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Infantry Introduction | Weapons | Tactics | Load & Fire

 

THE INFANTRY

Load & Fire

Illustration of a soldier taking a cartridge from his cartridge box. From the Civil War tactics manual, Hardee's Rifle & Light Infantry Tactics. Illustration of a soldier priming his weapon from the Civil War tactics manual, Hardee's Rifle and LIght Infantry Tactics.
Illustrations from the popular tactics manual Hardee's Rifle & Light Infantry Tactics. "Handle Cartridge" is on the left, and "Prime" is on the right.

The men trained hard to learn how to load and fire their weapons while standing in the tight formations.  There were 9 steps to load and another 3 to aim & fire.  The soldiers were required to fire three aimed shots in a minute. 

The soldier held the weapon with the butt between his feet and took a paper cartridge from the cartridge box on his right hip (see left-hand illustration). He tore the end off with his teeth, poured the powder down the barrel and placed the ball in the end of the barrel.  He then drew the ramrod from its slot beneath the barrel and rammed the ball down the barrel and returned the rammer.  He next pulled the hammer back halfway (half-cock) and placed a percussion cap on the nipple (see right-hand illustration).  The final step was to bring the weapon up so that his right arm was extended and the barrel rested on his shoulder.

He would then be given the commands to fire. As he brought the weapon up to fire, he would pull the hammer back all the way, aim the weapon and, finally, pull the trigger. This process had to be repeated each time he fired his weapon. 

DID YOU KNOW?
 Occasionally, when a weapon was on half-cock, the spring holding the hammer back would slip, causing the weapon to fire accidentally.  The soldier was said to have "gone off half-cocked".

 

 

Infantry Introduction | Weapons | Tactics | Load & Fire

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Last updated on: October 11, 2003
Written by: Interpretation Staff
http://www.nps.gov/peri/inf4_load

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