Savannah morning news. [volume] (Savannah) 1868-1887, 1886-04-23
PERCussIoN APsoFRAwRIDE
An Episode of the History of the Con-
federate War Department.


From the -Ve,o orleans Picay,tne.
In the Louisiana department of the late
American Exposition were exhibited some
relics of the late war, which, while they
were very diminutiye as to size. were Of
great importance as Illustrating the eX-
tremes OF necessity to which the Southern
people were driven during the civil war,
aud the courage and ingenuity with which
the greatest difficulties were met and
overcome, The matters IN question were
percussion caps for army use, the shells
OF which were made of rdwhide, loaded or
filed with mercurial illuminate. The his
tory OF these caps is Interesting.
At the breaking out Of the war the sup
ply of percussion caps in the South was
not large, and nearly all of those in the
hands of merchants and other private par
ties were of small sizes only tit TO be used
on sporting guns, and 100 small TO be
available for firing an army musket.
They were all imported from Europe, no
caps beng manufactured In tue United
States, except by the general government
for army purposes, and this manufacture
was carried on exclusively within the
limits Of the Northern States. The only
supply of these Indispensable munitions
of war in the South was what had been
captured in Southern arsenas.
The Southern chemists were entirely
competent to produce the illuminate or
printing for the caps, but the little copper
cases which are made bv complicated ma
ch merry were not so easily procured. At
this iuncture, when il was estimated that
on May !, 1861, there We're n0tin Virginia
a supply of gun caps greater than seven
for each man of the able-bOdied militia of
the state, Gen. Daniel Rugges, of the
| Virginia service, an officer of the old
army, undertook the TASK OF expert
menting for some other material
than metal for the shells of gun
caps. He tried paper and leather, but
finally settled on rawhide as the best
thing for the purpose. The hide, freed
from the hair, was moulded into shape
under pressure when wet, and then
punched into small round pellets like
thick buttons. Thew were loaded with the
illuminate and when dry each cap W as
treated to droD OF varnish, which made
it waterproof. The Virgiajd (Fredericks-
burg HerGLd of that period said in regard
10 them:
seen. Ruggles' invention of making
| caps of leather or paper instead of copper,
/ is a success. 1t is simple and most val
liable, prevents corroson from dampness
and accidents by splitting the copper
| which has injured so many eyes. The
! leather or paper can be made waterproof"
These caps were exhibited by Col. John
! NJ. Sandidge who got them from Gen. Rug
! giles. Col. Sandidge also exhibited at the
| Exposition, along with these caps, a box
! Of metal cartridge cases for his Morse
| breeoh-loading carbine, which were made
! by himself in his room in a hotel in II CHI
/ mOnd. at the time ne was making ready to
/ enter the service with the Virginia troops
in front OF Yorktown.
Gen. Ruggles in his own memoirs says
on the subject:
Il
were taken to enroll volunteer troops in
| conformity with the acts of the cOnven-
ton, as proclaimed by the Governor, and
the people displayed distinguished pa
triOtism in the organization OF light
feld-gun batteries, troops OF cavalry,
infantry and rifiemen, which crystallized
rapidlyntO disciplined bodies Of effective
troops. The difficulty in providing ser
Viceable arms aud ammunition, caps and
cartridges, was for time almost in
| surmOuntable.
"By requsition on the ordnance officer
OF the State OF Virginia, Col. Charles
Dimock, 1000 old flintlock muskets were
finally obtained, and a very limited sup
| ply of cartridges, but no caps, thus
rendering the percussion arms, then used
in part, comparatively useless. Measures
were promptly taken to supply, as far as
| practicable, these deficiencies. Powder
and lead were impressed from the several
gold mines along the neighboring gold
belt and collected from all other avail
able sources, and, as il by magic, made
into cartridges by the patriotic
ladies of fredericksburg, in addition to
other uuremtting labors.
The difficulty in supplying percussion
gun caps was not so readily met. AT my
request, however, Col. Dimock, the chief
OF ordnance, sent two or three pounds OF
illuminate ofmercury, and under my direc-
tlon rawhide sized in glue was made avail
able as q substitute for copper. and when
charged proved an excellent gun cap, ex-
ploding with certainty. Previously the
organized troops with percussion arms
had MOTTO exceed seven gun caps per man.
Not long atterWard supply was received
from the Ordnance Department"
Shortly after the events described above
the Confederate Ordnance Department
procured from Europe tho detailed draw
ings of cap machine for making the cop
per shells by steam power with great ra-
pidity. The machine was built In Rich
m0nd and successfully put IN operation,
and after that there was no Logger any
difficulty about the supply Of these artl-
Giles.