15th Iowa Order book info from National Archives - what did they have...

[Hairy Nation Boys]

I was say they had the sling with the box. I know the color guard will be wearing their boxes with a sling. And I would agree that we just need to be told what to have. These open discussions are getting old. I am one to always open my big mouth so I should know.

[Strawfoot]

I for one would prefer to have my cartridge box sling in the field. Just makes it a lot easier to operate as a soldier.


Mike Phineas
Arlington, TX

[Matt Woodburn]

Boxes with slings and all plates polished. Final answer.

[J. Donaldson]

In the process of transcribing the letters of the commander of Company C, I came across the following quote in a letter dated March 28, 1862:

I have nothing new to write you we are all well we have just received our armes tents & wagons, but where or when we will go is not settled, but I think that there is no danger of our having to go to New Mexico as I at first suposed. We have Springfield muskets & they don’t send such armes out there

My question is this: why would Seevers say with confidence that the army would not send a regiment armed with Springfields out to New Mexico? Would this represent a situation emblematic of antiquated weapons going to peripheral theaters and modern weapons to the active theaters of conflict?

[Cumpston1862]

The Springfield 1861 was well known as the weapon to have even at the start of the war. Many of the early Iowa regiments were issued old conversions or foreign imports like the Austrian Lorenz musket at the start of the war so getting a Springfield was a sign to the them that they were going to see action not marching around.

Eugene Ware in his book "The Lyon Campaign" was in the 1st Iowa Infantry and fought at Wilson's Creek in August 1861. By a mishap during a waterbreak on the march he ends up with an 1861 Springfield when a regular soldier, who was the rightful owner, grabbed Ware's his old 1829 conversion musket by mistake. Pvt. Ware was very excited about this misfortune and went on and on about it and how jealous his messmates were later.

[Arch Campbell]

Actually, with a careful rereading of Ware you'll realize his tongue is firmly planted in his cheek when recounting the "accidentally misplaced" musket story. He stole the musket.

There was no actual correlation between quality of arms initially issued and eventual wartime role of the regiment in question, at least among Iowa volunteers. The Adjutant General of each state (effectively, the "chief of staff" for the state's militia) had the thankless job of acquiring and allocating weapons for his state's volunteers. (Volunteers were technically state volunteers for a period of time before being mustered in as federal troops- sometimes weeks, sometimes days, sometimes minutes.) Adjutant Generals were not (as a rule) informed in advance by the War Department where their states' volunteers were bound. Acquiring suitable weaponry was difficult for Iowa, being a lightly populated state on the frontier, about as far away from Washington as possible. Many Iowa regiments that were headed very quickly into active field service (and in fact, battle) received smoothbore muskets. Iowans present at Shiloh ranged from horribly armed (1816 and 1822 conversions in the hands of the 11th Iowa, for example) to exceptional (enfields for the 12th.)

However, you guys are completely right about the perception of receiving superior arms. It was a great source of anxiety for recruits awaiting weaponry, and the issuing of subpar arms was seen as a slight and a sign that (horrors) the regiment was headed for some backwater. The men of the 15th must have been quite pleased upons opening their crates of m1861s.