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1864 Springfield History

DWB
My 1864 Springfield has a butt plate marked US D 24. I was told it could have been from the 11th NJ entrenched in early 1865 near Petersburg, VA and commanded by Col Robert McAllister. My question concerns how rifles were issued between Union units. Could one unit take rifles issued to another unit? Did government issued rifles and require some sort of accountability on part of the receiving unit? The date was near the end of the war, Feb of 1865. I would guess there were thousands of guns shipped but never issued at this late date in the war.
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Date Votes
  • rufe-snow
    At this late date, no one can make any definitive/provable statements on who was or wasn't issued your rifle, i.e. it's all supposition.

    Unless you can positively as possible identify it through it's provenance through the last 145 years, it's all conjecture.
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  • wpage
    Paper records kept at those times and the nature of early Army and ordinance record retention as it were.
    Agreed that most write thier own tickets on these arms.
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  • givette
    Contact Springfield Armory archives, if they still have such a service. It's a start. Here's why:

    Tracing from the Springfield Armory will reach a dead-end. Usually the first Gov't agent for disposition. Try and secure that information.

    When, and if, you do, you should then research the New Jersey regiment from the State archives, and trace backwards from the unit, to the point of acquistion by the Springfield agent. Sorta like working from both ends..meeting at the mid-point of the rifle's travels.

    Archival research is a subject in and of itself that would fill volumes. Wish more universities had 'Archival Research' as a minor. Good luck! Joe
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  • cbyerly
    There are some records of NJ solders avialable. I have a musket that has the fellows name on it and was able to identify him and the regiment that he served in. You would need a name to make this search.
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  • DWB
    DWB Here, Thanks guys for the information. The butt plate markings of D 24 would be, I guess, Company D of the 24th of what unit? Many Springfield rifle butt plates are blank, meaning they were never issued to a military unit? Seems to me the butt plate markings were a poor way of identification. Maybe this is one reason serial numbers were added later?
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