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18 september 2006
Lances in the Civil War
DID YOU KNOW that one corps of soldiers in the Civil War was issued lances, instead of guns, that they employed in numerous battles? I didn't. But this tidbit is wryly recorded in the wonderful Civil War Curiosities: Strange Stories, Oddities, Events, and Coincidences.
"An unidentified political leader in Pennsylvania had what seemed to him to be a great idea. Because men were volunteering so rapidly that there were not enough muskets to go around, why not supply some of them with lances like those used by knights errant of old?
"Prodded by Governor Andrew G. Curtin, the U.S. War Department let a contract for a manufacturer to turn out one thousand lances adapted from an old Austrian pattern. A nine-foot staff of Norway fir, tipped with a three-edged blade nearly a foot long, seemed formidable indeed. Citizens of Philadelphia were so delighted with the weapon calculated to put a quick end to the war that they contributed bright red swallow-tailed pennons to embellish each lance.
"Organization of a new unit of fighting men was completed in October 1861. Those splendid lances were given to members of the Sixth Cavalry Regiment, led by English-born Richard H. Rush. On May 25, 1862, the men of Company C charged a Confederate picket line, lances at the ready, and pretended they didn't notice that men in gray doubled up with laughter when they saw them coming.
"Men of Rush's Lancers later took their cumbersome weapons to Gaines's Mill, Savage's Station, White Oak Swamp, Malvern Hill, Harrison's Landing, Antietam, Frederickburg, Chancellorsville, Brandy Station, and numerous other battlefields. A remnant of the regiment, then armed with rifles, was present at Appomattox.
"Heavy and awkward lances, not known to have accounted for a single Confederate death, were discarded in May 1863 as "unfit for the wooded country of Virginia." When these weapons were abandoned, lancers strapped on sabers to replace them."
Posted by ypsidixit at 18 september 2006 19:15
Comments
I'll be darned. There are a mere 17 hits for a Google search for "richard h. rush" and "lance." This is a truly unknown fragment of CW history.
Here's a picture (scroll down a bit) of the brave lancemen.
Posted by: Laura at 18 september 2006 19:37