1. Spencer Burnside Carbine Serial Numbers
2. Burnside Carbine Serial Numbers
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Jul 14, 2012  I have a burnside carbine serial number 3032 on the receiver however the number on the locking block is 35680, this weapon does not have a forgrip and is octagon where a foregrip would be. While this is the later model of Burnside, earlier models were manufactured in smaller numbers. A total of 55,567 Burnside carbines were made. This one with a serial number of 17212 is still early enough to have seen service.

Jan 31, 2013  If the Anvil is an Arm and Hammer, the serial number would indicated a year of manufacture of 1913-1914. This year would fit into the oval depression scheme on the cast steel bases as seen on your anvil. Arm and hammer anvil serial numbers. Photos provided by Kevin Malinak. The wrought Arm and Hammer Anvil is often confused with the cheaper cast Vulcan anvil.It is a American made steel faced wrought iron bodied anvil made by the Columbus Anvil and Forging company of Columbus, OH. Found an anvil, have a few questions about it. Throw that serial number up on. I just bought this arm and hammer, anvil. Mr Postman refers to the Arm& Hammer as.

The Burnside carbine was a breech-loadingcarbine that saw widespread use during the American Civil War.

Design[edit]

The carbine was designed and patented by Ambrose Burnside, who resigned his commission in the U.S. Army to devote himself full-time to working on the weapon. The carbine used a special brass cartridge which was also invented by Burnside. This cartridge contained a bullet and powder, but no primer. Pressing the weapon's two trigger guards opened the breech block and allowed the user to insert a cartridge. When the trigger was pulled, the hammer struck a separate percussion cap and caused a spark; a hole in the base of the cartridge exposed the black powder to this spark. The unique, cone-shaped cartridge sealed the joint between the barrel and the breech. Most other breech-loading weapons of the day tended to leak hot gas when fired, but Burnside's design eliminated this problem.^[2]

Service history[edit]

In 1857, the Burnside carbine won a competition at West Point against 17 other carbine designs. In spite of this, few of the carbines were immediately ordered by the government, but this changed with the outbreak of the Civil War, when over 55,000 were ordered for use by Union cavalrymen.^[3] This made it the third most popular carbine of the Civil War; only the Sharps carbine and the Spencer carbine were more widely used.^[4] They saw action in all theatres of the war. There were so many in service that many were captured and used by Confederates. A common complaint by users was that the unusually shaped cartridge sometimes became stuck in the breech after firing.^[5]

Spencer Burnside Carbine Serial Numbers

On the basis of ordnance returns and ammunition requisitions, it has been estimated that 43 Union cavalry regiments were using the Burnside carbine during the 1863-1864 period. Additionally, 7 Confederate cavalry units were at least partially armed with the weapon during this same period.^[6]

Five different models were produced.^[7] Production was discontinued towards the end of the Civil War, when the Burnside Rifle Company was given a contract to make Spencer carbines instead.^[8]

Effect of the carbine on Burnside's career[edit]

Though he was a poor military officer (and not too proud to admit it), Ambrose Burnside rose through the ranks partly because his carbine was so well known.^[9] He was pressured by President Lincoln several times to take command of the Union Army of the Potomac. He repeatedly declined, saying 'I was not competent to command such a large army as this.'^[10] When he eventually did accept command, he led the Army of the Potomac to defeat at the Battle of Fredericksburg. The battle and the subsequent abortive offensive left Burnside's 'officers complaining loudly to the White House and the War Department about his incompetence.'^[11] He also performed poorly at the Battle of Spotsylvania Court House, and a court of inquiry blamed him for the Union failure at the Battle of the Crater.

References[edit]

1. ^Purchase of arms, House Documents, 1861, P. 140.
2. ^Drury, Ian; Tony Gibbons (1993). The Civil War Military Machine. New York: Smithmark Publishers, Inc. p. 59. ISBN0-8317-1325-9.
3. ^Drury, Ian; Tony Gibbons (1993). The Civil War Military Machine. New York: Smithmark Publishers, Inc. p. 59. ISBN0-8317-1325-9.
4. ^Smithsonian Institution. 'Burnside Carbine'. Retrieved 2006-04-30.
5. ^Coates, Earl J.; Dean S. Thomas (1990). An Introduction to Civil War Small Arms. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications. p. 38. ISBN0-939631-25-3.
6. ^Coates, Earl J.; Dean S. Thomas (1990). An Introduction to Civil War Small Arms. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications. p. 93. ISBN0-939631-25-3.
7. ^Smithsonian Institution. 'Burnside Carbine'. Retrieved 2006-04-30.
8. ^Coates, Earl J.; Dean S. Thomas (1990). An Introduction to Civil War Small Arms. Gettysburg: Thomas Publications. p. 38. ISBN0-939631-25-3.
9. ^Drury, Ian; Tony Gibbons (1993). The Civil War Military Machine. New York: Smithmark Publishers, Inc. p. 59. ISBN0-8317-1325-9.
10. ^Davis, William C (1991). The Battlefields of the Civil War. New York: Smithmark Publishers, Inc. p. 87. ISBN0-7651-9836-3.
11. ^Kagan, Neil; Harris J. Andrews; Paula York-Soderlund (2002). Great Battles of the Civil War. Birmingham, AL: Oxmoor House. p. 109. ISBN0-8487-2704-5.

• Ambrose E. Burnside - Improvement in metallic cartridge -

Burnside Carbine Serial Numbers

Springfield Research Service