Month: February 2016

  • Eugene Blackford letter excerpt January 5, 1861

    I will be periodically posting excerpts from Eugene Blackford’s letters in the next few months, all of which are included in Volume I of my upcoming book (which may still be ordered at a prepublication discount). This letter finds Blackford, a Virginian, in the small town of Clayton, Alabama (near Eufaula) working as a school […]

  • The Turner Rifle

    I was recently fortunate to acquire a Turner rifle. Thomas Turner (1834-1890) was a 19th Century gunsmith who lived and worked in Birmingham, then the center of the gun trade. He was “a prolific manufacturer of Volunteer rifles in the 1859-1862 period. His small-bore (.451) rifles were very popular into the mid 1860s, rivaled only […]

  • Short Takes

    Capandball, whom we have met before, does a very nice video about light infantry jaegers in Central Europe. He is Hungarian, which was at the time part of the Austrian empire. As you will see, these old jaeger rifles were quite accurate but rather slow to load. He also discusses the theory of how and […]