40 Rounds of Ammunition

[Lawtonka]

When I was a kid living on military bases, one of the things I enjoyed was going to the indoor rifle range to shoot the .22 caibler rifle for target practice. This was one of the neat things provided by special services for recreation for soldiers and thier dependants.

All I I had to do was show my I.D. Card and I was issued a .22 caliber rifle, a paper target, an assinment to a shooting position, and this was the interesting part....they would always open the box of .22 rifle bullets which held 50 rounds and remove 10 of them. I always wondered why 40 and not the whole box of 50??

Then in the early 1980s, spending a couple of years as a re-enactor, my group galvanized occasionally to portray the 13th U.S. Infantry, famous for acheivements at Vicksburg, the unit badge was a cartridge box with the number 40 over the flap. This was an indication of 40 rounds. During the Civil War, It took 40 rounds of paper cartidges to fill the tins in a cartridge box, (I think I remember this correctly) There were two tins with two sections that held 10 cartridges each. Thus, I suppose this became the standard issue of ammunition for soldiers and I guess it became tradition?

The McKeever box used during the IW held 20 rounds. The averave prarrie belt held 45.If I remember correctly, the 7th Cavalry carried an extra 100 rounds of 45/55 in their saddle bags in addition to their normal issue.

Anyone know of any official documentation of this subject? Just thought it would be fun to discuss.

[El Crab]

Actually, everything I've read points to the soldiers carrying whatever they could on their person, and the rest of it in their saddlebags. But that that total was 100, divided into those two locations. So perhaps some could carry 45 on their person, and the remaining 55 carbine cartridges would be in the saddle bags. Of course, that doesn't take into account the location of Colt ammunition.

I think Varnum thought they had 150 rounds of carbine ammunition. But he (if it was him)was in the minority on that belief.

There was also 2,000 rounds per company, plus 2,000 rounds for the Headquarters detachment, in reserve. A total of 26,000 reserve rounds.

[greenpheon]

The distinctive unit insignia for the 13th U.S. Infanry is a shield with a saltire cross, but above the shield and forming the crest is a Civil War era cartirdge box with the words "Forty Rounds" on the flap. The unit's motto below the shield is "First at Vicksburg".

Greenpheon

[Jas. Watson]

During the Civil War infantry ammunition was issued in packages of ten (which also contained twelve percussion caps). So a soldier would get whatever amount of ammunition the mission called for in increments of ten. Often this was sixty--forty in the box and another twenty carried in the haversack with the rations (or pants pockets as was sometimes done).
During the Indian Wars the .45 cal. long arm ammunition was issued in boxes of twenty. So the soldier would get his in increments of twenty. The infantryman carried TWO MceKeever boxes--not one like in the movies--as part of the Palmer Brace system. They were to be worn in front, one on either side of the beltbuckle--again unlike the movies. The right hand side one had a bulge on one side which was for the rifle tool. This support system--although not popular with the US troops at the time, was to ultimately become the basis for almost all 20th century ammo support systems world wide, and still used in some form today. From the large cartridge box carried on the right hip to the two smaller pouches carried in front, close on each side of the belt buckle.

[d o harris]

I believe it was Godfrey who stated each man carried 150 rds. This may have been true for his troop, since each company commander was responsible for the packs and troops under his command. However, 150 rds per man was the total allotment for the expedition, including reserve ammunition. Each man was to carry 100 rds on his person or horse. The reserve, per company, was one mule carrying two boxes of ammo, each containing 1,000 rds, which made a rough equivalent of 150 rds per man. The ammunition came in boxes of 20 rds. I suspect individual troopers carried, or did not carry, on the person, based upon 20 rd disbursement. That is, the trooper was more likely to leave intact boxes in his saddlebags, rather than split boxes that he might carry precisely 50 rds. Further, the amount of ammunition carried on the person of each trooper was very likely determined by the "belting" of the individual trooper more than any orders he may have received.

[markland]

D O and others, this may or may not be relevant. From Cozzen's Eyewitnesses to the Indian Wars, The Wars of the Pacific Northwest, this was written by Maurice Fitzgerald, former private in the 1st Cavalry during the Modoc War (1873), p. 125.

Setting: Lava Beds, California three days after the murder of Gen. Canby by Modocs.

"We advanced in a single file, each with carbine and sixty rounds of ammunition; in his haversack each carried fifteen hardtack and a small piece of bacon to sustain the inner man while the fight might last."

The above is corroborated to some extent by Sherman's comments (see Independent Research/ANJ 06/25/1881 thread) that sixty rounds is the most ammunition that the individual soldier should carry.

Best of wishes,

Billy