee buzz of the damned escopet (Mexican carbine) made old mother earth groan as we stamped and raved over her rocky breast.”
http://www.oldstatehouse.com/exhibits/changing/mexican-war/17.asp

Then here is another quote taken from a Texas Ranger with the same verbiage:

“ Elisha Clapp, having a very fleet horse, started in pursuit of them, and soon coming up with them, fired his rifle, killing one of them. The others, seeing that his rifle was discharged, turned to give him battle, when Clapp was compelled to retreat, not being able to cope with three Mexicans with an empty gun. The one nearest to him discharged his escopet at him, but the ball missed him, though, judging from the whistling, Clapp afterward told me though it passed within six inches of his head. ”
http://www.texasranger.org/dispatch/17/pages/SSClapp.htm

In three Trans-Mississippi lexicons, spanning three different periods of time, we see the same use of the word. That must be significant.

Or it could be, I'm wrong about all of this.

Best Regards,

[huntdaw]

the word escopeta is Spanish for either shotgun, musket, or rifle. One online Spanish dictionary classified it as a rifle/shotgun, which boggles the mind.

While searching online for the term, I also saw it translated as a 'carbine' which I found interesting.

[tmdreb]

I've been in a similar discussion with early Texas historians regarding a specific meaning for the term escopeta. Its usage in Spanish seems to be rather flexible, and by those whose primary language is English, it seems to be rather broadly applied to any weapon of Hispanic usage or construction. I would estimate the weapon in question was probably something brought back from Mexico, and the classification was the best the ordnance officer could come up with.

[Campjacksonboy]

Jeff
Thank you for posting this information. I'd be very curious to see a surving Escopet. Leave it up to the Trans-Mississippi to have something unusual.

Any idea what model would have been common under common muskets?
Also I'd love to see the other information as well if you have the time to post it.

Frank Aufmuth
Proud citizen from the land of escopet rifles, Mountain Howitzers, Oak bark dyed buckskin suits, Leopard pants, gourd canteens, and oh yeah, all kinds of other weird stuff.

[Phelps' Reg't]

I'm glad that folks found this interesting. To answer Kip's question, the document is entirely handwritten, not printed. Here's more (there are also sections on artillery ammunition and caps--again, if there's interest, I can transcribe those sections as well).

Cartridges

Col Greene's Reg
Buck & Ball 0
Buckshot 0
Ball 0
Mississippi 1000
Enfield 2000
Navy 0
Army 0
Holster 0

Col Burbridge Reg
Buck & Ball 100
Buckshot 150
Ball 300
Mississippi 0
Enfield 0
Navy 295
Army 0
Holster 0

Col Jeffries Reg
Buck & Ball 0
Buckshot 0
Ball 0
Mississippi 0
Enfield 0
Navy 0
Army 0
Holster 0

Ord Dept
Buck & Ball 0
Buckshot 9000
Ball 0
Mississippi 0
Enfield 0
Navy 0
Army 0
Holster 0

Equipments

Col Greene's Reg
Saddles 414
Bridles 412
Cruppers 238
Valises 143
Forage sacks 110
Haversacks 346
Canteens 96
Infantry cartridge boxes 114
Cavalry cartridge boxes 0
Cap boxes 118

Col Burbridge Reg
Saddles 212
Bridles 210
Cruppers 0
Valises 0
Forage sacks 0
Haversacks 0
Canteens 0
Infantry cartridge boxes 35
Cavalry cartridge boxes 81
Cap boxes 83

Col Jeffries Reg
Saddles 317
Bridles 311
Cruppers 33
Valises 0
Forage sacks 0
Haversacks 20
Canteens 46
Infantry cartridge boxes 49
Cavalry cartridge boxes 0
Cap boxes 39

Ord Dept
Saddles 0
Bridles 0
Cruppers 0
Valises 0
Forage sacks 0
Haversacks 0
Canteens 0
Infantry cartridge boxes 0
Cavalry cartridge boxes 0
Cap boxes 0

Jeff Patrick

[Phelps' Reg't]

As long as I have the time. . .here's the rest:

None of the individual regiments list artillery ammunition--only the Ordnance Department

6 Pound Artillery Ammunition
Canister fixed 114
Solid Shot fixed 28
Solid Shot Blank 26
Sphr Case fixed 12
Sphr case Blank 10
Std Grape 77
Blank Cartridges 90

and finally. . .

Caps

Col Greene's Reg
G.D. 18500
Water proof 3000
Musket 3000

Col Burbridge Reg
G.D. 650
Water proof 125
Musket 0

Col Jeffries Reg
G.D. 0
Water proof 1500
Musket 300

Ord Dept
G.D. 121000
Water proof 14000
Musket 6750

Totals G.D. 140150
Water proof 18625
Musket 10050

Jeff Patrick