The Lewis and Clark Expedition
Small Arms, Personnel, and Miscellany
By Walt Walker
A nine-part series examining some details of the
Corps of Discovery to make the Expedition more personal
Chapter 2: Basic Training
Lewis reported himself as doing some squirrel hunting coming down the Ohio in 1803. Nathaniel Pryor hunted for a couple of days on the voyage up the Mississippi near Cape Girardeau. Lewis reported that while coming down the Ohio, the rifles (contract rifles modified at the Harpers Ferry Arsenal and in this writing: aka Harpers Ferry rifles) needed attention from getting wet even though they had been wrapped in oilcloth. From this report and the winter spent at Camp Dubois, it is difficult to determine exactly when the Harpers Ferry rifles were issued to the troops.
Clark mentioned several times after January 1st, 1804, that the men were shooting at a mark and in contests with the country people around Camp Dubois. Deer was the only big game taken that winter. Turkeys, grouse, and some waterfowl were taken frequently. The men were not having to “live off the land” yet. They had sufficient provisions, including butter, available to them. Even at that, the men who would become the party’s main hunters began to stand out. Drouillard was already known to be an outstanding hunter. Reuben Field, John Collins, John Colter, George Gibson, John Shields, and Joseph Field began to show their prowess, while George Shannon (the youngest of the party) would develop later as an excellent hunter. Shannon was only eighteen at this early stage and was a novice compared to the others. Richard Windsor would also later become a good hunter. Alexander Willard was not mentioned as a hunter but later became an excellent hunter. Nathanial Pryor and Charles Floyd also hunted but Clark used them more for other duties developing their skills in order to promote them to sergeants later on that winter or spring. John Ordway was a sergeant and sometimes hunter, but he usually had other duties. William Werner, Hugh Hall, and John Thompson appeared to have a knack for trapping rabbits and Moses Reed later developed into a good hunter.
Clark reported giving out the knives, tomahawks, etc. to the men on the 6th of April. Whether that meant that the rifles were issued to the hunters at the same time is hard to tell. On the 10th of May, Clark ordered the men with rifles to have a hundred balls for their rifles and two pounds of buckshot for those men with muskets and fusils (also called “fuzees”). Clark reported that, on the 14th of May, the men had powder, cartridges (for the muskets), and each issued a hundred balls.
Muskets carried by the men transferred from other army units could use buckshot for birds or use a single ball at close range for the deer-sized game to be had from the wooded country around Camp Dubois. Fusils could use either a round ball or buckshot. The French engaged for the mission carried fusils.
So, the question to be asked is: Did the men from Kentucky use their own rifles and/or fusils before finally getting issued the Harpers Ferry rifles? The other question without an answer yet is: “Did some of the soldiers transferred into the corps have contract rifles issued from their former companies or did these men all bring muskets with them? And, finally, the soldiers who were discharged (Leekins for theft and, later, Reed for desertion) would have been stripped of all firearms and accouterments. Such arms would have been retained by the captains and probably were the two muskets cached at Decision Point to be picked up on the return trip in 1806.
Looking into this background, I am going to assume that, as the Corps departed Camp Dubois on May 14th, 1804, the recruits from Kentucky: William Bratton, Colter, J. Field, R. Field, Floyd, Gibson, Pryor, Shannon, and Shields were the men issued the Harpers Ferry rifles.
Further, the soldiers who transferred to the Corps brought their issued muskets with them since none of the men came from rifle companies. This does not answer the question of whether any of these men brought private firearms with them.
All of the men designated for the return trip with the keelboat and under the command of Corporal Warfington were soldiers and carried muskets, including Robert Frazer, who later became part of the permanent party. Pierre Cruzatte and Francois Labiche, enlisted as boatmen and interpreters, might have brought their personal firearms since Labiche was cited as being the best fowler while at Fort Clatsop and that meant that he used a fusil (fuzee). Both of these men were also hunters of big game. Neither of them hunted much before Fort Mandan. They were kept busy with the keelboat.
