August 8 In Civil War History

Jim Klag

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On this day in Civil War history

Compiled by Mitchell Werksman and Jim Klag

August 8, 1812 - John Rodgers II, Commander (Union Navy), born in Perryville, MD. (d. 1882)

August 8, 1819 - Charles Anderson Dana, Asst. Secretary of War, (Union) born in Hinsdale, NH (d. 1897)

August 8, 1820 - Winfield Scott "Old Sweet" Featherston, Army Brigadier General (Confederate), born in Murfreesboro, TN. (d. 1891)

August 8, 1835 - James William Forsyth, American Brigadier General (Union Army), born in Maumee, Ohio (d. 1906)

August 8, 1839 - Nelson Appleton Miles, American Major General (Union Army), born in Westminster, Massachusetts (d. 1925)

August 8, 1846 - U. S. President James Polk requests 2 million dollars to purchase land from Mexico following the Mexican-American War. David Wilmot of Pennsylvania attaches the "Wilmot Proviso" to this bill. It passes in the House but is tabled in the Senate.

August 8, 1854 - Smith & Wesson patents metal bullet cartridges

August 8, 1861 - Henry Hayes Lockwood, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

August 8, 1861 - Brig. Gen. Ulysses S. Grant, USA, assumes the command of the District of Ironton, MO.

August 8, 1861 - Skirmish at Lovettsville, VA.

August 8, 1862 - Due to continued guerrilla firing into railroad cars, local ministers are arrested by the Union troops and placed aboard each train, at Huntsville, AL.

August 8, 1862 - West Florida is transferred from the Dept. of the South to the Dept. of the Gulf.

August 8, 1862 - Skirmish near Newtonia, MO.

August 8, 1862 - Skirmish on Panther Creek, MO.

August 8, 1862 - Skirmish near Stockton, Macon County, MO.

August 8, 1862 - Action near Madison Court-House, VA.

August 8, 1862 - Skirmish near Slaughter's House, VA.

August 8, 1863 - Skirmish at Rienzi, MS.

August 8, 1863 - Affair on Clear Creek, near Ball Town, MO.

August 8, 1863 - Skirmish at Waterford, VA, as the Rebels attack the Federal Cavalry not far from Harper's Ferry, WV.

August 8, 1863 - Gen. Robert E. Lee, CSA, depressed over the results at Gettysburg, PA, offers his resignation to President Jefferson Davis, who flatly rejects such notion.

August 8, 1863 - Tennessee's "military" Governor Andrew Johnson frees his personal slaves. Celebrated as a holiday by Tennessee African Americans (early 20th century)

August 8, 1864 - The siege of Petersburg is ongoing.

August 8, 1864 - Fort Gaines, at the entrance to Mobile Bay, surrenders.

August 8, 1864 - James Deering Fessenden, USA, is appointed Brig. Gen.

August 8, 1864 - Fort Gaines, AL, Dauphin Island, in Mobile Bay, is surrendered by Col. Charles D. Anderson, CSA, without the approval of his superiors.

August 8, 1864 - Federal scout against Indians from Camp Anderson to Bald Mountain, CA, where the Indians flee into the thick timber in the direction of the Hoopa Valley. (Aug 8-12)

August 8, 1864 - Action with the Sioux Indians on the Little Missouri River, the Dakota Territory.

August 8, 1864 - Federal scout against Indians from Salina to Mulberry Creek, KS. (Aug 8-11)

August 8, 1864 - Skirmish at Salem, KY.

August 8, 1864 - Skirmish at La Fayette, TN.

August 8, 1864 - Skirmish at Fairfax Station, VA.

August 8, 1867 - President Andrew Johnson demands the resignation of Edwin Stanton, Secretary of War.

August 8, 1909 - William Miller, American Brigadier General (Confederate Army), dies at 89 in Walton County, FL.

August 8, 2000 - The CSS Hunley is raised from Charleston Harbor.
 

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5fish

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August 8, 1854 - Smith & Wesson patents metal bullet cartridges
There is a whole civil war story... https://www.jggscivilwartalk.online/index.php?threads/august-8-in-civil-war-history.1729/


There were many types of cartridges used during the Civil War, featuring different material from linen to metal. Cartridges, in general, made loading breechloaders easier, and metallic cartridges made breechloading practical.

In the beginning of the war, paper or linen cartridges were popular. These cartridges were used in carbines, such as the Sharps and the Gwyn & Campbell. Despite their wide use, linen and paper cartridges were "almost obsolete from their inception," according to Historian Thomas B. Rentschler.1 Linen and paper cartridges were not durable, and the cartridges easily became wet and then unusable. Likewise, after a long journey powder would have likely leaked out of the paper cartridges,2 proving the cartridges not useful. Paper and linen cartridges could also risk the marksmen safety when loading. Past cartridge debris could have caused the cartridge being loaded to detonate before the breech was closed.1

SNIP...

The American role in metallic cartridges began with Walter Hunt, the inventor of the safety pin and fountain pen, who patented his "rocket ball." The rocket ball was a conical bullet that encased its powder and blocked the bottom of the bullet with a cork or paper wad. Yet, priming was still separate and supplied through a fulminate “‘pill’ that fed into the action automatically as the cartridge was chambered."5 However his ammunition and rifle, the Volition Repeater, would never become widely popular, and nor would the guns that directly followed the Volition Repeater due to their imperfection or over-complexity.6

Snip...

Benjamin Tyler Henry, who worked for Smith & Wesson before his work with the New Haven Arms Company where he invented his repeating rifle, was a pioneer that led the way in the development of the metallic self-contained cartridge.11 The Henry cartridge was a .44 caliber rim-fire with 26 grains of powder, and included a 216-grain bullet.12 He patented his rifle and cartridge on October 16, 1860. (The Henry Rifle, however, was never truly mass produced in large numbers during the Civil War; therefore, it was not as widely used as the Spencer.13)

Snip...

Whether the technology advanced to seal the breech or to have successive shots without a primer, the proper cartridge would allow the full potential of the gun, and the marksmen, to be utilized. Although handy, rim-fire metallic cartridges—the final step in ammunition evolution during the Civil War—could prove to be dangerous. If the fold at the bottom of the cartridge busted, then primer on the rim could discharge. That rim-fire problem inspired inventors to work on the center-fire cartridge during the end and after the Civil War, as seen in the model 1866 government rifle.9
 
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