02 February 2011

February Program

           On Wednesday, February 16, 2011 at 7:30 PM the SDCWRT will hold its 294th meeting at Palisades Presbyterian Church, at 6301 Birchwood St., San Diego, CA 92120.

The Battle of Missionary Ridge at Chattanooga

This month our speaker will be one of our own members, who has given us several outstanding programs over the years—Barbara Hemmingsen.  Tonight Barbara’s program is “Chattanooga and Missionary Ridge”.  After its defeat at the Battle of Chickamauga, September 19-21, 1863, the Union Army retreated to Chattanooga where it was promptly encircled by the Confederate Army of Tennessee.

            The siege was broken by the Federals under the leadership of General Grant, and was made possible, in large measure, by the men of the Army of the Cumberland who spontaneously, stormed up Missionary Ridge and drove the Confederates south.  The lecture will be illustrated by quotes from the letters of Captain Joseph Bruff, 125th O.V.I., who endured the siege and then led the men of Company A up the ridge to break it.

January 2011 Meeting

January 2011 Meeting

By Travis Fuqua with Photographs by Travis Fuqua

            On January 19, 2011, the San Diego Civil War Round Table celebrated its 25th anniversary with Phil Binks’ “Civil War Arms, Part 2”.  Mr. Binks began collecting Civil War-era arms around 55 years ago and has amassed an impressive collection.  Of the dozen or more arms present, the majority were from Mr. Binks’ collection.  After an introduction, Mr. Binks proceeded to speak about the notable guns in the collection.

Mr. Binks Presenting

            There was a Model 1841 Springfield .57 caliber rifle. This is one of 450 made for the cadets at West Point and were used from the 1840s to the mid-1850s.  This was the rarest gun in his collection and perhaps the most famous as any number of the famous Civil War officers who attended West Point could have used this specific rifle.  There are very few today and their value is significant.  Another long arm was a late flintlock which was converted to percussion caps.  It was a .54 caliber smoothbore for cavalry use.

            Among Mr. Binks’ pistols was an 1837 Colt percussion revolver.  There was also a model 1849 Colt pocket model which was quite small.  Wesson and Leavitt infringed upon Colt’s patent for the aforementioned revolver and thus only a thousand were produced as Colt later sued.  Mr. Binks also had one of the famous .36 caliber single action Colt 1851 Navy revolvers.  This model was called “Navy” since there was a naval scene on the cylinder.  This specific model was made in London. There was also a .45 caliber Colt Army Model 1860.

            Mr. Binks went on to state that American guns used octagonal barrels and since they were made in three parts, they were easy to clean.  He noted that pre-loaded cylinders were a poor idea since they would prove explosive if dropped, and although not necessarily fatal, would nonetheless be unpleasant.

            There was a Remington Model 1858.  This was an extra-ordinarily sturdy weapon as there was a strap over the cylinder.  Several were bought by the government but their cost kept their numbers limited.  Among his more unique guns was one with two triggers.  Another unique gun was the French Lefaucheux.  It had a pin-fire mechanism in which a brass tube is pressed into the percussion cap by the hammer.  These weapons were used in small numbers at the beginning of the War until supplanted by superior American models.

A Portion of the Collection Presented

 There was also a collection of sabers.  By the Civil War, however, sabers were used when out of ammunition and for ceremonial purposes.  Musicians carried short swords instead of guns.  Artillery corps also used short swords which copied an Ancient Roman design.

            At the end of his presentation, Mr. Binks showed a collection of very small arms.  One was a pepperbox with multiple barrels.  They were .36 caliber and had no sight which contributed to their limited accuracy.  Ladies, such as spies, carried similar .28 caliber multi-barrel pistols.  There was also a Deringer, a variant of which was used by Booth to kill President Lincoln.  Mr. Binks noted that counterfeit Deringers are misspelt with two “r’s”—Derringer.

            The collection of long arms and pistols as well as sabers and accessories was quite impressive as was Mr. Binks’ and various SDCWRT members’ knowledge.