Upon departure from Camp Dubois, the nine men from Kentucky carried issued rifles. Also, four rifles were issued to Sgt. Ordway, Collins, Willard, and Windsor, with the two extra rifles being carried as Corps supplies along with the Leekens’ musket. All sixteen soldiers assigned to the permanent party carried their muskets. Thus, there were fifteen Harpers Ferry contract rifles along with seventeen muskets in the company’s inventory of government guns. (16)
___________________________________________________________
16. Norm Flayderman: “Flayderman’s Guide to Antique Firearms. 8th edition, page 499 IX-B “Secondary Military Firearms”
Small Arms, Personnel, and Miscellany
By Walt Walker
A nine-part series examining some details of the
Corps of Discovery to make the Expedition more personal
Chapter 2: Basic Training
Lewis reported himself as doing some squirrel hunting coming down the Ohio in 1803. Nathaniel Pryor hunted for a couple of days on the voyage up the Mississippi near Cape Girardeau. Lewis reported that while coming down the Ohio, the rifles (contract rifles modified at the Harpers Ferry Arsenal and in this writing: aka Harpers Ferry rifles) needed attention from getting wet even though they had been wrapped in oilcloth. From this report and the winter spent at Camp Dubois, it is difficult to determine exactly when the Harpers Ferry rifles were issued to the troops.
Clark mentioned several times after January 1st, 1804, that the men were shooting at a mark and in contests with the country people around Camp Dubois. Deer was the only big game taken that winter. Turkeys, grouse, and some waterfowl were taken frequently. The men were not having to “live off the land” yet. They had sufficient provisions, including butter, available to them. Even at that, the men who would become the party’s main hunters began to stand out. Drouillard was already known to be an outstanding hunter. Reuben Field, John Collins, John Colter, George Gibson, John Shields, and Joseph Field began to show their prowess, while George Shannon (the youngest of the party) would develop later as an excellent hunter. Shannon was only eighteen at this early stage and was a novice compared to the others. Richard Windsor would also later become a good hunter. Alexander Willard was not mentioned as a hunter but later became an excellent hunter. Nathanial Pryor and Charles Floyd also hunted but Clark used them more for other duties developing their skills in order to promote them to sergeants later on that winter or spring. John Ordway was a sergeant and sometimes hunter, but he usually had other duties. William Werner, Hugh Hall, and John Thompson appeared to have a knack for trapping rabbits and Moses Reed later developed into a good hunter.
Clark reported giving out the knives, tomahawks, etc. to the men on the 6th of April. Whether that meant that the rifles were issued to the hunters at the same time is hard to tell. On the 10th of May, Clark ordered the men with rifles to have a hundred balls for their rifles and two pounds of buckshot for those men with muskets and fusils (also called “fuzees”). Clark reported that, on the 14th of May, the men had powder, cartridges (for the muskets), and each issued a hundred balls.
Muskets carried by the men transferred from other army units could use buckshot for birds or use a single ball at close range for the deer-sized game to be had from the wooded country around Camp Dubois. Fusils could use either a round ball or buckshot. The French engaged for the mission carried fusils.
So, the question to be asked is: Did the men from Kentucky use their own rifles and/or fusils before finally getting issued the Harpers Ferry rifles? The other question without an answer yet is: “Did some of the soldiers transferred into the corps have contract rifles issued from their former companies or did these men all bring muskets with them? And, finally, the soldiers who were discharged (Leekins for theft and, later, Reed for desertion) would have been stripped of all firearms and accouterments. Such arms would have been retained by the captains and probably were the two muskets cached at Decision Point to be picked up on the return trip in 1806.
Looking into this background, I am going to assume that, as the Corps departed Camp Dubois on May 14th, 1804, the recruits from Kentucky: William Bratton, Colter, J. Field, R. Field, Floyd, Gibson, Pryor, Shannon, and Shields were the men issued the Harpers Ferry rifles.
Further, the soldiers who transferred to the Corps brought their issued muskets with them since none of the men came from rifle companies. This does not answer the question of whether any of these men brought private firearms with them.
All of the men designated for the return trip with the keelboat and under the command of Corporal Warfington were soldiers and carried muskets, including Robert Frazer, who later became part of the permanent party. Pierre Cruzatte and Francois Labiche, enlisted as boatmen and interpreters, might have brought their personal firearms since Labiche was cited as being the best fowler while at Fort Clatsop and that meant that he used a fusil (fuzee). Both of these men were also hunters of big game. Neither of them hunted much before Fort Mandan. They were kept busy with the keelboat.
Upon departure from Camp Dubois, the nine men from Kentucky carried issued rifles. Also, four rifles were issued to Sgt. Ordway, Collins, Willard, and Windsor, with the two extra rifles being carried as Corps supplies along with the Leekens’ musket. All sixteen soldiers assigned to the permanent party carried their muskets. Thus, there were fifteen Harpers Ferry contract rifles along with seventeen muskets in the company’s inventory of government guns. (16)
___________________________________________________________
16. Norm Flayderman: “Flayderman’s Guide to Antique Firearms. 8th edition, page 499 IX-B “Secondary Military Firearms”
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