Arming a Confederate State With Sharps Carbines !!!

Support for the 1863 shooter. Discussions of powders, loads, bullets, etc.
Post Reply
Southron Sr.
Posts: 19
Joined: Tue May 17, 2011 3:50 pm

Arming a Confederate State With Sharps Carbines !!!

Post by Southron Sr. »

A few years ago I spent a lot of time in the Georgia State Archives in Morrow, GA doing research. One of the interesting tidbits of information I came across was that in 1860, on the eve of Georgia's Secession from the Union, Governor Brown of Georgia ordered 1,500 New Model 1859 Sharps Carbines from the Sharps Company of Hartford, Conn. for the Georgia Cavalry.

What made the transaction unique is that Brown paid for the order with a small cash down payment and the balance of the order was paid for with 6% Georgia "War" Bonds! (Officially, they were not called "War Bonds," just state bonds but in effect they were just that, War Bonds. The Sharps Company delivered all 1,500 carbines to Georgia in a timely manner before Fort Sumter was fired on.
Brent
Posts: 6190
Joined: Fri Feb 21, 2003 9:40 am
Location: Fly-over Country
Contact:

Re: Arming a Confederate State With Sharps Carbines !!!

Post by Brent »

Do you know where the rifles went? To which battles?
Just straddling the hard line between "the arrogance of dogmatism and the despair of skepticism"
Bad Bill
Posts: 1300
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:44 pm
Location: SW of NE ND

Re: Arming a Confederate State With Sharps Carbines !!!

Post by Bad Bill »

Do you know why Sharps went bankrupt? :lol:
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
KL
Posts: 117
Joined: Tue Jul 28, 2009 10:26 pm

Re: Arming a Confederate State With Sharps Carbines !!!

Post by KL »

Because no one could collect on Confederate War Bonds?

The reason I heard many times is because the big buffalo hunts were about all done by 1881 and no one needed new buffalo rifles for non-existent buffalo hunts.
I understand that the big hunts were in part to supply the railroad and other workers with food, and also to deny the plains Indians their natural sustinence so as to be able to subdue them that much easier and faster. However, I still have a problem with wiping out entire herds, nearly making them extinct, and the huge waste of living animals, especially when I read about trainloads of fools shooting everything in sight with no thought to stopping to collect the meat, and then calling that "hunting." For these reasons to this day I will not hunt buffalo. Knowing about the great slaughter I get a very poor personal feeling about it and I don't even want to see pictures of those magnificient animals lying in the dirt. If we had modern herds numbering in the millions I would probably have a different view. There is a lot of game to take other than buffalo. On the other hand, I don't condemn those who do hunt buffalo legally, I just don't want to do it myself. I also think going to a so-called private hunting preserve is not hunting by any means. It is a joke.
Bad Bill
Posts: 1300
Joined: Wed Dec 27, 2006 9:44 pm
Location: SW of NE ND

Re: Arming a Confederate State With Sharps Carbines !!!

Post by Bad Bill »

Hard to sell single shots when you had repeaters. Sure glad we still have buffalo! Almost they were entirely wiped out and that would be sad. I'm not against game preserves - they manage the game and can provide a safe place to shoot. Maybe this seems funny, but I'm more against the idea of baiting animals with feeders and shooting from raised platforms and such. Lots of guys feel okay about it and it is a more sure way to get game and probably quicker, but seems sort of canned to me. Compared to tramping around or sitting and hoping by a trail. Still, I can understand it as some guys have only a few days to hunt and lots invested and want to take something home.
"Then you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free." John 8:32
Post Reply